It would be a giant leap to say that the Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 people on Sunday was caused by the U.S. government shutdown, but there is reason to believe the aircraft’s safety may have been compromised by the impasse Donald Trump forced over funding for his vanity wall. The crash apparently bore similarities…
Category: GovernmentShutdown
This sounds familiar: Trump plans to stiff federal contractors hurt by shutdown
They wanted a president who would run the country like his business. Oh, they got it. And now everyone gets to suffer. From NBC News: President Donald Trump is blocking a measure to give back pay to federal contractors affected by last month's government shutdown as part of a bipartisan agreement to avert another federal closure, a…
Shutdown 2.0? Border wall talks reportedly stalled
It’s hard to imagine that Donald Trump would put the country through another shutdown given the political fallout from his previous unforced error, but then this guy is a special kind of stupid. If no agreement is reached on the border wall by Friday’s deadline, it seems likely that he’ll declare a state of emergency and…
Trump reportedly lashing out at Mulvaney over bad press from shutdown
Is there a worse job in the world than Donald Trump’s chief of staff? Maybe Trump’s personal bathtub attendant. Or the guy who artificially inseminates zoo gorillas? I don’t know. Those last two are essentially the same job, so … Mick Mulvaney has been Trump’s “acting” chief of staff for a cosmic blink of an…
Eric Trump's winery looking to hire more foreign laborers
While Donald Trump’s Westchester, New York, golf club was quietly sacking undocumented workers during the government shutdown, his son Eric’s winery was looking to staff up — with 23 foreign workers. Just try to find the end of the Trump family’s hypocrisy. I dare you. From BuzzFeed News: Trump Winery, also known as Trump Vineyard…
Wow, these new Trump poll numbers are in the sewer
Donald Trump shut down the government for 35 days for a pouch of magic beans and a participation trophy, and Americans appear to have noticed. On several measures, respondents to the latest NBC/WSJ poll now see him as the noisome, tumescent clump of flop sweat and spray-tan solution that he is: By 47 percent to…
Former Trump campaign official: 'Democrats have Trump by the b*lls'
Can you write “balls” in a headline if it refers to, you know, theoretical POTUS gonads? Is there official DKos guidance on this? I think this is a gray area. Anyway, many in Donald Trump’s orbit are, let’s just say, disappointed in their ocher overlord’s capitulation to newly inaugurated de facto president Nancy Pelosi, and they’re…
A lesson was taught yesterday. But, was it learned by the GOP?
Now did you see the news today? They say the danger’s gone away. But I can see the fires still alight. They’re burning into the night Land of Confusion Genesis My two youngest daughters love zombie movies, especially the Resident Evil franchise. Me personally? I can take ‘em or leave ‘e. I’m a huge fan…
Odds and Ends on McConnell and Bevin.
Kentucky has the dubious honor to have elected some of the most evil and stupid people possible to government positions — Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, Thomas Massie, and Matt Bevin. Given Trump’s government shutdown defeat, I was watching a lot of TV — MSNBC — and scanning local and state media for the latest on our rogues gallery…
Comedy Award to Bill O'Reilly Spin On Trump Cave On Wall and Government Shutdown.
I freely admit to NOT looking at right wing propaganda outlets, but I got curious what others besides Ann Coulter were saying about Trump’s capitulation on the government shutdown and his precious fuckin’ wall. And lo and behold, I found comedy gold from Bill O’Reilly. But first, let’s get the read from the disappointed conservative…
There goes Coulter, there go low-information voters, there goes a chunk of his base. What's left?
I could post the entire transcript of Donald Trump’s Rose Garden address, but what’s the point? It all boils down to this: “We’re ending the government shutdown, blah blah blah, lie lie lie, I’m a huge fucking loser.” And if that’s too detailed for you, basically he got up to the podium and ate shit for…
What is a Pampers President without the Pampers?
What is the sound of one hand clapping? Chinese proverb OK screw it, I was wrong. So, sue me. A little over a week ago I put up a rather lengthy article, in which I chronicled the fact that Trump’s obstinance in the current partial government shutdown was not something unique to Trump, nor to…
I See a Trump “National Emergency” In Our Near Future.
After today’s show votes in the U.S. Senate, MSNBC was all a twitter — not electronically — about how “twenty senators from each party” were frustrated or infuriated by this government shutdown. Schumer was seen going into McConnell’s office, and it seemed to the gullible reporters that a “bipartisan” solution to the Trump/McConnell government shutdown. Oh, the…
CNN: Trump is preparing emergency proclamation draft to potentially end shutdown and build wall
From CNN: The White House is preparing a draft proclamation for President Donald Trump to declare a national emergency along the southern border and has identified more than $7 billion in potential funds for his signature border wall should he go that route, according to internal documents reviewed by CNN. Trump has not ruled…
Air traffic controllers: 'We cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play'
This is not … er … comforting. What is it about Republicans and screwing with our air traffic control system? In a joint statement, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, Air Line Pilots Association International, and the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA is warning of the increasing danger posed by the partial government shutdown, currently in its 33rd day. Is…
The win-win solution to the shutdown is SO simple
This isn’t whimsical, there actually is an almost insanely easy solution to the government shutdown, and one that gives every side the ability to claim a “win” on the issue. And funnily enough, the basic mechanics are already in place. There is no doubt that the Republicans are feeling the heat. Poll after poll shows them guilty…
1 in 5 Americans report being personally affected by shutdown
A new CBS News poll has a lot of bad news for Trump and the Republicans: Americans overwhelmingly believe, by a margin of 71 percent to 28 percent, that funding a border wall is not worth a government shutdown. By a margin of 47 percent to 35 percent, Americans think Nancy Pelosi is doing a…
So Legislative “Genius” Mitch McConnell Has This Plan…
As the details come in, it appears that neither Trump’s “compromise” with all of its poison pills nor a clean CR will pass a Senate cloture vote. Democrats will not cave and vote for Trump’s wall and other white supremacists wish list items. Republicans are going to vote as a block to kill a clean…
Stock market dips on some worrying economic data, Trumpian unforced errors
So this happened today: Given the volatility in the stock market of late, today’s 300-point pratfall isn’t all that noteworthy. But what’s a bit more concerning is the likely reason. While investor jitters over Donald Trump’s inane economic policies have made the market vacillate over the past year like a Home Depot paint mixer, this latest move may…
Congressman John Yarmuth (KY-3rd): McConnell Wants a Wall to Protect the Republican Senate.
Democratic Congressman John Yarmuth of Kentucky’s Third District has an op-ed answering the many lies told by Senator Mitch McConnell in his previous op-ed. I think the best line from Yarmuth is this one: The bottom line is that Mitch McConnell is only interested in one wall, and that’s the one he’s trying to build…