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Showing posts with label Axios. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Axios. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

More Presidential Last Days Insanity

 It's difficult to even keep up with, let alone believe all the things this Republican Party President is saying and doing in these his last days in that office.


First today, this morning, there was this. He's still pushing this nonsense, this lie, this untruth.

In odd video, Trump falsely suggests he received a Nobel prize

Added to that, check out just a bit of the article:

The fact that Donald Trump is still releasing campaign-style ads is itself bizarre. Election Day was eight weeks ago; the Republican incumbent lost badly; and if these commercials are intended to create a groundswell of support for the outgoing president, he's likely to be disappointed.

But while the effort is odd, the details of the latest campaign-style ad are considerably more ridiculous. In the new, minute-long video that Trump posted online late yesterday, the first on-screen text reads, "Trump stands for America," which is a strange message for a president who's spent months attacking his own country's democracy. It's followed by, "Trump stands for American jobs," which is also weird given his poor record on job creation.

The video goes on from there, making other curious boasts. "Trump stands for American justice" is belied by his corrupt pardon abuses, while "Trump stands for military might" is an interesting choice given his recent veto of funding for his own country's military. It culminates in a five-word message: "Trump: He's what's for America," which is a rhetorical construction so clumsy, I wonder if the president's communications team was drunk when they wrote this.

Just loony. Fortunately, either his insanity or his stupidity, whichever it is that moment, helps his perceived enemies, hurts him and hurts what is supposed to be his own political party.

WSJ editorial board: Trump's push for $2,000 checks will hand Democrats the Senate

On the $2000 COVID assistance for Americans today, first this happened, no surprise.

McConnell blocks quick vote on $2,000 stimulus checks


The wonderful thing about the $2000 stimulus check in COVID assistance is that it's tearing down this President's own political party.


The two GOP Senators in the Georgia runoff, Perdue and Loeffler have had to come out for it, too.

The irony of this next issue and headline just stunned me.


Donald Trump. President Donald J Trump. Saying someone else doesn't lead. You can't get any more ironic, or hypocritical, than that.

Then, what he is doing is attacking members of his own political party, instead, God love him.


Honestly, this President and his unpredictability and lashing out is not just unprecedented but...what? Insane? Certainly unpredictable.

Speaking of no leadership...


Nashville, Tenn., Mayor John Cooper (D) on Monday said that he has not spoken directly to President Trump since the intentional detonation of an RV in the city’s downtown on Christmas.

“No, I haven’t,” Cooper told CNN when asked if he had heard from the president since the bombing.

Keeping in mind he could be leading us all through this worst, most deadly, killing international pandemic in the last more than 100 years.



Not done there...


But no.

Instead of leadership, this is where his attention has been and where his insanity hurts us, hurts the nation.

Trump's desire for 'wild' protest sparks fear among US officials

One observer noted that Trump will fail in Congress, but the greater danger "is on the streets, where pro-Trump forces are already threatening chaos."

It was nine days ago when Donald Trump announced via Twitter that there would be a "wild" protest in the nation's capital on Jan. 6, the day Congress will formally certify President-elect Joe Biden's victory. The Republican has referenced the gathering while insisting he won the election he lost, and Trump has returned to the subject several times since, including in a weekend tweet in which the outgoing president declared, "Never give up. See everyone in D.C. on January 6th."

More on the possibility of violence issue.


Fortunately, this went in our favor the last few days. Ultra-conservative, Right Wing, Republican Party supporting Rupert Miurdoch's own New York Post blasted this President Trump for denying our election with a big front page story.


Mr. President, it’s time to end this dark charade.

We’re one week away from an enormously important moment for the next four years of our country.

Meanwhile, Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen came out with this. 



President Donald Trump's former lawyer and self-described fixer, Michael Cohen, said the president's pardons and sentence commutations for close associates such as Michael Flynn and Roger Stone could be a big mistake. Cohen told MSNBC on Monday that by pardoning these allies, Trump could be unintentionally giving prosecutors the power to force these close associates to testify against him. Cohen suggested that the people Trump pardoned would no longer be able to invoke their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and therefore must comply with investigations into Trump. Trump faces multiple lawsuits and criminal investigations when he leaves the White House.

It might well help to explain the pressure on Trump and his seeming unraveling.

And yes, this next article is the Washington Post and they are tough on this President but it shows he is getting lots and lots of really bad press.


Then there's this from Salon.


It's gotten so bad now, at the end of this presidential administration, it's even falling in on his Vice President Pence.


I can't imagine anyone other than Mike Pence has been more loyal to Republicans but they attack him for not supporting Trump in his fraudulent effort to overturn our votes and election. Incredible.

But wait, there's more. There's much, much more.


So far in this administration, I think Vice President Mike Pence did just what he wanted to do. That is, he laid low, quiet, rather out of sight and so, hopefully on his part, I believe, out of mind. No more. At the end and seemingly clear unraveling of this President and his administration, even he is finally getting some negative hits from all of this. It's no way a complete surprise bad as this administration is failing and flailing but it's certainly not the way he VP Pence, planned this, that's for sure.

So stay tuned, America, Americans. There's no telling where we're headed or what this President Trump will say or do, as we've seen. Hoping the worst isn't still ahead of us.

The good news? We're down to only 3 weeks left in this nightmare administration as of tomorrow.

Hallelujah.

Additional link:




Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Imagine for a Moment You're Donald Trump Just Now


Imagine for a moment you're Donald Trump just now. Yeah, I know. Sorry. Anyway, you're facing the following-- You have your back against the wall and in a couple ways--
  • New York State is investigating your taxes in at least 2 different cases, for possible fraud
  • Ireland is also investigating your for your taxes so that's international problems, too
  • He likely, apparently owes, reportedly, nearly, if not actually 1 billion dollars to who knows who,and then finally,
  • There's anything and everything he may be investigated for and possibly found guilty while he was President.
He's reportedly now turning on his Vice President and virtually, if not actually, everyone.


A bit from the article:

“President Trump, in his final days, is turning bitterly on virtually every person around him, griping about anyone who refuses to indulge conspiracy theories or hopeless bids to overturn the election,” Axios reports.

“Targets of his outrage include Vice President Pence, chief of staff Mark Meadows, White House counsel Pat Cipollone, Secretary of State Pompeo and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.”

“Trump thinks everyone around him is weak, stupid or disloyal — and increasingly seeks comfort only in people who egg him on to overturn the election results. We cannot stress enough how unnerved Trump officials are by the conversations unfolding inside the White House.”

So happy holidays, y'all. Think happy thoughts.

There's a vaccine on the way and this Presidency and 2020 are both nearly over.


Friday, November 20, 2020

This Maddening, Possibly Frightening President Now

 This so sorry excuse for a President and "leader" is still, still, to this day, pushing to ignore our election, deny that election, ignore our vote and votes and subvert our Democracy.

In Pennsylvania, Trump wants questioned ballots or the entire election thrown out. His claims of fraud remain baseless.

Even Fox's own deeply Right Wing loony Tucker Carlson says Trump and his legal team have no evidence of election fraud. 

Tucker Carlson bashes Trump attorney Sidney Powell for lack of evidence in fraud claims: ‘She never sent us any’

Worse, once again it looks as though people in this administration are actually harming or trying to harm the nation, too, one way or another, no exaggeration.

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin cuts off several Federal Reserve emergency aid programs, sparking unusual rebuke from Fed

Check that out.  Rebuked by someone, another department, in their own same administration. It's insane. We've never experienced anything like this in our nation I don't believe.

Here's another example of what leadership looks like to this man, this President, this Donald J Trump.

President Trump golfs at Trump National Golf Club on Sunday in Sterling, Va. (Al Drago for The Washington Post)
President Trump golfs at Trump National Golf Club on Sunday in Sterling, Va. (Al Drago for The Washington Post)

Trump could be a no-show at virtual G-20 as coronavirus ravages the globe

The White House won’t say whether the president will participate in this year’s summit of world leaders

We know why Trump wants to hold onto his position what with tax and criminal investigations pending on, of and for him.

NY probes Trump consulting payments that reduced his taxes


Apparently Ivanka won't be unscathed by the examination, either.


Is it any wonder Trump expressed dislike for New York in the last month or two? They're examining his taxes--for fraud--on at least two different levels. I believe this is the third.

Fortunately, at least a few Republicans are speaking up about this President and his tactics.



Retiring GOP Sen. Alexander said Trump should provide the Biden team with all resources necessary for a smooth transition.

This next one is a very pleasant surprise.


I frankly thought Senator Ernst would lay low and keep quiet on this. I'm pleased to see she's doing the right thing here on this.

This naturally pleased me, too, of course, logical as it is.


Former AG Eric Holder weighed in, thank goodness.


And this is the status just now, fortunately. Not that reality means anything to this Orange Man or his supporters, sadly, tragically.


Unfortunately, this is where far too many people in this Republican Party stand.


This is where this President and his political party have brought us.


“To succeed, Biden will have to do more than secure Americans’ right to vote, ensure that workers’ wages rise, and return life to some semblance of pre-pandemic normality, although those are all necessary,” Adam Serwer writes. “He must show Americans that the government can serve the people, and not just the ambitions, avarice, and ego of its leader.”


National security is one of the major reasons smooth transitions are so crucial, says Barbara Perry, director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia's Miller Center. Perry notes that the 9/11 Commission pointed to the shortened transition period between Bill Clinton's administration and the Bush administration after the disputed 2000 results in Florida as playing a role in al-Qaida's attack in 2001.

Besides not leading the nation during this killing pandemic, this just took place, too. This is from Axios.


The largest free trade area in the world came into existence over the weekend — and the U.S. was not even invited.

Why it matters: For the first time in living memory, the hegemon at the center of a major global free trade agreement is not the U.S.

China has stepped into Uncle Sam's shoes, and now anchors the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, an area covering 2.2 billion people and 1/3 of all the economic activity on the planet.

So here's the question. The New York Times poses it this week.


To which I answer, no, no we can't restore the rule of law without prosecuting Trump. Further, and just as importantly, at least, we need to make certain no one and nothing like Donald Trump happens again here, too. Donald Trump's crimes have been too numerous and they have been too grievous, too, both. 

And again I say, because it's deserved, too, still, still we are leaderless in this the most killing, deadly international pandemic in the last more than 100 years.


Still, still no leadership from this man Trump, our supposed leader, our President on this pandemic, in any way.

The time has more than come, America.



We are, frankly, America, in one helluva mess, medically as well as politically and this President and his political party are standing squarely in they way of any solutions.

#Throwthebumout


Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Precisely How Poor, How Bad This Republican Party President's "Leadership" Is


This is what it's come down to.  This is how bad, how poor the excuses for leadership from this White House, from this President has gotten.

The TV networks break away from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES because he goes counter to his own, our own health experts.


  • CNN, MSNBC, ABC News, NBC News, and CBS News cut away from President Trump's lengthy coronavirus briefing on Monday night.
  • During the briefing, Trump chafed at the idea of continuing the widespread order for people to stay home, saying it was harming the economy. His top infectious-diseases expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, had said social-distancing measures would need to be in place for "several weeks."
  • CBS told Insider that it "plans to continue covering briefings whenever possible" but may cut away for other programming. MSNBC told Insider that it "cut away because the information no longer appeared to be valuable to the important ongoing discussion around public health."
  • Critics of the president have called for networks to stop airing the briefings. "All of us should stop broadcasting it, honestly," MSNBC's Rachel Maddow said on Friday. "It's going to cost lives."
  • On Tuesday, Seattle's NPR station, KUOW, also announced it would not broadcast the briefings live "due to a pattern of false or misleading information."
Thanks, Republicans!

Meanwhile, I just ran across this.


It's not saying a great deal because he's never enjoyed traditional support most Presidents get and we are in a national emergency so I get that his supporters are behind him but still.

Additionally, more reason for concern.

60% of Americans approve of Trump's coronavirus response: poll


I don't know what's more frightening--the coronavirus pandemic or Trump's handling of it. Neither are predictable and both could kill.

And then there was this cold, incredibly callous ignorance from, yes, another Republican only yesterday.


And keep in mind, this is from a man who is 69 years old.

So again, thanks, Republicans! Many thanks.

Additional links:





Sunday, March 22, 2020

If This Coronavirus Hasn't Concerned You Yet, To Date, This Could. Maybe Should


Wonder why the Dow and markets keep sinking, crashing, day after day for the last few weeks?

This might be it.

Men stand in line outside a depression soup kitchen, 1931. National Archives photo


A bit from the article:

In its latest repricing of the economy, the market sees the now-expected global recession caused by the coronavirus outbreak morphing into an economic depression unlike any the world has seen in generations.

The big picture: Bankers and traders are looking to sell everything that isn't nailed down to boost cash positions and hunker down for the worst.

What they're saying:
  • JPMorgan wrote down its expectations for global GDP to -1.1% in 2020, expecting the world's economic growth will reverse for the full year, including a second quarter contraction of -14% in the U.S. and -22% in the eurozone.
  • Deutsche Bank economists foresee a "severe global recession occurring in the first half of 2020 ... quarterly declines in GDP growth we anticipate substantially exceed anything previously recorded going back to at least World War II."
  • Both banks noted their forecasts are based on governments putting in place massive, yet-to-be-passed fiscal stimulus programs and fairly swift containment of the outbreak.
  • "It is easy to imagine a still worse outcome," DB analysts, led by head of economics research Peter Hooper and seven chief economists, wrote.
The most dire warning came from Pershing Square Capital Management CEO Bill Ackman, who went on CNBC to beg President Trump to shut down the U.S. economy for 30 days and put the country in a nationwide lockdown.

"Until a vaccine is manufactured, distributed and injected we will go through a Depression-era period in the country," Ackman said. "America will end as we know it unless we take this option."
And here I was just anxious about the conornavirus.

Silly me.

Thank goodness we have good, strong leadership coming out of the White House and this Republican Party President and his administration.

Right?

Link:



Sunday, May 13, 2018

Don't Look Now But a Town In Rural Missouri Just Got Hit. And Hard


Image result for rural hospitals

I hadn't seen anything of this but it seems a hospital in rural Missouri, in the town of Kennett, is closing.

116-bed Missouri hospital to close 

next month


The website Axios simply and clearly points out three very big factors of all this:
  • Many people are worried residents won't get care at all or will suffer from having to drive long distances for hospital care.
  • "We have two nursing homes, and people are already talking about pulling their loved ones out because there's not a hospital close enough," one worker said.
  • "This little town just lost its biggest employer...financially, a lot of businesses are going to suffer," another employee said.
  • Kennett is a farming community in Dunklin County, whose residents are poor and have some of the worst health outcomes in the state. (The area overwhelmingly voted for President Trump in 2016.)
Get that.

Not only losing your town's only hospital but also it's biggest employer. Talk about a double, if not triple or worse "whammy."

Can you imagine even being elderly in that town, let alone in a nursing home, knowing your town is losing its hospital?

If you had a loved one in a nursing home there, would you keep them there?

Worse, if you were in that nursing home and in reasonably good condition otherwise, would you want to stay there, in that town, in that nursing home?

What do you bet the nursing home or homes in Kennett, Missouri will be losing patients, customers? And quickly?  I would be very surprised if, in only a couple to a few years, the nursing home or homes there don't also close, have to close. I certainly hope I'm wrong about that.

Then, can you imagine being an employee of the hospital? Thinking you had a job for life? And you're in rural Missouri, rural America. The nearest hospital is 50 miles away. Further, do you think they have many job openings? It's questionable, at least.

The heck of it is, this is not good for the town of Kennett but it's not good for that entire area. It's not good for that region, that part of the state. Simply put, it's no way good for Missouri.

It's not good for America. It's not good for the nation.

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More of the fuller situation that brought this about here, below:


Other links: