Month: October 2018

Trump Pledges, Won’t Pledge, Doesn’t Pledge to Not End Mueller Investigation

Buck Banks

“Well, I — I don’t pledge anything. But I will tell you, I have no intention of doing that. I think it’s a very unfair investigation because there was no collusion of any kind. There is no collusion. I don’t want to pledge. Why should I pledge to you? If I pledge, I’ll pledge. I don’t have to pledge to you. But I have — I have no intention of doing that.”

— President Trump, in an interview on 60 Minutes, on whether he would pledge not to fire special counsel Robert Mueller.

Did Eating Glue Make Stephen Miller Mean?

Dr. Democrat

Dear Dr. Democrat:
Can you explain to me why his third-grade teacher would be “reassigned” to her home for saying Stephen Miller ate dried glue in Santa Monica, California? And do you think eating all that glue is what made him turn out so gosh-darn mean?

— Wondering in Waukegan

Dear Wondering:

Here’s how I suspect it happened. The White House has no pressure point in the California state government. All the elected state officials are Democrats. Dems control both houses of the legislature.The Los Angeles County supervisors are all Dems. They supervise the Los Angeles Unified School District. City of Santa Monica, which is part of LAUSD, is one of the most liberal places in the country. (Tom Hayden was on the city council there for years.)
[…]

Candidate Drops Out After Remarks About Parkland Survivor

Buck Banks

“I’m not supposed to speak ill of David Hogg because he is a ‘survivor.’ Apparently if you survive horrific events, that makes the stupidity spewing out of your mouth above reproach. I disagree. Hogg can burn in hell, I don’t care what he survived. Survivors who wage war on my country are my enemies.”

— Steven Baleshiski (R), a legislative candidate in Connecticut, who made harsh comments about Parkland High shooting victims, quit his race after losing town committee backing, the Hartford Courant reports. Republicans hope to find a new candidate.

Trump Is making Us Anxious

Buck Banks

39%

“Empirical data bolsters the anecdotal reports from practitioners. The American Psychiatric Association in a May survey found that 39% of people said their anxiety level had risen over the previous year—and 56 percent were either ‘extremely anxious’ or ‘somewhat anxious’ about the impact of politics on daily life. A 2017 study found two-thirds of Americans’ see the nation’s future as a ‘very or somewhat significant source of stress.’”

Why Trump’s Rallies Are Worrisome

Buck Banks

“Much of the coverage of these events tends to be theatre criticism, or news stories about a single inflammatory line or two, rating Trump’s performance or puzzling over the appeal to his followers. But what the President of the United States is actually saying is extraordinary, regardless of whether the television cameras are carrying it live. It’s not just the whoppers or the particular outrage riffs that do get covered, either. It’s the hate, and the sense of actual menace that the President is trying to convey to his supporters. Democrats aren’t just wrong in the manner of traditional partisan differences; they are scary, bad, evil, radical, dangerous. Trump and Trump alone stands between his audiences and disaster.”

— Susan Glasser