Trump Takes Credit For Biden Achievements (Again)

 

If their lips are moving, they're lying, part infinity:

Within hours of taking office in January, President Donald Trump boasted about attracting $3 trillion in new corporate investments to the United States. Since then, Trump has said the investments have swelled to $14 trillion, or roughly half of the nation's annual gross domestic product.

The White House calls it "The Trump Effect" and features a rolling list on its website of more than 70 projects it says Trump's economic policies spurred, from a new bakery plant in Texas to a LEGO facility in Virginia and a microchip plant in Arizona.

As of July 2, the website listed more than $2.6 trillion in U.S. investments, well short of the $14 trillion Trump boasts about.

But a Reuters review found that just under half of the claimed spending on the website - totaling more than $1.3 trillion - originated under former President Joe Biden or represented routine spending repackaged to promote domestic investments.

At least eight of the projects touted by the White House had sought or secured critical local incentive packages before Trump took office while at least a half dozen other projects had already been announced by local officials or the companies themselves, Reuters found.

Two of the Trump Effect projects were aided by Biden's legislative efforts to boost domestic manufacturing, the review found.

One company on the list, Swiss-based Roche, warned that Trump's plans to equalize U.S. and international drug prices now threatens its promised $50 billion in U.S. investments.

Asked about taking credit for projects already underway before Trump came into office, the White House said the final investment decisions were announced under his watch and prove his economic policies are triggering U.S. investment.

“President Trump is the greatest closer in modern history, and his leadership and policies are a critical catalyst converting hypothetical discussions into firm investment commitments and ground being broken for new plants and offices," White House spokesman Kush Desai said.

The Reuters review included interviewing local officials and reviewing public records and corporate statements. It was not clear in many cases what role, if any, Trump or his policies played in getting the deals across the line...

Yes, Trump the master dealmaker.  The successful business man.  The Very Stable Genius.  Also, the pathological liar.  The convicted felon and sexual abuser.  The Russian asset.  The pure narcissist for whom nothing came before him and nothing will come after him.  What a sad, hollow little man.

Good for Reuters for seeing this and pointing out the lies.  Of course, they weren't in any danger of being scooped by the New York effing Times!

Trump's ABC Town Hall Disaster

We opted not to watch ABC's Town Hall with malignant narcissist Donald "COVID Donnie" Trump last night, as we see more than enough of him even when we're not trying.  But, "people are saying" it was a disaster for the buffoon who likes to think of himself as his best strategist/ publicist/ spokesperson.  Here are selected reactions:

In the first 15 minutes of this ABC town hall, Trump:

- Criticized Biden (who isn't POTUS) for not implementing a national mask mandate
- Claimed the virus will "disappear," even without a vaccine, because of "herd mentality"
- Said WAITERS are urging Americans not to wear masks

— Ian Sams (@IanSams) September 16, 2020

Trump, to Woodward in March: "I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down.”

Trump, to Stephanopoulos, today: "I didn’t downplay it. I actually in many ways upplayed it in action."

— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) September 16, 2020

  

Asked about what he’ll do to win back waning support from military families, Trump attacks John McCain (former POW), Jim Mattis (retired general), John Kelly (retired general), John Bolton (veteran), and Joe Biden (military dad).

— Marshall Cohen (@MarshallCohen) September 16, 2020

 

#TrumpTownHall rhetoric: lie. make shit up. deflect. never answer the question. don't take responsibility. praise himself. repeat.

Anyone else over this shitshow?

— Angela Belcamino (@AngelaBelcamino) September 16, 2020

If this is Trump’s idea of a town hall meeting with undecided voters in a swing state, I hope he does one every night and in every state

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 16, 2020

 
Here's George Stephanopoulous fact- checking him about pre- existing conditions, Obamacare repeal and COVID Donnie's imaginary healthcare "plan":

In a special @abc2020, @GStephanopoulos presses Pres. Trump on claim he is preserving pre-existing conditions, even as his administration argues in court against Obamacare, which protects them: "You've been trying to strike down pre-existing conditions." https://t.co/ztM30WXxPT pic.twitter.com/u0mClQXlXg

— ABC News (@ABC) September 16, 2020

Here's the invaluable Daniel Dale doing a two- minute run through of Trump's torrent of lies:

Another tour de force from @ddale8 fact-checking a torrent of lies pic.twitter.com/xDxKI32ef8

— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) September 16, 2020

When his state propaganda channel calls it an "ambush," you know how big a stinker he laid:

Fox News is calling the ABC Town Hall an “ambush” pic.twitter.com/dGMtCkxct8

— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) September 16, 2020

And, finally --

Would love to know who in the White House thought that Trump doing this town hall was a good idea.

— Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) September 16, 2020


(Spoiler alert:  It had to have been the Very Stable Genius himself.)

Tweets Of The Day

Cadet Bone Spurs taking credit where none is due:

Trump just took credit for Veterans Choice legislation.

The Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act was signed into law by President Obama in 2014.

He’s so bad at everything he’s not even good at lying. pic.twitter.com/ZjuuCoNKLc

— VoteVets (@votevets) August 8, 2020

 

Trump abruptly ended his Q&A when @PaulaReidCBS asked him this: "Why do you keep saying that you passed Veterans Choice? It was passed in 2014. But it was a false statement, sir." pic.twitter.com/roJ3ngGUdI

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) August 8, 2020

 

Trump's Plan To Defund Medicare And Social Security

Hey seniors (and future seniors)!  Moron vector Donald "COVID Donnie" Trump just said the quiet part loud again:

Another document signed by Trump on Saturday attempts to defer payroll tax payments from September through December for people who earn less than $100,000. The impact of this measure could depend on whether companies decide to comply, as they could be responsible for withdrawing large amounts of money from their employees’ paychecks in a few months when the taxes are due.

The president said that if he wins reelection, he would seek to extend the deferral and somehow “terminate” the taxes that are owed. He also dared presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to try to recoup those tax dollars if elected in November. The payroll tax funds Social Security and Medicare benefits, and it’s unclear where those programs will get funding if the taxes are deferred.  (our emphasis)

But the other "bills"  executive orders  bullshit he signed at his $350,000 membership fee golf club have the mark of a sociopathic moron as well:

[T]here were instant questions about whether Trump’s actions were as ironclad as he made them out to be. A leading national expert on unemployment benefits said one of the actions would not increase federal unemployment benefits at all. Instead, the expert said it would instead create a new program that could take “months” to set up. And Trump’s directive to halt evictions primarily calls for federal agencies to “consider” if they should be stopped.

Trump also mischaracterized the legal stature of the measures, referring to them as “bills.” Congress writes and votes on bills, not the White House. The documents Trump signed on Saturday were a combination of memorandums and an executive order. [snip]

One of the measures Trump signed on Saturday aims to provide $400 in weekly unemployment aid for millions of Americans. Trump said 25 percent of this money would be paid by states, many of which are already dealing with major budget shortfalls. The federal contribution would be redirected from disaster relief money at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Those funds are not likely to last more than two months, and Trump would not say when the benefits would kick in. [snip]

Two of the other executive actions are related to eviction protections and student loan relief. The plan related to housing only makes suggestions to federal agencies but does not halt evictions nationally. The measure on student loans aims to extend the relief granted by Congress in March through the end of the year.  (our emphasis)

If all this sounds like the flim flam associated with his border wall, Trump steaks, Trump University, Trump casinos, etc., etc., you, too, are onto something.  Those bullshit signings were a cover to allow him to pretend he was taking action and to take the heat off him for a few news cycles until the facts eventually caught up.  Then it'll be on to something else.

But the biggest story here remains his intention to starve Social Security and Medicare to death should there be enough low- information voters out there believing in this malignant con man to give him a lifetime hold on the presidency.  We need to make sure he doesn't get away with it.

Monday Reading

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

Karen Tumulty sees a potential benefit from The Loon Ranger finally wearing a mask in public:

The praise that Trump got from his campaign staff for belatedly covering his face is the kind of positive reinforcement that any parent who has ever tried to toilet train a stubborn toddler knows well.

His campaign manager Brad Parscale tweeted a photo of Trump in his mask and added a hashtag: #AmericaFirst. Erin Perrine, a spokeswoman, blasted out another image on her Twitter feed and added: “Rocking a mask like a boss.” From Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the campaign, came yet another with the prediction: “Joe Biden is finished.”

If such fatuousness is what it takes to get the president of the United States to behave as a role model during a deadly crisis, go for it.

Maybe some of his supporters will begin to understand that the virus has no ideology. Our smartest scientists are still learning about this disease, and their recommendations have evolved over the past months. Eventually — and let’s hope it is soon — there will be a vaccine. But for now, sensible policies such as social distancing, frequent hand-washing and, yes, covering our faces are the best means we have for protecting ourselves and others and for stemming the spread of the novel coronavirus to the point where the economy can reopen and stay that way.

Perhaps now that Trump has put on a mask, we may see fewer of those videos that are popping up all over social media in which customers are having temper tantrums in Costco and Target, claiming their freedoms are under assault by store policies that mandate masks. Maybe more people might even start wearing them to the superspreader campaign rallies that Trump remains determined to hold.

Will the covidiots follow the lead of their cult leader, The Loon Ranger?  Tune in next time for another exciting episode of "The Loon Ranger Rides Again."

He's #1:

It took President Trump 827 days to top 10,000 false and misleading claims in The Fact Checker’s database, an average of 12 claims a day.

But on July 9, just 440 days later, the president crossed the 20,000 mark — an average of 23 claims a day over a 14-month period, which included the events leading up to Trump’s impeachment trial, the worldwide pandemic that crashed the economy and the eruption of protests over the death of George Floyd in police custody.

The coronavirus pandemic has spawned a whole new genre of Trump’s falsehoods. The category in just a few months has reached nearly 1,000 claims, more than his tax claims combined. Trump’s false or misleading claims about the impeachment investigation — and the events surrounding it — contributed almost 1,200 entries to the database. 

The notion that Trump would exceed 20,000 claims before he finished his term appeared ludicrous when The Fact Checker started this project during the president’s first 100 days in office. In that time, Trump averaged fewer than five claims a day, which would have added up to about 7,000 claims in a four-year presidential term. But the tsunami of untruths just keeps looming larger and larger.

As of July 9, the tally in our database stands at 20,055 claims in 1,267 days.

Mehdi Hasan discusses the "cancel culture" charge being thrown against the left and sees... hypocrisy:

... Donald Trump has embraced “cancel culture” his entire life. I cannot think of another politician, or public figure, who has spent more time trying to “cancel” critics than the thin-skinned former reality TV star in the Oval Office. Over the years, Trump has called for the boycott of leading U.S. brands such as Macy’s, Apple, and Harley Davidson, among others, because they displeased him in one way or another. He forces those around him into nondisclosure agreements and then threatens them with legal action if they dare speak out against him — including his own niece Mary, whose forthcoming tell-all book the president is desperately trying to … cancel.

This approach has only been amplified since he came into office, a period that has found him publicly and repeatedly trying to cancel both social media companies (“We will strongly regulate, or close them down”) and network news channels (“Challenge their license?”) while calling for prominent journalists who have upset him, such as Chuck Todd and Jemele Hill, to be fired. (In private, Trump has gone much further: according to his former national security adviser, the president wants some journalists to be “executed.”)  [snip]

So ignore the hysterical attacks on “cancel culture” from the right. Not only because they are a distortion of the facts and endless talk of a leftist “cancel culture” mob is a “joke” and a “con,” as Osita Nwanevu has documented in the New Republic, but because they are a product of bad faith and brazen hypocrisy.

Right now, in 2020, here in the United States, we have an anti-free speech, authoritarian egomaniac sitting in the White House, backed by a cultish political movement steeped in grievance politics, constantly cracking down on critics, dissenting voices, and unpopular opinions. Donald Trump and the Republican Party have never stood against “cancel culture.” To the contrary, they embody it.

"Cancel culture for me, but not for thee." Hasan brings plenty of receipts to the table.

A prime recent example of this is the #Goyaway boycott movement, started after the CEO of Goya Foods, Bob Unanue, gave racist pig man Donald "Rump" Trump a tongue- bath at a White House event on July 9:

The CEO of @GoyaFoods is at a White House event saying we're
"blessed to have a leader" like Trump.

Make your shopping decisions accordingly. pic.twitter.com/lLHSz4mEUV

— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) July 9, 2020

Vox's Zeeshan Aleem explains what boycotts like these represent:

Unanue’s right and capacity to express his ideas about the president — or any other matter — remain intact even if profit margins at Goya, a multibillion-dollar company, take a hit due to pushback from boycott campaigns. Instead of free speech, the core issue is the social consequences that accompany taking a political position in a highly polarized political climate. [snip]

For Unanue — the leader of a brand that “represents nurture and community and family and most importantly the kitchen” for Latinx Americans, according to Arellano — to endorse a president who has caused that community, and other communities of color, so much pain brings many a great deal of distress. Not only because Unanue said Trump himself was “incredible,” but because with his praise, Unanue seemed to endorse the president’s damaging policies. [snip]

Unanue remains free to express his political opinions. He took advantage of this freedom at the White House, and again on Fox News. What he’s witnessing with a boycott is not an agenda to prevent him from speaking his mind, but a rejection among a vocal set of fellow citizens of the ideas and endorsements he’s chosen to align himself with.

In a truly evil Trumpian move, the White House is trying to discredit the top infectious disease expert in the midst of an out- of- control coronavirus pandemic:

The White House is seeking to discredit Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's leading infectious disease expert, as President Donald Trump works to marginalize him and his dire warnings about the shortcomings of the U.S. coronavirus response.

In a remarkable broadside by the Trump administration against one of its own, a White House official said Sunday that "several White House officials are concerned about the number of times Dr. Fauci has been wrong on things." The official gave NBC News a list of nearly a dozen past comments by Fauci that the official said had ultimately proven erroneous.

Among them: Fauci's comments in January that the coronavirus was "not a major threat" and his guidance in March that "people should not be walking around with masks."

It was a move more characteristic of a political campaign furtively disseminating opposition research about an opponent than of a White House struggling to contain a pandemic that has killed more than 135,000 people, according to an NBC News tally.

You can't find a bottom with these vicious sociopaths. Let's hope Dr. Fauci doesn't take the bait and go.

Finally, take a look at Infidel 753's link round- up, because it seems to us it keeps growing every week with evermore links to great posts around the Internet.  Bookmark his blog while you're at it!

No Truth, But Consequences

Pathological liar can't keep track of his lies (and/or his "cognitive decline" flaring up):

Tuesday, when asked if the U.S. could surpass 5 million COVID-19 tests a day:

“Oh, we’re going to be there very soon.  If you look at the numbers it could be that we’re getting very close.”

Wednesday, when asked about the previous day's claim:

“Do I think we will? I think we will, but I never said it.”

We're not even testing 10 percent of the 5 million per day now, largely because the shitwaffle refuses to use the Defense Production Act to force companies to manufacture (among other things) test kits, for fear that the actual number of infected Americans will make him look bad. 

A consequence of "electing" an incompetent, narcissistic, gaslighting, grifting, multiple- bankrupted reality show host as "president," ladies and gentlemen, part infinity.

QOTD -- Media, Make "Truth Sandwiches"!

"Some months ago, I wrote about the linguist George Lakoff’s prescription for handling the president’s false statements and lies, an approach that’s become known as the “truth sandwich.”

"Rather than lead with the falsehood and then try to debunk it, Lakoff — an expert on how propaganda works — suggested flipping that formula: Lead with the truth, air the falsehood, and then follow with the fact check.

"Avoid giving prominence to lies, he advises. Don’t put them in headlines, leads or tweets. It is that very amplification that gives them power, even if they are proclaimed false in the next beat."  (our emphasis) -- Margaret Sullivan, Washington Post media columnist, with some advice to the media, which will undoubtedly go largely unheeded.  We've written often about the corporate media's hard- wired instincts to find false equivalence where none exists, and to amplify that false equivalence in asymmetric ways that benefit the firehose of lies that gushes from Trump and his nihilistic minions.  If they can't get it right when the stakes are as high as they are this year, they never will.

Another Trump Confession

Now that Senate Republicans have given nitwit authoritarian Donald "Impeached Forever" Trump  the green light that he'll not be held accountable for anything he did or does, the truth is confirmed:

Emboldened after his impeachment acquittal, President Donald Trump now openly admits to sending his attorney Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine to find damaging information about his political opponents, even though he strongly denied it during the impeachment inquiry.

The reversal came Thursday in a podcast interview Trump did with journalist Geraldo Rivera, who asked, "Was it strange to send Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine, your personal lawyer? Are you sorry you did that?" Trump responded, "No, not at all," and praised Giuliani's role as a "crime fighter."

"Here's my choice: I deal with the Comeys of the world, or I deal with Rudy," Trump said, referring to former FBI Director James Comey. Trump explained that he has "a very bad taste" of the US intelligence community, because of the Russia investigation, so he turned to Giuliani.

"So when you tell me, why did I use Rudy, and one of the things about Rudy, number one, he was the best prosecutor, you know, one of the best prosecutors, and the best mayor," Trump said. "But also, other presidents had them. FDR had a lawyer who was practically, you know, was totally involved with government. Eisenhower had a lawyer. They all had lawyers."

Trump had previously denied that he sent Giuliani to Ukraine. Asked in November if he directed Giuliani to "do anything" in Ukraine, Trump said, "No, I didn't direct him," but went on to call Giuliani a "great corruption fighter." Giuliani says he's exposing legitimate corruption in Ukraine, even though his claims about former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden have been widely debunked. (our emphasis)

Pathological liars often can't keep their lies straight since they lie all the time.  That, when combined with Trump's increasing loss of already- poor mental capacity, means that if you put a microphone in front of him, eventually he'll cop to the Lindbergh kidnapping (which Republicans wouldn't hold him to account for if he did). 

But the additional damage being done to governing norms, the intelligence community and our national security interests -- by Trump persisting in spewing Russian propaganda about the election (along with other members of his rotted- out party) --  is the greater concern.  It's one of many motivators for us to remove this threat and as many of his enablers as possible in November.

(Photo:  The biggest, best brain.)

Not The Sharpiest Guy

After malignant narcissist and toddler Donald "Weatherman Donny" Trump  tried to pretend that he wasn't mistaken about hurricane Dorian's path toward Alabama by using a Sharpie to mark up a National Weather Service map, there was nearly universal mocking of his transparent and childish (and illegal) effort to claim he was right. The Twitter hashtag #SharpieGate was created to demonstrate how Trump could use his favorite writing instrument to alter other reality that he's uncomfortable with. Check it out; here are a few of our favorites:

This would be funnier if it weren't for the fact that, once again, it displays his extreme dishonesty, lack of character, and contempt for the public's common sense and intelligence.

BONUS: MSNBC's meteorologist Bill Karins gives you the step by step story of the forecast maps that were involved in Trump's obvious attempt to mislead the public.

BONUS II:

The president altered a graph 
Because people were having a laugh
He just can’t abide
An attack on his pride
Too small to admit a slight gaffe -- Mick Limerick

Shocker: Yes, Trump Lied To Juice The Markets

If you're surprised, you're not paying attention.

A few days ago, we posed the question, "did Trump lie to juice the markets?" as his trade war with China was sending the stock market diving?

Well of course he lied:

... Trump flashed signs of optimism this week that the trade war could be resolved, saying he's received calls from Chinese officials saying they wanted to restart talks. Though Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin insisted there had been "communication," aides privately conceded the phone calls Trump described didn't happen they way he said they did.

Instead, two officials said Trump was eager to project optimism that might boost markets, and conflated comments from China's vice premier with direct communication from the Chinese.  (our emphasis)

If any statement offered as "fact" by the pathological liar in the Oval Office is taken at face value, shame on the enabler/ sucker who's taken in.  How many craven lies over how many dystopian years does it take before it dawns on them that we have a deeply disturbed, dangerous lunatic making a shambles of everything?

BONUS:

What this describes is, quite literally, market manipulation that constitutes criminal violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934: https://t.co/xiit4yl7xv pic.twitter.com/aVMl9f88Zp

— George Conway (@gtconway3d) August 29, 2019

Did Trump Lie Again To Juice The Markets?

After last week's stock market crash due to bungling con man Donald "The Chosen One" Trump's reckless tariff escalation against Chinese goods, Trump is eager to see the markets rebound this morning and to see talk of a re-election- threatening recession subside. Signaling re- engagement with China on trade and tariffs would calm the markets after last week's debacle, so he claimed that Chinese officials had called twice in a bid to re-open trade talks:

“China called last night our top trade people and said ‘let’s get back to the table.’ They have been hurt very badly, but they understand this is the right thing to do and I have great respect for it."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he was unaware of any such phone conversations. Treasury Secretary and former vulture capitalist Steve Mnuchin claimed that Chinese Vice Premier Liu He had called for resumed talks, but was likely referring to Liu's remarks at a technology conference rather than a direct call to the Trump regime.

If Wall Street is gullible enough to take everything that a pathological liar has to say at face value [Spoiler alert: judging from today's early Dow Jones activity, they are!], then they should take responsibility along with him after he's conned them.

BONUS:

It kind of seems like a big deal that Donald Trump is just *inventing* phone calls with a key foreign adversary. If this is true, this seems a serious escalation of his lying—and bodes poorly for a future crisis. https://t.co/TgKQxHEas2

— Garrett M. Graff (@vermontgmg) August 26, 2019

QOTD -- "Man Of The Year"

"... Trump is a being of pure reaction and grievance and avarice, and as such is never really very difficult to parse. When he lies about money it’s because he wants people to think he has more of it than he does; when he lies about golf it’s because he wants people to think he’s a better golfer than he is. Those lies tell you something about how Trump wants to be seen, but they’re incidental to the bigger questions of who and what he is. Stranger lies like the Michigan Man one reveal more about how he sees the world and understands his relationship to the other people in it, which is fundamentally as someone cleaning up at an endless televised awards show."  --  David Roth, in an entertaining article about the odd lies that narcissistic sicko Donald "Rump" Trump "belches up," particularly a howler about being named Michigan Man of the Year, repeated multiple times over the years.

BONUS:

Trump says he was once named Michigan Man of the Year. I think he "misremembered." Actually, he was named Michelin Man of the year. #Trump #politics

— MIke Thompson (@ThompsonToons) August 16, 2019

Monday Reading

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

An (inadvertently?) revealing look at what counts for the values of evangelical "Christian" supporters of the cloven hooved occupant of the Oval Office:

For evangelicals, however, Trump’s indelicate language has frustrated religious fans who have otherwise been true blue supporters of his agenda. They agree with his social policies, praise his appointment of conservative judges and extol his commitment to Israel — often tolerating Trump’s character flaws for the continued advancement of all three. But when it comes to “using the Lord’s name in vain,” as Hardesty put it, “the president’s evangelical base might be far less forgiving.”

You can hate minorities, encourage white supremacists, cage babies, defile women, lie and cheat, but don't say the magic conjuring words in vain!  Values Voters!

Speaking of lies (and Jesus Christ let's call them lies, shall we?):

President Trump’s proclivity for spouting exaggerated numbers, unwarranted boasts and outright falsehoods [Ed.: "lies"] has continued at a remarkable pace. As of Aug. 5, his 928th day in office, he had made 12,019 false or misleading claims [Ed.: "lies"], according to the Fact Checker’s database that analyzes, categorizes and tracks every suspect statement the president has uttered.

Trump crossed the 10,000 mark on April 26, and he has been averaging about 20 fishy claims [Ed.: "lies"] a day since then. From the start of his presidency, he has averaged about 13 such claims [Ed.: "lies"] a day.

The Oval Office's hot air bladder has rather a transparent "tell" when he's sweating something:  quickly trying to shift the spotlight away from himself.  In the case of the suspicious jailhouse death of his partying pal Jeffrey Epstein, he wants to re- direct your attention to (who else?) the Clintons:

Following the reported suicide of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, President Donald Trump took to Twitter over the weekend to push bizarre, baseless conspiracies that the Clintons may be behind Epstein’s death.

Trump’s attempts to fan the flames of conspiracy — without any evidence whatsoever to back up his claims — received rounds of condemnation across the U.S., including from Democratic presidential candidates like former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ).

However, according to the White House, Trump’s collapse into conspiracy wasn’t an effort to stoke his far-right conspiratorial base. Rather, according to presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s conspiracy theories are actually just a way of indicating that the president wants a thorough investigation of Epstein’s death.

In a Sunday morning appearance on Fox News, Conway defended Trump’s conspiracies, claiming that Trump “just wants everything to be investigated.”

Let's see.  The Metropolitan Correction Center is part of the Bureau of Prisons, which is part of the Justice Department, which is under Trump consigliere William "Low" Barr, who is under =checks notes=  fellow fancier of younger women Donald "Look Over There" Trump.  Clearly, the Clintons did it.

From the wide world of sports, you may have seen or heard about Olympian Simone Biles' historic ending to her balance beam routine -- a double double (two flips, two twists) -- at the U.S, Gymnastics Championship:

Nobody does it like Simone! @Simone_Biles is the first person in history to perform this beam dismount and she NAILED IT. 🐐 pic.twitter.com/kf0L7GM35F

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) August 10, 2019

... which she then followed the next night with the first- ever triple double (two flips, three twists) in the floor competition (winning her 6th national championship):

RESPECT THAT, BOW DOWN 👑 @Simone_Biles keeps making history! First woman to land a triple double in competition on floor 🔥

pic.twitter.com/zvDO83RW9U

— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) August 12, 2019

Finally, check out Infidel 753's link round- up for all the "interesting stuff" he finds in his weekly scouring of the internet.  We don't know how he manages to pull off his version of a triple double every week, but it's worth your time to see what he's found.

Dems Launch Local Media Effort Highlighting Trump's Betrayals

For the last two years, Donald Trump has betrayed the people he promised to help.

For the next 19 months, we’re going to make it known:

We’re sick of it. pic.twitter.com/mQOyDcYuxX

— DNC War Room (@DNCWarRoom) April 11, 2019

This is the first of a series of ads to be produced by the DNC that will be "hyper- focused" on battleground state local communities:

Voters in hundreds of small and medium-sized towns across America are about to be targeted with digital ads, press conferences and billboards featuring neighbors and friends who say they’ve been “betrayed” by President Donald Trump.

The effort is the main feature of the Democratic National Committee’s “war room” that launched on Thursday and is focused on defeating Trump in 2020, according to officials who briefed NBC News.

Responding to criticism that Democrats were too focused on Trump’s temperament and personal attributes during Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, the party’s main organizing arm says it’s making a major expansion of its opposition research team that will be “hyper-focused” on the impact of Trump’s policies on local communities. [snip]

The Democrats’ database includes every single Trump rally in 2016, material that will be used to create digital and television ads of promises he made to local communities from Lansing, Michigan to Tallahassee, Florida.

That will be spliced with county and municipal statistics on indicators like wage levels and the number of local residents with pre-existing conditions who would be hurt by Trump’s budget cuts. For instance, if Trump visits Lordstown, Ohio, the DNC will highlight the administration’s efforts to cut $1.75 million to fund a transition center there to help laid off General Motors employees.  (our emphasis)

Looks like a plan to us!

Tweets Of The Day -- Compulsive Liars Compulsively Lie

The lying comes so naturally--

Trump just said "my father is German, was German. Born in a very wonderful place in Germany." Fred Trump was born in New York. pic.twitter.com/U6eWYPzjrJ

— Tommy MMXIXtopher (@tommyxtopher) April 2, 2019

This is the third time the president has falsely claimed his father was born in Germany. https://t.co/xDBVptRFZh

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 2, 2019

You'd think the Birther-In-Chief would know where his own father was born (the Bronx).

Monday Reading

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

Before we get to the mundane, a new horizon in human history is about to be reached 4 billion miles away:

Streaking through space at nearly nine miles per second, NASA's New Horizons probe closed in on a frozen remnant of the solar system's birth Monday, on track for a historic New Year's Day flyby of the most distant body ever explored. 

Officially known as 2014 MU69, the target is a small, 19-mile-wide object in the remote Kuiper Belt a billion miles past Pluto, a body so far away -- 4.1 billion miles from Earth -- it appears as little more than a speck of light even to the Hubble Space Telescope. 

Dubbed "Ultima Thule" (pronounced TOO-lee) in a NASA naming contest, the small body is thought to be literally frozen in time, a pristine remnant of the original disk of rocky debris that coalesced to form the solar system some 4.6 billion years ago. 

New Horizons will fly within 2,200 miles of Ultima Thule during the New Year's Day encounter, mapping its surface with a suite of cameras, spectrometers and other instruments to probe its structure and chemical makeup, giving scientists a close-up look at one of the solar system's original building blocks.  [snip]

While the flyby will happen in the blink of an eye, it will take 20 months for the gigabytes of stored data to make their way back to Earth, thanks to the enormous distances involved and the probe's 30-watt radio transmitter, which operates at power levels comparable to a refrigerator light. (our emphasis)

For perspective, New Horizons was launched in 2006, when Dumbya was president.

The advent of a New Year is always the occasion for retrospectives, predictions, and listicles.  Here's a telling retrospective that while familiar is at the same time unsettling:

President Trump’s year of lies, false statements and misleading claims started with some morning tweets. 

Over a couple of hours on Jan. 2, Trump made false claims about three of his favorite targets — Iran, the New York Times and Hillary Clinton. He also took credit for the “best and safest year on record” for commercial aviation, even though there had been no commercial plane crashes in the United States since 2009 and, in any case, the president has little to do with ensuring the safety of commercial aviation. 

The fusillade of tweets was the start of a year of unprecedented deception during which Trump became increasingly unmoored from the truth. When 2018 began, the president had made 1,989 false and misleading claims, according to The Fact Checker’s database, which tracks every suspect statement uttered by the president. By the end of the year, Trump had accumulated more than 7,600 untruths during his presidency — averaging more than 15 erroneous claims a day during 2018, almost triple the rate from the year before.  (our emphasis)

There's no question that Trump is a sick, unhinged monster.  The article goes on to opine about whether the firehose of lies is still working.

As for predictions, Jack Shafer offers this:

The pattern of lies and lying that Mueller has uncovered isn’t random. Many of the verified lies told by Flynn, Manafort, Gates, Papadopoulos, Van Der Zwaan and Cohen were told to protect both the tellers and the man at the top of the prosecutorial pyramid that Mueller is building: Donald Trump. 

I’m not foolish enough to predict when Mueller will close his case, but I’m brave enough to venture that Trump’s troubles are only now beginning. As Garrett M. Graff recently wrote, there are more than a dozen investigations into the various scandals connected to the president, from the Russians’ hack of the election to the purchase of influence by Middle Easterners to obstruction of justice to inauguration committee funding to campaign finance fraud. On Jan. 3, a Democratic House of Representatives will be seated and pursue aggressive, additional oversight into Trump’s affairs, further complicating his life. I can’t wait until Trump tweets his view that Congress should be dissolved. 

Trump and his team will, I suppose, attempt to lie their way out of the jams that 2019 promises. It’s my guess that Mueller is hoping for exactly that. The old lies told in Trump’s service have brought him closer to the truth. Newer lies will only hasten the president’s demise.

Kerry Eleveld lists Trump's 5 worst moments of 2018 (how difficult to winnow out just 5!).  Number 1:

The Trump administration's horrific policy of forcibly separating children from their parents at the nation's Southern border was as misguided as it was unconscionable. Trump used the federal government to terrorize desperate migrants, kidnap their children, and in some cases permanently orphan those kids. Systematically wielding the might of the federal government to inflict pain and trauma on some of the globe’s most vulnerable and defenseless people may not be the downfall of Trump’s presidency, but it was by far his lowest, most depraved episode in 2018 and worthy of an unceasing and indefinite amount of scorn and humiliation. It was monstrous, and Trump should never be allowed to live it down. 

Guess Trump won't be calling this guy "one of my generals":

The former top commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, retired four-star Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, criticized President Donald Trump's behavior and handling of the presidency, saying the commander-in-chief is dishonest and immoral. 

“I don’t think he tells the truth,” McChrystal said in an exclusive interview on “This Week” when asked by Co-Anchor Martha Raddatz if he believes the president is a liar. 

“Is Trump immoral, in your view?” Raddatz asked. 

“I think he is,” he said.  

Hooah!

As always, Infidel 753 has a great link round- up to ring out 2018.  Let's just say our favorite link has to do with a certain planet.

Monday Reading

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

We welcome one Red Hat to temporary reality following ignorant sociopath Donald "Rump" Trump's inane comments about the fires in California (including citing Finland, where he thinks they “spend a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things” to clear the forest floors).  The Guardian interviewed some residents of the Chico community in deep red northern California, where Rump made a perfunctory visit on Saturday:

Trump was criticized for his initial response to the fire and threat to withhold funding, after he tweeted: “There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!” 

When asked about the president’s visit to the area, Kirk Ellsworth, whose adult children lost their homes in the fire, shook his head in disgust. 

“My kids lost everything. I voted for him – and now? He can kiss my red ass,” Ellsworth said. “What he said was ridiculous. It hurts my heart. A lot of us voted for him and he [talks] down to us?”

That Rump's constant, insipid lying hasn't until now been taken by Mr. Ellsworth and fellow Red Hats as a sign that he thinks maybe you're stupid is a sign that, well, maybe you are.

But, we shouldn't be so quick to blame the Red Hats for their blindness.  The Toronto Star's Daniel Dale notes another culprit:

Trump regularly makes 20 to 30 false claims in his rally speeches. But if you watched a network news segment, read an Associated Press article or glanced at the front page of the newspaper in the city that hosted him, you’d typically have no idea that he was so wholly inaccurate. 

If a car salesman told you 36 untrue things in 75 minutes, that would probably be the first thing you told your friends about your trip to the dealership. It should have been the first thing we all told our readers about Trump’s August rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 

This issue is so urgent because Trump is getting worse and worse. In 2017, he averaged three false claims per day. In 2018, it is about nine per day. In the month leading up to the midterms: a staggering 26 per day. By my count, he’s now at 3,749 false claims since his inauguration. The Post, which tracks both false and misleading claims, has tallied up to 6,420. 

Meanwhile, the press continues to blast out the lies unnoted. Two weeks ago, Axios and the AP uncritically tweeted his nonsense about the United States being the only nation to grant birthright citizenship. (They updated after they were criticized.) It happened again Monday, when Trump earned credulous tweets and headlines from ABC, NBC and others for his groundless assertion about “massively infected” ballots in Florida.  (our emphasis)

Still waiting for the media "pivot" into doing their jobs.

Dana Milbank draws a contrast between the Thanksgiving would- be autocrat Rump is planning and that of the troops sent to the southern border, bravely awaiting... what?

President Trump is reportedly planning to celebrate Thanksgiving once again at his members-only Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida, feasting on (if previous menus repeat) a 24-dish extravaganza of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, marshmallow sweet potatoes, red snapper, leg of lamb, grilled diver scallops, stone crab, ahi tuna martinis, Maine lobster bisque, short ribs, beef tenderloin and seven desserts. 

It will likely all be topped off by what the president calls “the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake” — available exclusively to members ($200,000 initiation fee) and guests. 

Things will be rather less sumptuous along the southern border, to which Trump, just before the midterm elections, ordered some 5,600 troops, with another 1,400 on the way, to contain the “national emergency” posed by the approaching caravan of Central American families seeking asylum.

Since the election, Trump has forgotten about the mortal peril posed by the caravan “invasion” — he has mentioned the “caravan” only once, and only when asked — but the troops he ordered to act in this political advertisement can’t forget. They will remain on the border through Thanksgiving, the New York Times reported, eating MRE rations, living in tents without electricity, receiving neither combat pay nor hostile-fire pay.  (our emphasis)

This, mind you, after dissing veterans by letting drizzle foil him taking part in the WW I ceremonies in France, his subsequent failure to show up at Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day for the second year in a row, and his excuse for not visiting troops in combat areas because of his "busy schedule."  Why does he hate the troops?

If that wasn't enough, Cadet Bone Spur's picked a fight with the person who led the raid that killed Osama bin Laden:

President Trump in an interview broadcast Sunday dismissed criticism from the retired admiral and Navy SEAL who led the operation to assassinate Osama bin Laden. 

"Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace noted during a discussion with the president that William McRaven has said Trump's attacks on the media are the "greatest threat to democracy in his lifetime."  

Trump in response called McRaven a "Hillary Clinton fan" and "Obama-backer." 

"Wouldn’t it have been nice if we got Osama bin Laden a lot sooner than that, wouldn’t it have been nice?" Trump asked.

To which McRaven replied:

"I did not back Hillary Clinton or anyone else," McRaven said in a statement to CNN on Sunday in response to Trump's comments. "I am a fan of President Obama and President George W. Bush, both of whom I worked for."  

McRaven said he admires all presidents, "regardless of their political party, who uphold the dignity of the office and who use that office to bring the Nation together in challenging times."  

"I stand by my comment that the President's attack on the media is the greatest threat to our democracy in my lifetime. When you undermine the people's right to a free press and freedom of speech and expression, then you threaten the Constitution and all for which it stands."  

We hope senior officers' oath to the Constitution is supreme.  We may need them to uphold that sooner rather than later.

Lastly, as always, we recommend you check out Infidel 753's link round-up for a slew of topics covering politics, religion, arts, culture, science and more.

Laughing At Trump And Cruz

Let's start the day with some laughs, shall we?

Here's Stephen Colbert's version of narcissistic sociopath Donald "Rump" Trump's "60 Minutes" interview from last Sunday:

On #LSSC tonight: @StephenAtHome gets deep with President Trump in his own @60Minutes interview. pic.twitter.com/TFfm6biXnE

— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) October 16, 2018

Now, here's the latest ad anti- Ted Cruz ad from director Richard Linklater, in which "Sonny" wants to know why Cruz prefers midwest/ mid- Atlantic White Castle burgers to Texas' Whataburgers:

Two phony charlatans worthy of ridicule, at the very least.

BONUS: Rump promised to hold a rally supporting Cruz in the biggest stadium in Texas. The venue for the October 22 rally? NRG Arena in Houston, holding 8,000. Not even close to the biggest. C'mon.......Ted.

Delusional And Incapable Of Telling The Truth

As hurricane Florence approaches the shores of the Carolinas with Category 4 power, pathological liar and sociopath Donald "Rump" Trump was asked if any lessons had been learned from the response to hurricane Maria which devastated Puerto Rico:

“Puerto Rico was incredibly successful. I think probably the hardest one we had by far was Puerto Rico because of the island nature, and I actually think it was one of the best jobs that’s ever been done with respect to what this is all about.”

Nearly 3,000 people died from hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, which went for many months without sufficient Federal aid. The shaky power grid there was put out of commission, and should have been the top priority of the Feds, but they failed to execute the recovery effort. Infrastructure was devastated, with road and bridges out of commission for months. FEMA and the Corps of Engineers should have airlifted more equipment and supplies to the island to aid recovery efforts. Rump made a brief visit there, where he patted himself on the back and tossed paper towels to residents as he was leaving the island. For him, that was the "incredibly successful" part of the whole disaster.

BONUS:

I mean this seriously, not as a political dig.

If you’re in Florence’s path and considering riding it out, your President just said that a hurricane response where 3,000 die is his measure of success.

Get out of there.

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) September 11, 2018

Twit Tweet, Thwap

Twit tweet:

So many people are seeing the benefits of the Tax Cut Bill. Everyone is talking, really nice to see!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 17, 2018

Thwap:

new NBC/WSJ Poll on tax-cut:

mostly positive effects: 39%
mostly negative effects: 53% https://t.co/pB0KAGYeLp

— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) April 17, 2018

Yeah, they're loving it out there. "Untethered to truth," indeed.