Lynna is your curator. I don’t think this thread will run dry for a long time.
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
Lynna is your curator. I don’t think this thread will run dry for a long time.
Reports that Jim DeMint is out at Heritage.
Ogvorbis @496:
I just assume that Trump’s lying whenever his lips are moving. Saves time.
Rick Wilson wrote an article for The Daily Beast, “White House Death Match: Plutocrats vs. Racists.” Excerpts below:
Stephen Colbert wondered aloud about Trump not reading what he is signing (a reference to Trump having said that he “sometimes” reads the executive orders):
The video is 6:54 minutes long.
This is great – CREW’s Trump Inc: A Chronicle of Presidential Conflicts.
It’s really breathtaking. Trump, his family and associates are like the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park testing the fence. Each time they see the Republicans aren’t going to do anything to stop them or that the media will just move on, they become a bit more brazen and shameless, increasingly relishing and celebrating their corruption openly.
Con men always say “believe me”. They must control the facts, not reality.
It is a poker tell the equivalent of pulling on your nose to make it longer every time you bluff.
Marine Le Pen – with the help of Russian media – is now opportunistically appealing to Mélenchon’s supporters. This morning she put out a pandering video on Twitter addressed to them.
Politico:
Many of his supporters are young, politically inexperienced, and unaccustomed to slow struggles that involve strategic voting, alliances, organizing, and direct action and often face multiple setbacks. They’re also uncomprehending of the nature of Le Pen’s fascism and just what a sleazy Kremlin-backed manipulator she is. They don’t appreciate the danger. For many, regardless of the outcome, abstaining in this election will be a source of great shame and regret in the future, and there’s nothing arrogant or disrespectful about explaining that. What Mélenchon has been doing so far amounts to political malpractice. The article does note:
This isn’t really leadership, but I can only hope they shake some sense into him and his video appears soon.
Update to #493 in the previous chapter – Gorka might be out.
From the Kansas City Star’s editorial board:
I think Trump may be about to experience another “nobody knew how difficult …” moment. Trump told Reuters:
Trump might use his “nobody knew how complicated,” or his “it turns out …” phrases, but the conclusion will be the same. Trump is ridiculous and ignorant, and he projects his ignorance onto everyone. I resent that. Trump blusters, bloviates, and boasts … then reality slaps him the face and he retreats.
Unlike many presidents before him, Trump decided it was a good idea to be a featured speaker at the National Rifle Association’s annual conference. His speech was larded with NRA talking points, and with support for other Republican politicians:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-nra-annual-conference
Follow-up to comment 11.
Another excerpt from Trump’s speech to the NRA annual conference:
OH HELL NO.
Ah, checked up on the Bundy Sr. Trial. The jury convicted 2 out 6 accused, and were deadlocked on the four. A retrial will occur.
All In with Chris Hayes had Michael Moore on for a long interview about Trump’s first 100 days.
Part 1.
Part 2.
Rachel Maddow reported last night that (Andrea Mitchell reports that) there’s evidence the WH and transition did do a background check on Flynn and knew about his undisclosed work for Turkey. The latter of course we already knew because it was in the news and Pence was informed of it by Cummings and Flynn’s lawyers, but it demonstrates clearly that a) they’ve been lying about not doing any vetting themselves; b) Pence was lying when he said on TV in March that he was just learning about it (because he’s an accomplice); and c) there’s obviously documentation they’re lying about not having and hiding from the House Oversight Committee.
Maddow also interviewed Vladimir Kara-Murza about the Russian resistance and the nationwide Open Russia protests today.
Today is also the day of the People’s Climate March in DC, with sister marches all over!
Is he talking about the US system of government? Did you even ask him “What do you mean by that?”?
Worse than the Kochs simply being on board, their tightening the screws on Republicans is likely why this odious thing won’t die despite the fact that the US public rejects it overwhelmingly.
Some of the Russian hackers were paid by the Trump Organization, or so the dossier given to the UK government last December alleged:
The Guardian link
Follow-up to comments 11 and 12.
Guns were banned at Trump’s NRA speech.
CNN link
Georgia, where the NRA’s annual conference was held, and where Trump spoke, is an “open carry” state. A permit to carry a weapon openly is required. The US Secret Service is more practical than is the NRA. They weren’t going to let the president speak in front of an audience of people armed with guns.
Here are some excerpts from the press briefing in which Trump’s tax “plan” was described by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and top economic aide Gary Cohn. Some of the excerpts are followed by fact-checking that was done by the Associated Press.
Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) has introduced a bill to transit the US to 100% renewable energy usage by 2050. https://www.yahoo.com/news/senate-democrats-introduce-bill-completely-182330212.html
I’m not too convinced teh hair furor high on sugar and caffeine is an improvement.
MSNBC is thinking of hiring Hugh Hewitt as an anchor, and the NY Times hired climate-science-denier Bret Stephens to comment on the climate. WTF is going on?
How is that new hire going, NYT editors? And, as an aside, why aren’t you doing your job?
Bolding is mine.
Think Progress link
Mother Jones’ coverage of the People’s Climate March is good. There are lots of photos and short videos at the link.
Joy Reid hosted a panel that discussed Ivanka Trump’s defense of daddy Trump as daddy dismantled programs benefitting women. The video is 8:37 minutes long.
Joy Reid had an all woman panel on later to talk about the resistance to Trump. The end of the segment (very short) was put up. The panelist in the lower left corner had earlier changed around the Obama mantra of “if they go low, we go high” to “if they go low, we bury them”.
I smell a rat.
We still have no explanation for why McCord stepping down, and now the one guy Obama tried to remove from the order of succession, and that Trump put back in, will be in charge of the Trump Russia investigation.
He was part of the prosecutorial team that got a guilty plea out of two hackers who went after Brennan and other government officials.
I’m not sure if the North Carolina case is relevant or not but this whole situation reeks of a fix.
Nerd @28, I really liked that segment, especially the pledge, “If they go low, we bury them.” It’s a shame the producers of the show only posted a portion of that segment.
erik @29, that situation doesn’t smell right.
In other news, insurance companies, and their lobbyists, see how out of touch with reality Republicans are when it comes to health care:
Here’s a quote about the Republican approach to health care from Sister Carol Keehan, president of the Catholic Health Association:
In Russia, people are risking their lives today to protest against Putin:
Link
Chuck Schumer’s description of what it’s like to try to talk to Trump:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/katenocera/chuck-schumer-sees-himself-as-trumps-chief-opponent-but-hey
Writing for The Daily Beast, Joy-Ann Reid discussed that fact that Trump has ” managed to turn the clock back decades in the Department of Justice and created a climate of fear in the Civil Rights Division.”
The entire article is well worth reading.
Follow-up to comment 33, and to erik @29.
This is also from Joy Reid’s article:
Some of the signs at the People’s Climate March seemed to combine themes from last weeks March for Science with today’s march: “Policy without science is like Cheetos without benzenesulphonic acid.”
Others stuck more closely to the climate change issue: “I am a Marshall Islander. Where will I go?”
A young boy carried a sign documenting Trump’s increasingly orange face over time: “Visual proof of the Greenhouse Effect.”
A young girl carried a sign showing Mar-a-Lago under water: “Mar-a-Lago in 2100.”
Another combination of science and climate issues: “Fossil Fuels are sooo 66,000,000 years ago!”
“Greenland & Antarctica are melting while idiots quibble about money. In a few years, our kids will need a f—ing boat to protest here.”
“Paris agreement, the art of the deal.”
Tonight, Samantha Bee is hosting “Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.”
You can watch on TBS at 10:00 p.m. The show will also stream an uncensored version on Twitter at 11:00 p.m. Check the @FullFrontalSamB handle. Full Frontal correspondents will host a one-hour red-carpet special before the show (at 9:00 p.m.).
Doggerel from the climate march:
Trump marked his 100th day in office with some tweets:
So not looking forward to another 100 days of this.
Just got a phone poll about the 2018 gubernatorial her in Illinois. I tried to blame the present governor (R), who refuses to consider a much needed tax increase, even taxing the retirement income I receive. Unfortunately, I punched a number that froze the system. Hope they got enough data to know that the rethug agenda of stupidly lowering taxes when you need to pay off your debts to previously negotiated retirement systems while maintaining the present social support system won’t win them my support.
Scroll down on this Think Progress page to watch Hasan Minhaj’s remarks at the White House Correspondents Dinner. Far more interesting than Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania.
About that rally in Pennsylvania, Trump bragged about the size of the crowd. Of course he did. He was wrong. Of course he was.
https://twitter.com/JonathanTamari/status/858473918235111425
Scroll down on this Think Progress page to watch part of Samantha Bee’s celebration to the free press and of facts. The video opens with some great music.
Bee’s event raised over $200,000 for the Committee to Protect Journalists.
“At a later date, I will get Mexico to pay for all your drinks.”
“You continue to fact-check the president as if he might someday get embarrassed.”
Josh Marshall discussed the fact that White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus had suggested amending the 1st Amendment in reaction to press coverage that Trump does not like.
VP Pence on Meet the Press showed he, like Trump, is a real liar and bullshitter.
No way is tax cuts to those who won’t immediately spend the money, like those living paycheck to paycheck, will increase consumer spending, and therefore the economy.
Pence has drank of the non-evidenced based based Trump agenda, and is totally as ignorant as Trump. He just doesn’t sound as bombastic, which makes him more dangerous.
Nerd @43, I heard another pundit say today that Pence is a “calm liar” and that people don’t know what to make of that. Pence fools them.
It was Sarah Kendzior on AM Joy.
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has announced that she’ll be retiring at the end of her term in 2018. People are already talking about the improved odds of flipping the district, but it’s also worth noting that she’s not a Trump fan and is on the House Intelligence Committee. She showed a few signs of independence during the televised hearing, so we’ll see…
Update to #7 – So Mélenchon has posted his video and it’s…not good. Results of his vote within his party – not sure how that works – will be on Tuesday, so I suppose the leader will follow those. Here are a few articles about the situation:
“Mélenchon, Hero to France’s Far-Left, Will Not Vote for Le Pen, But Won’t Endorse Macron” (don’t read the comments)
“Fear of neofascism keeps Emmanuel Macron ahead of Marine Le Pen”
“French voters must choose between the lesser of two evils: Macron or Le Pen”
From the last:
I’m not in agreement with the “two evils” framing of the piece, but this is basically what I argued for several months prior to the US election. There’s little less far-Left (other than supporting a fascist or helping one to potentially win through complacence, selfishness, ignorance, or false equivalences) than considering an election the be all and end all of politics. You vote strategically (and always, always, always against fascists, which means that if there are two candidates in contention you vote for the fascist’s opponent), and then you continue fighting.
Meanwhile, on the fascist Front: “Le Pen has now said that, if she wins, Dupont-Aignan will be her prime minister. Myth she’d be on left on economy now definitely destroyed.”
This is disturbing.
This is…capitalism increasingly unfettered.
Very good article by David Remnick: “A Hundred Days of Trump.” (I won’t quote – should be read as a whole.)
Speaking of capitalism, political writers in 2017 need to be able not only to say the word but to address the global reality if they want to have any hope of contending with the far-Right movements that are its inevitable consequence. Trying to substitute “globalism,” a term even less meaningful than “globalization,” just compounds the problem and gives fuel to racist-nationalist narratives.
This is all very alarming. I hope talented investigative journalists are working on the story.
I don’t think I have a firm grasp of how this all works. If Rosenstein appoints a special prosecutor – which he should recognize is urgently necessary – would that person then be in charge of the whole investigation?
“Turkey threatens more strikes on US-allied Syrian Kurds: Erdogan says more action possible against YPG fighters in Syria, insisting US support for Kurdish group must end.”
No tough talk or actions from Trump on this. No support for democratic forces, battlefield allies, and the strongest fighters against ISIS.
Of all the shit arguments against urging people to vote for Macron, this is the most pungent.
CNN: “Sources: Sebastian Gorka to leave White House.”
Nice graphic.
From Pew: “Three-quarters of white evangelical Protestants approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president.”
“How many other countries would do the same for a big rival? And it makes you wonder if the U.S. would return the favor if we were in their shoes. I’d like to think so.”
We’d need a teleprompter.
“President Trump Doesn’t Seem To Know Why The Civil War Happened: ‘People don’t realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it, why? People don’t ask that question, but why was there a Civil War?'”
(As someone notes in the comments, Jackson actually died in 1845, not 1837.)
“Brand Ivanka: inside the tangled empire of the president’s closest ally.”
Here’s the section about the manufacturing of her products:
A reply to Trump’s ignorance and stupidity regarding the civil war (from SC’s link in comment 57):
There will be protests in Milwaukee today, with people coming from across the state to demand that Scott Walker remove Sheriff David Clarke.
What Trump said:
Reality does not agree with Trump:
Link
“Guns and religion: How American conservatives grew closer to Putin’s Russia”:
From SC’s comment 62 (bolding is mine):
The Russian influence campaign seems to have started much earlier to me, but I concede that “growing” more recently is correct.
Oh, yes. Of course Putin is using rightwing groups in the USA as one of his weapons. And, of course, rightwing groups say they have nothing to do with the Kremlin … and then they meet with the Russian Deputy Prime Minister. Are they naive or stupid? Or are rightwing groups so narrowly focused on, say, guns or anti-gay legislation, that they can’t see the situation for what it is?
The state of Kentucky advertises itself as the “birthplace of Abraham Lincoln.” At least one Kentucky judge seems to working against equal rights:
https://thinkprogress.org/kentucky-judge-same-sex-adoption-526b99b00d0a
Judge Nance’s term does not expire until January 1, 2023. [sigh]
Follow-up to comment 61.
More on just how wrong Trump was when he said:
Not only did Jackson die 16 years before the Civil War started, he was all for sending troops in to push his agendas. He was a war and/or conflict monger.
Think Progress link
I mean, the very fact he chose to recuse himself instead of continuing to take the cases and consistently destroying the parents hope is at least minorly laudable.
My reading of it was “I’m just a bigot who can’t deal with this in a rational legal mind, someone else do it ’cause I can’t”. It’s honest, if shirking of his duties, but honest.
Interesting piece – “How Trump Could Get Fired: The Constitution offers two main paths for removing a President from office. How feasible are they?”. Another one that’s too long and nuanced for quotations to be useful.
(Reading the section on Andrew Johnson, it occurred to me that maybe Trump’s addled brain is blending Jackson and Johnson together…)
Trump abruptly ended the CBS interview when Dickerson pressed him on the Obama wiretapping claims.
What the hell is going on with Zombie Trumpcare? Now they’re claiming they think they’ll have the votes to bring it to a vote in the House this week. Most people have no idea what’s in it. No CBO score. No debate. It has the approval of the Freedom Caucus, and so would likely be even less popular with the public than the first version was at 17%. The public wants the ACA to be improved, not wrecked, and of course if this ever passed people would quickly know they’ve been lied to. The major healthcare organizations and the AARP are still opposed. So these cretins are going to rush to bring it up for a vote this week? Epic assholery.
I mean, why should people have to do endless rounds of phone calls to their representatives every time this travesty rears its ugly head? The public does not want your fucking bill. Stop trying to pass it. Just kill it already.
SC @68, that reminds me of Rachel Maddow’s segment in which she pointed out that questions about Mike Flynn freeze Trump in his tracks [beat] and then he walks away. He really can’t take the heat (nor the responsibility for his actions and his words). Maddow link. The video is 17 minutes long, and it includes other subjects.
In other news, Why did Trump invite a murderous autocrat to the White House? Follow the money.
This POS is what they’re trying to rush through after secret meetings and arm-twisting.
SC @69, my guess is that the Republicans in the house are trying very hard to please Trump, and to make him look presidential.
Meanwhile, Trump claimed that the new bill contained a guarantee of coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. It does not. Trump has no fucking clue.
Talking Points Memo link
Asked about health care, Trump trips over his own ignorance
SC @72, too right. Here’s the lie Trump told:
How long will it be before Trump realizes that Republicans in the House are, to a certain extent, ignoring his demands.
National Security Adviso, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster tried to clean up Trump’s mess when it came to the THAAD system in South Korea:
The quoted text is from the Wall Street Journal.
As a reminder, here’s what the Orange Doofus said:
Trump had a “contract with voters” in which he made a lot of promises about his first 100 days. Just before the 100 days was up, trump said that the 100-day metric is “ridiculous.”
Now the Trump campaign is spending $1.5 million on a TV ad that tries to convince us that Trump’s first 100 days were successful. This ad buy is the first of the 2020 presidential campaign.
Washington Post link to the ad, and to discussion of the ad.
Follow-up to SC @53.
Yes, Gorka is out. He was unable to get a security clearance:
NBC News link
From the NY Times:
It is actually unclear at this time if Gorka will be given a different role in the Trump administration so that he can continue to run with the “alpha male” pack.
I think some of it is naïveté, in many cases willful naïveté. I’ve also mentioned the book This Vast Southern Empire on one or another threads here. I believe, with great horror, that something similar is going on here. They identify themselves primarily with the cause of white Christian supremacy, patriarchy, and authoritarianism, and so to them Putin’s regime is a greater ally than the US government when it’s not protecting that identity and set of interests. The same thing is happening across Europe.
The one bright spot is that they’ve now made it entirely clear that their profession of patriotism and respect for democracy and the constitution has been a sham, since they’re willing to at best passively countenance and at worst actively collaborate with an adversarial regime working to undermine the position and the democratic institutions of the US if they think it will advance their interests. That won’t be forgotten, and no amount of flag-waving or bomb-cheering will cover it up. Also their transnational authoritarianism as it comes into the open can increasingly be met with transnational democratic and social justice movements.
Trump described a $41 million item in the new budget as “almost nothing”:
Trump was referencing his visits to Mar-a-Lago and to his golf courses.
However, the people providing that security had to ask for more money:
Swamp denizen update: Trump appointed an anti-contraception woman to be the deputy assistant secretary of the Office of Population Affairs. That’s a department within HHS that oversees Title X. The Title X program spends about $300 million per year to support family planning services, including contraception.
Teresa Manning is a law professor, and a former employee of anti-abortion groups.
Mother Jones link
Manning sounds like one of the best people for the job. /sarcasm
Gabe Sherman: “BREAKING: Two sources inside Fox News say Bill Shine is out as of this morning.”
Follow-up to comments 59, 65, and 67.
David Blight, a Yale University historian, responds to Trump’s comments about Andrew Jackson:
Link
“First on CNN: Trump administration ending Michelle Obama’s girls education program”:
JFC.
FLOOD THE PHONES.
Steve Bannon’s play about the 1992 Los Angeles riots was acted out by a bunch of Hollywood actors. This is both awful and funny, and holy-cheetos batcrap insane.
There are stage directions for black actors to grab their crotches repeatedly. There are also “[N-words] feeding on each other.”
Scroll down for the video on a Salon page, or view it on Facebook.
There’s also faux Shakespearean dialogue to explain that [N-words] receive goodies for which they have not worked: “[…] look on and you’ll see that the benefits which you receive proceed–from them to you, in no way from your sorry black asses.”
The video is about 19 minutes long.
Oh, FFS. Really, team Trump?
http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/225424/trump-vetoes-carter-tribute-
Regarding the THAAD system in South Korea perhaps someone should explain to Donald Trump that the people the system would supposedly protect includes the 35 thousand some US military personnel in South Korea, along with their dependants. (I say supposedly because I’m not convinced of the actual effectiveness of such anti-ballistic missile systems.)
The NRA and other gun types have been hoping Trump being in power would lead to a loosening of restrictions on the import of Russian firearms. After the Russian intervention in Ukraine the Obama Administration banned imports of products from Kalashnikov Concern as part of sanctions against Russia. This included semiautomatic civilian versions of the AK assault rifle and shotguns marked under the Saiga brand.
That’s mentioned in the article. There’s a lot more to this than that, though.
timgueguen @88. Interesting. I had more or less skimmed past the AK assault rifle sourcing issue.
About that guy Brian Brown that made a brief appearance in SC’s comment 62, here is more background information:
The quoted text is from the Washington Post.
Republican Congress critter and obnoxious white guy, Mo Brooks said some more offensive stuff today about the GOP’s “American Health Care Act.” After he said offensive stuff, Brooks tried to walk it back. Bolding is mine.
Sounds like Brooks is going to sit in moral judgement over your illness, and over how much you should pay for insurance.
Follow-up to SC’s comment 68.
An excerpt from Sean Spicer’s press briefing today:
Link
How are they all plagiarists?
Follow-up to comment 92.
Shorter Sean Spicer: Trump didn’t say what he said.
In other news, a judge in Wisconsin struck down a law, (Unborn Child Protection Act, 1997), that criminalizes pregnant women with a history of drug use. The law labeled the women “child abusers” and also let courts appoint guardians and lawyers to represent fetuses.
Link
SC @93: perhaps their brains do not work well enough to do their own work so they have to steal and/or take credit for the work of others?
A plague of plagiarists.
“House’s No. 2 Democrat Steny Hoyer: Trump should withdraw Army secretary nominee Mark Green over ‘disgusting’ statements” – homophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic.
Further to #96 – Shockingly, Green is also a creationist.
And he says this the same day they gut Michelle Obama’s healthy school lunch program, which they took aim at right from the beginning. It’s all about funneling more money to corporations while controlling poor people, blaming them for their problems, and making their lives as miserable as possible. Hateful.
Here are the representatives to call if you’re in one of their districts.
“Pres. Trump will speak with Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin by phone tomorrow, per White House.”
STFU, you racist twit.
From Josh Marshall’s piece about Trump and Andrew Jackson:
Also, the “religious liberty” phenomenon.
Politico on Trump’s spate of interviews:
(See #49 above for more on 25th-Amendment possibilities.)
Jordan Edwards’ killing by police is not receiving enough attention.
Cover of the new issue of Libération.
Yesterday’s tweet o’ the day.
The twit-in-chief is tweeting again. This time he’s calling for a government shutdown:
This is a follow-up to SC’s 96, and 93 and my comment 80.
Trump is not only filling government departments and agencies with swamp denizens, he is filling them with people who are obviously incompetent.
Rachel Maddow covered the issue of people “failing up,” and proving they were incompetent before he hired them. Maddow pointed out that loading the decks with incompetent people puts his administration at a disadvantage for performing government functions. (Understatement.)
The video is 15:27 minutes long.
What a Maroon @107, Trump is not taking into account that a lot of Republicans are also voting against some of his plans. That’s true in both the House and the Senate.
In other news, (and as a follow-up to comments 57, 59, 65, 67, 82 and 101), Trump is trying to provide cover for his stupid comments about Andrew Jackson:
SC referenced this tweet earlier.
Trump cannot admit he made a mistake … ever. Trump’s main impetus for this whole farce related to Andrew Jackson is that Steve Bannon convinced him that, as American presidents go, Trump is most like Jackson. So, of course this makes Jackson prescient about the Civil War, kind (“big heart”) and, of course, a tough guy. Great negotiator no doubt.
Also, Trump knows history better than anyone. Right?
Link
Jimmy Carter trolled Trump on Twitter:
The Carter account is @CarterLibrary
An update on how team Trump may be able to make Trump’s statement that “ObamaCare is dead” come true:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/obamacare-subsidies-gop-derp
FLOOD THE PHONES.
Current list of “undecideds” on the health care vote:
AK-1 Don Young
CA-21 David Valadao
CA-49 Darrell Issa
CO-6 Mike Coffman
FL-18 Brian Mast
FL-25 Mario Diaz-Balart
FL-26 Carlos Curbelo
IL-16 Adam Kinzinger
IN-5 Susan W. Brooks
KS-3 Kevin Yoder
ME-2 Bruce Poliquin
MI-3 Justin Amash
MI-6 Fred Upton
MN-3 Erik Paulsen
NJ-11 Rodney Frelinghuysen
NY-19 John J. Faso
NY-21 Elise Stefanik
OH-10 Michael R. Turner
PA-4 Scott Perry
VA-1 Rob Wittman
WV-1 David B. McKinley
Talking Points Memo link to the video of Jimmy Kimmel telling a personal story about his new baby and the baby’s health issues.
Kimmel made the point:
Some people liked the stupid comments Trump made about the Civil War. White nationalists and neo-Nazis praised the comments.
Link
What a Maroon @107, some Republican legislators do not agree with Trump when he says that “Our country needs a good ‘shutdown’ in September to fix mess!”
Link
Follow-up to comment 116:
Link
Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California, responded to Trump’s shutdown threat:
In other news, Now we know Donald Trump’s plan to sell tax cuts for the rich.
Wonkette’s coverage of some of the Trump-related farce from the last 24 hours:
This is not good. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross described Trump’s life-and-death decisions to fire missiles as “entertainment”:
Variety link
Ross was speaking at a Milken Institute Global Conference when he made those comments yesterday. Bloomberg described the conference: “Four thousand of the wealthiest, most influential leaders in the world […] in what amounts to a peer review of President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office.”
Hillary Clinton is speaking. MSNBC is carrying it live.
She sounds courageous, smart, well-informed, and willing to take responsibility for her failures.
Jared Kushner failed to disclose a lot of his business connections. In summary:
Link
A Republican solution to health insurance problems people experience if they or their loved ones have pre-existing conditions: move to a state with better health care:
Link
Lynna @ #121 – Clinton was poised, personable, and articulate in that appearance. The contrast with Trump was physically painful. (So of course MSNBC has to go immediately to the authors of Shattered, which seems to be almost a requirement these days.)
I saw this and the first thing I thought was that it was wildly inappropriate. They just had to fix an ad to remove a picture of McMaster in uniform, and now he subjects these kids to a political rant designed to elicit reactions, putting them in an uncomfortable position for no reason.
From Hillary Clinton’s appearance today at the annual Women for Women luncheon in New York City:
Link
Also from Clinton’s appearance in NY today:
Link
@ #123
How’s this for some reassurance. “GOP leadership assured those in the meeting that people with preexisting conditions would be adequately covered, according to lawmakers, because governors would do the right thing.” Do they know any Republican governors? And Paul Ryan and his deputies attempted to rebrand the party’s health care plan as providing “layers of protection” for people with preexisting conditions. What could possibly go wrong with that?
SC @125, I saw that too. Couldn’t watch it all. Trump has used the military as props before. He did it during the campaign, and he is still doing it. Inappropriate, and demeaning to the military.
SC @124, I agree. It was a pleasure to see Hillary Clinton. She answered questions coherently and graciously. It was, at the same time, painful to note the contrast with Trump. Fuck. The people of the USA lost so much when she was not elected.
MSNBC’s constant harkening back to “Shattered” is ridiculous. They are pushing a meme that is not really true (certainly not true for many Clinton supporters anyway). This stupid meme is in harmony with Trump’s claim that the Russian “fake news” about him is just an expression of how deeply shattered the Dems were when he won the election. Dear MSNBC, stop. Just stop.
tomh @127, same as the plan that Republicans have for explaining their tax proposal:
Lie aggressively, lie shamelessly, and lie repeatedly.
The problem is that the repeated lies and misleading presentations from Republicans are hard to counter. A lot of people believe them. A lot of people repeat what they say.
I saw a cartoon in which workers were adding a “Trump Circle” to Dante’s hell. They will also have to add a Paul Ryan Circle.
If Trump really wants to better understand the complexities of the situation leading up to the Civil War, he should just ask Jeff Sessions, who’s pretty obviously an antebellum time-traveler.
Follow-up to comment 114.
President Obama praised Jimmy Kimmel:
The YouTube video version of Kimmel’s comments generated about 2.2 million views so far.
Now they have two men on to assess whether misogyny played a role in Clinton’s campaign problems. Sigh. At least they didn’t cut away from the event.
Ross was speaking at a Milken Institute Global Conference when he made those comments yesterday. Bloomberg described the conference: “Four thousand of the wealthiest, most influential leaders in the world
DeVos was there, too. If you look up the conference site and the attendee list, you’ll discover a couple things that are interesting:
1) It’s that Milken. Now that he’s done his time for fraud, he’s a billionaire philanthropist. Sort of…
2) The conference is not exactly pay for access… but there is a big list of important names (including several of Trump’s cabinet, some has been artists, and a whole lot of corporate goons, venture capitalists, investment bankers, etc)
3) Tickets are tiered from a couple of thousand dollars, up to $50,000. If you sign on at the $50,000 level there are some implications that they’ll help you get a chance to meet and talk with whoever it was you were willing to pay $50,000 to meet and talk with. It’s not quite selling access – because they’re not guaranteeing it – i.e.: they might rip you off.
4) Buzz Aldrin will also be there. So you can pay $50,000 to ask him about the moon landings.
I’ve actually been involved (back in the early 00s) in this sort of conference (I went to a “renaissance weekend” that my company sent me to) so I got to see how it works. The premier cattle (e.g.: Aldrin) are paid a pretty good fee, about $10,000 or so – depending – to attend. So their “speaker fee” is dangled to get them to come and listen to the pitches from the lobbyists who want to meet with DeVos or Ross or Aldrin or whoever. It’s like TED except without interesting talks. I went to a couple of them and basically the panels were “let me tell you about what I do to have fun.” Seriously, one famous author talked about the boat he’d just bought and how hard it was to find parts for, then signed a few books, and left.
Ross and DeVos and any other cabinet members that are going to those events are probably pocketing a stiff fee for being there. And Michael Milken, junk bond king, who helped stimulate the economy (AKA: crash it) in the 80s, is pocketing the leftover change.
Rick Tyler, Republican, offers that Clinton “hasn’t moved on.” She was asked questions specifically about it by Christiane Amanpour and responded to them. Jesus.
This is odd. Sean Spicer left the daily press briefing today without taking any questions.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell disagreed with Trump’s push for Republicans to change Senate rules:
Link
Yes to this. And it seems from some of these media statements that they actually want to ignore or deny the Russian interference entirely, which is shocking.
It’s so frustrating.
“the endless recurrence of ‘but her emails'”
But her emails.
OMG – the video.
DeMint is officially out at Heritage, by unanimous vote of the board.
Tweet o’ the day.
While in White House, Trumps remained selling points for ‘very special’ Philippines project.
The article is from Washington Post journalists Drew Harwell and Matea Gold.
I don’t see how the relationship with Duterte has much bearing on the effort to isolate North Korea. The Philippines do have a relationship with China. The North Korea excuse sounds like a desperate line that a staffer came up with after Trump screwed up.
The videos on the site promoting the Trump project in the Philippines were removed only after the Washington Post sent an inquiry to the White House.
Birds of a feather?
Since becoming president, (and sometimes during the campaign), Trump has expressed admiration for the following leaders:
Vladimir Putin (Russia)
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (Turkey)
Kim Jong-un (North Korea)
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (Egypt)
Rodrigo Duterte (Phillipines)
In the past, Trump also expressed admiration for Saddam Hussein.
What Hillary Clinton said during the campaign:
My take on this (and I’ve heard the same conclusion from others) is that Trump is envious. He wants to be like those leaders.
Not to be outdone, Jake Tapper interviewed Madeleine Albright – former SoS with personal knowledge of Clinton and her campaign – about Clinton’s comments, then turned to…Bill Maher, who immediately expressed his annoyance that Clinton is still around, since she “had her shot” and should just go away now. Moments later, asked if he thought Sanders – who’ll be 80 in 2021 and soundly lost the Democratic primary to Clinton in 2016 – should run in 2020. He responded that he absolutely should, that he has a genuine message and “everyone will have to get behind it.” And that was enough for me. Too bad I couldn’t shut it off before Tapper, smirking, asked him about his calling Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas” to her face. Super well done.
Oh, FFS. Did anyone on team Trump learn from the negative feedback after the State Department promoted Mar-a-Lago on its official website and social media accounts?
The Voice of America is a taxpayer-funded organization. Voice of America is promoting Ivanka Trump’s new book on its website and on its Twitter account:
http://www.voanews.com/a/ivanka-women-at-work/3834161.html
From Think Progress:
SC @145, that’s disgusting. Tapper should be ashamed. Maher should be ashamed.
In other news, Trump is reassuring everybody that he still plans to defund Planned Parenthood:
The Hill link
I have yet to hear any “freedom caucus” asshole talk about health coverage, rather than just premiums, never mind the coverage.
A wish to have the “freedom caucus” have a consciousness transplant….
Wonkette’s coverage of Betsy DeVos’ very, very, very good idea: she’s giving a speech at an historically black university:
Okay, so the very good idea actually came from someone at Bethune-Cook University. Happily, I heap blame the person or persons who invited her. But I still think DeVos should have had the good sense to refuse the invitation.
Some reactions have been negative:
Wonkette’s coverage of Hillary Clintons appearance at the Women for Women International luncheon today was quite good. SC, you might find this a good palate cleanser after that Jake Tapper nonsense.
Nerd @148, good point. They don’t really care about health care.
WaPo’s question: When is it okay to say the president might be nuts?
Obvious answer: when, as now, it has become obvious to any interested person.
From the WaPo link in comment 152:
Too true. He visited the museum, and then he still made stupid comments about the Civil War.
Elizabeth Warren was on Hard Ball with Chris Matthews.
Part 1
Part 2
I bought her book, This Fight is Our Fight, and about 30% through it, it is a power indictment against the entrenched kleptocrats.
Rachel Maddow reported last night on new developments in the Flynn story, based on new reporting from CNN:
Maddow also notes that Comey will testify today before the Senate Judiciary Committee. This is an open hearing at 10AM DC time, so an hour from now. As soon as I find out where it’ll be aired, I’ll let you know. Comey and Rogers will also testify tomorrow in a closed hearing before the House Intelligence Committee.
Meanwhile, Trump’s tweeting again.
Lynna @ #150:
It was – thanks! This piece by Dave Wiegel is also helpful.
This is interesting – a Dutch news outfit, Zembla. will be airing a report tonight at 9:15 PM Dutch time about Trump and a money-laundering operation that involved the Netherlands and was organized by Giuliani’s law firm.
MSNBC and CNN are both saying they’ll be showing the Comey hearing live. I assume they’ll show it in its entirety, but since they both broke away from the Senate Intel hearing for some nonsense last month I don’t fully trust them, so I’ll find out which of the SPANs is showing it as a backup.
Several people are suggesting that Trump’s tweets (linked @ #155) constitute obstruction of justice.
The Comey hearing will be on C-SPAN3.
Comey hearing starting now.
Holy shit, Chuck Grassley – bullshitting about the “dossier.”
Grassley: another Republican unintentionally making the case for a select committee and an independent prosecutor. Now he’s talking about the Clinton emails, FFS, and insinuating that the FBI is on Clinton’s side.
I believe – and Comey isn’t acknowledging – that not only did no requirement that they seek a search warrant just before the election exist, but the guidance is that you do not seek a search warrant in that situation. They could easily have waited two fucking weeks. It was not just a matter of “speak or conceal.”
Gah. Comey is claiming that the integrity of the institution requires that he didn’t consider whether the October 28th announcement might help elect Trump. On the contrary, the purpose of the rules he was supposed to abide by is precisely that, recognizing that such actions would likely affect election results, you don’t engage in them during that crucial period. You don’t seek warrants, make announcements, share information with legislators you know will be leaked,… He put himself above the rules that were designed to protect the integrity of the institution and the democratic process.
Leahy is asking Comey about Kallstrom and Giuliani. I hope someone asks him about Flynn and McCauley.
This is good news.
Outrageous and illegal.
Absolutely. That they don’t even try to feign an interest in the CBO score tells us everything we need to know about their motives.
Jon Lovett: “Now some ‘moderates’ are being swayed by throwing $8 billion at a $200 billion shortfall inside a $1 trillion cut? Despicable.”
A little while ago: “Comey essentially just said the FBI is investigating whether the New York office leaked to Giuliani or others.” Yes, he did. Response to that tweet: “Yep. And DOJ just told me they’re Glomaring that issue.”
Comey brought up the claim that he wanted to go public with a strong statement on the Russian interference in August, but the Obama administration rejected the idea. Why is no one asking him why, then, he refused to have the FBI sign onto the public statement with the other intelligence agencies in October?
I’ve linked to tweets from Topher Spiro a couple of times. One of the best to follow what’s happening with Zombie Trumpcare.
Jane Goodall’s response to Ivanka Trump quoting her in her book.
“Tillerson: US won’t insist nations adopt US values, rights”:
The lying surrounding this bill as it’s rushed through is profoundly insulting to the public and disgustingly callous.
@ 176
An worst of all, it’s working. The Senate will be the last (feeble) hope.
FLOOD THE PHONES.
Schumer: “Proposed @RepFredUpton amendment to #AHCA is like trying to cure stage 4 cancer with cough medicine.”
There are emergency rallies scheduled for noon outside representatives’ local offices tomorrow (Thursday, May 4th).
Sen. Bob Casey is trying to save a 5-year-old boy and his mother from being deported to Honduras where they’re targeted by gangs and will very likely be murdered. He’ll be on MSNBC in about 5 minutes (3:35 PM Eastern).
“About those Trump Voters for God? Stop Calling them ‘Fake Christians’.”
This makes no difference to anything, but it seems like people are talking about the emails of interest being on “disgraced Anthony Weiner”‘s laptop, but it seemed from Comey’s testimony that the ones they allegedly thought might be new were from early in Clinton’s tenure as SoS. She started as SoS in January of 2009, and Weiner didn’t resign from congress until 2011. So it seems like he might have had the appropriate clearance at the time (setting aside the fact that Comey said ultimately only 12 emails out of about 40,000 containing classified material – of, it appears, a minor sort – were found on the laptop…). Again, it doesn’t really matter, but it’s strange that everyone’s assuming he “obviously” didn’t have the clearance to see any Clinton emails. I think this might be why Comey didn’t just go along when people suggested this, instead saying he didn’t believe Weiner had the appropriate clearance. Which, again. makes no difference, because they didn’t find anything damning about her motives and had already seen the handful of emails containing allegedly classified information.
Watching this healthcare debacle unfold, what Jason Kander said about Trump last week keeps popping into my head: “[Trump]’s not a great businessman. He’s a dishonest salesman. He doesn’t make deals. He makes sales. Then he cheats the buyer.”
It seems like the whole “administration” and much of the party has now come to function in the same way. Trump, who poisons everything he touches, has certainly been a catalyst, but the descent of the Republican Party into something often indistinguishable from a flimflam operation has been years in the making.
SC@#183:
So it seems like he might have had the appropriate clearance at the time
It would depend less on whether Weiner had the clearances than upon whether the system was cleared to store classified material. There are two issues: where is the data kept and how? and who has access to it?
Not that I think any of this matters. The FBI’s handling of the issue was shameful and the bureau deserves to be razed and plowed with salt. For lots of reasons.
Entirely on a whim, I went to Marseille yesterday for lunch (and had a great one!). En-route to the restaurant I didn’t eat at, I passed a recycling point which had two hand-drawn posters†: One was about teh le penazis, a caricature of Marine Le Pen drawn as a swastika, with several speech and thought bubbles. I think the speech bubbles were all genuine quotes from various le penazis saying incredibly nasty things, and the thought bubbles were very pointed comments about Le Pen’s and teh le penazi’s claims and such.
The other poster, in the same style and presumably by the same artist, caricatured Emmanuel Macron as a horned goat, with a similar treatment of his quotes and claims.
Whilst the artwork itself, especially Macron-as-a-goat, was a perhaps poorly drawn, overall both seemed quite effective. The representation of Le Pen as a swastika, with the speech bubble quotes (unfortunately undated and uncredited) reenforcing the point, seemed very effective.
† They appeared to be photocopies, so I assume other copies were flyposted elsewhere.
Another young lady here in Europe, this time in the Czech Republic, stands up to nazis, Girl Scout confronts neo-Nazi at Czech rally, “Widely shared photo shows 16-year-old Lucie Myslíková standing up to a rightwing demonstrator in Brno”. There is also a video at the link.
US high school cancels Canada trip over fears students might not be let back in (some minor unmarked edits for formatting reasons):
I was responding not to the status of Clinton’s blackberry, Abedin’s phone, or Weiner’s(/Abedin’s?) laptop but to the comments in the Senate discussion, which focused exclusively on the latter issue.* It was all about how obviously, of course, it was outrageous and criminal for Abedin to forward day to day emails to her husband to print out because he couldn’t possibly be cleared to see any of this information. But he was a congressman for much of the time Clinton was SoS.
The bitter irony of Comey’s choices is that he believed that anything short of recommending the prosecution of Clinton and Abedin would satisfy the bloodlust of the Republicans and maintain his credibility in their eyes. Yesterday’s hearing showed that to be wishful thinking. They were still insinuating, even after the 11th-hour letter that swung the election, that Comey, the FBI, and the DOJ were in the tank for Clinton. Grassley even hinted that the Trump-Russia probe might itself be part of a Russian operation. They only care about destroying Democrats, and everyone involved in any investigative processes should be aware that they’re not acting in good faith. They didn’t want a fair investigation of Clinton’s server, and they don’t want a fair investigation of Trump-Russia. In fact, they’ll do just about anything to stop it, even if that means destroying their own committees, the FBI, the DOJ,…
* Just to note once again – Comey is claiming they found 12 emails which allegedly “contained classified information” out of the 40,000 they examined. The 12 were duplicates of ones they’d already seen, and in response to questioning he seemed to admit that this classified information wasn’t anything to speak of. After his summer testimony, I’m skeptical of his claims about classified material in the first place.
Yesterday’s tweet o’ the day.
Review of Ivanka Trump’s book: “Reading it feels like eating scented cotton balls.”
(I, too, have a quote from Toni Morrison to offer.)
Like Jane Goodall (see #174 above), Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code, isn’t happy about being used for Ivanka Trump’s self-branding: “Saujani tweeted to Trump, telling her ‘don’t use my story in #WomenWhoWork unless you are going to stop being #complicit’.”
Let’s look at another aspect of the Republican health care bill, (which should sink into oblivion under the weight of its cruelty but probably won’t): the bill undermines special education.
From the New York Times:
Republicans are likely to pass a bill tat gives tax cuts to the wealthy while simultaneously weakening schools for special needs children.
A comment from Vickie Glenn, a Medicaid coordinator for a special-education program in Illinois:
Obamacare left employer-provided health insurance untouched, for the most part. Obamacare did add requirements for consumer protections, like, for example, banning lifetime caps (limits) on care costs.
The Republican replacement does not leave employer-provided insurance mostly untouched. This is from the Wall Street Journal:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/little-noted-provision-of-gop-health-bill-could-alter-employer-plans-1493890203
Obamacare established certain foundational principles of health care insurance which no insurance plan could fail to provide. The Republican plan lets states establish their own foundation, rickety as those foundations may be. The law allows employers to follow whatever state establishes the worst standards, the most rickety foundation, if they so choose.
“By choosing a waiver state, employers looking to lower their costs could impose lifetime limits and eliminate the out-of-pocket cost cap from their plans under the GOP legislation.” Quoted text is from the Wall Street Journal.
Andy Slavitt said, Republicans are “creating a backdoor way to gut employer plans, too.” Slavitt headed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in the Obama administration.
From Steve Benen:
“The Republican Health Plan Is a Lethal Moral Obscenity.”
From Josh Marshall:
Well, we knew this was coming, but it is still a shock.
Trump is really working hard to weaken the separation between church and state. He is signing an executive order that will make is easier for religious organizations to engage in political activity.
So, those organizations get tax breaks courtesy of we the taxpayers, and they also get to push rightwing policies and candidates that increase the power of religious organizations?
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-order-religious-groups-political-activity
Translation: The Johnson Amendment is still, technically, in force. But if you contravene the Johnson Amendment, its okay. No penalties.
The American Medical Association has weighed in again with a statement of alarm concerning the Republican health care bill:
Link
NYT review of Ivanka Trump’s book: “Having Trouble Having It All? Ivanka Alone Can Fix It”
Obama formally endorsed Emmanuel Macron.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/obama-endorses-macron
Excerpt below:
Video available at the link.
Some House Republicans are brave enough to speak out (bolding is mine):
Think Progress link
“Nothing to see here just a last-minute AHCA amendment that could affect the health care coverage of half of America.”
I’m glad she’s saying it, but it is easier to speak out when you’re retiring.
There will be a CBO score next week. Hope it comes out the same day Yates testifies.
More news documenting Trump’s propensity to add alligators to the swamp:
Not a good day so far: “WASHINGTON (AP) _ House panel approves bill to undo much of Dodd-Frank law enacted after financial crisis.”
AARP Advocates: “We urge Congress to remain opposed to AHCA. This is an accountability vote & our 38M members are watching. #NoAHCA.”
This is follow-up to comment 198.
The ACLU and other groups are preparing to sue the Trump administration over the latest executive order:
The Hill link
Just in case you’re not sickened enough by what they’re doing today.
From Matt Yglesias:
Yes, exactly right.
It is obvious that the GOP plan would not survive scrutiny from experts, from the public, or from the CBO. Furthermore, it would not even survive careful scrutiny from some Republicans who admit they have not had time to read the bill.
From Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez:
Pelosi just told Republicans they’ll have “every provision of the bill [tattooed] on you foreheads” – “You will glow in the dark with this one.” Followed by a call-and-response with other Democrats and a round of applause.
Unspeakably awful.
“Obamacare had 79 House committee hearings/markups. This bill: zero. Zero.”
Another image. (Cases of beer are being delivered for the celebration.)
I approve wholeheartedly, ‘Out with fascists’: egg thrown at Marine Le Pen (video): “Protesters hurled an egg at French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen on Thursday during a campaign stop three days before the election. About 50 people gathered, shouting ‘out with fascists’, as Le Pen arrived at a shipping company in the western town of Dol-de-Bretagne”. Unfortunately, it was only one(?) egg, and probably wasn’t rotten.
They have 217 Y votes on the board, which is passage. Singing “Na na na na, hey hey hey…” Passed.
Update – I just read it was the Democrats singing.
As Republicans leave the Capitol. large crowd outside shouts “Shame! Shame! Shame!”
Matt Fuller:
“Just gonna guess that Justin Amash is pretty upset that leadership made him vote yes. So much for owning your voting card and stuff.”
“Also, just gonna guess that the DCCC is pretty pleased Carlos Curbelo and Darrell Issa voted for that bill.”
Tweet o’ the day.
Video of protests outside the Capitol.
“Nothing like having a party at the expense of tax payers to celebrate tax cuts for the rich at the expense of the lives of the poor.”
Wry LOL.
Gather ye Bud Lights while ye may…
Another image.
Another image.
“Every Republican who voted for this abomination must be held accountable”:
John Lewis: “Never have I seen legislative action that reveals such clear disdain for the human dignity of the most vulnerable among us.”
Trump was in hyper-bragging mode during the celebration following the Republican vote in the House on the health care bill:
One example of White House spokespeople blowing smoke:
Link
A DOA bill in the senate is cause for celebration by the Liar in Chief.
Hillary Clinton is formulating a strategy to help with the resistance to Trump’s agenda.
Politico link
Fresh off what they consider a win on health care, the House Freedom Caucus is reportedly working on a tax reform plan.
Not looking forward to seeing what other means they concoct for screwing everyone but the wealthy.
Elizabeth Warren’s statement on Trumpcare.
I have a dream.
I have a dream that senators like Warren, Franken, Schumer, Durbin, et al., offer an alternative to Trump/RyanCare.
I have a dream that the package would shore up the problems with the ACA.
I have a dream that the package would include buying into Medicare/Medicaid when the exchanges have only two or less options.
I have a dream that either the (alleged) healthcare companies either work to provide good insurance at competitive rates, or they go out of business if they can’t compete with an option where there is no need for profits or exorbitant executive salaries.
I have a dream.
*Unfortunately, I wake up*
A little good news.
From Michael Tomasky:
NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has put out a statement, noting: “If @realDonaldTrump’s disastrous and unconstitutional #AHCA bill is ultimately signed into law, I will challenge it in court.”
Update to Lynna’s #209: The ACLU won’t be suing over this EO, given that “it turned out the order signing was an elaborate photo-op with no discernible policy outcome.”
From Wonkette:
“The mystery behind a Flynn associate’s quiet work for the Trump campaign”:
Of course.
“Chechen authorities tell parents: ‘Kill your gay sons or we will’, survivor claims.”
Pelosi: “#Trumpcare has never been about health care. It serves only as an excuse for a massive tax cut for the rich.”
MSNBC, I guarantee you virtually none of your viewers are “awaiting Trump speech.” If you plan to air it, I plan to turn you off. We’ve had enough of this garbage for one day, and want some reasoned analysis from Hayes, Maddow, and O’Donnell.
I was wondering about this this afternoon. Chris Hayes checked Breitbart and Fox News, and they’re barely covering the Trumpcare vote.
Hayes will be monitoring the speech and bringing any news from it. Good on ya.