neffluke

Not Even Thinly Veiled Hypocrisy

The Trump administration is filled to the brim with the morally bankrupt, and their most recent healthcare reduction is spun as a “religious liberty” move to rescind women’s birth control coverage. This is bald-faced lying and hypocrisy, and it begs the question: if your platform is a lie, then don’t you know that your intentions are wrong?

Here is an excerpt from CNN on the ACA amendment:

“The latest announcement builds upon an executive order in May claiming “to protect and vigorously promote religious liberty” by providing “regulatory relief” for organizations that object on religious grounds to Obamacare coverage requirements for certain health services, including contraception.”We will never, ever stand for religious discrimination. Never, ever,” President Donald Trump said at the time.””

This is a quote from the Washington Post on January 29th.

“Former New York mayor Rudy W. Giuliani said President Trump wanted a “Muslim ban” and requested he assemble a commission to show him “the right way to do it legally.””

Keeping in mind that the Giuliani (a Republican icon) quote was done on Fox News (Republican State TV) – which part of this was Fake News?

Sources:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/06/health/trump-birth-control-mandate/index.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/29/trump-asked-for-a-muslim-ban-giuliani-says-and-ordered-a-commission-to-do-it-legally/?utm_term=.ffe5f115eb4e

Player Profile: Robert Mueller III

Bob Mueller began his foray into the spotlight just a few short months ago, May 17th, 2017. He was appointed by acting Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to head the newly formed special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 United States Presidential election. This move by Mr. Rosenstein was done immediately following (and possibly in reaction to) the dismissal of then FBI Director James Comey on May the 9th. Interestingly enough, Mueller would not have received this position had Attorney General Jeff Sessions not have recused himself from the Russia inquiries 2 months prior.

Before speaking to the man behind the name, a moment of speculation: Mueller has appointed a grand jury, subpoenaed and raided Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort’s home, and most recently, teamed up with the New York State Attorney General against Manafort. This would not have happened (at least in Trump’s eyes) had Sessions not recused himself – which would explain the intense falling out the two have had in recent months. Regardless, let’s talk about Mueller.

Robert Mueller III is a decorated war hero and lifelong civil servant. He is a self-identified Republican, and a former FBI director. During his sworn Senate testimony, Comey is asked if he believes Mueller will be thorough in his investigation. Comey replies:”Bob Mueller is one of the finest people and public servants this country has ever produced. He will do it well. He’s a dogged-tough person and you can have high confidence when he’s done, he’s turned over all of the rocks.”.

So what does this mean? A commendation from a man with the clout and respect of James Comey means a lot, and this particular message leads me to believe one simple truth about the Russia investigation: if there was collusion, if there was obstruction of justice – these crimes will be brought to light in front of a Senate committee, with substantial documentation and evidence, and the fallout will not stop at impeachment.

It’s not #FakeNews, but it is Stupid

Reportedly called a “working vacation”, Donald Trump embarks on a stay away from the White House while renovations are performed on the building. Many left-leaning newspapers are quoting Trump calling the White House a “dump”, and remarking on the heresy of speaking ill of the building they hold so sacred. As much as I agree with many of these papers on their political stances against the president, this seems to be a needless jab at a target with enough attack vectors for anyone to be satisfied with.

First of all, the White House is a beautiful landmark of American history, and it stands for many of the values that americans can identify with and respect. However, it’s also more than 200 years old, and no matter how much reverence we give the grounds, it is still subject to the same problems that regular buildings are. Bugs, leaks (the water kind this time), and normal wear and tear of a building are well documented around the White House. Is it an overstatement, and a touch rude, for the President to call the White House a “real dump”? Sure! What bothers me is when Chelsea Clinton tweets out a passive aggressive reply to his statements, so that every liberal news outlet can piggyback a new article off of a nothing news story:

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/344882-chelsea-clinton-thanks-wh-staff-after-trump-calls-it-a-dump

https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2017/08/01/chelsea-clinton-salutes-white-house-staff-after-trump-reportedly-calls-dump/1SJrZ1NyhCrSztssYIRd3L/story.html

http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/chelsea-clinton-defends-white-house-staff-after-trump-reportedly-called-the-mansion-a-dump-1732250

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/reliable-source/wp/2017/08/01/chelsea-clinton-defends-white-house-staff-after-trump-reportedly-called-the-mansion-a-dump/?utm_term=.838115aad4b5

http://mashable.com/2017/08/02/chelsea-clinton-trump-white-house-dump-tweet/#tnZKIavtHkqs

There is no need to read any of these, because they contain no pertinent information to the political arena, and have the journalistic relevance of a People magazine.

News items like this should not be published under the branding of a reputable news source. They amount to nothing but gossip, quite literally a he-said she-said turned into a half-baked article. In a world where real, important information can be drowned out, if you are writing or sharing articles about the subtweets of a political non-player, consider yourself personally responsible for the rising tides that sink the #RealNews.

Friday Wrap-Up

Mitch McConnell’s Obamacare killer hit the news cycles again this past Tuesday, and Capitol Hill’s finest began Sisyphus’ climb into healthcare once again. President Trump called on his party for loyalty, resolve, and most importantly, votes. So when Republican Senators John McCain (AZ), Lisa Murkowski (AK), and Susan Collins (ME) voted to kill the ACA “skinny repeal” last night, it meant a troubling end to an extremely rough week for the GOP.

Let’s recap the news of the past week and measure the Trump administration’s current momentum:

Trump feuds with Sessions: See my previous post, but this is strictly bad press on every channel. Sessions holds too much respect among Fox News’ demographic for this to have been a politically sound maneuver, and ends up just creating tension and dissent.

Trump bans transgender military personnel: An attempt at a distraction that only partially worked. Transgender military personnel still currently allowed to serve, because presidential tweets do not equate to laws.

Scaramucci Scandal: Ok, this should be more than one point but it all stems from this one guy so I’ll keep it siloed. Trump needs another ally in the house so he adds a longtime supporter, Anthony Scaramucci, to be his communications Director. A couple days later, Scaramucci calls Ryan Lizza of The New Yorker and tells him he’s going to fire everyone on his staff. He says the Chief of Staff Reince Priebus is a “fucking paranoid schizophrenic” and says he’s getting “cockblocked” in the White House. To a journalist. Who then releases that information immediately. Because he’s a journalist. Trump then fires Priebus, suspected to be at the request of his new communications director. Then Scaramucci’s wife files for divorce (rough first week).

Healthcare failure: THE move the GOP have been gunning for fails. The shining redeemer at the end of the week, to end this cycle a success, falls to three Republicans with spine and a grudge. This is a catastrophic and disheartening failure to the right, and a hopeful victory for the left. This marks an enormous momentum shift, where Trump loses political sway and right-wing dissenters are more vindicated than ever. The left simply waits for the next misstep by this clumsy administration.

That’s it for the week! If you read this far, thank you! I’ll be back next week with more.

Trump v. Sessions

As a preface, I’d like to explain to any and all readers that this blog should not be taken as a place for breaking news, or heavily one sided opinion. This is more to speculate on the current political state, how it may be perceived, and what that means for the future. Thanks for reading!

Trump v. Sessions:

President Donald Trump is in no way a stranger to verbal warfare. He is, as evidenced throughout his time in office and blazing red campaign trail, quite a fan of it actually. It is one of many reasons Trump’s loyal supporters loved him as they did(do?). Six months ago all we had to talk about were the things that he said, and that alone was interesting enough. But now, in perhaps the most intriguing season of the United States Politics reality show, we have a fully developed narrative. So Trump loves his fans and his fans love him. Now what happens when one of them, a certain Alabama senator turned Attorney General, is the new target of his verbal attacks?

If I’m a Democrat, I’m probably watching CNN or MSNBC, and hearing stories of the West Wing in shambles, recounts of today’s daily twitter onslaught. I’ll probably try to speculate to what’s on the horizon for politics and hear the daily hosts speak to why everything I suspect is probably right.

The same essentially goes for all my Republicans watching Fox, albeit with a twist. Now we’ve got one of their own under fire, and they’re not really sure whose side to take. Of course, a lot of them have already chosen, and will condemn Sessions on the spot. But some at least will think for a second and wonder why. Why all the anger, at your own attorney general, for something that happened so long ago, about something you said there was no need to worry about?

So now we can look at the outcomes:

First:

Sessions leaves, forcefully or voluntarily. IF this happens, all I’m gonna say is I called it (https://twitter.com/ODlukeneff/status/888535742254899202). It would be another huge shake-up in an already fragile White House. Trump would grow angrier as this would cause a new wave of Russian speculation and a possible wave of voter dissent. Additionally, when a member of a crew abandons ship, whispers start to echo in their absence. If the insiders have no faith, then why should we? And if he got shoved overboard, will that happen to me?

Second:

Sessions stays on. I’ll concede a point here if this happens. I just can’t see it, but if it does, we’ve got a pissed off President butting heads with his (according to sources close to Sessions) pissed off Attorney General. I don’t have a dog in this fight – but nevertheless I’m happy to watch.