What a got damn shitshow. [warning politics]

[surfafrica]

What they were really saying on inauguration day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gneBUA39mnI

[Area 10]

They grabbed a bunch of people that were smashing stuff. These folks were in the crowd. How about we wait and see how it pans out before getting too outraged? From the photos some look like any other protester that has outfitted themselves with helmets and goggles and is pointing their cellphone. I find it interesting how some of these folks self label as "freelance journalist and activist"...tell me...exactly how do you write a story without bias when you're an activist? According to NPR this morning the job of journalists is to bring the facts forward without bias. 

Mistake? He's doing what he said he would do. I don't like some of what he's doing.....still very happy Clinton isn't president. I do think there is a good chance he'll go too far. Like I said above, unless he makes significant improvements he's gone in 4 years.

Keep drinking the Kool-Aid. If you drink enough it might drown out that little voice of reason that's starting to whisper in your ear.

[stoneaxe]

Please....I've always had concerns about Trump as president....just not as many as I had with Clinton. You can dismiss the concerns or opinions of others as Kool-Aid though if that makes you happy. The easy dismissal of the right by the left and vice versa is why we are where we are. The problem we have is that the extremes on both sides act like spoiled children....if I can't have it all my way I'm taking my ball and going home. The Kool-Aid drinkers exist on both sides. The rest of us are stuck with the resulting bullshit of extreme partisanship.

[raf]

How long before folks who voted for Trump start feeling like they made a mistake?  Any yet?  1 month from now?  Thats the silver lining, if there is one.

You do recall that pretty much everyone but the skinny bit of hardcore on both ends of the spectrum considered the choices they had were to toss their vote away, vote for the status quo with someone they considered a greedy evil liar, of something different with someone they considered a greedy, evil liar.

Where's the mistake? The hardcore on both ends are getting exactly what they expected, and so are the people in the middle.

The regret I expect is within the Republican party.

Thats a good point and I agree.  I suspect that if we revoted in a months time, the outcome would be different.  That's what I meant by a mistake.

[lucabrasi]

They grabbed a bunch of people that were smashing stuff. These folks were in the crowd. How about we wait and see how it pans out before getting too outraged? From the photos some look like any other protester that has outfitted themselves with helmets and goggles and is pointing their cellphone. I find it interesting how some of these folks self label as "freelance journalist and activist"...tell me...exactly how do you write a story without bias when you're an activist? According to NPR this morning the job of journalists is to bring the facts forward without bias. 

Mistake? He's doing what he said he would do. I don't like some of what he's doing.....still very happy Clinton isn't president. I do think there is a good chance he'll go too far. Like I said above, unless he makes significant improvements he's gone in 4 years.

Keep drinking the Kool-Aid. If you drink enough it might drown out that little voice of reason that's starting to whisper in your ear.

Ok, First.....I am starting to wonder what is going on as well, how can you not. I am not a big fan of executive orders on either side, that's not really how we are supposed to do things if I remember correct but I got some brushing up to do but it's not even a week yet. Here is what I think so far about a couple things posted here.........which doesn't matter and I like to think I know it doesn't matter.

In the end I think you are drinking the koolaid because it seems the instant anything comes out you are jumping right out there going with the headline that lured you in without bothering to check the context or wait even a few. It's ok, and it doesn't matter....it's all good and I like seeing what everyone says, but it doesn't matter either.

The media guys. Charged with felonies or something like that. I like to think we would all be (here at this place, Americans in general, you guys over there, left, right, blah, blah) seriously pissed off about that and that just wouldn't fly. Something is going on with that other than real reporters being shown the door, arrested for trying to report and not allowed to report , however we want to define what a reporter is. 

Buried in the article.   
www.theguardian.com/media/2017/jan/24/journalists-charged-felonies-trump-inauguration-unrest
"In all, more than 200 people were arrested on Friday, after property was vandalized in the US capital in the hours around Trump’s swearing-in as president. Police said that six officers suffered minor injuries."

Haven't reporters been in with these kinds of protests or crowds as long as we can remember, getting arrested and even partaking and this is not some new thing of some evil empire swooshing down and taking the rights of the press away? That ssure has disappeared as a story. The media would not let that disappear, and they shouldn't, if that really had some basis of something to worry about.

On the media squash thing.....
http://fortune.com/2017/01/24/trump-gag-order/?xid=soc_socialflow_facebook_FORTUNE
I scanned that article and didn't see it, maybe it's there but somewhere else I read about it and a time or few I have heard it reported it always seems to end with something like..."all administrations have done this, this is nothing new....." Yes, Obama included. Make sure it is following their rhetoric...whoever the prez is or has been. Was Twitter even really going 4 years ago? I know 8 years ago it wasn't and I think facebook was really just a blip then?? All new kinds of media happening now. 8 years ago, 16, and 24 (holy shit, that long for Billy boy) there wasn't all this kind of media. Let's see what happens.

Look at the whole thing and not just the stupid headlines. Don't look at one news source. That glass coffee table or gerbil stuff they got on him sure has seemed to disappear. Maybe it's true but I still don't think there is any way in hell that could have been kept under wraps during an election cycle. No way. I thought James Bond was going to come out with some dirt "in the following days".?

Not really trying to defend Trump or what he is doing but be real. The sky might be falling, I don't know but make sure it is first.

Hang on tight..........we in for an exciting ride. Not sure I like it all that's for sure.......

Let's see what's happening around Memorial Day.

 oh yeah......lip reading, Netherlands...other stuff....all good stuff. Demagogue. Got me thinking.

[Area 10]

It's interesting that during his campaign Trump chose to say that his support was "Brexit +++" because his presidency is so far starting to play out just like the Brexit vote has been in the UK: If we had the Brexit vote again, no way in hell would the decision go the same way now that we've had a peek at the reality of the decision and had a chance to see how it's gonna play out. Many people thought that "things can't get any worse" so voted for a change. Now they've discovered that things could in fact get worse, and the nation is now hugely divided, and the poor (who voted Exit) are getting poorer, and are hit the hardest. We've got no effective opposition who can champion their needs, and an unelected prime minister who is pursuing a course she never supported and knows will cause incredible financial hardship, but has decided that being in power is more important to her than doing what she believes in. The biggest casualty has been democracy, and I suspect it will be for you too. None of us have got anyone we want to vote for. In trying to overthrow the corrupt elite we have just destroyed any semblance of influence we once had.

There are definite parallels. Where is your opposition party? Where are the checks and balances? From outside the US it looks as if Trump is about to steal the family silver,  and the political system is just standing by, with no idea what to do.

[stoneaxe]

As Luca said...most of what's happening here is standard stuff when the administration changes party. All the bullshit outrage about the changes in the whitehouse website, telling departments to freeze outside communication...all standard procedure for incoming admin to get all members of the team to get on the new message. But every report you hear in the majority of the media makes it sound like the brownshirts are just outside the door. I'm a bit disturbed by the press thing but it's being blown way out of proportion. We have no idea what actually went down and sorry but a guy with a helmet and a cellphone doesn't scream press to me and obviously not to the cops either. And do you really think the cops were out there doing Trumps bidding? Are the DC cops the SS or some similar stupid analogy the liberal media will use? Every change of government sees the old swept out and the new brought in. Where was all this outrage when Obama did it? There are a few people drinking kool-aid here but I gave that shit up long ago. Try getting some of your news from outside of liberal sources. Without balancing the bullshit from each side any opinion we form is weak.

[PonoBill]

The media thing is ridiculous. Any wanker with a blog gets to scream about his rights these days. There is NO indication that any form of suppression came from the feds--in any branch. Just standard law and order, and some folks trying to wiggle out.

The Kool-Aid part is that we have media reporting that with skew context. Currently, media requires "belief" meaning some sort of faith based on your preconceived notions. With all the noise, there isn't an alternative.

A10, you're being silly.

I'm not saying I like what this administration is doing, but most of the actual actions--meaning the stuff the administration is actually doing, not the bullshit that media is reporting--is straightforward and directly in line with what Trump said he was going to do. I've actually never seen an American president do that. It's pretty weird--and nerve-wracking.

The crap the media is focused on is insane. Size of the inauguration crowd? What? The Atlantic does some totally sleazy stuff by timing the photos, then admits it, then defends it, then all the media pick up the shitstorms. Really?? What is this? And who cares. How is this news?

The New York Times and Wall Street Journal smell blood in the water and are trying to sell their papers as the honest source for news--spamming everyone with offers. Right now the entire fifth estate has the credibility of the National Enquirer. Any day now the Washington Post is going to claim that Trump is Bat Boy.

[digger71]

The crap the media is focused on is insane. Size of the inauguration crowd? What? The Atlantic does some totally sleazy stuff by timing the photos, then admits it, then defends it, then all the media pick up the shitstorms. Really?? What is this? And who cares. How is this news?

What did the Atlantic do that was sleazy?  I can't seem to find anything regarding that and they seem to be sticking to their "Photographic Fact Check" that shows the actual time Trump was speaking.
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/01/all-of-this-space-was-full-a-photographic-fact-check/514253/#disqus_thread

[PonoBill]

Did you miss the "how is this news" part?

This is the problem. Focusing on nonsense.

[digger71]

My question wasn't meant to be anything but that.  You said the Atlantic did some sleazy stuff with the timing of photos and I wanted to know what that sleazy stuff was. 

The news I was interested in was about the 159 yr old mag's reporting tactics.

[PonoBill]

We're in the third cycle of reporting on an issue at least as important as Kim Kardashian's butt.  In the beginning of cycle 2 the Atlantic said the crowd shot of Trump's inauguration was taken early in the day. Later they said it was during Trump's speech. Who knows, and more importantly, who cares.

[Quickbeam]

Looks to me like it's Trump who cares, and that in itself is one of the problems.

[tautologies]

Looks to me like it's Trump who cares, and that in itself is one of the problems.

You know you are in for a ride when Richard W. Painter, Bush's ethics advisor is suing you.
Fact is that Trump has no divested...the nonsensical empty folder stunt on stage is meaningless as long as we do not see the tax returns. 

With all the other shit Trump is doing, there is simply no way this is not blowing up.
As much as I dislike Pence at least he will focus on only screwing up the US with his religious dogma.

[Admin]

We're in the third cycle of reporting on an issue at least as important as Kim Kardashian's butt.  In the beginning of cycle 2 the Atlantic said the crowd shot of Trump's inauguration was taken early in the day. Later they said it was during Trump's speech. Who knows, and more importantly, who cares.

Look at the grouse.  It is astounding that a 3rd grade diversion is so successful.  Russian hacking swayed the Electoral (actual) election in my favor?  I don't like that news cycle.  Insert inane attention grabber.  Vladimir who?