No, It’s Not Trumpcare, It’s Not!

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© RBel.

Kellyanne Conway is back on the airwaves, insisting that the new “healthcare” is not Trumpcare, no, no, no.

Conway, however, pushed back and said that Trump’s name didn’t belong on the bill.

“It’s the American Health Care Act, and I think it’s aptly named that for this reason,” she explained.

So…we went from Affordable to American. Pretty much declares the intent to leave most Americans without any healthcare whatsoever. If you wander over to congress.gov, you will see this: H.R.1275 – World’s Greatest Healthcare Plan of 2017. Yep. The Greatest in the whole world! I’m surprised it isn’t H.R.1275 – World’s Greatest Bestest Bigliest Yuuugest Smartest Healthcare Plan of 2017. (Not the same as the American Health Care Act, but still, the fact that it isn’t satire, oh…)

There isn’t enough mockery in the universe for that one.

I’ll call it Trumpcare if you want to, but I didn’t hear President Trump say to any of us, ‘I want my name on that.’ It’s not about branding according to someone’s name. This is serious business.”

Oh, so the king of branding himself doesn’t want to brand something. Right. The sheer duplicity of republicans is overwhelming. Who was it who started the whole Obamacare thing? Oh, yes, republicans.

Via Raw Story.

ETA: There’s now a shift to remove Trump from Trumpcare altogether, and shift all the blame onto Ryan.

“Miss Piggy”. “News Bimbo”. “Extremely Unattractive”. “Grab ’em by the Pussy”.

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Via Twitter.

Mr. Tweet has been at it again, this time tweeting out his “tremendous respect” for women, even as a whole lot of women are out on the streets today, fighting against fascism, and the Fascist-in-Chief. Mr. Tweet has been met with scorn, and I daresay, many near-fatal eyerolls.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday posted a tribute to International Women’s Day on his Twitter feed, and it was met with instant ridicule and disgust from across the web.

The president, who is notorious for making sexist remarks and was even infamously caught on camera bragging about grabbing women’s genitals, wrote on Twitter that he has “tremendous respect for women and the many roles they serve that are vital to the fabric of our society and our economy.” He also asked his fellow Americans to join him in “honoring the critical role of women here in America & around the world.”

Given his past words and actions, many Twitter users reacted with instant mockery of the president’s supposed “tremendous respect” for women.

It should not be forgotten that Trump has also been accused of domestic violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and rape. It’s more than obvious that he doesn’t have the slightest problem with any of those, especially as he’s bragged about being a serial sexual assaulter. He also has a seriously skeevy view of at least one of his daughters. Oh, and let’s not forget that Violence Against Women grants are poised to be cut. Also, there’s that hideous thing he’s trying to pass off as healthcare, which prominently features removing basic care for women. Yeah, there’s tremendous respect for you.

You can see some of the reactions here.

Facts Be Damned. Oh, And Fuck Women.

White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon listens at right as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting in the White House on January 31. CREDIT: AP Photo/Evan Vucci.

White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon listens at right as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting in the White House on January 31. CREDIT: AP Photo/Evan Vucci.

One of the uglier aspects of the ‘new’ Muslim ban is a focus on ‘honor killings’, even though that’s not a massive problem here in uStates, but it’s a convenient thing to rail about when you’re attempting to incite a racial panic. Just how much the Regime does not care about victims of honor killings is highlighted by the fact that the Violence Against Women grants are going to be eliminated, even though roughly 1,500 women are murdered as a result of domestic violence per year. It should not be ignored that both Trump and Bannon have been accused of domestic violence. Nor should Trump’s attitude toward women in general, which is incredibly ugly. The reasoning behind the ban is nothing more than slimy white nationalism, and there isn’t all that much to cover the shit over, they simply don’t care. Well, that’s not quite fair. They do care about any possibility of having this ban legally overturned as well. As usual the problem does not just rest with the Regime’s legislation and executive orders. It also lies on the shoulders of all those Regime voters and supporters.

I am sick to death of people wringing their hands over these poor, poor Trumpians who start crying when the chickens come home to roost. No, I do not have sympathy for them, because they have none for anyone, they were firmly and flatly in favour of bigotry, hatred, and misogyny, and any of them who claim they weren’t, they are liars. Trump’s whole fucking campaign was nothing but a constant litany of bigotry, hatred, and misogyny, as well as a paen to the might of white, and a psalm sung to the filthy rich.

The whole excuse of “well, some of them just wanted to throw a brick at the establisment” is a fucking lie, too. One Big Lie. If those people truly wanted to buck the establishment, Trump would have been dumped and Sanders would have ended up in the white house, and we would be moving towards a properly socialized government. That would have been tossing a brick at the man. Voting for Trump? For fuck’s sake, how could you possibly get more establishment? The excuse of “they thought he was a good business man!” won’t wash either. Trump’s constant failures over the years were not a secret. His incompetency was out there for all to see, during the whole campaign. The regime voters chose to ignore it. The excuse of “oh hey jobs”? No, doesn’t wash either, because what all those white Trumpians meant by that was “stomp all over those brown peoples!”. They never have anything to say when you point out that they don’t want to work cleaning toilets and peoples’ houses.

No, no more fucking excuses. The assholes who voted in the regime who are now crying? They’re only crying because they weren’t supposed to get bitten on the arse. They wanted all those others to get fucked over. Anyroad, back to the fucked up, shit-caked ban…

President Trump’s second Muslim ban, signed on Monday, includes a provision directing the Department of Homeland Security to collect and make public “information regarding the number and types of gender-based violence against women, including so-called ‘honor killings,’ in the United States by foreign nationals.”

According to numbers from a Department of Justice-sponsored study conducted in 2014, there are less than 30 such “honor killings” in the country each year. The killings — which are “perceived by the perpetrator to be a way to restore honor to the family in the face of a perceived damage,” according to the report — are sometimes “motivated by a radical and dark interpretation of Islam,” as Fox News wrote in late 2015.

The inclusion of the “honor killings” provision in the new Muslim ban marks the second time in a week the Trump administration has outlined a plan to use federal resources “to whip up as much racial panic as possible,” as Matt Yglesias of Vox puts it. The first instance was Trump’s vow to create the Victims Of Immigration Crime Engagement office, or VOICE, during his speech to Congress last week, even though immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans.

In a similar vein, the number of “honor killings” in the U.S. stands in stark contrast to the roughly 1,500 women who are murdered as a result of domestic violence in a given year. But according to numerous reports, Trump’s budget proposal will eliminate the Department of Justice’s Violence Against Women grants. Those grants had a $480 million budget last year and funded 25 grant programs helping domestic violence victims, according to Mother Jones. Trump and chief strategist Steve Bannon have both been accused of domestic assault.

[…]

But the “honor killing” provision is just the latest example of Trump trying to portray Islam in a violent light. Despite the fact that a person in America is much more likely to be killed by a right-wing extremist than a Muslim terrorist, the Trump administration has signaled it wants a federal counter-terrorism program to stop focusing on violent white supremacists and any other extremist groups not comprised of Muslims. And after the Department of Homeland Security released a report last month undermining the administration’s core rationale for the Muslim ban  — “citizenship is unlikely to be a reliable indicator of potential terrorist activity,” it found — the administration tried to downplay the report.

“The president asked for an intelligence assessment,” the a senior administration official told the Wall Street Journal. “This is not the intelligence assessment the president asked for.”

Right. An accurate assessment is provided, but the Tiny Tyrant doesn’t want that, and neither does shadow tyrant Bannon. They want shit shoveled onto a platter, and shaped into the form of whatever they asked for, providing them with a basis for the regime.

Think Progress has the full story.

Also see: The mass deportation of African immigrants that isn’t getting media attention. Nobody noticed.

iPhone or Healthcare? Healthcare or iPhone? Updated.

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The long-awaited “replacement” to ACA has been revealed, and oh, it’s not good. People have been reacting, to say the least, and rethugs are desperately trying to come up with a defense.

The Republican Party’s proposed Obamacare replacement plan is already facing a storm of criticism, and Republican lawmakers are scrambling to defend it on cable news networks.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) appeared on CNN Tuesday morning to explain why obtaining health care is a matter of personal responsibility for millions of Americans, and not an area that requires government intervention.

In particular, Chaffetz said that, under the new GOP plan, poor Americans would be forced to make wise financial decisions if they really wanted to have access to health care.

“You know what, Americans have choices, and they’ve got to make a choice,” he said. “And so maybe, rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love and want to go spend hundreds of dollars on, maybe they should invest in their own health care.”

Oh, there’s that peculiar notion of rethuglican choice again. “Here you are, you have no choice at all, isn’t that great? Now, make the right choice!” A couple of hundred dollars is not going to get anyone very far when it comes to healthcare. Anyone who has ended up with an out of pocket doctor visit could tell you that. Any money left over is eaten alive by prescription meds. Once again, we see a fine example of the loathsome and utterly disconnected attitude rethugs have towards people, especially those with wallets on the thin side – you uppity poor people really shouldn’t have anything except the very basics, it’s not right you have more! You only get a nifty phone or internet access once you’ve hauled yourself up by your bootstraps and made a fortune. Let’s have a dose of reality here, a subject which republicans consistently fail in:

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average premium for an individual health care plan in the United States is just over $235 per month. Buying an iPhone 7 through a wireless carrier and paying for it in installments over a two-year period costs $27 per month.

In other words, forsaking an iPhone 7 will save Americans enough money to pay for roughly 11% of what it would cost to get health insurance.

I’m not wealthy, and I don’t have a smartphone of any kind, but that’s because I don’t like phones. I still think all people should have healthcare, I don’t give the tiniest of shits what kind of gear they may or may not have, because that’s not in the least bit relevant. It is the same old ugly republican line, though: if you don’t have something, it’s your fault. Oh look, you got something. Well, it’s because of that you can’t have anything else. The basic fuck you, while avoiding any responsibility for it.

The so-called replacement plan is a travesty, and that’s an understatement. I’m sure people expected it to be, but as usual, the news is worse than what we imagined. Think Progress has a break down of 6 very important points to the new “plan”. Click on over for the full details, which are appalling.

House Republicans released on Monday a plan to undo Obamacare that will likely leave millions more Americans uninsured.

After significant internal division about the path forward on Obamacare, lawmakers unveiled two bills that, taken together, would repeal and replace President Obama’s signature health care reform law. House committees are expected to hold votes on the bills as early as this week.

Here’s what you need to know about the legislation, and what it says about the House GOP’s plan for the future of health insurance in America:

It includes massive cuts to Medicaid, the program that provides coverage for millions of low-income Americans.

It defunds Planned Parenthood and eliminates abortion coverage.

It includes a big tax break for insurance companies that pay their CEOs more than $500,000 per year.

A significant portion of the bill is devoted to ensuring lottery winners don’t have access to Medicaid.

It could trigger a “death spiral” in the individual insurance market.

It will result in a lot fewer people having health insurance.

Via Raw Story and Think Progress.

UPDATE: Oh my, looks like the Tiny Tyrant is scrambling for something, anything, in the face of the overwhelming scorn for “Trumpcare”. This hasn’t stopped the appearance of Mr. Tweet, though, who started out with this:

Our wonderful new Healthcare Bill is now out for review and negotiation. ObamaCare is a complete and total disaster – is imploding fast!

Jesus. How can anyone be that fucking disconnected from reality and still be on the planet?

Also see: How would repealing the Affordable Care Act affect health care and jobs in your state?

 Across the country, 29.8 million people would lose their health insurance if the Affordable Care Act were repealed—more than doubling the number of people without health insurance. And 1.2 million jobs would be lost—not just in health care but across the board.

Slaves Were Just Immigrants With A Dream.

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Ben Carson. Talking about slaves. Well, in a manner of speaking, very bad speaking. I have no idea how this man ever got a degree of any kind, but this level of stupidity should be lethal.

At one point during the talk, Carson reflected on how America was a land of “dreams and opportunity.”

“There were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships who worked even longer, even harder for less,” Carson noted. “But they too had a dream, that one day their sons, daughters, granddaughters, great-grandsons, great-granddaughters might pursue prosperity and happiness.”

So, slaves were people who just jumped on a ship, stuffed themselves into chains in intolerable conditions, and just worked for less once they arrived here to happy immigrants land. Could we at least get a law which prohibits people this astonishingly dense from speaking in public? Please?

Via Raw Story.

Here They Go Again…

Tucker Viemeister.

Tucker Viemeister.

President Trump is preparing to sign a new executive order Monday that White House officials hope can withstand legal scrutiny in imposing a 90-day ban on U.S. entry for new visa seekers from six majority-Muslim nations, according to a fact sheet the administration sent to Congress.

In addition, the nation’s refu­gee program will be suspended for 120 days, and it will not accept more than 50,000 refugees in a year, down from the 110,000 cap set by the Obama administration.

The new guidelines name six of the seven countries included in the first executive order, but it leaves out Iraq. That nation will increase cooperation with the United States on additional security vetting under separate negotiations and its citizens are not subject to the new order, the fact sheet states.

They hope it can withstand scrutiny? Hope? Jesus Christ, you about have buildings full of bloody lawyers, pretty sure they could just tell you. What they are hoping is that attempting to sound less like draconian fascists will baffle, boggle, and delay those awful judges.

“The United States has the world’s most generous immigration system, yet it has been repeatedly exploited by terrorists and other malicious actors who seek to do us harm,” the fact sheet stated.

No. No, the States does not have the world’s most generous immigration system. One of the nastiest aspects of American exceptionalism is this idea that no matter what is on the table, ‘Merica is always the bestest ever! When it comes to the refugee situation, the U.S. is way the fuck down on the generosity list. The same old bullshit line is being used as justification, the war on terror. Thanks ever, Bush. Again, the behaviour implies the States are the only target of terrorism, which couldn’t be further from the truth. We’ve been pretty damn lucky in that regard, compared to other countries. While this idiocy is going on, Iran and North Korea are playing with missiles. Guess that’s not as important as tearing families apart and making people miserable. Oy. I have canvas and paints out today, so hopefully this will be the day’s dose of stupid.

The full story is at The Washington Post.

Also see this:

Donald Trump’s top advisers try to cheer up the sulking commander in chief by reminding him of their looming plan to endanger the lives of some of the most desperate and vulnerable people on earth.

That fact comes to us not from Trump’s political opponents or some nefarious conspiracy of “Obama holdovers” in the “deep state,” but from Trump’s closest friends and allies in politics.

“And I’m Not Judging, I’m Just Saying,”

Rep. Roger Marshall. CREDIT: (AP Photo/John Hanna.

Rep. Roger Marshall. CREDIT: (AP Photo/John Hanna.)

Yet another rethug is flapping his mouth over healthcare, this time claiming that a certain class of people doesn’t want healthcare, no, and Jesus said so.

In an interview with STAT, Rep. Roger Marshall (R-KS) says he doesn’t support Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion because he believes some poor people just don’t want health care.

“Just like Jesus said, ‘The poor will always be with us,’” Marshall, a doctor and first-term congressman, said. “There is a group of people that just don’t want health care and aren’t going to take care of themselves.”

The author of the STAT piece, Lev Facher, writes that he “pressed” Marshall on that point. But the congressman “shrugged.”

“The Medicaid population, which is [on] a free credit card, as a group, do probably the least preventive medicine and taking care of themselves and eating healthy and exercising. And I’m not judging, I’m just saying socially that’s where they are,” Marshall said. “So there’s a group of people that even with unlimited access to health care are only going to use the emergency room when their arm is chopped off or when their pneumonia is so bad they get brought [into] the ER.”

Interesting that Marshall, who is a physician, thinks that medicare equals unlimited access to health care. I guess when your whole career focus is sucking up to the rich, you can get a highly skewed view of things. Medicare is most certainly not unlimited access to health care, and it’s not remotely true that people who do have medicare/medicaid don’t bother to use it. They do. Healthcare is good, but if you want people to also eat in the healthiest and most nutritious manner, and exercise, you can’t just hand them medicare. Social systems are also needed, to provide safe ways to travel, places to exercise, and in urban areas, problems like food deserts need to be addressed as well, and there’s quite a bit more which also needs to be dealt with. Here in uStates, you get the idea that quality of life is only for those with a certain amount of money in the bank.

As for that “Hey, Jesus said the poor will always be with us”, that’s a transparent and disgusting excuse to continue to wipe your feet on the backs of all those who aren’t deemed to be monied enough.

Marshall’s personal views aside, a Harvard School of Public Health study published last summer shows that Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion resulted in improved health for low-income adults — and fewer ER visits.

“Two years after Medicaid coverage was expanded under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in their states, low-income adults in Kentucky and Arkansas received more primary and preventive care, made fewer emergency departments visits, and reported higher quality care and improved health compared with low-income adults in Texas, which did not expand Medicaid, according to a new study led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health,” a summary of the study says. “The findings provide new evidence for states that are debating whether to expand or how to expand coverage to low-income adults.”

Other studies examining the effects of providing Medicaid coverage to more impoverished people have found similar results.

Oooh, look, studies! Perhaps Rep. Marshall should stick his nose in those, and do a bit of learning. He won’t though, because if there’s one thing rethugs don’t like, it’s having their views challenged in any way.

But Marshall, citing the hospital he helped run in Kansas, suggested he’s primarily concerned with quality of care on the other end of the economic spectrum.

“Our vision was that we would look more like a hotel with customer service that delivered five-star health care,” he said. “So our cafeteria looks more like a coffee shop than it does a sterile hospital dining room. We have bright windows everywhere, and outside of every window there’s a garden. Thinking that healing is more than just a knife and a needle.”

Ah. Well, no wonder you’re not terribly interested in everyday people. They can’t fund your 5 star health hotel. I’d be willing to bet most people would feel better in that kind of environment when ill. Pity all you care about are the rich.

The purpose of the STAT interview was to highlight Marshall’s role as part of the GOP Doctors Caucus, described in the piece as “a group of 16 lawmakers with health care backgrounds who have put themselves at the center of the effort to unwind the Affordable Care Act.”

There’s a bit of terrifying news. One that makes it rather clear the direction ‘healthcare’ is going to take under the rethuglicans. Full story at Think Progress.

Republican Logic: A Living Wage? No, No.

Rep. Dan Shaul (Facebook).

Rep. Dan Shaul (Facebook).

A Missouri representative is rushing to kill off a minimum wage hike, on the basis that certain jobs weren’t ever meant to provide a living wage, so hey, you can keep paying people shit wages. It’s interesting, if depressing, to read all the twists and turns republicans use to justify being corrupt, villainous assholes, with a pointed interest in keeping people poor. Well, some people.

A Missouri Republican introduced legislation that would stop Kansas City from enacting a higher minimum wage — because he said workers weren’t meant to live on those wages.

Rep. Dan Shaul (R-Jefferson City) wants the statehouse to quickly pass his bill that would prohibit cities and counties from paying a higher minimum wage than what is set by state law, reported the Kansas City Star.

The bill contains an emergency clause that would allow it to go into effect as soon as the governor signs it, and the newspaper reported Shaul’s bill is moving quickly through the legislative process.

“The minimum wage wasn’t meant to be a living wage,” Shaul told the Star. “I’m all for family sustainable wages, and I certainly don’t want a family to have to work two or three jobs to get by. But grocery store baggers and fast food work isn’t where you should be working to sustain your family.”

Right. Because if the jobs you can manage to get might be as a grocery clerk or working in a restaurant, well, you should have known better, you stupid peon! Those aren’t proper jobs! Get a good, white person type job, er, white collar job! That way, you can call it a career, and get by just dandy. All that cost of living jazz, well, that doesn’t mean anything. House payments? Pfffft, get a proper job and you can get a loan! Being in debt up to your neck is the American way, you bet. Or you know, you should have just been born rich. It seems the concept of choice is a rethug Shibboleth.

Full story here.

Trump’s Blame Shifting: False Flag!

Tucker Viemeister.

Tucker Viemeister.

Trump is worse than a little sprog. Whenever something bad happens, he immediately looks for someone to blame, anyone except who is actually responsible, like white supremacist scum. In regard to the recent acts of anti-semitism, which are increasing, Trump decided to imply that while sad, they could, y’know, be a false flag operation, done to make someone else look bad. Apparently, the Tiny Tyrant hasn’t figured out that no one needs to make the current nazi infested government look bad, they are doing a fine job of that themselves. Not in the least bit surprising, various white supremacists are also spreading the false flag bullshit. Just in case this is needed: the false flag crap is just that, it’s a lie.

President Donald Trump received a lashing online after suggesting that his supporters were being framed for anti-Semitic bomb threats.

Trump on Tuesday suggested to attorneys generals that threats targeting Jewish community centers and attacks on Jewish cemeteries could be false flag operations. When speaking about the acts, which he called “reprehensible,” the president said “the reverse can be true,” according to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro. “Someone’s doing it to make others look bad,” Trump added.

“He just said, ‘sometimes it’s the reverse,’” Shapiro recalled. “‘It’s to make people or make others look bad.’ He used ‘reverse’ two to three times in his comments.”

The Anti-Defamation League quickly released a statement calling on the president to clarify his remarks.

You can see many of the responses here.

In case that wasn’t enough idiocy, Anthony Scaramucci is trying to pin the blame on democrats, citing Breitbart as his go to source for this claim. Seriously, can we stop the world, I want the fuck off.

A senior adviser to President Donald Trump suggested Democrats may be to blame for dozens of threats recently against Jewish community centers.

Anthony Scaramucci, founder of Skybridge Capital hedge fund and a former employee at Goldman Sachs, sent out a pair of tweets questioning the possibility that Trump’s anti-Semitic supporters may be behind the threats, reported The Hill.

[…]

Scarmucci, a top Trump fundraiser tapped as White House public liaison to government agencies and businesses, linked to a Breitbart News article Tuesday morning on a Project Veritas investigation of “trained provocateurs” at GOP rallies.

“It’s not yet clear who the #JCC offenders are. Don’t forget @TheDemocrats effort to incite violence at Trump rallies,” Scaramucci tweeted.

A reporter called him out for his baseless claim, and Scarmucci doubled down.

Via Raw Story. Same response here: the only thing making Trump look bad is Trump and his crew of henchtoadies.

Tiny Rallies.

The Tiny Tyrant hasn’t been feeling validated enough lately, so he called for Trump fans to have rallies to make ‘merica great and all that shit, BIG HUGE MASSIVE MORE MASSIVE THAN EVER BEFORE rallies. The result was on the teeny tiny side.

Full story here.

We Must Win Wars Again!

Reflections, Lee Teeter, 1988.

Reflections, Lee Teter, 1988.

War. We need more war. We must win those wars! Fuck people, fuck the environment, fuck the economy, fuck healthcare, all we want is cannon fodder – get your young asses over here so we can kill you for no reason! Jesus Fuck.

In a speech to American governors, President Donald Trump attacked the military, saying “We never win wars anymore. We never fight to win. We have to start winning wars again.’

The message was a preface to Trump’s budget announcement that he plans to increase military spending. The United States already spends more in defense than any other country in the industrial world by multitudes. Trump explained that when he was in high school they won wars with major tank battles. In the past he’s spoken out on the lack of battleships that the U.S. military has.

Trump received four draft deferments during the Vietnam War for bone spurs.

That useless, craven caitiff found a convenient, and monied way to get out of the draft. He’s all for other people dying though. I still remember the name of the Lieutenant on my POW MIA bracelet. No word of him was ever heard, or at least no information was ever released. All the government cared about was covering up the travesty of that so called war. I remember handing out those bracelets, a call to action, a mass remonstrance to our government for their shameful actions. Looks like it’s shameful action time again. Trump will start a war so he can feel like a big man. Any takers on whether or not this asshole will try to reinstate the draft?

Fuck. Fuck you, Trump, fuck every single goddamn person who brought us here.

Full story here.

A Tiny Trump Tantrum.

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Our terribly thin-skinned temper tyrant has declared he will not attend the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. The tweet was uncharacteristically restrained, I suspect a staffer tweeted while Trump was raging a tantrum in the hallowed halls. Perhaps Alec Baldwin can host, or our former President, who recognizes fun when he sees it, and who owned his performance:

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Yes, please do! I don’t think Mr. Obama dare do that though, people would most likely not let him go.

No U.S. President has missed the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner since 1981. But one day after major news outlets were banned from a briefing with Press Secretary Sean Spicer, President Donald Trump announced that he’s breaking the 36-year streak.

The dinner, which dates back to 1921, is a time for the president and press to exchange jokes about one another, while reaffirming the important role that news outlets play in a democracy. On Saturday afternoon, Trump tweeted that he’s skipping the annual event.

[…]

Just one day before Trump’s announcement, Press Secretary Sean Spicer prohibited CNN, the New York Times, BuzzFeed, and Politico from attending his daily briefing. He reportedly handpicked the news outlets allowed to attend, including well-known conservative organizations like Fox News, Breitbart, and the Washington Times. The Associated Press and Time decided to boycott in solidarity with the banned reporters.

The outright suppression of the press followed weeks of Trump claiming reputable news organizations report “fake news.” Earlier this month, he tweeted that news media is the “enemy of the American People” — similar to the type of propaganda used to discredit the press in Nazi Germany.

[…]

Trump’s attacks on the media have coincided with damning reports about members of his administration colluding with Russian officials. His decision to skip the annual dinner is just the latest symbol of Trump’s authoritarian leanings.

Full story at Think Progress.

Only Dictatorships Do That!

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Tucker Viemeister.

Monday’s decision by Pres. Donald Trump’s White House to only invite friendly media outlets to an off-camera briefing with Press Secretary Sean Spicer set off a chorus of shock and disbelief in the media world.

The Washington Post reported Friday that less than four months ago, when Press Secretary Sean Spicer was asked if the Trump White House would play favorites among media outlets, he vehemently denied that it would happen.

At a December event hosted by Politico — one of the news outlets barred from today’s off-camera press gaggle — Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that allowing the press free access to government officials is not just a matter of principle, it’s what separates a democracy from a dictatorship.

“We have respect for the press when it comes to the government — that it is something you can’t ban an entity from,” Spicer said. “Conservative, liberal or otherwise. That makes a democracy a democracy versus a dictatorship. I think there is a vastly different model when it comes to government and what should be expected, and that’s on both sides.”

It’s official folks, we have a dictator in office.

Via Raw Story.