Monday, April 1, 2019

Monday Reading


As always, please go to the links for the full articles/ op eds.

This is an April Fool's Day- free zone!

Despite the heavy spin applied by John Goodman stunt double William "Low" Barr's 4- page letter summarizing (?) parts of the Mueller report, the subsequent credulous acceptance by some in the blow- dried media, and the bizarre overreaching by Putin pal Donald "Rump" Trump, the public isn't buying what Barr/ the media/ Trump are selling on Russiagate:



Greg Sargent goes on to ask, "Have we really learned nothing from the first two years of the Trump presidency?"
Welcome to the new narrative: President Trump and Republicans are “turning the tables” and going “on offense” against Democrats and the media, who, we are told, should be groveling for forgiveness in the wake of Attorney General William P. Barr’s brief summary of the special counsel’s Russiagate conclusions.
Unfortunately, there are scattered signs that some in those quarters are taking this far too seriously. We’re seeing news accounts suggesting media coverage of the Russia scandal may have overreached; columnists demanding introspection from journalistic colleagues; and analyses that overestimate the degree to which Trump can now claim victory over Democrats. Some accounts hint at angst among Democrats about how aggressive an investigative posture to strike going forward.
It’s amazing this needs to be stated, but here goes. This “new offensive” from Trump and Republicans is saturated with nonsense from top to bottom, and it is designed to get the media to back off of its entirely legitimate scrutiny of Trump, and to get Democrats to retreat from their entirely legitimate efforts to impose oversight and accountability.
Who are among the ones that can't/ don't want to learn?  Charlatans and their clueless flocks, especially those classy "prosperity" con artists:
Pastor John Gray was outed this week for begging his congregation for $250,000 to fix the church’s roof while basking in a $1.8 million mansion and buying his wife a Lamborghini. Now his church threatening anyone daring to call him out.
The Miami Herald outed the pastor, who spoke in a Sunday sermon at Relentless Church in Greenville, South Carolina. He appeared to deliver his remarks after Hope Carpenter briefly gave her own sermon praising Gray. [snip]
“I love you Pastor John and Pastor Aventer. I believe in you. I’m praying for you. I’m rooting for you,” Carpenter said. “I cut people. I got a knife right in that pocketbook. Greenville News, come on. We done went through this. I’m still here, and guess who else is still gonna be here?” Carpenter then pointed to the Grays.
Gray, who’s been supportive of President Donald Trump, appeared on national talk shows trying to deny rumors that he had a child with a woman he had an affair with. (our emphasis)
Getting others to pay for his extravagant lifestyle: check.  Not taking responsibility for debts: check. Running a scam operation:  check.  Extramarital affair: check.  No wonder this guy has an affinity for Trump.

You've no doubt heard about Trump's latest distraction and diversion gambit, which, like many of his others, will end up making things worse.  Here's Joel Mathis:
President Trump is threatening to close the U.S. border with Mexico.

He made the threat on Friday — a response to surging migrant arrivals at the border — then repeated it Saturday on Twitter. On Sunday, White House officials took to the morning news shows to make it clear he wasn't kidding. As White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said on Fox News, the president's threat "certainly isn't a bluff."

Let us hope it is. Because shutting down the border probably wouldn't do much to curb illegal immigration. It will, however, have dramatic and disastrous consequences for America. As The Washington Post reports, it "would disrupt supply chains for major U.S. automakers, trigger swift price increases for grocery shoppers, and invite lawsuits against the federal government."

Any reasonable U.S. politician would avoid such a catastrophe. But we're talking about Trump here, so anything is possible.  (our emphasis)
In a one- two punch to America's gut, Trump also wants to cut off aid to three Mexican Central American countries, ostensibly to keep migrants from leaving for the U.S.  What could possibly go wrong with that plan?
President Trump’s plan to cut off aid to three Central American countries for failing to stop the flow of migrants toward the United States breaks with years of conventional wisdom in Washington that the best way to halt migration is to attack its root causes.
The decision also runs counter to the approach advocated by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico, among others. Mr. López Obrador has been lobbying Washington to join his government in investing billions of dollars in Central America and southern Mexico, arguing that economic development and reducing violence are the most effective ways to encourage Central Americans to remain home.
Cutting off aid is “shooting yourself in the foot,” said Adriana Beltrán, the director of citizen security at the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights research group that tracks aid closely.
That's what you get when the one calling the foot- shots is an impulsive, irrational, narcissistic moron who's desperately trying to save his hide.

Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly has a new book out completely dedicated to Trump's cheating at golf, "Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump."
“To say ‘Donald Trump cheats’ is like saying ‘Michael Phelps swims,’” writes Rick Reilly in the book. “He cheats at the highest level. He cheats when people are watching and he cheats when they aren’t. He cheats whether you like it or not. He cheats because that’s how he plays golf … if you’re playing golf with him, he’s going to cheat.” Reilly, who has played with Trump, also mocked Trump’s claim of a 2.8 handicap, a ridiculous allegation when Jack Nicklaus, often considered the greatest golfer in history, has a handicap of 3.4. “If Trump is a 2.8,” Reilly writes, “Queen Elizabeth is a pole vaulter.”[snip]
... But it isn’t just that he gets help with his own balls. He also makes it harder for those who are playing with him. Mike Tirico, the former ESPN football announcer, said that he once hit a great shot that he knew was close. But when he got to the putting green it was much further away than he expected. Tirico didn’t understand what happened until Trump’s caddy spoke up. “Trump’s caddy came up to me and said, ‘You know that shot you hit on the par 5?’” Tirico said. “‘It was about 10 feet from the hole. Trump threw it in the bunker. I watched him do it.’” 
What a small, small, insecure thing Putin's pal is. But we already knew that.

As always, we highly recommend a visit to Infidel 753's blog round-up for a really exceptional set of links.  One that we particularly enjoyed today was his link to BexMinx's post on a magnificent theater turned into a bookstore in Buenos Aires. Here's one of several eye- popping pictures:



A bookstore that magnificent might even encourage Trump to read. (Nah!)

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