1/. I know we include most of what Matt Taibbi writes in DDD and many of his articles are information we otherwise wouldn't know, such as the inside scoops of the Financial world, but occasionally he writes some political stories such as this one on the disintegration of Trump's credibility.....wonderfully written, and a great read....
Well, it's over now – right? He may have three and a half years left in office, but Donald Trump is finished. The Charlottesville tragedy was the final stake through the Grinch-heart of his presidency. If he didn't deserve it so enormously much, it would be sad.
The presidency of Donald Trump has already seen mass dismissals, felony accusations, a key adviser raided by the FBI, a press chief accusing a fellow official of auto-fellatio, a preschool version of a nuclear stare-down with North Korea, and countless other fiascoes and indignities. But a rampage of misjudgment and anti-leadership starting on August 12th, 2017, was a clear nadir.
It began that Saturday morning. After torch-bearing neo-Nazis stormed a postcard-perfect Virginia university town, and the life of a young woman was snuffed out by a vehicular terrorist, Trump – the same man who couldn't shut up during the campaign, tweeting at all hours like a friendless coke addict, notably berating Barack Obama for failing to identify terrorism by name – suddenly lost the power of speech.
2/. Alec Baldwin as a hilarious Trump at his rally in Phoenix.....wonderful!
Alec Baldwin returned as President Donald Trump in the cold open of Thursday’s edition of the “Saturday Night Live” spinoff show, “Weekend Update: Summer Edition,” and didn’t miss a beat, parodying the president’s bizarre Phoenix rally this week.
“People asked me, Why are you doing a rally only eight months in? Folks, it’s never too early to campaign for 2020,” Baldwin’s Trump said to the crowd. “[Vice President] Mike Pence is already doing it,” he added, referring to the New York Times story about his alleged shadow campaign.
Trump said he would play his hits for the crowd including, “electoral map, drain the swamp, lock her up” but he first wanted to address his previous remarks about the recent violence at Charlottesville.
“As we all know there was a tragic victim that came out of Charlottesville, me,” the faux Trump said. “Folks, the media has treated me so unfairly by reporting my entire remarks, even the bad ones.”
3/. Trumpies are still supporting him.....there is nothing outrageous he can do or say to lose them.....a deeply disturbing story from the Times....
For Parson Hicks, a health care finance executive who supports President Trump, this past week has felt a little like déjà vu. Mr. Trump says something. His opponents howl and then predict, with certainty, a point of no return.
The last time this happened, she said, was in October with the notorious “Access Hollywood” recording of Mr. Trump talking lewdly about women. His opponents were sure he was finished. His supporters knew better.
“Let’s be honest, the people who are currently outraged are the same people who have always been outraged,” said Ms. Hicks, 35, a lifelong Republican who lives in Boston. “The media makes it seem like something has changed, when in reality nothing has.”
4/. "The Earth Is Full".....a six minute synopsis of a TED talk by Paul Gilding.....powerful, incredibly good and a wake up call......
After you watch this excellent video consider these points - this was made in 2012, five years ago and not only has nothing changed it's actually got worse for the planet. Oceans are rising and acidic, ice is melting at both poles and Greenland, forests are continuing to be decimated and the climate is changing faster than anyone realizes....
But worse than that not only is there no discussion about overpopulation, there is a successful campaign against birth control and contraception by the Trumpies who want more and more sacred fetuses to be born.
Also listen to business and politics - it's all about growth. Every corporation is hell bent on growth at any cost.....and the cost is the planet. Although the film ends on a positive note, that future is fading fast....
5/. John Oliver nails the Republicans who even after Trump's disastrous presser won't call him out by name.....a very good four minutes.....
After President Trump blamed "both sides" for the deadly protests in Charlottesville, Virginia – in which the so-called alt-right gathered for a "Unite the Right" rally – many GOP lawmakers spoke out against the Republican leader. But not nearly enough, John Oliver insisted on Sunday's Last Week Tonight: The show tabulated that, out of 292 GOP members of Congress, only 54 have condemned Trump directly. "In the words of the poet Beyoncé and the other ones," Oliver cracked, "'Say his name, say his name.'"
On August 15th, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan tweeted that "white supremacy is repulsive" but didn't criticize Trump specifically. "Come on, you can mention him!" Oliver said. "He's not Voldemort! He's just a terrifying entity who viciously attacks his enemies and judges people based on their birthright. You know what, I hear it now. I do hear it now."
6/. Paul Krugman with a column on the Republican leadership cowed by Trump and the base.....good one...
Even before the media obsession with Hillary Clinton’s email server put The Worst President Ever™ in the White House, historians were comparing Donald Trump to Caligula, the cruel, depraved Roman emperor who delighted in humiliating others, especially members of the empire’s elite. But seven months into the Trump administration, we can see that this comparison was unfair.
For one thing, Caligula did not, as far as we know, foment ethnic violence within the empire. For another, again as far as we know, Rome’s government continued to function reasonably well despite his antics: Provincial governors continued to maintain order, the army continued to defend the borders, there were no economic crises.
Finally, when his behavior became truly intolerable, Rome’s elite did what the party now controlling Congress seems unable
even to contemplate: It found a way to get rid of him.
7/. Tom Tomorrow with another good cartoon.....Trump could actually do this and his base would love him for it....
8/. Here's a preview and a primer of what's coming politically in September......
Long story, short
Republicans are trying to pass a budget that would pare back the safety net, increase defense spending, and lay the groundwork for tax cuts. But there are such deep divisions within the House GOP, and between the congressional leadership and their reality-star president — who just demanded a government shutdown unless his Mexican-border wall is funded — the party may just tear itself to pieces and let America default on its debt by early October. While the budget process tends to be mundane in more normal political circumstances, this bill (for various procedural reasons) is shaping up to be a battle royal over the Republican agenda.
What’s at stake
The strength of the safety net — and the right’s highest policy ambition
http://nymag.com/daily/intelli
9/. Bill Maher with an interesting panel discussion where he calls out Fox News for enabling the Nazi movement....five good minutes....
Bill Maher had serious criticisms of Fox News and placed blame on the network for the violence that took place in Charlottesville last weekend.
“They are the Jurassic Park that took the DNA of the Nazis and reanimated it,” Maher stated. “I believe that without Fox News for years giving the kind of poison they give over their airwaves, putting it into people’s heads, and then the internet, I think, which you know––people say they get radicalized on the internet. Before if you were a neo-Nazi, unless you found somebody in a coffee shop––now you can find someone on the internet. And then the president gave permission to them.”
He called Fox News, the internet, and President Trump “the perfect storm” that led to what happened last week.
10/. Seen in Costa Rica.....
11/. Salon picks the best of late night Trump segments.....many you have seen in DDD, but worth repeating for the laughs....
Jimmy Fallon; Trevor Noah; Jimmy Kimmel; Stephen Colbert; Seth Meyers (Credit: Getty)
With Donald Trump as president, and the wild, incessant news cycle he has created, late-night shows from “Jimmy Kimmel Live” to “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” have helped Americans maintain at least some level of sanity by extracting humor from all the madness.
For the past eight months, late night has held the Trump administration accountable, providing laughs along the way. But the monologues and skits are not just entertainment; they’re a historical record of the president’s daily misadventures.
12/. Mount Dora news - our neighboring city Eustis has their own Slaby-type City Commissioner, but even crazier.....
Eustis City Commissioner Anthony Sabatini is creating a stir with his proposal that the Lake County city welcome Confederate monuments that are being taken down around the country.
“To any cities or counties that would like to donate their Confederate monuments to the City of Eustis, we will gladly accept and proudly display our nation’s history,” he posted Thursday on Facebook.
Hours later, the city posted on its website that Sabatini’s comments “do not represent the Commission as a whole” and it “has taken no formal action regarding Confederate statues.”
Commissioner Linda Bob, an African-American, said she was offended by the idea and would not vote to bring Confederate statues to the city of 20,000 that’s 35 miles northwest of downtown Orlando.
13/. Movies coming this fall to watch out for.....can't wait for the new "Blade Runner"....
Blade Runner 2049; mother!; The Meyerowitz Stories(Credit: Warner Bros./Paramount Pictures/Netflix)
The leaves are about to change and the movies — which have already been quite good this year — are about to get stellar. Coming this fall to a movie theater — or streaming site — near you are films from the best veteran directors in the biz, as well as exciting new projects from young talents. Precocious six-year-old Floridians, a shrunken Matt Damon, the mid-20th century London fashion world: it’s all happening. It’s never too early to fantasize about the fall movie slate, so here, in the middle of August, is our Fall Movie Preview, in which we pick the ten films we are most looking forward to.
14/. And one in theaters right now to go and see...."Logan Lucky"....Mary and I saw it and it's [as one review said] "ridiculously entertaining"....
Head to the movies this weekend to see Logan Lucky, and you'll see more than Steven Soderbergh ending his moviemaking retirement phase and returning to the big screen. (You've been greatly missed, sir.) You'll see more than just Channing Tatum and Adam Driver playing down-on-their-luck Southern brothers who hatch a plan to rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway. You'll even see more than Daniel Craig sporting a bottle-blond crop-cut hairdo and Seth MacFarlane sporting something on his head that looks like a cross between a mullet, a Jheri curl and roadkill.
You'll also get to see a textbook case of how to make a heist film. Of all the movie genre staples, this particular flavor of crime-flick is among the most pleasurable and familiar. The conceit is right there in the name: A bunch of guys – it's almost always guys, though that's beginning to change – team up to swipe something valuable from a seemingly impenetrable stronghold, often with the odds stacked against them. Audiences love this brand of cinema du bad behavior precisely because we get to live vicariously through it, going along for the ride while crooks try to pull off their daring plan and ride off into some metaphorical sunset.
"Logan Lucky" trailer.....
Todays video - this is for movie buffs......a heist movie parody with every stock character you ever see in these thrillers....four amusing minutes....
Two handsome master criminals are trying to pull off a big heist so they're putting together the most incredible heist team that has ever heist teamed before.
Todays Medicare joke
The phone rings and the lady of the house answers,"Hello.""Mrs. Sanders, please.""Speaking.""Mrs. Sanders, this is Doctor Jones at Saint Agnes Laboratory. When your husband's doctor sent his biopsy to the lab last week, a biopsy from another Mr. Sanders arrived as well...We are now uncertain which one belongs to your husband. Frankly, either way the results are not too good.""What do you mean?" Mrs. Sanders asks nervously."Well, one of the specimens tested positive for Alzheimer's and the other
one tested positive for HIV. We can't tell which is which.""That's dreadful! Can you do the test again?" questioned Mrs.Sanders."Normally we can, but MEDICARE will only pay for these expensive tests
once.""Well, what am I supposed to do now?""The MEDICARE Help desk recommends that you drop your husband off somewhere
in the middle of town. If he finds his way home, don't sleep with him
Todays redneck joke
I just thought you might like to see my new BBQ grill.
When you are finished BBQing, and the ice has melted, just pull
the handle down & the fire goes out.
Is this a great country, or what?!!
When you are finished BBQing, and the ice has melted, just pull
the handle down & the fire goes out.
Is this a great country, or what?!!
No comments:
Post a Comment