1/ Frank Rich on the inauguration of Trump.....
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 inauguration.
Many Americans surely held out hope, despite themselves, that Donald Trump would’ve used his inaugural address to accomplish what he could have done with his transition: demonstrate an understanding of the gravity of the office, allow suspicions of his campaign (and his associates) to be allayed by honest investigations, search for reconciliation with those who doubt him. The past few weeks have shown that Trump had different ideas for his transition. What do you think he achieved with this address?
Not to put too fine a point on it, but in a word: Nothing. It was a recycled Trump campaign speech sporadically retrofitted with ersatz poetry (“the windswept plains of Nebraska,” yet) and boilerplate stabs at unity (“We are one nation!”) and inclusion (“there is no room for prejudice”), but otherwise characteristically nationalistic, populist, and apocalyptic in its view of America. According to our new president, our country is a Valhalla of “rusted-out factories” and schools that leave students “deprived of all knowledge.” The “wealth of our middle class” has been “ripped from their homes.” Our communities are blighted by “the crime and the gangs and the drugs.” If you weren’t eager to take some of those drugs at the moment he was sworn in, you certainly were by the time his scowling account of America the Ugly was done.
For our readers....think about this.....
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak out for me.
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak out for me.
A quote from Pastor Martin Niemoller - Berlin 1952
2/ "Vladimir Putin" congratulates Trump......four very very funny minutes......SNL cold open......
Kate McKinnon, left, and Beck Bennett as President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in the cold open for “Saturday Night Live” on Saturday.
Saturday Night Live kicked off their first post-inauguration show tonight by bringing America a very important announcement from its new leader: Vladimir Putin.
After a brief notice that the programming was provided by the Russian Federation, a shirtless Putin came up and addressed the nation while celebrating the results of the election. The joke was obviously in reference to Trump and Putin’s rosy relationship, as well as the concerns that Russia might have compromised Trump while they supposedly interfered with the election.
Putin noted that people are skeptical of Trump, but he assured America that people were worried about his presidency too, and no one hears from them much anymore. He went on to lampoon everything from Kellyanne Conway‘s strange inauguration outfit to the size of Trump’s inauguration crowd.
3/ Paul Krugman with a gloomy column......read it, and tell yourself he's wrong I dare you.....
After the inauguration and on the way to the White House, President Trump’s motorcade passed the sculptures of Grief and History standing on the Peace Monument in Washington, D.C.
If America had a parliamentary system, Donald Trump — who spent his first full day in office having a temper tantrum, railing against accurate reports of small crowds at his inauguration — would already be facing a vote of no confidence. But we don’t; somehow we’re going to have to survive four years of this.
And how is he going to react to disappointing numbers about things that actually matter?
In his lurid, ghastly Inaugural Address, Mr. Trump portrayed a nation in dire straits — “American carnage.” The real America looks nothing like that; it has plenty of problems, but things could be worse. In fact, it’s likely that they will indeed get worse. How will a man who evidently can’t handle even the smallest blow to his ego deal with it?
Let’s talk about the predictable bad news.
4/ SNL had a very funny musical skit about Kellyanne Conway......cleverly done, and Kate McKinnon's not a bad singer either.....a good three minutes....
Saturday Night Live last weekend set its sights on White House counselor Kellyanne Conway once again, this time using a Chicago-style parody to explain why the Atco native has showed seemingly unwavering support for President Trump.
The skit aired before Conway’s Sunday appearance on Meet the Press, in which she said White House press secretary Sean Spicer provided “alternative facts” while describing Inauguration Day crowds as the “largest ever” during a news conference.
The sketch begins with Kate McKinnon portraying Conway doing an appearance on CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper. Tapper — the Old City and Main Line native is played by Beck Bennett — ultimately becomes frustrated with his guest, asking her what she gets out of making media appearances in support of President Trump.
“The name on everybody’s lips is going to be, ‘Conway,’ ” Conway sings, breaking into a Chicago-inspired tune, complete with a flapper dress and Bob Fosse-styled choreography. “Who says that lying’s not an art? And when they Google just a ‘K,’ my name will come up before Kanye.”
4.5/ And the newest Barbie......
Propaganda Barbie (Kellyanne Conway doll)
5/ Stephen Colbert reverts back to his old faux-conservative persona to send off President Obama, and it's wonderful......seven minutes of "The Werd"......
["The Word" with one letter changed by the lawyers]
Coming to you live from the Mountains of Justice, Stephen Colbert — the conservative commentator — made a come back Thursday night as CBS’s “The Late Show” offered President Barack Obama a proper goodbye.
Before the segment, Colbert pointed out it was impossible to summarize and evaluate Obama’s rich legacy in a couple of minutes. “Would have to be a delusional egomaniac [to do so],” he joked, thus summoning everybody’s favorite political pundit to provide his take on the Obama administration.
“At long last our America-hating, secret-Muslim, lead-from-behind, terrorist fist-bumping hopey-changey apologist-in-chief is leaving office,” Colbert said.
In the segment, conservative Colbert conceded Obama had a few successes, which he claimed to include: the killer drone program, spying on American citizens by the NSA, allowing big banks to get bigger, and his failure to close Guantanamo Bay. Despite all of these achievements, the past eight years was not exactly easy on the political commentator.
6/ Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" played on percussive acoustic guitar.....by 18 year old Russian guitarist Alexandr Misko......unusual.....
A few years ago, Guitar World published a popular lesson dedicated to percussive acoustic guitar playing.
Even though it had absolutely nothing to do with Michael Jackson, the lesson was called "Beat It," just because it seemed fairly clever at the time.
The pro-shot music video shows guitarist Alexandr Misko playing the solo-guitar piece in a perfectly lit tavern as patrons order drinks (and eat peanuts) in the background.
7/ "Forgive them Lord, they know not what they do" is a familiar saying that applies today - desperate white voters have elected Trump to help them, but they will almost certainly be betrayed.....
The butcher’s bill has come due: President Donald Trump is about to victimize his own voters
Our new president's supporters are likely to suffer from his regressive policies. I have no compassion for them
In the weeks between Election Day and Donald Trump’s inauguration, I have found a new hobby. On a daily basis I read various newspapers, magazines and websites in search of stories about Trump voters and how they are surprised by their hero’s broken promises, scared that he may take away their health care or worried about his troubling connections to Vladimir Putin and the Russian government. I then bookmark these news items in my Internet browser for later use. As Nero fiddles and his public dances I can at least try to find small joys and pleasures in the music.
This is my version of liberal Schadenfreude — with slightly more hostile intent. I doubt that I am alone in adopting this new distraction and source of pleasure.
The butcher’s bill is due.
There are many examples of Trump’s voters and their increasing pain and anxiety.
I am particularly fond of this explanation from a Trump voter who benefited from President Barack Obama’s health care reforms:
8/ Why do videos become viral.....who knows? This is a prime example of WTF.....a frantic woman with a horrid screechy voice implores a bear not to eat her kayak.....two "waste of time" minutes that I'm afraid you will have to watch all the way through....
Mary Maley uses bear spray in this still from her video of a black bear in Berg Bay that attacked her kayak.
If karma is real, then it's neatly demonstrated by this video — starring a bear, a kayak, and an increasingly upset woman — from Southeast Alaska. "Thank you for leaving my kayak alone," camera operator Mary Maley shouts to a bear roving around outside a US Forest Service cabin in Berg Bay. "I'm going to pepper spray you in the face." The bear, presumably annoyed by the burst of stinking, stinging liquid, turns on its furry heels and decides to set about destroying the thing the unseen Maley apparently loves the most.
9/ Some very, very amusing memes on White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer's blatant lying on crowd sizes - by HuffPo readers....
CARLOS BARRIA / REUTERS
Sean Spicer’s jaw-dropping claim that Donald Trump’s inauguration was not only the largest in American history — but also the biggest ever anywhere on the planet — has unleashed a chortling army of meme-sters with lots of other imagined Spicer whoppers.
Despite what anyone could see with their own eyes looking at an aerial shot of a spotty crowd, the White House press secretary declared that Friday’s event had the “largest audience to ever witness an inauguration — period — both in person and around the globe.”
But sarcastic meme-creators also want you to know that the inauguration was even so much more amazing than that. Were you aware that the Beatles — including John and George — played at the inauguration, and that the president applauded them with his huge hands? But that’s not all. One million invisibility cloaks were handed out to those who attended the event!
10/ Is the battle for a sustainable planet over with the Trump administration in thrall to Big Oil, and Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State? Bill McKibben has some hope, not much but some, for a surprising reason.....sustainable energy is now cheaper than fossil fuels....
Most interesting article.....
Calling the Trump energy and environment squad "climate deniers" is like pointing out that your local crew of meth heads has bad teeth. It's true, and it also confuses symptom with disease.
Let's be clear. 2016 was the warmest year ever measured, smashing records set in 2015 and 2014. Global warming is no longer a worry for the future – we're in the midst of the greatest crisis humans have yet faced. So despite the acknowledgment among some Trump nominees during confirmation hearings that "climate is changing" and "man has had an influence," when Scott Pruitt, designated to head the EPA, said last year "scientists continue to disagree" about climate change, he was telling a big and consequential lie: Science clearly understands that burning coal and gas and oil is rapidly warming the planet. When Energy Secretary pick Rick Perry insisted that climate change is a "contrived, phony mess," and speculated that the Earth has begun to cool, he was nuts – there are tens of thousands of scientists across the globe who have spent decades narrowing the error bars of their predictions, even as thawing glaciers and rapidly acidifying oceans make it clear they're correct. When Interior designee Ryan Zinke blamed "rising ocean temperatures" for climate change, he wasn't even being coherent: Why would the oceans suddenly be getting hotter all by themselves? Walruses peeing?
11/ Bill Maher with a fair first "New Rules" of the year.....not his best, but it's good to have him back.....
While tossing out his ‘New Rules,’ he went after red states that went for Trump by highlighting the amount of addiction to opiates and and how that may have had something to with them voting for Trump.
First, he seemed to be seriously addressing liberals to have more sympathy for those in the states that have seen the greatest increases in heroin addiction, before switching gears, saying they should call them “f*cking drug addicts!”
Maher then brought out statistics showing the high amount of opioid drug consumption in certain red states, such as West Virginia and Wisconsin, noting with Wisconsin that doing drugs can turn you into a Republican. (Wisconsin used to be reliably blue.)
He spent the rest of the segment hitting conservatives for the way they used to paint liberals as the dug addicts and users.
12/ A pretty good summary of how Big Sugar paralyses Florida government.....insightful.....
Big Sugar hires 64 lobbyists, again, in Tallahassee to reinforce its closed loop system of government ... by gimleteye
 |
| Florida's most profitable industry, Big Sugar, and its closed loop system |
Lake Okeechobee is the diseased, liquid heart of Florida. For more than seventy years and until very recently, the lake was used by Big Sugar -- that farms on hundreds of thousands of acres around the lake, mostly around its southern half -- as its cesspit.
13/ This is fun - the "government" of the Netherlands has made a video telling Trump who they are, and asking for special treatment.....quite an amusing four minutes....
President Trump’s “America First” Inauguration speech has been parodied in a comedy video from the Netherlands.
A news satire show, Zondag Met Lubach, released a fake tourism advertisement aimed at Trump. It’s worth watching past the trite, Trump-bashing introduction in Dutch for the hilarity that then ensures in English (the very best language).
14/ And good for the Orlando Sentinel - a story on Senator Joe Negron who represents Martin County fighting for the land to recharge Lake Okeechobee water......guess who's doing Big Sugar's bidding? Rick Scott, our slimy toad of a Governor....
Senate President Joe Negron sees "extraordinary progress" on one of Florida's most important environmental restoration projects. We hope that he's right.
That project is a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee that would produce two big benefits. It would reduce — and possibly eliminate — the need to dump polluted water into fragile coastal estuaries when the lake rises high enough to threaten the Herbert Hoover Dike. It also would provide water to re-hydrate Everglades National Park.
Negron [is a Republican who] represents Martin County, where last year massive discharges during a wet winter again caused algae blooms in the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon and closed beaches. [This month] a Florida Senate subcommittee heard testimony on Negron's idea for the 60,000-acre reservoir. Negron proposes that the state and federal government each pay half of the $2.4 billion cost. ...
15/ While Rolling Stone keeps publishing these lists, I'll keep passing them on....this is some of the good TV coming our way in 2017.....
It would need to be one helluva year of TV to beat the small-screen gold rush that was 2016 – but damned if 2017 won't try to give those last 12 months of all-star true-crime recreations, Reagan-era–sploitation sci-fi, beautifully bizarre meta-sitcoms and some genuinely great seasons of long-running dramas (GoT, OITNB) a run for its money. We've singled out 25 new shows, returning series and a miniseries or three that we're looking forward to checking out; in a few cases, release dates will be added once they're announced. From a new David Simon HBO project to a new Ryan Murphy anthology series, a new Star Trekspin-off (!) to new Twin Peaks episodes (!!!) – here's what you'll be watching/streaming/breathlessl
Todays video - a classic from the Johnny Carson show - Steve Martin with "The Great Flydini".....it builds nicely....
Todays mental health joke....
Ralph and Edna were both patients in a mental hospital. One day while
they were walking past the hospital swimming pool, Ralph suddenly
jumped into the deep end.
He sank to the bottom of the pool and stayed there.
Edna promptly jumped in to save him. She swam to the bottom and pulled
him out.
they were walking past the hospital swimming pool, Ralph suddenly
jumped into the deep end.
He sank to the bottom of the pool and stayed there.
Edna promptly jumped in to save him. She swam to the bottom and pulled
him out.
When the Head Nurse Director became aware of Edna's heroic
act she immediately ordered her to be discharged from the hospital, as
she now considered her to be mentally stable.
When she went to tell Edna the news she said, 'Edna, I have good news
and bad news. The good news is you're being discharged, since you were
able to rationally respond to a crisis by jumping in and saving the
life of the person you love... I have concluded that your act displays
sound mindedness.
The bad news is, Ralph hung himself in the bathroom with his bathrobe
belt right after you saved him. I am so sorry, but he's dead.'
Edna replied, 'He didn't hang himself, I put him there to dry..
How soon can I go home?'
act she immediately ordered her to be discharged from the hospital, as
she now considered her to be mentally stable.
When she went to tell Edna the news she said, 'Edna, I have good news
and bad news. The good news is you're being discharged, since you were
able to rationally respond to a crisis by jumping in and saving the
life of the person you love... I have concluded that your act displays
sound mindedness.
The bad news is, Ralph hung himself in the bathroom with his bathrobe
belt right after you saved him. I am so sorry, but he's dead.'
Edna replied, 'He didn't hang himself, I put him there to dry..
How soon can I go home?'
Todays zen jokes
1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just pretty much leave me the hell alone.
2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and leaky tire.
3. It’s always darkest before dawn. So if you’re going to steal your neighbor’s newspaper, that’s the time to do it.
4. Don’t be irreplaceable. If you can’t be replaced, you can’t be promoted.
5. Always remember that you’re unique. Just like everyone else.
6. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
7. If you think nobody cares if you’re alive, try missing a couple of car payments.
8. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you’re a mile away and you have their shoes.
9. If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.
10. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
11. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
12. If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.
13. Some days you’re the bug; some days you’re the windshield.
14. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.
15. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.
16. A closed mouth gathers no foot.
17. Duct tape is like ‘The Force’. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
18. There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.
19. Generally speaking, you aren’t learning much when your lips are moving.
20. Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it.
21. Never miss a good chance to shut up.
22. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
OK OK a couple of blond jokes
A blonde goes into work one morning crying her eyes out. Her boss, concerned about his employee's well being, asks sympathetically, "What's the matter?" The blonde replies, "Early this morning I got a phone call saying that my mother had passed away." "I'm terribly sorry to hear that. Why don't you go home for the day... we aren't terribly busy. Just take the day off to relax and rest." The blonde very calmly explains, "No, I'd be better off here. I need to keep my mind off it and I have the best chance of doing that here." The boss agrees and allows the blonde to work as usual. "If you need anything, just let me know," he says. A few hours pass and the boss decides to check on the blonde. He looks out over his office and sees the blonde crying hysterically. He rushes out to her, and asks, "Are you going to be okay? Is there anything I can do to help?" "No," re plies the blonde, "I just got a call from my sister, and she said that HER mom died too!"
A young ventriloquist is touring the clubs and one night he's doing a show in a small club in a small town in Arkansas. With his dummy on his knee, he's going through his usual dumb blonde jokes when a blonde woman in the fourth row stands on her chair and starts shouting: "I've heard enough of your stupid blonde jokes. What makes you think you can stereotype women that way? What does the color of a person's hair have to do with her worth as a human being? It's guys like you who keep women like me from being respected at work and in the community and from reaching our full potential as a person, because you and your kind continue to perpetuate discrimination against, not only blondes, but women in general...and all in the name of humor!" The ventriloquist is embarrassed and begins to apologize, when the blonde yells, "You stay out of this, mister! I'm talking to that little idiot on your knee!"
