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babylonsister
babylonsister's Journal
babylonsister's Journal
February 4, 2019
Big Leak Rattles the White House
February 4, 2019 at 7:26 am EST By Taegan Goddard
Big Leak Rattles the White House
https://politicalwire.com/2019/02/04/big-leak-rattles-the-white-house/Big Leak Rattles the White House
February 4, 2019 at 7:26 am EST By Taegan Goddard
The massive leak of President Trump’s private schedules “set off internal finger-pointing and speculation more fevered than any since the New York Times‘ anonymous op-ed,” Axios reports. “White House insiders said the leak sowed chaos.”
Said Cliff Sims, author of Team of Vipers: “There are leaks, and then there are leaks. If most are involuntary manslaughter, this was premeditated murder. People inside are genuinely scared.”
Maggie Haberman: “A White House aide is weaponizing his schedules, which says a lot about how people in the White House feel about the man they work for.”
Said Cliff Sims, author of Team of Vipers: “There are leaks, and then there are leaks. If most are involuntary manslaughter, this was premeditated murder. People inside are genuinely scared.”
Maggie Haberman: “A White House aide is weaponizing his schedules, which says a lot about how people in the White House feel about the man they work for.”
February 4, 2019
Sundance 2019: Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins is rousing tribute to one of best American political columnists ever
By Les Roka -
January 30, 2019
In the trade publication Editor and Publisher, when nationally syndicated columnist Molly Ivins died in 2007 after a triple bout with cancer and its complications, Greg Mitchell recalled in a piece headlined Molly Ivins: The Plucking Truth a classic moment that eventually would lead the stuffed shirts at The New York Times to send her packing. In 1980, she had written a piece about a chicken slaughtering festival in New Mexico that she characterized in her inimitable style as a “gang pluck.”
When Ivins died, newspapers around the country recalled that incident using the original phrase as she had written, which Mitchell says stood out “not because it was her sharpest or funniest, but because it helped spark her departure from The New York Times.” Yet, as Mitchell aptly put it, the ‘Grey Lady’ “chickened out” in the end. In its obituary about Ivins, the Times wrote, “she used a sexually suggestive phrase, which her editors deleted from the final article. But her effort to use it angered the executive editor, A. M. Rosenthal, who ordered her back to New York and assigned her to City Hall, where she covered routine matters with little flair.” As Mitchell wrote, the obituary editor held steadfast that the standard had not changed at the Times since the incident 27 years earlier and the remark still stood as “gratuitous” in his estimation.
Molly Ivins.
Janice Engel does full justice to that incident and so many more iconic moments of one of the country’s most popular newspaper columnists of the last 50 years in her latest documentary Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins, which received its premiere at Sundance this year.
Engel frames Ivins’ outstanding career with all of its proper merits. Ivins was a sharp thinker, even sharper writer who disavowed the pretenses of objectivity, false equivalence and whataboutism that have dragged political journalism into its current distressed state. She perfectly fused the pedigree of her education at Smith College and Columbia University with the plainspoken wit of west Texas and the liberal urbane tones of Austin. Engel’s documentary resonates so well in Ivins’ true voice that one sincerely misses the column writing style that framed the contemporary social and political issues with devastating accuracy.
more...
https://www.theutahreview.com/sundance-2019-raise-hell-the-life-and-times-of-molly-ivins-is-rousing-tribute-to-one-of-best-american-political-columnists-ever/?fbclid=IwAR3PwbukAEfwg-giYseD56P3c1ysTCzU86yur_eldvAJB7XxFQUTRTGyFAU
Sundance 2019: Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins...
Sundance 2019: Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins is rousing tribute to one of best American political columnists ever
By Les Roka -
January 30, 2019
In the trade publication Editor and Publisher, when nationally syndicated columnist Molly Ivins died in 2007 after a triple bout with cancer and its complications, Greg Mitchell recalled in a piece headlined Molly Ivins: The Plucking Truth a classic moment that eventually would lead the stuffed shirts at The New York Times to send her packing. In 1980, she had written a piece about a chicken slaughtering festival in New Mexico that she characterized in her inimitable style as a “gang pluck.”
When Ivins died, newspapers around the country recalled that incident using the original phrase as she had written, which Mitchell says stood out “not because it was her sharpest or funniest, but because it helped spark her departure from The New York Times.” Yet, as Mitchell aptly put it, the ‘Grey Lady’ “chickened out” in the end. In its obituary about Ivins, the Times wrote, “she used a sexually suggestive phrase, which her editors deleted from the final article. But her effort to use it angered the executive editor, A. M. Rosenthal, who ordered her back to New York and assigned her to City Hall, where she covered routine matters with little flair.” As Mitchell wrote, the obituary editor held steadfast that the standard had not changed at the Times since the incident 27 years earlier and the remark still stood as “gratuitous” in his estimation.
Molly Ivins.
Janice Engel does full justice to that incident and so many more iconic moments of one of the country’s most popular newspaper columnists of the last 50 years in her latest documentary Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins, which received its premiere at Sundance this year.
Engel frames Ivins’ outstanding career with all of its proper merits. Ivins was a sharp thinker, even sharper writer who disavowed the pretenses of objectivity, false equivalence and whataboutism that have dragged political journalism into its current distressed state. She perfectly fused the pedigree of her education at Smith College and Columbia University with the plainspoken wit of west Texas and the liberal urbane tones of Austin. Engel’s documentary resonates so well in Ivins’ true voice that one sincerely misses the column writing style that framed the contemporary social and political issues with devastating accuracy.
more...
https://www.theutahreview.com/sundance-2019-raise-hell-the-life-and-times-of-molly-ivins-is-rousing-tribute-to-one-of-best-american-political-columnists-ever/?fbclid=IwAR3PwbukAEfwg-giYseD56P3c1ysTCzU86yur_eldvAJB7XxFQUTRTGyFAU
February 4, 2019
https://www.whas11.com/article/news/local/hundreds-turn-out-to-help-clean-vandalized-hindu-temple/417-06b213a8-48f9-4c4c-b75c-60fe2e6b02b4
LOCAL
Hundreds turn out to help clean vandalized Hindu temple
So many people answered Mayor Greg Fischer's call for help that there was not enough work to go around.
Author: Dennis Ting
Published: 3:15 PM EST February 2, 2019
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- Hundreds of people of all ages, faiths and backgrounds spent their Saturday morning at the Swaminarayan Temple, armed with cleaning supplies, days after the Hindu temple on Bardstown Road was broken into and vandalized.
"We may not have as much work as the number of people here, but we will make sure we do our best to make sure everyone gets a chance to have some paint to erase the hate," Raj Patel, a member of the temple, said.
Police arrested a 17-year-old in connection with the vandalism at the temple, which included spray paint defacing images of a Hindu god and the temple walls with some messages that included references to Jesus and God and some that were vulgar and racist, meant to instill fear but instead creating unity.
Even people who have normally found themselves on opposite sides of disagreements, like Attorney General Andy Beshear and Governor Matt Bevin, shared a moment as they came together to take a stand with the people of the temple.
snip//
"We've repaired more than what we needed to from a building perspective. We've repaired the hope and hearts of everyone," Patel said. "Anyone is welcome to come to our temple any time they want. They'll feel welcome. They'll be fed. That's our philosophy and we'll do that."
Hundreds turn out to help clean vandalized Hindu temple
https://www.whas11.com/article/news/local/hundreds-turn-out-to-help-clean-vandalized-hindu-temple/417-06b213a8-48f9-4c4c-b75c-60fe2e6b02b4
LOCAL
Hundreds turn out to help clean vandalized Hindu temple
So many people answered Mayor Greg Fischer's call for help that there was not enough work to go around.
Author: Dennis Ting
Published: 3:15 PM EST February 2, 2019
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- Hundreds of people of all ages, faiths and backgrounds spent their Saturday morning at the Swaminarayan Temple, armed with cleaning supplies, days after the Hindu temple on Bardstown Road was broken into and vandalized.
"We may not have as much work as the number of people here, but we will make sure we do our best to make sure everyone gets a chance to have some paint to erase the hate," Raj Patel, a member of the temple, said.
Police arrested a 17-year-old in connection with the vandalism at the temple, which included spray paint defacing images of a Hindu god and the temple walls with some messages that included references to Jesus and God and some that were vulgar and racist, meant to instill fear but instead creating unity.
Even people who have normally found themselves on opposite sides of disagreements, like Attorney General Andy Beshear and Governor Matt Bevin, shared a moment as they came together to take a stand with the people of the temple.
snip//
"We've repaired more than what we needed to from a building perspective. We've repaired the hope and hearts of everyone," Patel said. "Anyone is welcome to come to our temple any time they want. They'll feel welcome. They'll be fed. That's our philosophy and we'll do that."
February 3, 2019
Posted on Sun, Feb 3rd, 2019 by Leo Vidal
Trump Aides Fear Coming ‘Subpoena Blizzard’ From House Committees
After Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address on Tuesday aides to the president expect to be inundated with a constant stream of subpoenas from House committees led by Democrats.
According to a report in the Washington Post, a Trump ally said the White House is bracing for “a subpoena blizzard.”
The report states that House Democrats are set to “launch their promised oversight investigations, which are expected to probe the president’s conduct and personal finances as well as alleged corruption in the administration.”
The report goes on to say, “White House counsel Pat Cipollone and deputy counsel Michael Purpura have met with leaders of individual agencies to provide instructions about responding to oversight requests and examining their staffs.”
The White House attorneys have also been developing a game plan on how to handle the flood of inquiries and subpoenas, and White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney has reportedly been meeting with agency chiefs of staff to help them prepare.
more...
https://www.politicususa.com/2019/02/03/trump-aides-fear-coming-subpoena-blizzard-from-house-committees.html
Trump Aides Fear Coming 'Subpoena Blizzard' From House Committees
Posted on Sun, Feb 3rd, 2019 by Leo Vidal
Trump Aides Fear Coming ‘Subpoena Blizzard’ From House Committees
After Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address on Tuesday aides to the president expect to be inundated with a constant stream of subpoenas from House committees led by Democrats.
According to a report in the Washington Post, a Trump ally said the White House is bracing for “a subpoena blizzard.”
The report states that House Democrats are set to “launch their promised oversight investigations, which are expected to probe the president’s conduct and personal finances as well as alleged corruption in the administration.”
The report goes on to say, “White House counsel Pat Cipollone and deputy counsel Michael Purpura have met with leaders of individual agencies to provide instructions about responding to oversight requests and examining their staffs.”
The White House attorneys have also been developing a game plan on how to handle the flood of inquiries and subpoenas, and White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney has reportedly been meeting with agency chiefs of staff to help them prepare.
At the same time, many of Trump’s top political positions in his administration are unfilled or staffed by “acting” officials, which the Post reports, “could prove especially problematic once the Democrat-led investigations begin.”
“Regardless of storm clouds, you have to have a team fully deployed in the field, not just inside the White House, but inside the departments and agencies,’’ Chase Untermeyer, who served as director of presidential personnel under former president George H.W. Bush explained.
“Regardless of storm clouds, you have to have a team fully deployed in the field, not just inside the White House, but inside the departments and agencies,’’ Chase Untermeyer, who served as director of presidential personnel under former president George H.W. Bush explained.
more...
https://www.politicususa.com/2019/02/03/trump-aides-fear-coming-subpoena-blizzard-from-house-committees.html
February 3, 2019
https://politicalwire.com/2019/02/03/trump-faces-mounting-threats-from-all-sides/
Trump Faces Mounting Threats from All Sides
February 3, 2019 at 8:06 am EST By Taegan Goddard
Trump Faces Mounting Threats from All Sides
https://politicalwire.com/2019/02/03/trump-faces-mounting-threats-from-all-sides/
Trump Faces Mounting Threats from All Sides
February 3, 2019 at 8:06 am EST By Taegan Goddard
Washington Post: “Trump dealt himself a political defeat with the 35-day government shutdown. He has secured no funding to construct a border wall and is preparing to declare a national emergency to fulfill his campaign promise. He is newly at odds with the nation’s intelligence chiefs and some senators in his own party. The Russia investigation, which has ensnared several of the president’s allies, appears to be nearing its conclusion. New congressional oversight investigations will start soon. And the race to defeat him at the ballot box has kicked off in earnest.”
“The challenges mount at a moment when Trump is as unencumbered and isolated as ever. Inside the White House, aides describe a chaotic, freewheeling atmosphere reminiscent of the early weeks of Trump’s presidency.”
“Power has consolidated around presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, a senior adviser who is functioning as a de facto White House chief of staff. With counterweights like ousted chief of staff John F. Kelly now gone, some advisers say the West Wing has the feel of the 26th floor of Trump Tower, where an unrestrained Trump had absolute control over his family business and was free to follow his impulses.”
“The challenges mount at a moment when Trump is as unencumbered and isolated as ever. Inside the White House, aides describe a chaotic, freewheeling atmosphere reminiscent of the early weeks of Trump’s presidency.”
“Power has consolidated around presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, a senior adviser who is functioning as a de facto White House chief of staff. With counterweights like ousted chief of staff John F. Kelly now gone, some advisers say the West Wing has the feel of the 26th floor of Trump Tower, where an unrestrained Trump had absolute control over his family business and was free to follow his impulses.”
February 3, 2019
‘I’m closing the book on remorseful ex-Trumpers’
By Leonard Pitts Jr.
February 01, 2019 07:34 PM,
snip//
Point being, there is no element of Trump’s awfulness — not the racism, not the sexism, not the narcissism, not the lying, not the incompetence, not the bullying, not the corruption and not the deep and dismaying stupidity — that was not knowable, that was not as obvious as a neon sign in a mineshaft, before he was elected. So what’s changed? What do these people suddenly see now that they couldn’t then?
Speaking up then might have mattered, might have changed something. But they were silent, implicitly vouching for this man and his team. Now they’re writing books in order to … what? Rehabilitate image? Unburden conscience? Make some coin?
Not that the reason matters to me. Spending money — or time — on some book of Trump Remorse would only add vicious insult to crippling injury.
Give me Bob Woodward’s “Fear: Trump in the White House.”
Give me David Cay Johnston’s “It’s Even Worse Than You Think: What The Trump Administration is Doing to America.”
Give me April Ryan’s “Under Fire: Reporting From the Front Lines of the Trump White House.”
But spare me some self-serving mea culpa from a Trump drone who claims to have just now figured out what the rest of us have known since Day One.
They can take their books and shelve them.
Leonard Pitts Jr.: 'I'm closing the book on remorseful ex-Trumpers'
https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/leonard-pitts-jr/article225433305.html?fbclid=IwAR21UfAmtf2zuSX6YK9pQFI2-OJzJRK3oQPznxMPbjW8Wxnh_mgkfT7x2Pw‘I’m closing the book on remorseful ex-Trumpers’
By Leonard Pitts Jr.
February 01, 2019 07:34 PM,
snip//
Point being, there is no element of Trump’s awfulness — not the racism, not the sexism, not the narcissism, not the lying, not the incompetence, not the bullying, not the corruption and not the deep and dismaying stupidity — that was not knowable, that was not as obvious as a neon sign in a mineshaft, before he was elected. So what’s changed? What do these people suddenly see now that they couldn’t then?
Speaking up then might have mattered, might have changed something. But they were silent, implicitly vouching for this man and his team. Now they’re writing books in order to … what? Rehabilitate image? Unburden conscience? Make some coin?
Not that the reason matters to me. Spending money — or time — on some book of Trump Remorse would only add vicious insult to crippling injury.
Give me Bob Woodward’s “Fear: Trump in the White House.”
Give me David Cay Johnston’s “It’s Even Worse Than You Think: What The Trump Administration is Doing to America.”
Give me April Ryan’s “Under Fire: Reporting From the Front Lines of the Trump White House.”
But spare me some self-serving mea culpa from a Trump drone who claims to have just now figured out what the rest of us have known since Day One.
They can take their books and shelve them.
February 2, 2019
Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman” is one of the greatest speeches in American rhetoric
Start Black History Month by giving it a read.
By Constance Grady@constancegrady Updated Feb 1, 2019, 4:55pm EST
Google is kicking off Black History Month this year by celebrating the legacy of Sojourner Truth, the subject of today’s Google Doodle. Which means that it’s time to reread one of the great works of American rhetoric: Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman” speech.
Sojourner Truth was born into slavery at the end of the 18th century, but she escaped — carrying her infant daughter with her — in 1826. (“I did not run off, for I thought that wicked, but I walked off, believing that to be all right,” she would later say.) When the son she left behind was sold illegally, she successfully sued for his freedom as well. Naming herself “Sojourner Truth,” she converted to Methodism and began campaigning for women’s rights and the abolition of slavery.
She improvised her “Ain’t I a Woman” speech in 1851 at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in Akron. The exact wording of the speech has been contested. In contemporary transcriptions, the famous question “ain’t I a woman?” doesn’t appear anywhere, and some historians have argued that native New Yorker Truth is unlikely to have spoken in the Southern-inflected English that tinges the most widely reproduced version of the speech.
But regardless of Truth’s precise wording, the message at the core of “Ain’t I a Woman” rings powerfully true 168 years later: that women can change the world, and that Truth’s blackness did not make her not a woman. That’s the kind of intersectionality that Truth was immensely skilled at navigating, despite the enormous pressure on women of color at the time to choose between the women’s movement and the abolitionist movement. Truth never chose. As she pointed out in her speech, she shouldn’t have to.
Here’s the speech in full:
Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I a Woman" is one of the greatest speeches in American rhetoric
https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/2/1/18206645/celebrating-sojourner-truth-google-doodle-aint-i-a-womanSojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman” is one of the greatest speeches in American rhetoric
Start Black History Month by giving it a read.
By Constance Grady@constancegrady Updated Feb 1, 2019, 4:55pm EST
Google is kicking off Black History Month this year by celebrating the legacy of Sojourner Truth, the subject of today’s Google Doodle. Which means that it’s time to reread one of the great works of American rhetoric: Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman” speech.
Sojourner Truth was born into slavery at the end of the 18th century, but she escaped — carrying her infant daughter with her — in 1826. (“I did not run off, for I thought that wicked, but I walked off, believing that to be all right,” she would later say.) When the son she left behind was sold illegally, she successfully sued for his freedom as well. Naming herself “Sojourner Truth,” she converted to Methodism and began campaigning for women’s rights and the abolition of slavery.
She improvised her “Ain’t I a Woman” speech in 1851 at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in Akron. The exact wording of the speech has been contested. In contemporary transcriptions, the famous question “ain’t I a woman?” doesn’t appear anywhere, and some historians have argued that native New Yorker Truth is unlikely to have spoken in the Southern-inflected English that tinges the most widely reproduced version of the speech.
But regardless of Truth’s precise wording, the message at the core of “Ain’t I a Woman” rings powerfully true 168 years later: that women can change the world, and that Truth’s blackness did not make her not a woman. That’s the kind of intersectionality that Truth was immensely skilled at navigating, despite the enormous pressure on women of color at the time to choose between the women’s movement and the abolitionist movement. Truth never chose. As she pointed out in her speech, she shouldn’t have to.
Here’s the speech in full:
Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that ‘twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what’s all this here talking about?
That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain’t I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman?
Then they talk about this thing in the head; what’s this they call it? [member of audience whispers, “intellect”] That’s it, honey. What’s that got to do with women’s rights or negroes’ rights? If my cup won’t hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn’t you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?
Then that little man in black there, he says women can’t have as much rights as men, ‘cause Christ wasn’t a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.
If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.
Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain’t got nothing more to say.
That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain’t I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman?
Then they talk about this thing in the head; what’s this they call it? [member of audience whispers, “intellect”] That’s it, honey. What’s that got to do with women’s rights or negroes’ rights? If my cup won’t hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn’t you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?
Then that little man in black there, he says women can’t have as much rights as men, ‘cause Christ wasn’t a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.
If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.
Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain’t got nothing more to say.
February 2, 2019
Does Russia Already Have a Favorite for 2020?
February 2, 2019 at 7:19 am EST By Taegan Goddard
Does Russia Already Have a Favorite for 2020?
https://politicalwire.com/2019/02/02/does-russia-already-have-a-favorite-for-2020/Does Russia Already Have a Favorite for 2020?
February 2, 2019 at 7:19 am EST By Taegan Goddard
“The Russian propaganda machine that tried to influence the 2016 U.S. election is now promoting the presidential aspirations of a controversial Hawaii Democrat who earlier this month declared her intention to run for president in 2020,” NBC News reports.
“An NBC News analysis of the main English-language news sites employed by Russia in its 2016 election meddling shows Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who is set to make her formal announcement Saturday, has become a favorite of the sites Moscow used when it interfered in 2016.”
“An NBC News analysis of the main English-language news sites employed by Russia in its 2016 election meddling shows Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who is set to make her formal announcement Saturday, has become a favorite of the sites Moscow used when it interfered in 2016.”
February 2, 2019
Sherrod Brown Says Howard Schultz Is a ‘Total Idiot’
February 1, 2019 at 9:29 pm EST By Taegan Goddard
Sherrod Brown Says Howard Schultz Is a 'Total Idiot'
https://politicalwire.com/2019/02/01/sherrod-brown-calls-howard-schultz-a-total-idiot/Sherrod Brown Says Howard Schultz Is a ‘Total Idiot’
February 1, 2019 at 9:29 pm EST By Taegan Goddard
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) dismissed a possible independent presidential campaign from Howard Schultz, calling the billionaire former Starbucks CEO a “total idiot,” CNN reports.
“While talking with voters in Iowa’s Dallas County after a farmers’ roundtable, the Ohio Democrat, who’s also considering a presidential bid, introduced himself to a voter who expressed concern about dark money in politics.”
Said Brown: “Yeah, I mean you got this idiot Schultz running, maybe. He’s an idiot. I mean, he’s a total idiot.”
“While talking with voters in Iowa’s Dallas County after a farmers’ roundtable, the Ohio Democrat, who’s also considering a presidential bid, introduced himself to a voter who expressed concern about dark money in politics.”
Said Brown: “Yeah, I mean you got this idiot Schultz running, maybe. He’s an idiot. I mean, he’s a total idiot.”
February 2, 2019
The Great American Heist
A new Cabinet has coalesced around Donald Trump entering Year Three of his presidency, one that seems poised to pull the United States further—and more efficiently—towards kleptocracy.
image
By Jack Holmes
Jan 30, 2019
A defense contractor running the Department of Defense. A self-styled tycoon who allegedly stole $120 million from his business partners. A coal lobbyist regulating coal. A senior Commerce Department official who once lobbied for whale hunters. Ivanka.
Donald Trump’s improbable ascension to the American presidency was a Bat Signal to some of the most accomplished grifters and scoundrels this fine country has to offer. They jumped on the nearest airplane—preferably private, and paid for by someone else—and jetted off to Washington, D.C., to carve out their piece of the action. The United States and its territories have always been home to some of history’s great scammers, fraudsters, confidence men, and snake-oil salesmen. It is a relentless feature of the national character in a country built by people trying to make a buck, however they could, on the ragged edge of civilization. It’s just the very greasiest operators don’t often pry their way into the Cabinet of the United States president. More rarely, still, do they capture it—and the Executive Branch of government.
“This is the Teapot Dome scandal on steroids,” Douglas Brinkley, a professor of history at Rice University and a CNN contributor, told me. He’s referring to the orgy of bribery and crony capitalism that devoured the presidency of Warren G. Harding in the 1920s. Harding’s crew, known as the Ohio Gang, featured oil-industry insiders who proceeded to operate in public office on behalf of their old friends in the business. For Brinkley, the 45th president has a similar recruiting strategy.
And it seems he’s found them. As we embark on a third year of The Trump Era, a new group has filtered in to populate the most senior levels of his government. The Class of 2019 is different in kind to the right-wing oddballs and ravenous feeders at the public trough that went barreling into the administration in January 2017. Often, those characters flamed out early, and now they’ve been replaced.
more...
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a25989196/donald-trump-cabinet-members-2019-list/?fbclid=IwAR028yyBURHOwxVXLEidE8Ytxvt9eTNNLLrInp2MRuyhbRg4wjFWBMoPWFM
The Great American Heist
The Great American Heist
A new Cabinet has coalesced around Donald Trump entering Year Three of his presidency, one that seems poised to pull the United States further—and more efficiently—towards kleptocracy.
image
By Jack Holmes
Jan 30, 2019
A defense contractor running the Department of Defense. A self-styled tycoon who allegedly stole $120 million from his business partners. A coal lobbyist regulating coal. A senior Commerce Department official who once lobbied for whale hunters. Ivanka.
Donald Trump’s improbable ascension to the American presidency was a Bat Signal to some of the most accomplished grifters and scoundrels this fine country has to offer. They jumped on the nearest airplane—preferably private, and paid for by someone else—and jetted off to Washington, D.C., to carve out their piece of the action. The United States and its territories have always been home to some of history’s great scammers, fraudsters, confidence men, and snake-oil salesmen. It is a relentless feature of the national character in a country built by people trying to make a buck, however they could, on the ragged edge of civilization. It’s just the very greasiest operators don’t often pry their way into the Cabinet of the United States president. More rarely, still, do they capture it—and the Executive Branch of government.
“This is the Teapot Dome scandal on steroids,” Douglas Brinkley, a professor of history at Rice University and a CNN contributor, told me. He’s referring to the orgy of bribery and crony capitalism that devoured the presidency of Warren G. Harding in the 1920s. Harding’s crew, known as the Ohio Gang, featured oil-industry insiders who proceeded to operate in public office on behalf of their old friends in the business. For Brinkley, the 45th president has a similar recruiting strategy.
“Donald Trump understands people that are greedy,” he said. “When he’s dealing with the public lands and the environment, he wants people that are into making cash out of resources, not preservation. He doesn't trust preservation. It's because they have ethics. He trusts people who see that there's gold in them there hills.”
And it seems he’s found them. As we embark on a third year of The Trump Era, a new group has filtered in to populate the most senior levels of his government. The Class of 2019 is different in kind to the right-wing oddballs and ravenous feeders at the public trough that went barreling into the administration in January 2017. Often, those characters flamed out early, and now they’ve been replaced.
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https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a25989196/donald-trump-cabinet-members-2019-list/?fbclid=IwAR028yyBURHOwxVXLEidE8Ytxvt9eTNNLLrInp2MRuyhbRg4wjFWBMoPWFM
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