(Wrongo and Ms. Oh So Right are heading to Europe today. We will be gone for 10 days, so blogging may be sparse. Please keep America great while we are away.)
Happy Motherâs Day to all. A few more thoughts about BLOTUS (Big Liar of the US): Not only does he have the worst approval ratings of any president at this point in his term, but heâs also incapable of moving the needle of public opinion toward his positions. Ironically, for all of Trumpâs sycophantsâ talk that Trumpâs words ARE his actions, his tweets and public pronouncements are making his positions more unpopular.
Bluebells, Brussels Belgium April 2017 photo by Francois Lenoir
In many ways, it is too easy to criticize Donald Trump. While we can have differing opinions on matters of policy, they only account for a few of the issues Wrongo has with Trump. Most are his unfathomable attempts to avoid telling the truth. Consider his interview with The Economist which posted the entire transcript on Thursday. Letâs focus on this excerpt:
The Economist: Another part of your overall plan, the tax reform plan. Is it OK if that tax plan increases the deficit? Ronald Reaganâs tax reform didnât.
Trump: Well, it actually did. But, but itâs called priming the pump. You know, if you donât do that, youâre never going to bring your taxes down.
[Snip]
Economist: But beyond that itâs OK if the tax plan increases the deficit?
Trump: It is OK, because it wonât increase it for long. You may have two years where youâllâŠyou understand the expression âprime the pumpâ?
Yes. We have to prime the pump.
Itâs very Keynesian.
Weâre the highest-taxed nation in the world. Have you heard that expression before, for this particular type of an event?
Priming the pump?
Yeah, have you heard it?
Yes.
Have you heard that expression used before? Because I havenât heard it. I mean, I justâŠI came up with it a couple of days ago and I thought it was good. Itâs what you have to do.
Ok, so how did the guy from the Economist keep a straight face? The reporter is thinking John Maynard Keynes, the great British Economist, who came up with the idea of âpriming the pumpâ in the 1930âs. By the way, Keynesian pump-priming is temporary government spending to boost temporarily weak demand. It is designed to boost growth, (and jobs) during a downturn, but we canât assume that it will boost the economyâs growth rate.
Trumpâs idea for pump-priming is more tax cuts. Heâs following classic trickle-down economics, and claims that his tax cuts will boost investment, productivity growth, and labor supply, and thus raise the long-term growth rate of the economy. In this regard, Trump conflates Keynes, whoâs been proven right, with Arthur Laffer, who wasnât.
But, didnât Trump graduate from Wharton with a business degree? Nobody gets out of Wharton without knowing that Keynes was the âpump primerâ. And his saying that he coined the phrase ‘prime the pump’ a few days ago? Unfortunately, there are only two explanations: first, Trump is 70 years old and his cognitive skills are starting to desert him. Or second, he is a pathological liar.
Wrongo wants to go with #2.
He just wants to sell America something with his name stamped on it. But since America isnât buying a hotel, heâs trying to sell Trumponomics, Trumpcare, etc. He does not really care about the details, he just wants to pass it, and to claim it is a success. Thatâs Americaâs tragedy.
So with Comeygate, Trumpcare and pump-priming, we all need to unplug and try, just try to relax on Saturday. We had a full moon and clear skies over the fields of Wrong on Thursday, so today we listen to âClaire du Luneâ by Claude Debussy. It is the third movement of âSuite bergamasqueâ. Its name comes from Verlaine’s poem Clair de Lune, “moonlight” in French. Here it is played by Dame Moura Lympany, British pianist, who died in 2005:
Those who read the Wrongologist in email can view the video here.
For the past few days, it has been âAll Comey, all the timeâ, both in America and around the world.
You can count Wrongo as one of those who thinks that Comey made some huge mistakes trying to position himself after his take-down of Hillary Clinton, and her self-inflicted email disaster. You can also count Wrongo as thinking that Hillaryâs loss was mostly her own fault. That means that you can also count Wrongo as agnostic regarding whether the Russians were behind the hack into the Democratic National Committee, or that their intervention was because they wanted to help Trump win the election.
Democrats argue that Trump and/or members of his administration are âsoft on Russiaâ. Democrats have adopted a neo-con worldview that just a few years ago, they would have hated: That policies are either pro-America or pro-Russia. And, itâs in that pro-Russian box that Democrats are trying to stuff The Donald.
This makes Democrats blind to the possibility that people (even Trump!) could genuinely believe that itâs in Americaâs interest to be friendlier to Russia. That we could cooperate on certain issues without being agents of Putin. Perhaps you remember that Obama said just that in his first term.
Itâs the kind of game that has become acceptable in todayâs Washington swamp.
Wrongo isnât happy with Comeyâs performance as FBI director, but we now stand on the edge of a precipice without him. He ran into trouble because AG Loretta Lynch had to recuse herself during the Clinton email investigation. That led to his free-lancing, and his inexplicable testimony. Then AG Sessions had to recuse himself from any Russia-related investigation. And shortly thereafter, the tempo of the investigation changed, and Comey needed someone to approve additional resources for the Russia investigation. The WSJ reported:
Comey started receiving daily instead of weekly updates on the investigation, beginning at least three weeks ago…Comey was concerned by information showing possible evidence of collusion.
Now, the firing of Comey opens up the FBI and the DOJ, by custom and tradition an agency that is independent from politics, to outside political control, to a new director forcing a reduction in funding or other resources critical to the investigation.
Ostensibly, the issue isnât the fact that Comey was fired. Itâs about the timing. In turn, that is directly linked to the fact that the FBI is investigating Trump. Most think that the FBI Russia operation was breathing down the neck of the Trump campaign and their operatives. They think that the Comey firing is an effort to slow down, or wind down, the investigation prematurely.
The question is, will the new FBI director do either of those things? Wouldnât the FBI agents involved in the investigation revolt/go public if a new director defunded the effort, and/or reduced the commitment to it? And the FBI is not running the investigation by itself. Their investigation is overseen by prosecutors. We heard this week that there is a grand jury. We hear that they’re issuing subpoenas. That’s not being done by the FBI. Itâs being done by prosecutors in the DOJ.
And that’s where the ball sits. The American people have to rely on AG Jeff Sessions, who may be recused, but who guarantees that? Or it rests with Deputy AG Ron Rosenstein, who is in the job for a couple of weeks. Or it rests with a to-be-appointed FBI Director. Bloomberg is reporting that Trump is considering former Congressman and former FBI agent Mike Rogers, who is far too political, or former New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, who is all hat and no cattle.
There are hundreds of thousands of stories and millions of words being written about this. Trump shouldnât expect this to go away.
In fact, he should publicly support getting to the bottom of it, rather than acting like Richard Nixon. That didnât end well.
Some music: Here are the Waifs, an Australian blues/rock band formed in 1992, fronted by two sisters, doing âCrazy Trainâ. Itâs the train America is on right now:
Those who read the Wrongologist in email can view the video here.
Wrongo and family have moved temporarily to the Southern Mansion of Wrong for a few days to escape the New England winter. We rent the same oceanfront house each year. While it is low rent compared to Mar-a-Lago, here is the Sunday AM view:
Another great week for cartoons! Trump tweets that Obama bugged the phones at Trump Tower, but Obama denies it:
Two things are funny here: that Trump thinks the election process is âsacredâ, after all that happened last November, and that he canât spell âtapâ.
GOP loved, loved Trumpâs first address to the Congress:
Paul Ryanâs got a secret plan for health care:
Ryan’s plan will offer more choices to Americans. Our choices will be open casket, closed casket, and cremation. When Obama pushed the TPP, and Congress people could only see it in a secret room, the GOP howled. Apparently we the peasants should simply shut up, and eat our tiny bowls of gruel.
The Donaldâs view of his defense budget in context:
Guns and tanks, tanks and guns, shoot ’em up, let’s have some fun
Jeff Sessions channels Bill Clinton:
How can a leader get away with saying nothing is his fault?
Spicer called his White House staff into his office last week to reiterate his frustration with the continuing leaks of WH information, sources with knowledge of the matter said. He informed them that the use of encrypted texting apps, like Signal and Confide, is a violation of the Federal Records Act.
NOW they care about the law? Using a Republican National Committee email server for official business is illegal, but that hasnât stopped the White House from using it. Does Spicer have any concerns about the unsecured Android smartphone his boss tweets from every day? More:
Then, with White House counsel Don McGahn standing by, Spicer asked his staff to provide him with their cell phones so he could ensure they were not using those apps or corresponding privately with reporters.
Spicer then specifically asked his staff not to leak information about the meeting or his efforts to crack down on leaks to the media.
But someone in the room leaked all of it. They leaked that the leaky White House is trying to stop the leaks, (except for WikiLeaks) which, of course they love. Maybe someone should take a look at The Donald, who is currently taking a leak on the First Amendment.
Perhaps the gang who canât shoot straight should have realized that people could delete incriminating information, or communicate with reporters in some way that might not be on their phones at all. Wrongo reveres the TV series âThe Wireâ. Apparently, Mr. Spicer has never watched it, and hasnât heard of âburnerâ phones.
And itâs got to be difficult trying to maintain your loyalty to a team when the boss distrusts the team members. Unless there is a national security issue, there canât be a reason to allow a government official to âinspectâ your private mobile phone.
Many fun nicknames have been suggested for Sean Spicer (Cranky Spice, Whiny Spice). Wrongoâs current favorite is âSearchy Spiceâ, although his nickname in college was âSean Sphincterâ suggesting that he is in the right job: Hanging out with one of the worldâs biggest assholes.
Thank you to the brave Americans inside the belly of the beast who put their country first. LEAK ON!
Next week in Spicerâs office: colonoscopies.
Here is a video about office investigations from the ever-popular TV series, âOfficeâ (BBC version):
Those who read the Wrongologist in email can view the video here.
And enjoy (not) watching the Overlordâs address to the joint session of Congress tonight.
After all, you can read both fake news and alternative facts about it everywhere tomorrow.
The last weekend in February is now in the rear view mirror. The shortest month seemed like an eternity to most of us. Even thinking about looking forward is madness, March Madness that is, a favorite time for Wrongo, one of the few times when watching televised sports dominates at the Mansion of Wrong.
The Wrong family is off to Florida this week for the annual visit to his family. So columns may be like the Florida breezes, light and variable.
Remember Tuesday is Mardi Gras, which for some of you is your last guilt-free celebration until Easter. If you prefer less partying and more angst, by all means watch Donald Trumpâs Tuesday address to a joint session of Congress.
Politico reports that House Democrats plan to troll Trump during the speech. Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI), is leading an effort to have his colleagues bring diverse guests to the speech on Tuesday. The effort is designed to focus on Trumpâs immigration and refugee policies, perhaps stealing a bit of the spotlight from the president’s speech. Wrongoâs advice to Dems is to respect the office of the president. They can sit on their hands when Republicans applaud the Overlord, but they should avoid overt displays that make them look like loonies on the floor of the Congress. Wrongoâs further advice is not to attend this manufactured event. After all, there is no requirement in law or custom for it; it isnât a âState of the Unionâ speech. And itâs the first time since Eisenhower that a president has given this type of out-of-sequence address.
So donât expect that each time Trump tells a whopper, Dems will yell out âyou lie!â despite the fact that since Republican Rep. Joe Wilson did it to Obama, it seems to be ok. And most likely if the Orange Overlord is speaking, this time, it will also be true.
So let’s wake up with a song about lyinâ politicians. Here is âPolitician Liesâ by Steve M:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A71e5KRS6Ig
Sample Lyrics:
Politician lies
Hide what money buys.
They know right from wrong
Still they come on like King Kong
With a fat superpac
You canât get them off your back.
Those who read the Wrongologist in email can view the video here.
Five weeks into the Trump Ascendancy, and things look worse than ever. Wrongo has not had much time for the Trump/Russia conspiracy. If anything beyond the DNC hack surfaces, we can discuss the possibility of election interference. But as of now…unpersuaded. That is, until this coincidence occurred at CPAC:
Jason Charter, 22, and Ryan Clayton, 36, passed out roughly 1,000 red, white, and blue flags, each bearing a gold-emblazoned âTRUMPâ in the center, to an auditorium full of attendees waiting for President Trump to address the conference. Audience members waved the pennantsâand took pictures with themâuntil CPAC staffers realized the trick: They were Russian flags.
The stunt made waves on social media, as journalists covering CPAC noticed the scramble to confiscate the flags. It was a gutsy and (mostly) harmless gag, unless you count the damage to Conservative egos. That the gag was carried out by two people who should fit the neo-con profile for Normal and Safe shows that the tribe cannot tell members from interlopers.
Trumpâs team refused to let accredited journalists from certain news outlets attend Trump press secretary Sean Spicerâs âgaggleâ on Friday. This is where American news is heading:
It is more important than ever to know who the real enemy is:
Kim Jong-Un channels the Donald, and there are surprising similarities:
Trump walks away from supporting LGBT rights:
GOP Congresscritters are terrorized about meeting their constituents:
You’ve probably heard that at Trump’s political rally in Florida, he lamented an attack that took place in Sweden on Friday Night. He told his supporters:
You look at whatâs happening…Weâve got to keep our country safe. You look at whatâs happening in Germany, you look at whatâs happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who would believe this?
Nothing nefarious happened in Sweden on Friday, or Saturday for that matter, and Swedes were left baffled:
Swedes reacted with confusion, anger and ridicule on Sunday to a vague remark by President Trump that suggested that something terrible had occurred in their country.
Apparently the Donald has a fantasy life: He dreamed up some fake news on his own. Digby reports:
The truth is that Trump was watching Fox News on Friday night and Tucker Carlson had some wingnut documentary filmmaker on talking about his movie about refugees in Sweden committing crimes. Trump just…got the story wrong.
We used to say âtruth is beauty and beauty is truthâ, but there is no beauty in Truth by Trump. Consider that the Wall Street Journal had a dust-up with its own reporters, and one lost his job when they said the paper was soft on Trump. And when reporting on this false story of Swedish tragedy, the WSJ did not link to the (also Murdoch controlled) Fox News which had the Tucker Carlson story, despite most other media reporting it. From Bob Lefsetz:
This is scary on two levels that the WSJ is self-editing, and Trump believes everything he sees and reads, when they tell you in second grade not to.
This wasnât the first time. Remember when he said he saw thousands of Muslims cheering the destruction of the World Trade Center on 9/11?
Trump is a typical old, Fox News-obsessed male wingnut. They get mixed up a lot. He combines the ignorance of Dubya with none of the self-control. The story served his narrative that we live in fear and that he is the only one who can save us. Will Wheaton said this:
None of the three events happened, except in the mind of Donald Trump. Time for Republicans everywhere to Wake the F—k up! They need to stop excusing Trumpâs behavior. They need to join the media in calling out the president when he makes shit up. To help with this wake-up, here is Richard Thompson with âGood Things Happen to Bad People (But Only for a While). Try to hold on to that thought when you hear Trump spout another silly innuendo, or another lie, and Republicans say nothing.
Sample Lyrics:
Well I know you’ve got a secret or two
Your hair’s in a brand new ‘doâ
And you’re so happy
Good things happen to bad people
Good things happen to bad people
But only, but only, for a while
You cried the day I walked you down the aisle
And I know you’ve been bad
From the way you smile
President Trump is engaged in an open war on the US press. While he canât be impeached for that, it is time to recognize what he intends: His plan is to neutralize what is our most vital check on authoritarianism. If he succeeds, it will still be called the âfree pressâ, but we will hear only the official story from the White House. Our media must change its game, or democracy will die. Right now, its Trumpâs facts first, and THE facts second, if at all. This is a battle the public must make certain Trump loses. Only 47 months to go…
Trumpâs press conference was all we needed to know:
The Westminster dog show was controversial in some circles:
