What stupid shit has Trump done today?

[maomao]

Yes, this is a thread about Trump. IMO, given the racist nature of his administration and the GOPs policies and how these tap into the white supremacist history and culture in the US, well, sometimes one might be inclined to talk about racism when talking about Trump.

That's not even remotely what happened but never mind.

I wasn't aware you lived in Scotland and apologise for that particular comment (and that one only).

 

[CRI]

Not stupid shit directly from Trump, but from others, emboldened by his rhetoric and policies.

White Nationalist Leads Torch-Bearing Protesters Against Removal of Confederate Statue

A torch-wielding mob chanting racist slogans descended on a Charlottesville, Virginia, park Saturday evening, to protest the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue.

Chanting "All White Lives Matter," and "No More Brother Wars," the crowd, which said they were protecting their "white heritage" from the Charlottesville City Council's decision to remove a statue in the Virginia town's park.

They also chanted "You will not replace us" and "Russia is our friend." Dozens of protesters also brought bamboo tiki torches to a second rally once it became dark out.

 

[coley]

Maybe you should unignore them, then you might see it in context. Just because someone says stuff that you don't agree with doesn't mean they are wrong or don't have a point - it doesn't mean they are always right either. This is a bit like sticking your fingers in your ears and going 'lalalalala'.

TBH, sticking me fingers in me ears and going lalala etc is preferable to trying to understand thec4 comments above

 

[coley]

So:

1 Nobody important, nor with access to specialized knowledge/information/insight.

2. No reason to care, nor to be interested.

Spot on.

 

[coley]

A high profile Tory MP married to the manager of AC/DC, who after trying and failing to launch a twittter rival is attempting to reinvigorate her career as some weird left wing Alex Jones.

I can't imagine why Urban has a slightly morbid fascination with the mind of Mench

Mebbes if people ignored her/stopped mentioning her? Not really clued up on these things but don't these people make their loot by pointing out to advertisers how many times their names/views come up on sites

 

[taffboy gwyrdd]

 

[J Ed]

Mebbes if people ignored her/stopped mentioning her? Not really clued up on these things but don't these people make their loot by pointing out to advertisers how many times their names/views come up on sites

Yes, you are right. Someone being featured in some of the most widely read media on the planet, and boosted by the most prominent politicians on earth (including the Clinton campaign) can be stopped if we simply wish her out of existence.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On SST Donald Trump Will Not Survive by Publius Tacitus

Col Lang is betting Trump won't last his first term out. Supporters will simply become exasperated by his magic billionaire businessman skills failing to materialise in office as Trump blunders about like a petulant toddler making a huge mud pie mess.

I'd not be so sure. It's all a matter of illusions. Fundamentally I don't think people voted for Trump for his technocratic skills or mare's nest of ridiculous contradictory policies. Septics are not stupid in that way. Here enough were optimistically reckless victims of marketing. Trump entertained and made them feel good about being who they are while the alternative was both demonised and boring. He's the class clown/bully not respected Head Boy. Anybody who bothered to cast an eye over Trump's enterprises or even watched his turbulent campaign would have anticipated a shambles behind the smoke and mirrors. Here Trump can't control the information flow as his administration leaks like a sieve. It is by its nature a big public business. He is exposed as the ridiculously flawed man manager Wall St folk used to smirk about. But Trump is nothing if not a lucky man and may avoid the sort of catastrophic Katrina like series of events that finally sunk faith in Bush. The Dems really can fail to take Congress back in 2018 and without that there'll be no impeachment let alone conviction. Trump may suffice as not a leader but an increasingly shit smeared figurehead as the US on auto-pilot sails on not looking so bad compared to the RoW.

 

[CRI]

On SST Donald Trump Will Not Survive by Publius Tacitus

Col Lang is betting Trump won't last his first term out. Supporters will simply become exasperated by his magic billionaire businessman skills failing to materialise in office as Trump blunders about like a petulant toddler making a huge mud pie mess.

I'd not be so sure. It's all a matter of illusions. Fundamentally I don't think people voted for Trump for his technocratic skills or mare's nest of ridiculous contradictory policies. Septics are not stupid in that way. Here enough were optimistically reckless victims of marketing. Trump entertained and made them feel good about being who they are while the alternative was both demonised and boring. He's the class clown/bully not respected Head Boy. Anybody who bothered to cast an eye over Trump's enterprises or even watched his turbulent campaign would have anticipated a shambles behind the smoke and mirrors. Here Trump can't control the information flow as his administration leaks like a sieve. It is by its nature a big public business. He is exposed as the ridiculously flawed man manager Wall St folk used to smirk about. But Trump is nothing if not a lucky man and may avoid the sort of catastrophic Katrina like series of events that finally sunk faith in Bush. The Dems really can fail to take Congress back in 2018 and without that there'll be no impeachment let alone conviction. Trump may suffice as not a leader but an increasingly shit smeared figurehead as the US on auto-pilot sails on not looking so bad compared to the RoW.

I think you are right here. There are still too many people who believe/hope "normal" rules of politics still apply here - that at some point, people will come to their senses and the game will be up. What they are forgetting is that there are so many people in high places, including it seems practically all GOP legislators in Washington, who have invested heavily in shoring up the Trump administration. Admitting there's a massive problem means admitting their role in his rule and at least partial culpability, and they definitely won't want to do that. Even saying they were "duped" will make them look weak, stupid and unfit for office or whatever role they are in.

The only thing likely to sober the GOP politicians (state and national) is if they seriously think their seats, and majorities are at risk in the 2018 mid term elections. If so, you could get enough turning against him to undermine the administration. However, I think many are banking on the gerrymandering, results of the new "voting fraud" task force and other voter suppression methods to guarantee GOP majorities, regardless of how angry their constituents are. Like May in the UK, I think the GOP are hoping to achieve a situation where there is only one viable political party - a one party state, if you will.

I did see a comment somewhere about not being surprised if suddenly, all the GOP legislators turn on Trump, and deny flatly that they ever backed him, to save their collective bacon. On one hand, that would signal the end of the Trump administration. However, my worry would be that Democratic legislators and Americans generally will just be so relieved he's out that they'll not hold the Republicans to account for enabling and supporting him. So the authoritarian leader will be gone, but the party, systems and ideology that got him there, will remain intact, and damaging.

(edited to make a sentence in first para make sense.)

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Oh fun....the war on drugs is back with a vengeance.....more mass incarceration of the poor......private prisons will be booming again.

Jeff Sessions Rolls Back Obama-Era Drug Sentencing Reforms | HuffPost

There's a reason all the prison industrial complex stocks all got a boost after Trump's election. There's money to be made from the misery of the poor and the addicted.

 

[kebabking]

His Trumpness appears to have cancelled the EMALS electro-magnetic catapult system being designed/built for the US Navys' Aircraft Carriers, primarily on the basis of not understanding them...

the current catapult systems are steam-powered, they are a pain in the arse to build into a ship and take up masses of room, take lots of care maintaining them, aren't easily adjustable to cater for throwing different aircraft of different weights off the front of the ship, but have one redeeming feature - that as the USN's carriers are nuclear powered, theres a never-ending amount of free steam going looking to be used.

the EMALS system uses electricity, and so doesn't need the bulky steam gear - much smaller, much more easily maintained, much easier to use the right amount of power for the aircraft its launching. the interesting 'future' bit of this is that the USN wants to move awaye from nuclear - and steam - powered ships towards gas turbines as found on the UK carriers.

interview with Time magazine..

 

[CrabbedOne]

On Bloomberg Putin Says He Hasn't Decided Which Song to Play When He Meets Trump

 

[DotCommunist]

troll with:

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

featured in some of the most widely read media on the planet,

Once - concerning Russia - in the New York Times. Twice in total, including the opinion piece on Brexit.

She remains a nonentity here; seems she's being used on the boards as a bit of a straw man.

 

[MightyTibberton]

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/far...and-approves-poison-that-damages-kids-brains/

Making America Brain-Damaged Again!

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

I take it back - a little. Looks like she was on Bill Maher recently.

Maher shouted her down and told her to stop fucking around.

Maher likes getting clowns like Ann Coulter on the show, and then making fun of them.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On WaPo President Trump, desperate dealmaker

Needy and prone to get played.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On FP NATO Frantically Tries to Trump-Proof President’s First Visit

...
On May 25, NATO will host the heads of state of all 28 member countries in what will be Trump’s first face-to-face summit with an alliance he bashed repeatedly while running for president. NATO traditionally organizes a meeting within the first few months of a new U.S. president’s term, but Trump has the alliance more on edge than any previous newcomer, forcing organizers to look for ways to make the staid affair more engaging.

“It’s kind of ridiculous how they are preparing to deal with Trump,” said one source briefed extensively on the meeting’s preparations. “It’s like they’re preparing to deal with a child — someone with a short attention span and mood who has no knowledge of NATO, no interest in in-depth policy issues, nothing,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “They’re freaking out.”

Still, despite these changes, experts are wary of how Trump will react to NATO meetings and their long-winded, diplomatic back-and-forth among dozens of heads of state, which can quickly balloon into hours of meandering discussions. One former senior NATO official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described these meetings as “important but painfully dull.”

Rank-and-file diplomats always try to push for shorter, more efficient meetings at NATO. “It’s not so unusual that they strain to try to keep it interesting and short and not dragged down into details,” said Jim Townsend, who served as the Pentagon’s top NATO envoy until January. But what is unusual is the president.

“Even a brief NATO summit is way too stiff, too formal, and too policy heavy for Trump. Trump is not going to like that,” said Jorge Benitez, a NATO expert with Washington-based think tank the Atlantic Council.
...

Adorable.

 

[MightyTibberton]

Trump addresses Nato heads of state:

 

[CRI]

Taking "dumbing down" just that bit further . . .

In Arizona, teachers can now be hired with absolutely no training in how to teach

New legislation signed into law in Arizona by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey (R) will allow teachers to be hired with no formal teaching training, as long as they have five years of experience in fields “relevant” to the subject they are teaching. What’s “relevant” isn’t clear.

The Arizona law is part of a disturbing trend nationwide to allow teachers without certification or even any teacher preparation to be hired and put immediately to work in the classroom in large part to help close persistent teacher shortages. It plays into a misconception that anyone can teach if they know a particular subject and that it is not really necessary to first learn about curriculum, classroom management and instruction.

The legislation was championed by Ducey, who has described it as a positive change that will entice “great teachers” into the classroom and help alleviate Arizona’s teacher shortages.

The state has been struggling with severe shortages as thousands of teachers have left the state in recent years for reasons including low pay, insufficient classroom resources, and so many testing requirements and teaching guidelines that they feel they have no flexibility and too little authentic instructional time.

A new analysis by the National Education Association found Arizona near the bottom of a state list of spending per student in 2015-2016, the latest data available. The U.S. average per-student expenditure was $11,787; Vermont had the highest, $23,557, and Arizona was near the bottom, $7,566. Teachers’ salaries in Arizona were in the bottom 20 percent of states.

 

[CRI]

This is pretty fucking awful, but I wouldn't be surprised to see more of it happening.

GOP lawmaker targets activist as “ringleader” in letter to her boss, forces her to resign

Republican Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen shamelessly targeted one of his New Jersey constituents, sending a letter to her employer complaining that she was a "ringleader" of protests, a move that led to her resignation from an executive position.

The New Jersey Republican sent a fundraising letter in March that complained of “organized forces — both national and local — who are already hard at work to put a stop to” the Republican agenda.

But on the copy he sent to Lakeland Bank board member Joseph O’Dowd — who has also donated to Frelinghuysen in previous elections — the congressman added a handwritten notation that “One of the ringleaders works in your bank!”

He also enclosed a news clipping that identified then-employee Saily Avelenda as a co-founder of the group NJ 11th for Change, a recently formed group of Frelinghuysen’s constituents who called on him to oppose the Trump agenda.

According to Avelenda, that letter contributed to her eventual resignation from the company, after she was “questioned and criticized for her involvement” with the group:

“Needless to say, that did cause some issues at work that were difficult to overcome,” said Saily Avelenda of West Caldwell, New Jersey, who was a senior vice president and assistant general counsel at the bank before she resigned. She says the pressure she received over her political involvement was one of several reasons she decided to leave. …

“I had to write a statement to my CEO, and at my level as an assistant general counsel and a senior vice president, at this employer it was not something that I expected,” Avelenda said. “I thought my Congressman put them in a situation, and put me in a really bad situation as the constituent, and used his name, used his position and used his stationery to try to punish me.”

The bank’s pressure and criticism of Avelenda was a stunning reversal, given in late March, the bank announced her promotion to senior vice president/assistant general counsel, a promotion that surely was in the works before Frelinghuysen’s attack.

 

[DotCommunist]

classic right wing trope thats played out here too- the overwhelming belief that teachers are not professionals, are paid too much and are people who just didn't make it in their chosen field commercially. Tory/repub philistinism at its finest.

 

[MightyTibberton]

"If you work in public service you're a failure who couldn't make it in the "real world"."

"Government is easy. All those people are just sucking up my tax money."

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Not stupid shit directly from Trump, but from others, emboldened by his rhetoric and policies.

White Nationalist Leads Torch-Bearing Protesters Against Removal of Confederate Statue



View attachment 106723

Thanks, Trump!

 

[MightyTibberton]

 

[Buddy Bradley]

Taking "dumbing down" just that bit further . . .

In Arizona, teachers can now be hired with absolutely no training in how to teach

Don't we have something sort of similar here? Sure there was talk of a fast-track scheme to get people with 'industry experience' into teaching jobs without having to go through the hassle of learning how to teach.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Thanks, Trump!

It's telling that the workers charged with removing those old monuments, have been wearing masks and are accompanied by armed guards. I keep saying that one of the worst mistakes the US has made is taking back the south after the civil war. The ideology that came with them has been a cancer.

 

[spring-peeper]

Don't we have something sort of similar here? Sure there was talk of a fast-track scheme to get people with 'industry experience' into teaching jobs without having to go through the hassle of learning how to teach.

I know that most of my college and university professors that only had "industry" experience.
I've never heard of a teacher in the lower grades with no teachers college getting a job. Even our teaching assistance's have to get a college diploma to get hired by the school board.

 

[MightyTibberton]

Can I ask if this removal of Confederate monuments is happening across the States, and if it is seeing this sort of controversy wherever it happens?

Not trying to be a smart arse or start a fight, just interested. I watched a discussion about this on another site and was shocked at the extent to which public commemoration of the Confederacy is still in place in the South - road names, school names(!), and the like. Watching this discussion it seemed that the Civil War is almost a live issue in some ways, both in attitudes in the South and attitudes towards the South.

 

[a_chap]

Appoints Sam Clovis (former Trump aide, what a co-incidence) as head of Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Head of nutrition, no less.