1/ The always excellent Frank Rich with a reality check on the BS coming out of the President Elect's administration.....
Most weeks, New York Magazine writer-at-large Frank Rich speaks with contributor Alex Carp about the biggest stories in politics and culture. Today: Trump’s many, many conflicts of interest, the future of the Democratic opposition, and some Oscar-worthy movies to take your mind off all of it.
After the press revealed that a hastily assembled “Opening Day Foundation,” with Donald Jr. and Eric Trump on its board, was selling access to the president-elect and his family the day after his inauguration, for $500,000 to $1 million, the Trump family abruptly distanced itself. Simultaneously, Trump surrogate Newt Gingrich floated the idea of using the presidential pardon to help advisers get around conflict rules. What happens if Trump doesn’t work out a consistent conflicts-of-interest policy before his inauguration? I hate to break it to anyone at this time of year, but (a) there is no Santa Claus, and (b) there will be no conflicts-of-interest policy in the Trump administration.
2/ Paul Krugman with another excellent column "How Republics End"....will make you think because many people still have the naive thought that our institutions will resist a demagogue like Trump - they won't, as they have been weakened by Republicans for 30 years and are still there, but vulnerable....this country is in a dangerous place.
Good writing....
Many people are reacting to the rise of Trumpism and nativist movements in Europe by reading history — specifically, the history of the 1930s. And they are right to do so. It takes willful blindness not to see the parallels between the rise of fascism and our current political nightmare.
But the ’30s isn’t the only era with lessons to teach us. Lately I’ve been reading a lot about the ancient world. Initially, I have to admit, I was doing it for entertainment and as a refuge from news that gets worse with each passing day. But I couldn’t help noticing the contemporary resonances of some Roman history — specifically, the tale of how the Roman Republic fell.
Here’s what I learned: Republican institutions don’t protect against tyranny when powerful people start defying political norms. And tyranny, when it comes, can flourish even while maintaining a republican facade.
3/ A good story from the Times telling Democrats to fight like Republicans....although the omens aren't good when Chuck Schumer, Democratic leader in the Senate, has already said he will work with Republicans to pass some Trump bills....
On Monday, members of the Electoral College will vote in Donald J. Trump as president. Though he lost the election by nearly three million votes and almost daily generates headlines about new scandals, the Democratic Party is doing little to stop him. If you’ve been asking yourself “Where are the Democrats?” you’re not alone.
Since the election, top Democrats have been almost absent on the national stage. Rather, they have been involved largely in internecine warfare about how much to work with Mr. Trump. The Hillary Clinton campaign, trying to encourage a peaceful transition, has gone almost completely dark, with her most notable appearances coming in selfies with strangers. Nobody deserves downtime more than Mrs. Clinton, but while she is decompressing, the country is moving toward its biggest electoral mistake in history.
4/ A German supermarket decided to give their customers a treat for Christmas.....a "nice" two minutes....
5/ For all of us hoping the Republican base will rise up when they see Trump isn't "draining the swamp" of lobbyists and rich people forget it - this interpretation of trump's words was the media's.
Trumpies have a completely different meaning to Drain the Swamp....they mean YOU!
Steve Bannon; Steven Mnuchin; Gary Cohn (Credit: AP/Kevin Hagen/Evan Vucci/Getty/Salon)
During the campaign, Donald Trump frequently promised that once in Washington he would “drain the swamp.” That phrase was generously interpreted by huge swaths of the news media to mean that Trump intended, in populist style, to reduce the influence of elite bankers and corporate lobbyists in politics. That, in turn, means that the president-elect is now being accused of hypocrisy after he turned around and started hiring a bunch of bankers and billionaires and other such swamp critters.
But there’s little evidence that Trump’s supporters ever thought he was talking about the influence of financial elites or big corporations when he swore to drain that swamp. On the contrary, they seem to have understood his remarks as an attack on liberalism and its defenders.
6/ Very funny indeed - a clever and pointed five minute SNL cold open, with Trump, Putin and John Goodman as Rex Tillerson.....one of their post-election best....
After taking a break last week, Alec Baldwin returned to the final Saturday Night Live of 2016 to reprise his impression of President-elect Donald Trump. Baldwin teased his Twitter followers in the afternoon—and, boy, did the cold open make up for the past few weeks, giving us Kate McKinnon's Kellyanne Conway; Cecily Strong as future First Lady Melania Trump; a shirtless Vladimir Putin, as delivered by a preening Beck Bennett; and Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson—played by John Goodman!
7/ A serious interview [meaning only a few jokes!] with maybe our wisest political comedian, Bill Maher. He makes a lot of sense, and he's worried......an excellent eight minutes....
Bill Maher has slammed Donald Trump’s Cabinet choices as being from “opposite land.”
Echoing a common criticism, the “Real Time” host ripped the president-elect’s picks during a wide-ranging (and sometimes profane) interview with the media company Attn:. In the video, posted Monday, he also shared his thoughts on Russia’s reported interference with the election and the future of the Democratic Party.
“For education, someone who doesn’t believe in public education,” Maher told Matthew Segal, Attn:’s editor-in-chief ― a reference to Betsy DeVos, Trump’s nominee for secretary of education.
Maher noted that people might have expected Trump to consider retired neurosurgeon and former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson for the role of surgeon general, due to his medical experience.
“No, housing!” Maher laughed. “Because, why, he lives in a house?”
8/ If you are a liberal you have certainly experienced "Trump Anxiety Syndrome" over the last few weeks, and it's normal - your comfortable, reasonable world has changed.....
For progressives, moderates and “Never Trump” Republicans, the political order they long took for granted — defined by polarization, yes, but also by a commitment to basic principles of democracy and decency — is suddenly gone.
This article describes the problem, but offers no real solution to it.....suck it up folks, we're in for an awful four years....
We’re all familiar with the notion of psychological trauma — damage to an individual’s psyche caused by an extremely distressing event. But there’s also another kind of trauma: a collective disturbance that happens to a group of people when their world is suddenly upended.
9/ An amusing Seth Meyers "A Closer Look" where he looks at North Carolina's power grab....eight minutes....
As part of his fan-favorite “Closer Look” segment, Late Night host Seth Meyers took on the insanity that is unfolding in North Carolina and the bizarre power grab between the outgoing and incoming state Governors.
Republican Gov. Pat McCrory has largely stripped himself of power in anticipation of being replaced soon by a Democrat, Roy Cooper. The GOP-controlled statehouse passed key legislation that limits the sitting Governor’s actions, meaning Cooper will assume office with just a fraction of the powers of his Republican predecessor.
10/ Robert Reich with a different look at Trump Anxiety Syndrome.....
President-elect Donald Trump arrives for a rally in a DOW Chemical Hanger at Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, Friday, Dec. 9, 2016, in Baton Rouge, La. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)(Credit: AP)
This originally appeared on Robert Reich’s blog.
As the era of Donald Trump approaches, some of you are succumbing to the following four syndromes.
1. Normalizer Syndrome. You want to believe Trump will be just another president — more conservative and pompous than most, but one who will make rational decisions once in office.
You are under a grave delusion. Trump has a serious personality disorder and will pose a clear and present danger to America and the world.
11/ Sam Bee with a pretty good five minutes on Fox News and why Trump won.....
On Monday night’s Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, the host took on the issue of “identity politics,” a term that has been thrown around a lot throughout the 2016 cycle to describe the inclinations of large swaths of voters. The focus of her segment was on Democrats who are, in Bee’s assessment, lost in the wilderness after suffering a defeat that saw them lose the White House, the Supreme Court, “and the will to live.”
Bee targeted many influential conservatives in the media who have largely taken to the Fox News airwaves to harangue liberals for worrying about, as Steve Doocy called it, “greenhouse gas and stuff like that.”
12/ Interesting tale of casino "cheating" by pro poker player Phil Ivey.....see if you think the verdict in this case was just....
Phil Ivey in 2009. (Laura Rauch/AP)
In July 2012, Phil Ivey walked into the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, N. J. Over the next 17 hours, he would become nearly $4.8 million richer. A gambler by profession, Ivey billed himself as the “Tiger Woods” of poker; he had won more than $6 million from several tours on the World Series of Poker and another $19 million through years of online poker. But Ivey was not playing poker on that day in July. His winning spree came from baccarat — a game of chance associated with high rollers and would-be James Bonds.
This was not Ivey’s first impressive baccarat run. He visited the Borgata to play baccarat three other times, too, between April and October 2012. His total winnings from those visits amounted to more than $9.6 million, according to court documents.
Baccarat, as it is played in most U.S. casinos, rewards luck, not skill. Ivey did not have $9.6 million worth of luck.
Borgata sued Ivey, alleging that the gambler had defrauded the casino.
13/ This music video "All Night" by Beyonce was chosen as the best of 2016 by Rolling Stone, and has about 18 million views.....it's lovely....
Beyoncé proved she is still running the world with the release of the standalone video for her track “All Night,” on Wednesday (Nov. 30).
The video for the Diplo-produced track is an individual clip from Beyonce's gorgeous visual album Lemonade. Shifting from black and white to color, “All Night” features bits of heartwarming footage from Beyoncé's home movies, including her and Jay Z’s wedding day and spending family time with Blue Ivy.
14/ After what happened in North Carolina I hope beyond hope Democrats in Congress learn their lesson - Republicans cannot be trusted....
Civil rights leader Reverend William Barber, president of the NAACP in North Carolina, speaks to the media inside the state's Legislative Building(Credit: Reuters/Jonathan Drake)
Congressional Democrats better pay attention to what’s going on in North Carolina right now, with the tussle around the discriminatory “bathroom bill” known as House Bill 2. It’s an object lesson in why it’s so critical to resist the temptation to make deals with Republicans and instead to resist their agenda at every turn.
Republicans cannot be trusted. They are snakes in the grass and will renege on their half of the deal. Pretending otherwise, especially with a con artist in the White House — a guy who literally has a history of bamboozling people for money — is just foolishness.
15/ Rolling Stone with Peter Travers list of the 20 best movies of 2016......some of these will certainly be up for Oscars......
In 2016, Hollywood showed us a world where black lives matter, a musical had meaning, young filmmakers could strut their stuff alongside the classic likes of Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, and the Coen brothers – and no subject was too hot to handle. Here are 20 movies that reminded us that the best of cinema, whether studio-financed or independently-produced, is capable of lots of things beyond sequels, prequels, remakes, retreads and the Marvel Comic Universe.
Todays video - If you are flying to the UK, don't book anything that lands at Birmingham airport in the winter......worth watching again.....
Welcome to Birmingham, England - where pilots have white knuckles and steel balls. This eleven minute video highlights the skill and focus that is demanded from pilots who fly here. So, find something to bite down on, and imagine yourself flying in the back of one of these planes!
The way the planes take such a beating from the wind and hard landings blows my mind. Did you see how the wings of the Emirates 777 seemed to almost flap like a bird?
Birmingham Airport is located in central England, 105 miles northwest of London. Work is currently being done to extend Birmingham's runway by 400 meters (1,312 feet) and is expected to be completed this Spring. This will not only give pilots a little more breathing room for landing, it will allow the biggest planes such as the Airbus A380 to serve the airport.
Of course, the runway extension won't have any effect on the savage winds. So, that means more future entertainment for us, as we'll get to see even biggerplanes accept the challenge of the gauntlet that is Birmingham
Todays medical joke....
An old guy goes to his doctor for his physical and gets sent to the Urologist as a precaution.
When he gets there, he discovers the Urologist is a very pretty female doctor.
The female doctor says,”I’m going to check your prostate today, but this new procedure is a little different from what you are probably used to.
I want you to lie on your right side,bend your knees, then while I check your prostate, take a deep breath and say,
’99’.
The old guy obeys and says, “99”.
The doctor says, “Great”, now turn over on your left side and again, while I repeat the check, take a deep breath and say, ’99”.
Again, the old guy says, ’99’.”
The doctor said, “Very good”.
Now then, I want you to lie on your back with your knees raised slightly.
I’m going to check your prostate with this hand, and with the other hand I’m going to hold on to your penis to keep it out of the way.
Now take a deep breath and say, ’99’.
The old guy begins,
“One….
two…
three…”
Todays police joke.....
Two prostitutes were riding around town with a sign on top of their car which said:Two Prostitutes - $50.00.
A policeman, seeing the sign, stopped them, and told them they'd either have to remove the sign or go to jail.
At that time, another car passed with a sign saying: "Jesus Saves."
One of the girls asked the officer, "How come you don't stop them?""Well, that's a little different," the officer said. "Their sign pertains to religion."A few hours later the same police officer noticed the same two hookers driving around with a large sign on their car.He figured he had an easy arrest……… until he read their new sign:
Two Fallen Angels
Seeking Peter -- $50.
Todays retiree joke.....
I thought you would want to know about this e-mail virus.Even the most advanced programs from Norton or McAfee cannot take care of this one.
It appears to affect those who were born prior to 1955.
Symptoms:
1. Causes you to send the same e-mail twice. Done that!
2. Causes you to send a blank e-mail! That too!
3. Causes you to send e-mail to the wrong person. Yep!
4. Causes you to send it back to the person who sent it to you. Aha!
5. Causes you to forget to attach the attachment. Well well!
6. Causes you to hit "SEND" before you've finished. Oh, no not again!
7. Causes you to hit "DELETE" instead of "SEND." And I just hate that!
8. Causes you to hit "SEND" when you should "DELETE." Oh No!
It's called the "C-Nile virus."
Have I already sent this to you? Or did you send it to me?
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