I am all alone (poor me) in the White House waiting for the Democrats to come back and make a deal on desperately needed Border Security. At some point the Democrats not wanting to make a deal will cost our Country more money than the Border Wall we are all talking about. Crazy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 24, 2018
I got nothing.
mvr
They leave him alone in the Whitehouse?!!
currants
AMAZING. Not surprising, but always astonishing.
M31
Christ what an asshole
Damien
Honestly, Donald Trump being all alone and Sad! is all I wanted for Christmas. Well alone and being indicted, but we can’t get everything we want all at once.
Amir Khalid
When Trump does this, he thinks he’s presidenting. I find that sad.
trollhattan
I’d like to see him golfmaking and not striving to crash the economy, so for once I agree with Donny–go to fucking Florida, do it now!
brettvk
He’s a terrible person, yet it does not comfort me that he’s almost always miserable as well.
Geoboy
Poor me? Let’s have him forcibly separated from his children, locked in a cage in a prison (excuse me, “detention center”) with the air conditioning cranked up to the max, given one thin aluminum foil blanket to cover himself, and then denied water. Then he can start whining.
Ken
Don’t worry, the Democrats will be back January 3.
Actually, is Congress going to try to get together this week and pass a CR? I think I saw something about Ryan telling the House to come back on Thursday, but that was before he made his grande exit stage right.
dmsilev
I guess that means his entire staff is classified as inessential and hence are on furlough until after the shutdown is over? Sounds about right to me.
oatler.
And that was the leader’s Christmas Eve Message, live from the Bunker.
dmsilev
@Ken: Not sure about the House, but the Senate is indeed reconvening on Thursday.
bbleh
Don’t you see? He is a victim! Like all his supporters, who are also victims! And they are blameless victims, oppressed by terrible people, like Jesus was! They are, in that way, like Jesus. Really, poor Trump! And his supporters! Just like Jesus!
dmsilev
At least he managed to not spell border with an extra’a’ added in. Progress!
Dorothy A. Winsor
Since we’re on the topic of whining, I posted a blog entry about 2018 being an unusually stressful year for me, and I didn’t even have to resort to politics to find something to whine about. Come January, I’ll go back to posting about writing.
Lapassionara
@trollhattan: Agree. He is dangerous when he is alone and feeling sorry for himself. I just hope we all make it to the new year.
PaulB
There doesn’t seem to be any movement towards, or chance of, a continuing budget resolution, since Trump blew up the last one after he got publicly scolded by his base.
Apparently, the latest offer from the White House, as reported by the Washington Post, is $2.1 billion for border security plus another $400 million for unspecified additional enforcement efforts. Mulvaney is saying that nothing more is expected to happen until Wednesday and members of the House and Senate are being told that Thursday would be the earliest possible vote, assuming that there is anything to vote on.
What I find amusing is that Trump thinks that these really childish tweets are going to put any pressure on Democrats or make this any less the “Trump Shutdown.”
cynthia ackerman
Not an original observation, but I am struck by the thought that Combover is a sad bookend to Lincoln’s presidency.
He’s a living nadir in uncountable ways, sowing chaos and discord, and he should be the undoing of the hollow wreck the GOP has become.
dmsilev
@PaulB:
So, they’ve gone from $25 billion originally, to $10 or so billion some months ago, to $5 billion last week, to $2.5 billion now. At a 2x reduction each time, it’ll take about ten more rounds of negotiation to get him down to demanding One Meeeelllion Dollars.
Major Major Major Major
@currants: bingo.
Shakti
Did I miss something? I don’t know why people are acting like it’s the Democratic party’s fault there’s no budget right now. The Republicans have a majority in the Senate and the House. It’s not like Democratic party senators can filibuster anything; they can’t even filibuster judicial appointments.
Why isn’t he asking why Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell do not have the votes?
Uncle Omar
Too bad. Maybe he’ll figure out that he isn’t the Boss, only an employee. And often-times employees are separated from their families during holidays. You know, like the cops who have the unenviable task of going out on domestic disturbance calls on Xmas Eve, or the deployed soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen/women, & coast guarders. So, if you don’t like it quit your fcking job and turn it over to someone who won’t cry and whine and mope. The current sub is barely as qualified as you aren’t, but he probably won’t whine so damned much.
Mary G
Nancy SMASH is poking the bear with a stick:
She has a nice little thread of nasty comments there, but there are lots of hashtags and it would throw me into moderation to post more. The latest is that the Freedom Caucus is impossible to deal with, but there are also jabs at right-wing radio and TV. Part of me loves that she’s being so aggressive and part of me is terrified what the aggrieved loon occupying the White House will decide to do next.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Yeah we need a word for “shocking but not surprising for trump and this era
@cynthia ackerman: Yup, he is the incarnation of all the worst demons of our national character
Just listening to Marc Maron’s podcast, and he said that his Fox-ified father got knocked off the trump train by the Mattis thing
James E Powell
Trump has turned his big issue – immigrants invading to destroy America – into a childish standoff over a wall. Pelosi had it right: ridicule him and his wall.
Joy in FL
After I saw this BJ post, I tweeted at him (45*) “Happy Holidays” partly to be annoying, although I don’t not wish anyone a good Christmas or Festivus or whatever. How is he in any position of authority????? He shouldn’t even be managing a sidewalk weekend lemonade stand.
Also, I just want to say, again, how much I value the people of this blog. With wisdom and knowledge and animal photos and snark, you all help me deal with this horrible segment of U.S. and world history.
I hope everyone who reads this has some true happiness during this holiday season.
hilts
Trump’s disastrous tenure as President can be summed up for me in one word: butthurt.
No slight, no disagreement, no criticism can ever be leveled at this Neanderthal without him launching into an over the top woe is me, everyone is so unfair routine.
I’ve had it with this guy’s incompetence, dishonesty, and hysterical tirades.
I hope to God that evidence will be uncovered by Mueller, the SDNY, or some intrepid reporter that will force a majority of Republicans in Congress to abandon him.
My only question is will Trump leave office in handcuffs or in a straitjacket?
Ohio Mom
He’s all alone? What about Melania and Baron?
Last night I got the fourth of a series of four emails, sent over two days, on why we need a wall from my tea-party Congressional Rep. This one was all about how foreigners bring diseases. It was positively unhinged. Usually his missives are just stupid.
Of course if this joker wanted me to stay healthy, he’d stop trying to dismantle the ACA.
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I remember your husband’s scare, the move, and your heart attack but I had forgotten how close together they all were. My god. Glad you weathered it all.
TaMara (HFG)
That’s real? OMFG.
dmsilev
@Shakti: The filibuster is still in place for most legislation, so the Senate does indeed need sixty votes to pass a continuing resolution. It’s arguably a moot point since it’s not clear The Wall could even muster a bare majority, but the impossibility of getting anywhere near sixty is part of what’s been happening.
debbie
@hilts:
And yet, never once has he had second thoughts about the infallibility of his gut. ///
(Honestly, another explanation of narcissism isn’t needed. Really.)
Johnnybuck
What a fucking idiot. Nobody feels sorry for you dude. Just go to Florida already. Nobody believes you’re going to do jack-shit anyway.
realbtl
I’m thinking the Dems should offer him the cost of his favorite McD’s meal and tell him to think things over.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Ohio Mom: I didn’t even realize I was stressed at the time. And when you throw our national nightmare, it’s no wonder I had a heart attack.
TaMara (HFG)
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I’m not sure what you had to stress about. I mean really, all you did was sell your house, move to a new city and have a medical emergency. Piece of cake. /sarcasm
May 2019 be easier. [[[hugs]]]
ETA: Oh, and publish a book and we all know that’s not stressful
SiubhanDuinne
@Ken:
Exit, pursued by a bear market.
Yutsano
@dmsilev: Thursday could be very…interesting. It is possible Paulie Boy did in fact completely dismiss the House, and even if he didn’t the 40 Republicans who just lost their seats have zero motivation to return.
Plus Yertle might not get back Corker, Flake, or Paul. There could be no majority to do anything.
Alexa, all the popcorn please?
scav
Ahhh, there’s that business leader of uniquely “merkan greatness projecting his inerrent authority, power and leadership directly to the universe again. such PR savvy!
houska rising!
Bruce K
@hilts: Feet-first in a pine box is always a real possibility, given the stress he has to be feeling now (“my heart bleeds,” he said sarcastically), but hopefully not before the facts surrounding his owners are brought into the light of day.
SiubhanDuinne
@TaMara (HFG):
I know. Hand to dog, I thought it was a spoof tweet until I checked.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
from Cole
‘Twas the night before Christmas
and in the White House
A dotty old racist
did tweet and grouse
“I’m doing great!
Why do they call me lame?”
“Cause you’re a fucking moron”
Said Nixon’s ghost from a frame
and I rhymed miself into a corner
Dorothy A. Winsor
@TaMara (HFG): Thank goodness, I had BJ to listen to me while it all happened. And you know exactly how stressful publishing a book is!
Ruckus
@hilts:
Ever see a straitjacket up close? It’s more confining than handcuffs, far more.
PaulWartenberg
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Sending you a ton of hugs, Dorothy!
PaulWartenberg
I’m trying to remember the last time anyone threw a Pity Party in the Oval Office.
cynthia ackerman
@Mary G:
There’s Good Smash (NP) and there’s Evil Smash/Poo Fling (iDJT).
VeniceRiley
Is the Carl’s Jr. in the basement open on Christmas?
PaulWartenberg
@Shakti:
Because the Republican endgame is to have enough Democrats get guilt-tripped or “Both Sidered” into caving on the GOP agenda. Both to humiliate the Dems and pose as the SUPERIOR Party, and also to lay the groundwork to blame those Dems when their GOP agenda most assuredly falls apart and drives the U.S. into a deep economic depression.
They can never admit they don’t have enough control over their own party, and they are terrified of owning anything they *know* in their hearts will be a long-term disaster.
Dmbeaster
Someone needs to do a Downfall take on the puny President lamenting the failure of his wall. The rant should start after it is reported to him that the Senate Republicans will not undo the filibuster so it could pass with 50 votes.
SFAW
@Ruckus:
Would they have to make a special one, just to fit around his gut?
Asking for a friend.
Ohio Mom
@PaulWartenberg: Oh, I imagine there have been plenty of pity parties in the Oval Office, just that everyone else had the personal dignity and sense of responsibility to keep them private.
sukabi
@Shakti: the thing to remember is that we would have had a deal on funding thru the next couple of months that passed by a 100 -0 vote except the whining asshole in the WH said no, after assuring them he’d be a yes. This is entirely on drumpf.
cynthia ackerman
@PaulWartenberg:
What time is it?
Raoul Paste
We can’t have government by hostage-taking.
What will he demand next?
SFAW
@Dmbeaster:
“Mein Fuehrer,
SteinerMcConnell couldn’t mobilize genug votes.”“Das war ein Befehl!!!!!”
ETA: Wie sagt man “Shitgibbon” auf Deutsch? Scheissgibbon?
Emerald
@bbleh: Nailed it. Bravo.
trollhattan
@VeniceRiley:
I’m surprised there isn’t one on the site of Michelle’s vegetable garden. Trump would have the SS drive through so he could order from the limo.
Ruckus
@SFAW:
Tell your friend….
The one I’ve seen and held was usable for anyone that would fit through a hatch on a naval vessel. It was rather adaptable to a lot of sizes though. But seeing as how he looks like he doesn’t fit through a normal doorway I’d say it’s possible that a larger size may be needed. Now if you were going to put his head in a straight jacket……..
SFAW
I find myself thinking or saying “Just Shut the Fuck Up” more and more, so the tag is appropriate.
Frankensteinbeck
@PaulWartenberg:
I don’t think that’s it, here. McConnell and Ryan have bucked Trump repeatedly on budgets, and made him sign it. I think this is some combination of ditching responsibility and being happy to let Democrats train the toddler. Mommy/Daddy party, after all. This also ties into…
@sukabi:
Which means Trump’s veto doesn’t mean shit. Ryan’s veto was absolute, however. He wouldn’t let it be voted on in the House.
VeniceRiley
@trollhattan: Thought you meant SS in the nazi way. Ha!
Baud
Get used to solitary.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
He must have lost an awful lot of money in the tanking stock market if he can’t even afford $130,000 for a little company any longer. Low energy! Sad!
chopper
long as he doesn’t have the nuclear football with him.
scav
Baud
Drum
With apologies to any Hillary voters who are affected, Ha Ha!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
some long form trumpy Xmas Carol is called for, trump visited by Ivana, Marla and Melania, the Ghost of Ex-Wives Yet To Come, always the scariest of the three spirits
biff murphy
“I am all alone” … Keep digging asshole.
NotMax
@chopper
The batteries were removed a while back. //
chopper
i’m sure he’s drowning his sorrows in a bucket of colonel as we speak.
dmsilev
Since all that matters to Trump is Trump, I’m guessing that the reason he’s pissed is that whatever money he has in stocks is going down in value, and at the same time the Fed’s slow increases of interest rates means that Trump is paying more and more and more to keep servicing his debt load. He’s losing money, so he’s mad.
cynthia ackerman
@Baud:
BBC headline just now has him declaring Fed is the “only” problem in our economy.
Wonder when The Havmores will have had enough of him.
JPL
Melania is returning from FL to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I assume she’ll return to FL Wednesday. There is no news about Baron and he wasn’t included in their Christmas photo either.
Marcus
When I read his tweet, I immediately thought of Bobby Vinton’s song “Mr. Lonely”.
scav
Elizabelle
I think he will have more company and more adult supervision this time next year. I am not sure he will still be squatting in the Oval Office.
Villago Delenda Est
I want him all alone in the White House, without access to a phone, bleeding out, after he’s been wilded by 200 million Americans.
Mike in NC
If Fat Bastard failed to wake up on Christmas morning, image the thrill that would be felt by hundreds of millions of children of all ages around the world!
Michael Cain
@Yutsano:
I’d been figuring that the Senators from the Far West were just pairing up, one Dem and one Republican, and agreeing to stay home rather than subjecting themselves to the tender mercies of US air travel for five or six hours (or more) each way. Especially those from Alaska and Hawaii. Of course, I view not having to ever fly anywhere as one of the great benefits of being retired.
Frankensteinbeck
You know what’s nuts?
He’s serious.
Martin
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Not bad. But it’s just ‘wall money’ not ‘the wall money’.
Roger Moore
@Yutsano:
Not legally. Neither House of Congress can adjourn for more than 3 days without the permission of the other House (Article I, Section 5, paragraph 4). So if the Senate is in session, the House had damn well better be.
Plato
Heh, ‘trump curious’ and ‘raygun democrats’. Guess what?
Bigoted butthurt voting begets only more butthurt.
Plato
Heh, ‘trump curious’ and ‘raygun democrats’. Guess what?
Bigoted butthurt voting begets only more butthurt.
divF
@Ohio Mom:
He’s all alone? What about Melania and Baron?
He’s all alone, with the Red Trees. Sounds like the climax of a cheap horror film.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Villago Delenda Est: Ooh, nice Central Park 5 reference.
Why can’t I quit you people? I have to break away from politics until Christmas Day at least is over. I can do that, right?
OK, this is me walking away from BJ now. See you all on the flip side.
Plato
Plato
@Mike in NC: If that happens, will go from non believer to true believer overnight.
PsiFighter37
Douchebag. I wonder how much money I will have lost by the time I get home from vacation. And that’s the least of what I am concerned about. What an asshole.
cain
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
My sister-in-law’s sister and her husband are thinking of doing a divorce it was revealed today. So my brother and sister-in-law have been closeted in a room with her parents tryingto work this out.
The cat was let out of the bag because the mother-in-law let the cat out and I suspect on purpose. The parents is one of the reasons why it has become a shit show. Bullshit mother-in-law I suspect has an axe to grind and doesn’t give a shit on how it affects her son.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@cain: Now that sounds stressful!
FlipYrWhig
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Uh, I don’t know the second writer but it’s not THAT hard to write new lines that come CLOSE to adhering to the original meter. #anapestictetrameter #pedantrypoetry
PenandKey
Can we just take a minute to appreciate how absolutely pathetic this sounds coming from the leader of a party that prides itself on deriding “safe spaces” and being macho tough men?
Bess
Perhaps it’s time to consider making it a bit painful for the president and Congress members when they fail to fund the government. Here are some ideas:
1) No presidential/member pay for days during shutdown. No ability to recover the loss later.
2) No reimbursement of expenses, including airfare. No ability to reimburse after the government reopens.
3) No health insurance coverage. Let them seek private coverage.
4) All support staff are also furloughed. That includes cooking and janitorial workers both in the Capital and White House. All people working assist roles, including secretary/office workers, the White House butlers and maintenance/repair workers. Only security staff stay on duty. If the toilet gets plugged then one of our elected officials can go looking for the plunger.
5) All non-essential facilities such as the Congressional gym and White House pool/bowling alley are shuttered.
If the government quits functioning for some government employees it should certainly stop functioning for those who have failed to do their job.
Chris Johnson
This ‘Der Untergang’ remake is not as dramatic as the original.
I blame casting…
The Dangerman
I hope the McDonald’s closest to the White House has lots of secret sauce for his Big Macs.
/harold and kumar
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@FlipYrWhig: there’s something better to be done, and I’m sure will be, but it’s twitter, one small step up from blog comments.
Roger Moore
@Mike in NC:
The most likely cause of him failing to wake up Christmas morning is sleeping in until after noon.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
in which the president fails math and history
Villago Delenda Est
@Chris Johnson: The Hitler guy is way too comedic. You know, like the Hitler in Look Who’s Back.
FlipYrWhig
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I guarantee you he didn’t know, and may still not know, that there have been farm bills before.
batguano
This fuckin guy
Brachiator
It’s always about him. Pathetic.
If border security were so “desperately needed,” how come we haven’t already been overrun?
Trump still has the advantage in being able to frame the conversation. The Democrats need to burst the bubble. It’s not just about denying Trump his wall, it’s about refusing to squander money on phony solutions.
Pogonip
@Bess: These ideas (with which I agree) have all been proposed before, but never make it into proposed legislation for some reason I cannot fathom.
Barbara
@cain: Sadly, I don’t think this is unusual. Thinking of a divorce in my extended family where an in-law really alienated one of the spouses, another in-law. Not always, but often, money keeps someone tethered and unable to create necessary distance.
Brachiator
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
This originated with Obama. The Senate deliberately killed it and then later brought it back to give Jared Kushner and Trump credit.
dmsilev
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Maybe he’s a Really-Young-Earth creationist who believes the Earth was created on January 1, 2000, and all of that ‘history’ and ‘memories’ and stuff were part of the creation.
Plato
In under two months?
Kent
If they aren’t going to cut a deal on DACA, Pelosi and Schumer should really troll Donald by agreeing to “wall funding” on the condition that it is paid for by reducing “fraud and waste” in the Federal government and attach the repeal of 3 or 4 of the most aggregious loopholes in the Trump tax cut as the quid pro quo.
There is the carried interest loophole. There are some brand new loopholes for real estate investment geared towards putting more cash in the hands of Trump and Javanka. I’m sure there are a bunch of other aggregious examples of “fraud and waste” in the recent tax bill. Scrub them all out of the tax code and use the savings for “wall funding”
How will that play to Trump’s Base? Abusive tax breaks for billionaires and Trump cronies are more important than keeping the government open or “funding wall”
Democrats can play the fiscally responsible party. “We will go along with Trump’s Wall funding even though we disagree with it. We just insist that it be paid for”
Vhh
@Shakti: The Dems can filibuster in the Senate, because the GOP does not have 60 seats.
brettvk
@cain: Golly. I live in single blessedness with a civil but arm’s-length relationship with my family; and people pity me because I’m a classic cat lady. This sort of soap opera is why I prefer cats.
cain
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Yeah, my brother’s marriage also has its ups and downs. The season sucks. I on the other hand do not have any entanglements. I did have drama a couple of months ago, but walked away from it. Sorry you’ve had such a stressful year. I hope it gets better for you in 2019.
brettvk
@Bess: I endorse all this. The comfortable are way too comfortable in this allegedly democratic government.
rikyrah
Cole, you are hilarious ??
trollhattan
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
The Great War of 1999 was Great. Prince invaded a Walmart and the rest is history.
cain
@Barbara:
This woman has said some terrible things to my sis-in-law’s sister and the husband only got clued in later. I’ve noticed that men are sometimes clueless on what their mothers do behind their back especially if they suffer from some kind of narcissism.
Pogonip
@Frankensteinbeck: I don’t think so. He seems to enjoy sending his enemies into fits of rage (who wouldn’t?), something he can easily do with a mere tweet. I often think that if stenographers—I mean, reporters— were smart, they’d pay attention to what he does, not what he says. They couldn’t help but pay attention to the Wall/budget fight, but that’s an exception. Usually they’re busy chasing tweets while he quietly does his thing, e.g. busily appointing judges, in the background.
Plato
Van Buren
My gooper friend has conveniently forgot the bet we made last year that by the time trump left, whenever that was, the Dow rate for him would be less than that of Obama.
It was only for a six pack, but still.
Doug R
@Kent: Great idea but…it feeds into racist wall logic.
Which about 60% of Americans don’t want anyway.
Fleeting Expletive
Are Secret Service agents categorically barred from testifying to Congress, or if they happen to be among those guarding an individual, say an individual 1, from being called as witnesses in an Article 25 or impeachment proceeding? Asking for a friend.
Ryan
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/worlds-greatest-living-violinist-itzhak-perlman-anti-semitism-trump-new-documentary-1056712
Barbara
@Doug R: WaPo once again gave voice to a leopard-eating-faces voter who thought that wouldn’t mean his face. In this case it’s a guy who runs a butterfly sanctuary on the border that will be greatly disrupted by the wall. Like many Trump voters not named Ann Coulter, he thought Trump did not mean he was going to build an actual wall but took it as a metaphor for being really serious about immigration. And I think he is probably accurate, but he did not account for the mercurial nature of such a pathetic narcissistic twit and the risk that he would change his mind.
ETA: And of course he only feels sorry for himself and no one else whose life has been upended.
jonas
Perhaps he was trying be a little tongue-in-cheek, but comes off looking like a pathetic schmuck. Which he is, of course.
Pogonip
And here’s an example! Thank you, Jane!
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/christmas-eve-trump-airs-more-grievances-n951596
Jane’s coherent enough—not true of all stenographers. She could be reporting on, oh, de-dollarization, the ups and downs of the Chinese economy, the sorry state of U. S. readiness, the Ebola crisis that could blow at any moment…
Nope. NBC has her on the tweet beat.
Kent
@Doug R:
Not if you do it right. All Dems need to say is that they strongly disagree with the purpose and need for the wall. However for the good of the country and to end the shut down and put people back to work they are willing to go along as long as it is done responsibly and is properly paid for. People understand the “paid for” thing. If Mexico isn’t going to pay for it then how about billionaire hedge fund people and billionaire New York landlords?
jl
Am travelling, so missed the Festivus Airing of Grievances. Dammit.
Happy Christmas, happy (a little late, sorry) Hanukka and Eif, Kwanza, Festivus. Happy New Year. Happy winter solstice. Happy Saturnalia.
That got it covered?
For some Holiday cheer
@LOLGOP
Mattis cleverly concealed his critiques of Trump for several days by encrypting them in complete sentences
Mark Dubowitz
@mdubowitz
Amazing. “One aide said although Trump had already seen the resignation letter when he praised Mattis, the president did not understand just how forceful a rejection of his strategy Mattis had issued.”
https://twitter.com/LOLGOP/status/1076901958110363650
I hear on the news that Trump is mad at Mnuchin for Jerome Powell. Many Keynesian economists are complaining that there is a problem with Fed policy: they are consistently missing their inflation target, and seem to be keeping inflation too low by their own stated rules. But that is something completely different, and an issue that only concerns people who have some idea what they are talking about (not Trump).
So, no contradiction in being concerned about how Fed is conducting policy, and separating that from Trujmp’s toddler tantruims. I think Yellen was on course to do about the same thing (but she was too short to be a central banker in Trump’s HO, so had to go). Anyway, yelling about the Fed chair is not a good way to fix systematic problems with monetary policy that have gone on for years (if you think there is a problem). Need an informed public debate about how Fed policy is implemented, and get a consensus on good way to go forward on reforms.
Edit: Trujmp seems to have run out of competent staff to yell and fume at (whatever their demerits, that would include Kelly, Mattis, and Cohn). Now Trujmp yells at goofs like Mnuchin, who then runs and does senseless things to appease Trump. Happy New Year!
Edit2: and he’s yelling at Whitiker too, who, thank goodness, so far seems to be just sitting there like a lump. Trump is reduced to pure two-bit grifters as his staff. So, interesting and important question whether Whitiker is just going to milk his position and do jack squat, while he figures how to parlay it to his next con. Going with Trump might not be his best move. I hope not.
Ruckus
@Roger Moore:
And Ryan cares about this why? Is the senate going to censor him in some way? I seriously doubt it. He’s got what 8 more days as a congressman, yeah I’m sure he’s concerned.
Stranger things have happened though.
Plato
Brachiator
@Ryan: l loved reading this, especially the fond discussion about the Obamas. And the discussion about making spaces more accessible for disabled people. Such precision and common sense.
Plato
Plato
#trumpshutdown
Brachiator
@jl:
This will never happen as long as Trump is in office, nor with the present bunch of GOP leadership, who no longer even pretend to be following any coherent economic model.
Similar problem in Europe where people want to dismantle the EU and WTO because somebody once made them feel bad about something.
Anotherlurker
@brettvk: I, too, enjoy being alone, especially during this, the most stressful of holidays. Keeping my family at least at arm’s length, is essential to everyone’s peace of mind.
Aleta
If he resigns he’ll bargain for millions in severance. And the pension (demanding more money every year) and a security force scam and a billion for a library–money that will go missing before you can say “Scram! ya flea-bitten double crossin’ varmint.”
Gozer
@Kent: Monuments to racism aren’t a trolling matter. How many assholes thought they were being cute and trolling by supporting Trump? See how that turned out…
NotMax
A moment of luscious schadenfreude, please, for all those disappointed jerks who have dinner reservations at Mar-a-lago, eager to assail him with their whackadoodle policies and ‘solutions.’
schrodingers_cat
@Gozer: Agreed. We just had an election, and T’s hate mongering lost the Rs, the House. Significant majorities do not want the wall, or the message it sends. There is no need to given in to this temper tantrum by the man in the WH.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Plato: Was in the Barnes & Noble a couple days ago. They had several hardbacks stacked up on the floor in these waist-high stacks (think a fort made of books). By the time I left, the George R. R. Martin pile had decreased maybe half a dozen tiers. Michelle’s pile was sold out practically down to the ground. Don’t remember the other books they had big stacks of.
Yeah, I know I said I was cutting myself off from politics till after Christmas, and yet I’m still here.
jl
@Brachiator: That is true. that part of my comment was just a repeat of the reminder that if you and your toddler both think the furnace is broken, and your toddler thinks it would be fun to fix the furnace by blowing it up, there is no contradiction between thinking there is a problem with the furnace and that no one should listen to your toddler on how to fix it.
One cheery thing is, from what I have seen and heard on the TV and radio machine, reporting has been better than I expected on the Trump shut down. Most stories start with reminder of at least one of the following three things: Trump promised Mexico would pay for the wall, Trump said last week he would take credit for any shut down, and Trump had agreed to a deal with Congress and then Trump changed his mind.
Brachiator
@Aleta:
If Trump agreed to resign by the end of the day today, I would give him anything he wanted.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Plato: Even if that’s the case, Mnuchin could still fly back, thus showing the flaw in Wall.
scott (the other one)
I’d love to know when the last time someone actually told him, to his face, “you are so fucking stupid.” (I’m assuming high school.) Because I think it might actually do him some good to hear it, especially if it were coming from someone he’d respected up until that point, since I really don’t think he has any idea he is, and there’s the slightest possibility he might sorta kinda actually almost believe it to some tiny extent.
On the other hand, it might also get him to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike on Chicago, so you know. probably not worth it.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@NotMax: It’s especially delicious since they’ll still have to eat at the buffet, featuring Wonder Bread-like rolls with deli ham, American cheese, and fruit cocktail for Christmas dinner.
NotMax
Home Alone 45.
Direct to video remainder bin at the 99¢ store.
jl
@NotMax: And no one even wants to break in, not even Christie. Probably a boring movie.
Edit: but I forgot about Dershowitz. There might be some drama.
Elizabelle
@Brachiator:
What? So the Republicans and other money bags and the evangelicals can have President Pence? I’m glad Nancy Pelosi has more spine and foresight than you do.
Baud
@Gozer:
QFT
Van Buren
Pitiful old men alone on Christmas Eve need to visited by ghosts.
Ohio Mom
@cain: Before I was married, I did not see what was funny about mother-in-law jokes. I thought they were the purview of the chronically immature.
After a few run-ins with my narcissist of a MIL, I now get it.
There is a reason why officiants at weddings tell the assembled crowd that their job forever more is to support the new couple. It’s not easy to be a good inlaw, it takes effort and thought, and a lot of people don’t even try.
Brachiator
@jl:
It may finally be sinking in that Trump is unreliable, which makes negotiating with him almost impossible.
Also, the Republican leadership is still insisting that the wall has something to do with border security. This shit needs to be slapped down.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl:
Again, I fail to see a problem with this solution. BillinGlendaleCA like big boom*.
*Somewhat stolen from Mythbusters.
Plato
@Gozer: Yup, the stupidity factor went from the proverbial 27% to 40% due to such stupid stunts.
Dr. Ronnie James, D.O.
Once again, the majority of “illegal immigrants” are people who came here illegally and then overstayed their visas. Until such time as this wall can actually travel through time, it will be mostly useless.
NotMax
@jl
Picturing Macaulay Culkin showing up and giving the tagline from that commercial:
“That’s not how it works. That’s not how any of this works.”
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Dr. Ronnie James, D.O.: …as I pointed out above, most of these folk arrive via airplane.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Baud:
This is good news for Anarcho-Syndicalism! Truly, Trump is the destroyer of false consciousness.
Jinchi
He just furloughed 400,000 people right before Christmas and he’s having a pity party for himself?
jl
@Brachiator: Fox News excepted, of course. But I am seeing less Fox News as I do my Holiday ancestral stomping grounds tour. Mostly CNN now showing in the inns and taverns along the roadways. But this is CA, and I have to travel 200 miles south to get to red CA.
When I hit Fresno, will be wondering if they are partitioning it to keep the warring tribes apart.
gratuitous
I don’t know why, but today I’m thinking of all those sitcom episodes where some guest star celebrity pops by. Initially everyone is excited: Wow, big shot celebrity is in my house! Eventually the celebrity wears out his welcome and doesn’t fucking leave. By the end of the show, you think you’re going to see a murder.
I don’t know why I’m thinking about that.
Mike in NC
@Comrade Colette Collaboratrice: Don’t forget several flavors of Jello molds, which Trump probably loved as a kid in the 1950s. Someone needs to write a book simply cataloging his terrible taste in everything.
jl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: South side of UCLA gone bad.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@gratuitous:
You just reminded me that Andy Warhol was in an episode of Love Boat as himself. I don’t think he did anything like that, however.
NotMax
@Jinchi
“They should be thanking me for giving them More Time to spend with their family over the holidays.” //
MagdaInBlack
@brettvk:
Right there with ya. I do not miss my late husbands family and their drama even on tiny bit.
Burnspbesq
Worst Christmas Eve decline in the history of the major stock market indices.
Looking like a bad week to stop sniffing glue.
Rand Careaga
@FlipYrWhig:
I’m going to put forward this riff of mine on Clement Moore from three years ago, which I think maintains the scansion pretty well.
Fleeting Expletive
I bet Trump is one of those people who cannot endure solitude (at least not w/o screens and phones). Also, as noble as it might be to resign in protest, if and when you’re replaced it will be with someone who is, by definition, inferior b/c they weren’t chosen first instead of you. It’s a worrisome weekend, is what I’m saying.
NotMax
@Mike in NC
Imagine this made with festive red and green pasta.
patrick II
@Brachiator:
Yeah, like he wouldn’t renege on that deal too.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl: Young Hall(aka Chemistry for non-Bruins).
ETA: If you recall from our discussion the other evening, I did spend a great deal of time terrorizing Bunche and the surrounding area(I worked at North Campus for 2 years).
Villago Delenda Est
Use the blood of the New York landlords in the recipe for the mortar.
Brachiator
@patrick II:
Trump loves signing shit. I would make sure he signed a resignation document and then got his ass on a helicopter to ride out of town.
KSinMA
@Joy in FL:
“Also, I just want to say, again, how much I value the people of this blog. With wisdom and knowledge and animal photos and snark, you all help me deal with this horrible segment of U.S. and world history.
I hope everyone who reads this has some true happiness during this holiday season.”
Co-sign!
Baud
@Brachiator:
Even blank pages.
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-might-have-tweeted-a-photo-of-himself-signing-a-blank-bill-government-shutdown-2018-12
Mandalay
@Brachiator:
In the case of the EU there was, and is, a widespread sentiment throughout Europe that the EU had lost the plot and got far too big for its boots.
Brexit proponents cited apparently crazy examples of EU regulations, such as regulating the curvature of bananas. Except that they weren’t, and any regulations on the curvature would have to be approved by the UK anyway.
As you point out, it is fairly easy to pick egregious examples of anything to make voters “feel bad about something”. And as we have learned from Trump, the falsity of claims really doesn’t matter that much.
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne:
Funny.
jl
@Mandalay: Much of the dissatisfaction in Europe is due to effects of Eurozone arrogance and austerity and resulting very weak recovery in many countries. Not the whole story, but I think that is a lot of it.
And Macron has turned out to be a European Timothy Geithner on fiscal policy. So, more fiscal austerity for France. Geithner didn’t run fiscal policy here, but he was against it, mostly, and Macron has his attitude.
boatboy_srq
@Amir Khalid: He’s pResidenting. Significant difference.
Wild Cat
@PaulWartenberg: Nixon’s “My Mother was a Saint” exuent speech.
boatboy_srq
Has anyone noticed yet that Lord Dampnut this and other tweets is basically giving up on the GOTea’s ability to govern, with or without him? He’s admitting that they can do nothing, do not support his agenda, even that they aren’t even involved in the process. Everything is on the DEMOCRATS to take action because the entirety of the GOTea will not.
Brachiator
@Elizabelle:
You’re joking, right?
If we could get rid of Trump tomorrow, why not take that deal? I’m sure Speaker Pelosi could handle a president Pence.
And I would love to watch the GOP have to regroup after a presidential resignation.
On the other hand, Pelosi cannot ensure a 2020 election victory for the Democrats.
Unfortunately, as I noted elsewhere, I don’t think Trump would ever resign. He’s too cowardly to do the honorable thing.
Brachiator
@boatboy_srq:
The Senate is still Trump’s backstop.
Miss Bianca
@gratuitous: which in itself is a variation on the “Man Who Came to Dinner” trope. And at least Sheridan Whiteside had some amusement value, and actually used the kompromat he possessed to try to do some good, unlike the Man Who Came to Preznit.
JoyceH
The thing is, though, that he’s not “all alone”. And his decision to throw a last minute tantrum and shut down the government and stay in DC means that a lot of people on the White House staff, housekeeping and kitchen, have had to cancel vacations and come in to work.
Summer
@SiubhanDuinne: I saw what you did there. Nice.
mapaghimagsik
@chopper: “At least I got chicken”