Earworm of the Afternoon -- Thorn in My Pride

Manafort

Politico: Manafort may have faced blackmail threats https://t.co/TQKVcgSYQb #PutinTrump #MakeRussiaGreatAgain

— Jesse Stark (@StopNuclearWar) February 23, 2017

Drip, drip, drip.

What Atrios Said

One of my least favorite liberal tics is to grant there was some time when American conservatism was some sort wrong but noble affair, and to appeal to various horrible things as some deviation from those principled norms. The American conservative movement (which while not identical to the Republican party, it has been latched onto its face planting its eggs in its body Alien-style for decades) has carried the banner of white nationalism, bigotry, contempt for the poor, corporate immunity, environmental destruction, rigid unequal gender roles, homophobia, xenophobia, "law and order" policing, state discrimination, the military state, perpetual global war, support for worldwide dictators, American "empire" in its various manifestation, etc.

He's exactly right. This does not mean that all Republicans have always been like that; an awful lot of the Democratic Party was like that even up into the mid-2000s. But the Republicans own conservativism now, and those are its values. Pretending otherwise is fooling ourselves.

Our Seven Year Olds Are Smarter than Their Senators

It's not often that I'll watch a video clip and describe it as someone having schooled someone else, but thanks, Karoli, for sharing:



More of this, please...

All Is Not Lost (Maybe)!

As he mentioned in last night's Daily Combover, Ari is in transit tomorrow and won't be able to write one. But I've got a light day tomorrow, including a couple of hours in the DMV, so I'm going to give it a shot!

Late Night Track -- Time

Tired of lying in the sunshine
Staying home to watch the rain
And you are young and life is long
And there is time to kill today
And then one day you find
Ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run
You missed the starting gun

The Daily Combover - February 22, 2017

Another relatively slow news day. But while the world media was focusing on some nobody named Milo, Trump attended a budget meeting this afternoon and gave a quick 4 minute speech:

12:39 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you all.  This will be somewhat of an informal meeting.  I want to congratulate Mick Mulvaney, who’s been confirmed finally -- we waited a long time -- by the Senate.  And he’s going to be an absolutely great director.  Total confidence in Mick.  Known him for a long time.  He loves those budgets.  

Hahahaha what a joker! But really, who doesn't love those budgets?

Unfortunately, the budget we’re inheriting -- essentially inheriting -- is a mess.  The finances of our country are a mess.  But we’re going to clean them up.  Things that we’ve been doing, including negotiating deals that have already been negotiated, so you call it re-negotiating -- on airplanes and lots of other things, military items -- we’ll end up either getting many more planes free, or we’re going to save a lot of money.  But we’ve already saved a lot; billions and billions of dollars have been saved.

Obviously he's full of crap and nobody there is going to call him on it. But billions and billions? I find it interesting that he's claiming these renegs on military and airplane deals which are generally the purview of the Pentagon. The Pentagon was already being forced to make massive cuts by the Obama Administration thanks to the revelation that they covered up $125 billion in wasteful spending. How many of Trump's billions were already included in that number?

A quick Google search yields 125 million results for "Trump claims credit." Here's the first few:

We have enormous work to do as the national debt doubled over the last eight years.  Our debt has doubled over a short period of time.  I want the American people to know that our budget will reflect their priorities.  We’ll be directing all of our departments and agencies to protect every last American and every last tax dollar.  No more wasted money.

True, it did increase under President Obama, but it didn't double. It actually increased by 68%, the bulk of which was in President Obama's first two years in office as he had to fight off the Great Recession. Fast forward 5 years and under President Obama's stewardship, deficits fell by a record amount. Interestingly enough, the debt always grows more under Republicans than it does under Democrats: 47% with Ford, 43% with Carter, 186% with Reagan, 54% with Bush I, 32% with Clinton, 101% with Bush II, 68% with Obama. So when a Republican says this...

We’re going to be spending the money in a very, very careful manner.  Our moral duty to the taxpayer requires us to make our government leaner and more accountable.  We must do a lot more with less.  And we must stop the improper payments and the abuses, negotiate better prices, and look for every last dollar of savings.

...DON'T BELIEVE HIM!

We’ve already imposed hiring freezes on nonessential government workers, and part of our commitment is to continue to do that for the American taxpayer.  We have appointed a Cabinet that knows how to manage dollars wisely.  I’ve known many of the folks for a long time.  They’ve been tremendous winners -- whether it’s Steve or Gary or another Steve, right here.  And that’s why I will direct them to manage the country’s dollars and your dollars very wisely.  We won’t let your money be wasted anymore.  We’re going to run government smoothly, efficiently, and on behalf of the very hardworking taxpayers -- something that the taxpayers haven’t seen in a long time.  I will be holding everybody accountable for that, and I have no doubt that this group -- in particular, this group will do a fantastic job.  

I want to congratulate Steve Mnuchin as our new Secretary of the Treasury.  He’s going to be outstanding.  Tremendous track record -- he has a tremendous track record.  I have great confidence in him.

No Trump speech would be complete without him being a braggart about his team. It is, of course, no surprise that he's absolutely full of it when he says he's going to run government on behalf of the taxpayers. After all, it was only a few days ago that we learned how much his weekly visits to Mar-a-Lago are costing the taxpayers (more than $3 million a piece).

So we’re going to continue on, and we’re going to take this budget, which is -- in all fairness, I’ve only been here for four weeks, so I can’t take too much of the blame for what’s happened.  But it is absolutely out of control, and we’re going to do things that are going to be tremendous over the years.  We have to take care of our military.  We have no choice, we have to take care of our military.  It needs work; it’s very depleted.  And we have to take care of a lot of other things. 

Actually, now that you mention it, you are to blame. Obama left you with a consistent downward trend in the budget deficit. The last time we saw that was under Clinton. So when you screw it up like President Bush did 16 years ago, it falls on your lap.

Healthcare is moving along nicely.  It’s being put into final forms.  As you know, before we do the tax -- which is actually very well finalized -- but we can’t submit it until the healthcare, statutorily or otherwise.  So we’re doing the healthcare.  Again, moving along very well.  Sometime during the month of March, maybe mid- to early March we will be submitting something that I think people will be very impressed by.

Read that as: come March, you're going to be fucked over so the top 0.1% of the country can get a massive tax cut.

And with that, we’re going to have a little meeting.  And I think the press knows pretty much all of the people at the table, so thank you very much.  We appreciate it.

END

12:43 P.M. EST

It's going to be a long, long year...

The Combover will be off tomorrow. Catch you Friday.

Earworm of the Afternoon -- Lipstick and Bruises

The Bob and Chez Show, 2/21/17 -- Says Who

On yesterday's Bob and Chez Show, Bob explains what the Republicans can and can't accomplish with an Obamacare reconciliation bill. He paints a bleak picture.

Listen here.


I'm a little more optimistic... a little...

Aside from Trump's lack of desire to work, which Ari and I discussed a lot yesterday, protests by The Resistance do appear to be scaring some Republicans. They also may be getting cold feet as they realize the damage they could actually cause:

Translation: back when Democrats would have been responsible for the chaos this ruling unleashed, Republicans were all in favor of unloading both barrels on Obamacare. But now that Republicans would have to deal with the chaos, they've suddenly gotten gun shy.

Republicans understood perfectly that winning their suit would hurt not just the insurance industry, but probably millions of workers as well. They didn't care, as long as Democrats got the blame. Now that Republicans would get the blame, they want the temporary stay to be made permanent.

This, ladies and gentlemen, demonstrates just how much Republicans really care about the working class voters who are the ones who mostly benefit from CSR payments: they don't. They're just pawns in the GOP's endless partisan wars.

Obamacare is really the test here. If they can't repeal that, they'll have a much harder time with the rest of the safety net. So hopefully that holds up.

The Daily Combover - February 21, 2017

It's a slow day in the news cycle thanks to Trump's general slothiness and feelings of disdain for actually working. But I've learned that whenever things seem quiet in DC, it's just because there's a lot of whispering going on.  Chances are that we'll find out about that in the next day or two. Until then, I thought we'd have some fun by looking at what Trump actually did today -- make remarks at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

The entirety of his speech lasted 9 minutes. I can picture him telling Reince that he had an 11AM tee time and wasn't about to be late for that.

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much, everybody.  It's a great honor to be here.  This was some beautiful morning and what a job they've done, like few others have been able to do.  

I am very, very proud of Lonnie Bunch.  The work and the love that he has in his heart for what he's done is -- I always talk about you need enthusiasm, you need really love for anything you do to do it successfully.  And, Lonnie, you are where?  Come on.  Where's Lonnie?  You should be up here, Lonnie.  Come on.  

And David -- we have to get David up here, too.  David Skorton is tremendous and he was singing Lonnie's praises all morning long.  So you two should at least be here.  So we appreciate it very much.  

And David Rubenstein, who is here someplace, he is -- come on, David, you have to get up here, David.  You certainly deserve it.  He's a very, very successful guy who spends money doing great things, and he's been a great help to so many different groups and this one in particular.  

So far no surprises. He pretends to have lots of friends and tries to call out anyone he actually knows to come up on stage to cheerlead for him. I'm sorry but I just can't see a career educator like Lonnie Bunch having anything at all to do with Trump on any other day except the day that Trump visited his museum.

Of course, more so than anyone, he should be thanking Congressman John Lewis for pressuring Congress for nearly 30 years to fund and open the museum.  But then again... This is the Fontange Fuhrer we're talking about over here.

Thank you.  It's a privilege to be here today.  This museum is a beautiful tribute to so many American heroes -- heroes like Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Rosa Parks, the Greensboro students, and the African American Medal of Honor recipients, among so many other really incredible heroes.

Is he still looking for Frederick Douglass? Funny that he left out Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. There's kind of a really big exhibit on the Good Reverend. And that John Lewis guy? Yeah he's a pretty important hero as well.

It's amazing to see.  I went to -- we did a pretty comprehensive tour, but not comprehensive enough.  So, Lonnie, I'll be back.  I told you that.  Because I could stay here for a lot longer, believe me.  It's really incredible.

I'm deeply proud that we now have a museum that honors the millions of African American men and women who built our national heritage, especially when it comes to faith, culture and the unbreakable American spirit.  My wife was here last week and took a tour, and it was something that she's still talking about.  Ivanka is here right now.  Hi, Ivanka.  And it really is very, very special.  It's something that, frankly, if you want to know the truth, it's doing so well that everybody is talking about it.

More name drops of Lonnie Bunch. Oh and did I mention my sexy daughter is here as well?

I know President Obama was here for the museum's opening last fall.  And I'm honored to be the second sitting President to visit this great museum.  Etched in the hall that we passed today is a quote from Spottswood Rice, a runaway slave who joined the Union Army.  He believed that his fellow African Americans always looked to the United States as the promised land of universal freedom.  Today and every day of my presidency, I pledge to do everything I can to continue that promise of freedom for African Americans and for every American.  So important.  Nothing more important.

And let me tell you what else is important.  "I'm the least racist person" you've ever seen. So that former President that I know was born in Kenya doesn't even count. So really it's important to remember that I'm here. So important. Nothing more important.

This tour was a meaningful reminder of why we have to fight bigotry, intolerance and hatred in all of its very ugly forms.  The anti-Semitic threats targeting our Jewish community and community centers are horrible and are painful, and a very sad reminder of the work that still must be done to root out hate and prejudice and evil.  

Yes those threats are horrible and painful but I'm still not going to issue a statement of condemnation or get up off my fat ass to do anything about them.

Time for some more name dropping.

I want to thank a great friend of mine, Dr. Ben Carson, and his beautiful family -- Candy and the whole family -- for joining us today.  It was very special to accompany him and his family for the first time seeing the Carson exhibit.  First time.  I’m so proud of you.  I love this guy.  He’s a great guy.  Really a great guy.  And he can tell you better than me, but I’ll tell you what, we really started something with Ben.  We’re very, very proud of him.  Hopefully, next week he’ll get his approval, about three or four weeks late -- and you’re doing better than most, right?  But the Democrats, they’ll come along.  I have no doubt they’ll come along.  But Ben is going to do a fantastic job at HUD.  I have absolutely no doubt he will be one of the great -- ever -- in that position. 

He grew up in Detroit, and had very little.  He defied every statistic.  He graduated from Yale, and he went on to University of Michigan’s medical school.  He became a brilliant -- totally brilliant -- neurosurgeon, saved many lives, and helped many, many people.  We’re going to do great things in our African American communities together.  Ben is going to work with me very, very closely.  And HUD has a meaning far beyond housing.  If properly done, it’s a meaning that’s as big as anything there is, and Ben will be able to find that true meaning and the true meaning of HUD as its Secretary.  So I just look forward to that.  I look forward to watching that.  He’ll do things that nobody ever thought of.  

Get this, a Black guy was on stage with me during the primaries. I feel like he must be important even though he's clearly a psychopath so I'm going to put him in charge of HUD. That's the one with all the Blacks, right?

I also want to thank Senator Tim Scott for joining us today.  Friend of mine -- a great, great senator from South Carolina.  I like the state of South Carolina.  I like all those states where I won by double, double, double digits.  You know, those states.  But South Carolina was one, and Tim has been fantastic how he represents the people.  And they love him.

Yeah that's right. Heil Trump. I know both of the black guys in the GOP. Oh and who's that? Hmm... How do I call out Alveda King without mentioning Martin Luther King? I know!

I also want to profoundly thank Alveda King for being here, and as we saw her uncle’s wonderful exhibit, and he certainly deserves that.  Mrs. King -- and by the way, Ms. King, I can tell you this personally because I watch her all the time, and she is a tremendous fighter for justice.  And so, Alveda, thank you very much.

MS. KING:  Thank you, sir.

THE PRESIDENT:  Come up here for a second.

MS. KING:  Yes, sir.  Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT:  I have been watching you for so long, and you are so incredible.  And I wanted to thank you for all the nice things you say about me.

MS. KING:  Thank you, sir.

THE PRESIDENT:  Not everybody says nice things, but she’s special.

MS. KING:  I love you and your family.  You’re the best.  You’re great.

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  Come here.  

MS. KING:  Thank you.  Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, darling.  Appreciate it.

Nailed it!

OK time for some patented "Best Words:"

So with that, we’re going to just end this incredible beginning of a morning.  But engraved in the wall very nearby, a quote by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.  In 1955, he told the world, “We are determined…to work and fight until justice runs down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”  

And that’s what it’s going to be.  We’re going to bring this country together, maybe bring some of the world together, but we’re going to bring this country together.  We have a divided country.  It’s been divided for many, many years, but we’re going to bring it together.  I hope every day of my presidency we will be honoring the determination and work towards a very worthy goal.  

 And now one last round of thank yous to eat up another minute.

And for Lonnie, and David, and David, and Ben, and Alveda, and everybody, I just want to -- I just have to say that what they’ve done here is something that can probably not be duplicated.  It was done with love and lots of money, right Lonnie?  (Laughter.)  Lots of money.  We can’t avoid that.  But it was done with tremendous love and passion, and that’s why it’s so great.

So thank you all very much for being here, I appreciate it.  And congratulations.  This is a truly great museum.  Thank you.

And I am off to get squeezed into my golf khakis.

Programming note: The Combover will be off on Thursday this week because I'll be in transit. But if anything big comes up, I'll get Friday's posted early.

Catch you on the flip side.