.@EricTrump, who was less vocal during campaign, has emerged as a bigger force since https://t.co/3IqGYef9Rj
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) April 4, 2017
Eric Trump said that he and his siblings have never disappointed their dad https://t.co/tbmr4hspZM pic.twitter.com/rrOzdFGtd5
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) April 4, 2017
The Dunning-Kruger effect, it’s not just the old man’s problem:
… “Nepotism is kind of a factor of life,” Trump told Forbes in an interview that took place in February.
Eric Trump said that he and his siblings “might be here because of nepotism” but would not have sustained that status if they “weren’t competent.”…
“You know the one thing, Don, Ivanka and I never let him down really in any factor of life,” he said. “And I think it’s one of the reasons that we’re as innately close as we are.”
Eric Trump said that eight years ago, he and his brother “would have been too big of question marks” for their father to do “the presidential thing” and turn over the family company.
“I think hopefully we earned our stripes,” he said. “And I think that’s ultimately why we’re in the seat we’re in.”
Dude, if you and Uday had never disappointed Daddy Dearest, he wouldn’t be leaning so hard on his Fortunate Son-in-Law. Who seems to be somewhat smarter than you two — not a high bar — but not smart enough that he isn’t showing his… exaggerated estimate of his own abilities, a mere two months into what he seemingly hoped would be a Kushner Regency.
On CNN, Jeffrey Lord just compared Jared Kusher to Alexander Hamilton.
— Stuart Rothenberg (@StuPolitics) April 3, 2017
FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Is there a doctor on the plane??
JARED KUSHNER [jumping up to volunteer]: I once renovated an office building in SoHo— Jason O. Gilbert (@gilbertjasono) April 3, 2017
Wait til Pence finds out Trump thinks he can leave the presidency to Kushner if he's impeached.
— Robert Mann ?? (@RTMannJr) April 3, 2017
How much does Steve ‘Alt-Reich’ Bannon love the way busy little Jared has made himself a target for every other aspiring thug in the Trump Oval Office Crime Cartel?
Remember, with Repubs, it’s always projection…
.@RogerJStoneJr tells Alex Jones that Kushner is pushing anti-Bannon stories with MSNBC https://t.co/uFXxDw1Imr
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) April 4, 2017
Doesn't this sort of imply there are forces for bad within? pic.twitter.com/CdWxH9MsXK
— Schooley (@Rschooley) April 4, 2017
THANKS SO MUCH FOR GIVING THESE GONIFFS THEIR CHANCE, REPUBLICANS!
T S
This level of hubris and over-confidence always ends well.
Major Major Major Major
What the fuck is behind Eric in that picture? Is it his hair? Some dude with a fascist cut?
Major Major Major Major
Also, resharing from a few posts down, I made a graph of which BJ post categories hang out with each other today since I needed some sample data to work with. Couple folks thought it looked purty.
Villago Delenda Est
You remember how 55 Central Park West was “Spook Central” in Ghostbusters?
The Trump White House is Dunning-Kruger Central.
Chet Murthy
OT, but it’s an open thread, so: I read about the UK-EU-Spain-Gibraltar situation, and I feel like there’s something being hidden in plain sight. Or more exactly, one of two things:
Either (1) Spain is insisting that they want Gibraltar back and the EU is going along with that (which is NUTS)
or (2) Spain is insisting (with EU backing) that they get a veto on any “soft Brexit deal”, and are trying to get Gibraltar back, using that as a stick.
I don’t get why nobody in the UK press (not even the Guardian) makes it clear which of these two stories is the real one. B/c if it’s #2, FFS, it’s only NATURAL for Spain to do it. I mean, the UK wants something special? Hey, there’s a price for that. And if the UK doesn’t wanna pay it, there’s always the WTO rules.
From what I read, it sure looks like #2. Are -all- UK journos so in-the-tank for the UK, that they can’t report this basic issue properly? Even the Guardian?
I really don’t get it. Does anybody have any enlightenment to offer?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
really? factor of life (twice), innately close, too big of question marks? He’s the Steve Doocey of the Morning Zoo Croo that makes up the elder batch.
Chet Murthy
@Major Major Major Major: It’s some dude going the other direction (uh, I think, after examining image under magnification).
Major Major Major Major
@Chet Murthy: you’re a braver man than I!
I was kind of hoping he’d gone with a horrible short ponytail.
SiubhanDuinne
@Major Major Major Major:
I was, and continue to be, one of them. I still think it would look supercool enlarged, printed on good paper, and framed. I’d buy one.
But holy crap, there are some truly strange, if not downright bizarre, category names.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
not that I think it will make a difference, but..
Lawyers? Big deal?
SiubhanDuinne
@Major Major Major Major:
Of all the Trumps, even including Donald, the one whose face creeps me out the most is Eric. Something about the eyes, and that weird smile-like thing he does with his mouth, convey a kind of sly, stupid cunning. The dull slicked-back hair just adds to the impression. Creepy.
Major Major Major Major
@SiubhanDuinne: I actually had to limit it to categories that paired with at least five(? I think) others or else it just looked like a ball of string with tiny illegible labels. There are way too many categories. Cole likes to complain about it.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
Hmm. The factors of life, the universe and everything are 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 14, 21 and 42. Not sure what that has to do with young Uday* believing he’s not a disappointment, though.
*Or Qusay. Whatever.
MobiusKlein
That man is a Slytherin reject, if I may say so.
Kropadope
@SiubhanDuinne:
I just tend to think “gross” and leave it at that.
@MobiusKlein:
J.K. Rowling addresses this topic directly.
Those muggles would never be let into Hogwarts.
eclare
@Major Major Major Major: That is a really cool image, impressive.
MobiusKlein
@Kropadope:
My daughter’s point exactly. I should listen to her more.
SiubhanDuinne
@Major Major Major Major:
Fixed. For you.
Major Major Major Major
@eclare: it’s interactive! Mouse over (or tap on mobile) the names.
joel hanes
@SiubhanDuinne:
Eric
Clearly Slytherin and a Death Eater
ETA or what the half-twisted bottle said in 14 supra.
Gotta shift fast to ride with you guys
SFBayAreaGal
@joel hanes:
Eric
Clearly Slytherin and a Death Eater, plus a Gollum
Major Major Major Major
@joel hanes: @SFBayAreaGal: Rowling said he wouldn’t be Slytherin since he would never have even gotten accepted to Hogwarts.
eclare
@Major Major Major Major: Wow! I have a little experience with SQL…is that it, or something similar?
Steeplejack (phone)
Sustained that status?! They’ve only been around a couple of months. And have done what, exactly? Was Eric the one who went to Uruguay?
A really bad mailroom guy can last 10 weeks if he stays invisible.
Major Major Major Major
@eclare: it’s JavaScript, but the raw data is from a SQLite database.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Major Major Major Major:
Trying out a man-bun.
Major Major Major Major
@Steeplejack (phone): it’s part of the Trumps’ youth outreach program.
Spider-Dan
“Tiffany, on the other hand, fucks up all the time.”
Dog Dawg Damn
Misuse of the word “innately” too.
It can’t be “innate” if it’s because you’ve done such a heckuva job, dumbass.
Mnemosyne
Went in to get our taxes done and discovered that, not only does it look like we’re going to get a decent-sized refund (I have one more piece of paperwork to send in), but our accountant made a mistake on our 2015 return and we’re going to get even more money back.
Stickin’ it to the man this year!
gene108
@Spider-Dan:
Tiffany’s mom did break-up their happy little family, by screwing around with the blameless Don, Sr.
Scamp Dog
@Chet Murthy: No, it’s Lord Voldemort’s face attached to the back of his head.
Millard Filmore
@Major Major Major Major: Are you going to try to arrange the data to get your work into http://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations ?
e.g. Per Capita Cheese Consumption -and- Number of People That Die By Becoming Tangled in Their Bedsheets
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
I got your email. I can’t decide if I should thank you or if I hate you now. I don’t even like eggs!
Major Major Major Major
@Millard Filmore: Surely they’re not spurious if they’re words that writers have chosen to associate.
@Mnemosyne: You’re welcome! :D
polyorchnid octopunch
@Chet Murthy: It’s pretty much like this. Gibraltar comes up in the context of Brexit, probably because people in Gibraltar are worried about what it will mean to their daily lives; while they may pay taxes and receive government benefits to and from London, their actual groceries come from somewhere a little closer to hand. An assurance was made that everything would be fine vis-a-vis trade with Spain (that would be the aforementioned closer to hand). Spain said, “hold on a second, you can’t speak for us on this”, and that’s when the usual shit funnels saw their opportunity to distract people with the whoops and the hollers and the sabres shaking in their scabbards, all of which got dutifully reported by the Murdoch press, so as to mainstream it into discussion on the mainstream press.
They’re hoping that the rubes get all worked up so they don’t notice that the money flow accelerating upwards after brexit terms get settled as the shit flow comes to resemble a California spillway.
It works the same in every country.
hellslittlestangel
Never disappointed their dad. Don, Eric and even Ivanka can cheat a contractor or grab a pussy like they were to the manner born.
Chet Murthy
@polyorchnid octopunch: Teh funny. Oh teh funny. If I read you correctly, yeah, various UK media are skipping right over “the EU and EU states have a right to decide what sweet deal to offer the UK, and to decide that pretty much amongst themselves without UK input”, to “oh, this bad deal the EU’s gonna offer us (on Gibraltar), that’s tantamount to war!!!!”
FFS. And yeah, i can see how this is really useful to distract the rubes, and hadn’t thought of that.. Makes perfect sense now. Though I still wonder why the Guardian hasn’t exposed this part of the story. (Maybe naive me,) I’d have thought the Guardian would at be somewhat reality-based.
Debbie(aussie)
@SiubhanDuinne:
That does look amazing. And agree re categories?
Shalimar
@Chet Murthy: The final Brexit agreement has to be approved by every single EU nation, so yes, Spain does get a veto.
AMinNC
@Major Major Major Major:Clearly, Lord Voldemort has taken up residence on the back of Eric’s head. Only, rather than wearing a turban to hide him, a la Professor Quirrel, Eric has adopted the ‘Pat Riley’ to do the job.
liberalandlovingit!
‘Innately close’ WTF does that even mean? my pocket Oxford says ‘inbreeding’. HA!
must’a meant ‘inanely close’–silly nonsense, empty, void.
(Anyone else here notice the ‘Innsmouth Look’ to them? The youngest daughter resembles a goldfish.)
Typical. Don the Con’s School of Thought–using words they have no awareness of, and thinking we’re all blinded by their brilliance, when in fact, we’re mostly baffled by their bullshit.
J R in WV
@Major Major Major Major:
Major^4, that’s quite a graphic, and the code is also interesting.
Question, how come there are points on the radius with no post label, which yet have graph links to other posts, sometimes multiple links to multiple posts??
Dropped names? no clue, myself, actually. Great graph, tho~!!!
psychobroad
@hellslittlestangel: It’s “to the manor born” . Sorry, it’s a tic I have, I was educated by nuns. :-)
Tehanu
@psychobroad:
Nope. “To the manor” came later; the original is Shakespeare (Hamlet, 1602):
HORATIO: Is it a custom?
HAMLET: Ay, marry, is’t:
But to my mind, though I am native here
And to the manner born, it is a custom
More honour’d in the breach than the observance.