Tag: Lies

Trump’s Top Ten Travesties, Week 4

Well, I’d like to report that our “president” has made progress on his promise to drain the swamp, but in fact, those gators are getting fatter by the day. This week’s Swamp News includes the following events:

1. Trump fired Michael Flynn, his National Security Adviser, after evidence of his phone calls with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak was made public. Trump had known about the calls for weeks but took action only after the information was leaked to the public.
2. On Saturday, February 11, while dining with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the open-air patio at Mar-a-Lago, Trump received word that North Korea had launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile. Rather than retiring to a secure location to discuss the crisis, aides huddled around the table—in full view of spouses, wait staff, and fellow diners. One diner posted photos on Facebook, along with commentary on what was happening and even posted a photo of himself with “Rick,” the aide-de-camp who carries the nuclear “football” for Trump. The Facebook account has been deleted, but the damaging photos and comments are still floating around the Internet. And needless to say, the stupidity which led to the mishandling of the situation is still very much intact.
3. The Office of Government Ethics has recommended disciplinary action against top adviser Kellyanne Conway for giving Ivanka Trump’s clothing and accessory line a free TV commercial on Fox and Friends. Apparently she forgot to read the Emoluments Clause in the Constitution. But who can blame her? Has anyone in this administration read any part of the Constitution?
4. Trump abandoned decades of diplomacy with Israel/Palestine by announcing that he would consider a one-state solution. This is a devastating blow to Palestinians who suffer under the continued incursions into their territory by Jewish settlers and to the decades of diplomacy that have kept the possibility of an equitable two-state solution alive.
5. Trump walked out of a joint press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu when he was asked about Michael Flynn and the administration’s ties to Russia.
6. Trump’s nominee for Labor Secretary, Andrew Puzder, withdrew after it became apparent he could not get the necessary votes for confirmation because of well-founded concern over his past business practices and personal ethics.
7. Trump has scheduled a campaign-style rally in Florida this weekend to bolster his wounded ego. The screaming, chanting crowds are what he needs to reassure him that everybody likes him and he’s winning. Do we need any more proof that we’ve elected a mentally ill, emotionally crippled, man child to the White House?
8. Trump’s first choice for a National Security Adviser to replace the fired Michael Flynn was Robert Harward. Harward, however, declined the offer after watching Trump’s chaotic performance in Thursday’s press conference, calling Trump’s offer a “shit sandwich.”
9. A draft memo which has been circulating for a couple of weeks suggests that as many as 100,000 national guard troops will be militarized to round up immigrants for deportation. The Trump administration has called the report 100% false, but it seems this may be yet another embarrassing leak which they were unprepared to defend.
10. And the centerpiece of this week’s Chaos in the Swamp is Trump’s first solo press conference since he took office. The conference has been variously described by media outlets as “unhinged,” “chaotic,” “a train wreck”; and his behavior has been called “petulant,” “combative,” “angry.” And these are the kinder descriptions. Aside from utterly humiliating our nation in the eyes of the world with his juvenile tantrums, Trump has declared all-out war on our media, calling such historically respected models of journalism as the New York Times “fake news.” This can’t possibly end well.

So until next week’s edition of the Swamp News, keep watching those waters rise. We’re in for a tidal wave.

Trump’s Top Ten Travesties, Week 3

This week, in our nation’s increasingly chaotic capital, the Trump administration has clearly NOT drained the swamp. Here’s the raw meat they’ve thrown to those swamp gators this week:

1. Kellyanne Conway (aka, per Keith Olbermann, Kellyanne Conjob) provided Ivanka Trump “a free commercial” for her clothing line, saying during a Fox News interview, “Go buy Ivanka’s stuff.” She has been “counseled” on this violation of ethics laws.
2. The “president” was defeated in appeals court. The panel of judges voted unanimously, 3-0, to uphold the lower courts’ suspension of Trump’s travel ban. In his usual fashion, Trump expressed his fury via Twitter: “See you in court.” When you think about it, that’s somewhat ironic, since he had already seen them in court, and he lost. The case is almost certain to wind up in the SCOTUS.
3. Betsy DeVos was confirmed as Secretary of Education, a job for which she has clearly demonstrated her gross lack of qualification.
4. Jeff Sessions was confirmed as Attorney General, despite his being rejected for a federal judgeship 30 years ago based on his overt racism.
5. The Senate Majority Leader silenced a fellow senator (a woman) who had begun to read a letter written by the widow of Martin Luther King Jr. citing relevant information regarding Jeff Sessions’ qualifications to serve as Attorney General. “She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.” This may well be the most important story of the week.
6. Trump’s SCOTUS nominee called Trump’s Twitter attacks on the judge who imposed the suspension of his travel ban “disheartening” and “demoralizing.” When Sen. Richard Blumenthal reported these remarks, Trump went after the messenger, attacking Blumenthal’s past actions and accusing him of lying about Gorsuch’s comments. It became clear Trump was the one who was lying (again) when Gorsuch and other Republicans affirmed that he had indeed made the comments.
7. Trump allegedly didn’t know that he had signed the appointment seating Bannon on the National Security Council and unseating the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the director of national intelligence. Many interpret this to mean that Bannon himself is making the appointments and Trump is rubber stamping them.
8. Trump attacked Nordstrom on Twitter for dropping his daughter Ivanka’s clothing brands from their stores.
9. Steve Bannon can’t stop talking about war, making dire predictions about imminent catastrophic conflicts.
10. White House national security adviser Michael Flynn is in the hot seat for “potentially illegal” phone calls with officials in Russia, some of which took place before Trump was officially president. He of course has lied about his actions.

Overall, from the administration’s inability to find light switches to the mountain of lies they are piling up, the laws they are violating, the constant leaks, the conflicts of interest, and the appointments of unqualified cabinet members, our White House is sitting in the middle of a big, creepy swamp that won’t be drained any time soon.

Trump’s Top Ten Travesties, Week 2

This week, our new “president”

1. Insulted the prime minister of Australia, one of our allies, in an angry and thuggish phone conversation which Trump ended abruptly less than halfway into the scheduled time. John McCain and others felt compelled to attempt damage control because of the embarrassment and the potential damage of Trump’s creating a rift between the U.S. and a solid ally.
2. Hastily orchestrated and sloppily executed a raid on Yemen, which resulted in the deaths of a Navy SEAL and about 30 other people, some of whom were Al Qaeda operatives but the number also included 10 women and 3 children. (Huffington Post)
3. Continued addressing conflict on his travel ban through Tweets rather than constructive dialogue among government agencies to arrive at an equitable solution. Ended the week in a battle with a federal judge in Seattle who has issued an order blocking Trump’s ban.
4. Continued to embarrass our country in the eyes of the world through the careless and dishonest remarks of his adviser Kellyanne Conway and press secretary Sean Spicer. This week, Conway added the “Bowling Green Massacre” (an event she fabricated on the spur of the moment) to her book of “alternative facts.”
5. Swore in Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State despite his receiving the largest number of negative votes for a secretary of state in U.S. Senate history. Tillerson is the former chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil. From The Atlantic: “His company’s relationships with Russian President Vladimir Putin; a shadowy Russia-U.S. oil venture based in the Bahamas, a tax haven; as well as, allegedly, the governments of Iran, Syria, and Sudan, suggest a pragmatic businessman whose pursuit of profit, while legitimate, leaves him open to difficult questions on his foreign ties.”
6. Appointed far-right evangelical Jerry Falwell Jr to head an education task force, which “will push to stop regulations coming out of the Education Department, especially those that apply to colleges and universities.” (per Len Stevens, spokesman for Liberty University)
7. Made plans for his third weekend as “president” to include two events which place his conflicts of interest front and center once again: “Trump will spend Saturday and Sunday nights attending private events where his presence, and the attendant press coverage of the president, stand to directly benefit the properties’ bottom lines. Given that Trump earns income from both of these properties, his decision ― as president ― to attend events there creates the appearance that he may be using the presidency to increase the visibility, prestige and financial value of his clubs.” (Huffington Post)
8. Threatened Iran. National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, in response to Trump’s criticism of various existing agreements between the U.S. and Iran: “As of today, we are officially putting Iran on notice.”
9. Made remarks at a Black History Month event which not only managed to praise himself and attack CNN once again but revealed his utter ignorance of important black historical figures such as Frederick Douglass.
10. Signed a deregulation order requiring administrative agencies to revoke two regulations for every new regulation they propose implementing. This order would apply to a wide range of agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, which affect public health and consumer protection.

What he did NOT do in Week 1 or Week 2 is show ANY sign at all of “draining the swamp.” Those gators are looking mighty healthy and well-fed to me.

This is a column I’ve been doing for an action group newsletter, and I’m going to start sharing it here on my blog also. Even though conscientious readers will already be aware of the events by the time the list is published, I think it’s helpful to see the full impact of what’s happening in one concise list; and although it’s difficult to limit the list to only 10, these are in my opinion the ones with the greatest impact.

Trump’s Top Ten Travesties, Week 1

During Week 1 of the Twilight Zone “presidency,” #45

1. Signed 12 executive actions: 4 executive orders and 8 presidential memoranda.
2. Gave the green light to Dakota Access and Keystone pipelines, removing environmental protections put in place by President Obama.
3. Reinstated the global “gag rule” which bans U.S. support to foreign organizations that even discuss abortion with their clients.
4. Issued a “Border Security” executive order which states that Congress will allot federal funds for the “immediate construction” of a southern border wall.
5. Gave the go-ahead for Congress to begin immediately working toward repealing the Affordable Care Act (which, by the way, is the name we should use consistently from now on, since there are many among our citizenry who don’t know that the ACA and Obamacare are the same thing).
6. Began managing information output to the public: gag orders on government agencies (Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Transportation, Interior Department, National Institutes of Health, Department of Agriculture, Health and Human Services [which includes the CDC and Food and Drug Administration] and other agencies) and removal of certain topics from the White House website.
7. “Signed an executive order Friday that bans Syrians from taking refuge in the United States, halts the U.S.refugee resettlement program for four months and temporarily blocks people from a handful of unnamed countries from entering the U.S. at all.” (Huffington Post) It should also be noted that the ban excludes countries with which Trump has business ties.
8. Imposed a federal hiring freeze.
9. Lied repeatedly about the size of his inauguration crowd and the fantasy that he lost the popular vote because 3-5 million “illegals” voted for Hillary Clinton and required his press secretary and chief aides to repeat and validate his lie.
10. Withdrew the U.S. from the Trans Pacific Partnership.

And as a footnote, Trump became the first president in U.S. history to be widely labeled a pathological liar and who made it necessary for news outlets to form policies regarding how they will respond to his lies and what terminology they will use (“falsehoods,” “misstatements,” “false statements,” “lies,” etc.) when referring to his frequent LIES.