HOPE IS GONE FROM THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION!

UPDATE BELOW


Hope Hicks, long considered one of President Donald Trump’s most trusted advisers, is resigning her job as White House communications director, several outlets confirmed Wednesday. 

 “Hope is outstanding and has done great work for the last three years,” Trump said in a statement to The New York Times. “She is as smart and thoughtful as they come, a truly great person. I will miss having her by my side but when she approached me about pursuing other opportunities, I totally understood. I am sure we will work together again in the future.” 

 Hicks is expected to finish out her job in the next few weeks. Her resignation comes one day after her eight-hour testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election. 

According to reports, Hicks admitted during her testimony that Trump sometimes required her to tell “white lies.”


Does anyone have a count on how many people in the Chaos administration have been fired, resigned, or been indicted? Or had his security clearance downgraded?


UPDATE:


For eight years the NRA and the GOP warned their members that President Obama was coming for their guns. President Obama never, never, never uttered the words Trump did today. Where are the howls from the NRA and the GOP bellowing that TRUMP IS COMING TO GET YOUR GUNS WITHOUT DUE PROCESS IF YOU'RE MENTALLY ILL! The NRA has been against this because they've said it isn't fair or constitutional to people who have mental illnesses to deprive them of their 2nd Amendment rights.  

TRUMP WANTS TO TAKE YOUR GUNS AWAY (IF YOU'RE MENTALLY ILL)!





CNN, DALLAS NEWS, USAToday, among other media are reporting:

Trump: Take the Guns First. Due Process Later - NYMag

Trump: Take guns first and worry about due process later - USA Today

Trump says 'take the guns first' from mentally ill with 'due process' later ...

https://www.dallasnews.com ›

Trump: 'Take the guns first, go through due process second' | TheHill

CADET BONE SPURS

Everyone is laughing at this. He deserves all the ridicule he gets:

Here's Cadet Bone Spurs bragging about his act of courage when an elderly man fell and bled in front of him:

via Digby:


I was at Mar-a-Lago and we had this incredible ball, the Red Cross Ball, in Palm Beach, Florida. And we had the Marines. And the Marines were there, and it was terrible because all these rich people, they’re there to support the Marines, but they’re really there to get their picture in the Palm Beach Post… so you have all these really rich people, and a man, about 80 years old—very wealthy man, a lot of people didn’t like him—he fell off the stage. 

 Trump explained that this was a $100K-per-table fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago estate and the Marines, he admitted, were given "the worst table in the whole place" at the very back of the room in the corner. 

When the old man fell in front of Trump, there were two completely different responses---one from the Marines, and one from Trump: 

 The Marines ran up front, picked up the man, covered in blood, and formed a human stretcher to carry him out. 

 Then there was Donald Trump: And you know what I did? I said, ‘Oh my God, that’s disgusting,’ and I turned away,” said Trump. “I couldn’t, you know, he was right in front of me and I turned away. I didn’t want to touch him… he’s bleeding all over the place. I felt terrible, you know, beautiful marble floor, didn’t look like it. It changed color. Became very red....His wife is screaming—she’s sitting right next to him, and she’s screaming. I was saying “Get that blood cleaned up! It’s disgusting!”







Here's Captain Bravado who shrank in terror from a bird:












Here's Captain Courageous at a rally in Ohio when someone yelled GUN! and didn't point one at him:

Did Russia Go to NRA to Help Trump?

Did Russia give money to the Trump campaign through the NRA? If that happened, that is a crime.

The conservative Weekly Standardard reports:




Fact Check: Is the 'FBI Investigating Whether Russian Went to NRA to Help Trump'?




According to these sources the FBI is investigating if the deputy governor of Russia’s central bank, Alexander Torshin, illegally gave money to the National Rifle Association to assist the organization in electing Donald Trump. The amount of evidence the FBI has in this matter is unknown. 

 McClatchy also notes that Congress has had an eye on Torshin as well: The House and Senate Intelligence Committees and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee also have taken an interest in Torshin as part of their parallel inquiries into Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections. Torshin has attended several NRA conferences dating back to at least 2014, the New York Times reports, and has built a relationship with the NRA, hosting two dinners for NRA top-ranking delegates when they visited Russia in 2015 according to McClatchy DC. 

 The article also notes the Times’ report that Torshin spoke with Donald Trump Jr. at an NRA convention and attempted to establish contact between Putin and then-candidate Trump.

Go Emma!

Beau Willimon‏Verified account @BeauWillimon

As of today, @Emma4Change now has more followers than the @NRA. It happened in less than two weeks. This is a movement. This is the future. Change is now.

2:09 PM - 24 Feb 2018

• 26,911 Retweets
• 115,383 Likes
• 

Light posting over the next week while enjoying visitors from France

via Daily Kos:




Abbreviated Pundit Round-up: NRA is going down, GOP despair is going up, and tips may be going away

Saturday Night Poetry

A poem by my fb friend, G.G. the Bard:


TRUMP 

untruths, exaggerations 
Lies and flimsy fabrications: 
a half truth, a fallacy 
and devious inventions, 
Distraction, redaction 
and larcenous intentions. 
False predictions, maledictions: 
Irrelevent, malevolent 
Vulgar, unintelligent, 
Misogynist, ineloquent. 
Dead beat, tax cheat 
Maundering, laundering, 
resource squandering. 
Burger eating, nasty tweeting 
Pussy grabbing, belly flabbing 
Secrets blabbing. 
Hillary blaming, Comey framing 
System gaming, base inflaming 
Victory proclaiming. 
Number inflating, race baiting 
Daughter dating 
No approval 
Removal. 
Trump

Trump called it a HOAX and WITCH HUNT

Benjamin Wittes‏Verified account @benjaminwittes

Papadoupolos pleads guilty. Flynn pleads guilty. Gates pleads guilty. Manafort faces new charges. 13 Russians face new charges. Good thing it’s all a hoax and a witch hunt.

Remember when trump said he would have only the "best people" in his administration? Well take a look. Trump may have set a record of most corrupt first-year presidency. He certainly had the best corrupt people surrounding him, and it's only a year and a month into his administration.

Does the Dotard-in-Chief EVER mean what he says?

"Crooked Hillary said that I want guns brought into the school classroom. Wrong!” ~ Donald Trump, on Twitter on May 21, 2016.

Trump Says Teachers Should Be Armed Because They Love Their Students

"The teacher would have shot the hell out of him before he knew what happened," said Trump. An armed deputy sheriff was at the school and did not attempt to stop the shooter.

Posted on February 23, 2018, at 12:43 p.m.

Cadet Bone Spurs Appeared At CPAC To Cheers of "Lock Her UP!"

Meanwhile FOUR of Cadet Bone Spur's people who worked for him have been indicted by a federal grand jury!

Most particularly, Michael "Lock her up!" Flynn


Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to "willfully and knowingly" lying to the FBI about his conversations with former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, making him one of four former Trump staffers to be charged in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe.

A Stupid Idea

#45 proposes to arm teachers as a deterrent to school massacres.


Let’s ask someone who’s in the trenches every day what he thinks of arming teachers. 

“It’s hard to begin to count the number of ways this is a bad idea,” said Chris Magnus, police chief of Tucson. For starters, the number of gunslinging educators would be huge. In the United States, there are about 3.5 million elementary and secondary school teachers in public and private institutions. Arming 20 percent of them, as Mr. Trump suggested, would mean 700,000 or so teachers with Glocks and the like on their hips — an armed force half as large as America’s real armed forces on active duty. One can envision parents with the means to do so swiftly yanking their children out of that sort of environment. More to the point, many deranged mass murderers expect to die themselves during their killing sprees. It’s almost laughable to believe that the president’s proposal would deter them."




And this:


Poll: Most of the country doesn't like Trump as a person

Thursday Night Poetry

Scalia on the 2nd Amendment

This is to remind the 2nd Amendment worshippers and those who revered Justice Scalia as an originalist on the Supreme Court.

These are his words:



DC v Heller, currently the law of the land, specifically accepts the regulation of weapon type, place of carriage and restrictions. Scalia, for the majority: 

"Like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose: For example, concealed weapons prohibitions have been upheld under the Amendment or state analogues. The Court’s opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms."

Wonder why?

$30,000,000 in contributions from the NRA -- that's why.

Meanwhile in Florida, after the Pulse Night Club and Parkland massacres, the Florida legislature tackled the horrifice problem by doing this:


Florida House approves bill to post “In God We Trust” in all public schools


 A useless bit of grandstanding by the legislature in a state with some of the laxest gun laws in the country. A state that allowed a 19-year-old who could not buy a beer buy an AR-15.  Those legislators seem to be unaware that when that 19-year-old bought that weapon, the money he used has "In God We Trust" on it.   That slogan was useless in doing anything to prevent a massacre then; it is useless now. A real change in the laws is what's needed. And a majority of Americans agree.




Florida Governor Rick Scott, who loosened gun laws in the state that already has lax gun laws, is now running like a little cockroach that's had light shined on him to distance himself from the NRA.

From the Miami Herald:


Rick Scott Scrambles To Save Senate Bid: Drops Headlining 2018 NRA Leadership Forum

Gov. Rick Scott has become a favorite of the Florida gun lobby during the past seven years by lifting restrictions on guns, preventing doctors from asking patients about their weapons, opposing stricter background checks and cutting the cost of getting a concealed weapon license. 

 Scott secured backyard gun ranges, expanded a self-defense law known as “stand your ground” and allowed people without concealed weapon licenses to carry guns in emergencies like hurricane evacuations for 48 hours. 

 The National Rifle Association returned the favor with its highest compliment, an A-plus rating, as the NRA flooded Florida homes with millions of mailers to help Scott clinch re-election four years ago.

Eugene Gu, MD

✔@eugenegu

Trump's proposal during his "listening session" to arm teachers and bring more guns into our schools is beyond preposterous. That's like saying the solution to lung cancer is to smoke more cigarettes. #ParklandStudentsSpeak

5:52 PM - Feb 21, 2018

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Wednesday Night Poetry

Pity the Nation

Lawrence Ferlinghetti

David Bowie Reminds US.

To the GOP pols and trump supporters trashing the young people who survived the Parkland massacre and are organizing, protesting, and marching:

A Reminder -- Championship B.S.ing By Trump

"I won't have time to golf."

"Obama spends more time golfing than Tiger Woods."

"I'll be too busy to have time to golf."

You can go HERE if you're interested in tracking the B.S.er.

Here's a Presidents' Day Quiz

via Daily Kos:



1. “There’s no reason why on the street today a citizen should be carrying loaded weapons” was said by which president? 
 A) Wilson B) Hoover C) Reagan 

2. Which president resigned as a Life Member of the NRA after Wayne LaPierre shot his big mouth off by calling federal law-enforcement agents “jack-booted thugs”? 
 A) Clinton B) Bush Sr. C) Kennedy 

 3. Who was president when NRA head Karl Frederick said in 1938: “I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses.” A) Jefferson B) Taft C) FDR 

 4. Which president wrote: [T]he NRA has been able to mislead many gullible people into believing that our weapons are going to be taken away from us, and that homeowners will be deprived of the right to protect ourselves and our families. There are no real threats to our "right to bear arms," as guaranteed by the US Constitution. A) Carter B) Ford C) Obama 

 5. Which president rescinded a previous president’s order that, according to AP, would have kept 75,000 people with mental disorders from being able to purchase a firearm? 
 A) Bush Jr. B) Trump C) Nixon 

 6. Which president signed a gun control bill into law, but blamed the gun lobby for watering it down, saying: “The key to effective crime control remains, in my judgment, effective gun control. And those of us who are really concerned about crime just must, somehow, someday, make our voices felt. … We have been through a great deal of anguish these last few months and these last few years, too much anguish to forget so quickly.” 
 A) Truman B) LBJ C) Clinton 

 7. Which president called guns “an abomination” and also called for licensing of all hunting rifles and a ban on handguns---but only after he’d left office? 
 A) Nixon B) Eisenhower C) T. Roosevelt 

 8. Who called on Congress to restore the ban on military-style assault weapons and enforce a 10-round limit for magazines because the combination of assault weapons and high-capacity clips “has one purpose: to pump out as many bullets as possible, as quickly as possible…using bullets often designed to inflict maximum damage”? (Republicans ignored his call to action.) 
 A) Clinton B) Carter C) Obama 

 Answers to the questions are C, B, C, A, B, B, A, C. The answer to getting Republicans to stop sacrificing our kids on the alter of the gun industry, as usual, escapes me.





Also, on Presidents' Day here's something to remember: After the revelations and indictments in the Russia scandal by special counsel Mueller on Friday, so-called POTUS DJT lashed out at the Democrats, the FBI, Oprah, etc., everyone except Russia. That is strange. We wonder why Trump continues to be so nice to the country that attacked America during the 2016 elections.




"We’ve just hit a new presidential low In a remarkable set of tweets over the weekend, the commander in chief sounded off on new revelations about the extent of Russia’s campaign to undermine our electoral system. His response: to lash out at his political adversaries and the institutions that are charged with keeping the country safe. "


Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump If it was the GOAL of Russia to create discord, disruption and chaos within the U.S. then, with all of the Committee Hearings, Investigations and Party hatred, they have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. They are laughing their asses off in Moscow. Get smart America! 8:11 AM - Feb 18, 2018 104K 80K people are talking about this Twitter Ads info and privacy 

"What was missing — tellingly so — was any indication that he plans to do anything against the perpetrators themselves. Dereliction of duty."

MORE SUNDAY TRUTH BLOGGING

33,000+ deaths from firearms is not just a gun problem, it's a GOP BLOOD MONEY PROBLEM.

May these craven GOP senators rot in hell.





Image via Jobsanger.

SUNDAY TRUTH BLOGGING

Neil deGrasse Tyson‏Verified account @neiltyson

Evidence collected over many years, obtained from many locations, indicates that the power of Prayer is insufficient to stop bullets from killing school children.

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT! BRAVA EMMA GONZALEZ!

 The grieving POTUS after the slaughter of 17 children:

Saturday Night with Bill Maher

He reviews another week of chaos with President Dotard:

AMAZING NATHEN CHEN!

Since the opening of the Winter Olympics last week and my post on the incomparable Naathan Chen, I've had trolls come here, mocking his disappointing performance at the beginning of the Olympic week.

Today he showed the world that he is a champion. 
I never lost faith in his ability. He's young. We'll see him shine again.

Congratulations on an amazing performance today to Nathan Chen!

Nathan Chen is the quad king. Watch it here.

13 RUSSIANS INDICTED BY MUELLER FOR INTERFERING IN 2016 U.S. ELECTIONS

In the past, Trump claimed the whole "Russia thing" could have been done by some American fat guy in his basement sitting on his bed. Well it wasn't.

Trump can no longer claim that the Russia investigation is FAKE! and a HOAX!

Russia interferred and helped put trump in the White House.

Trump is going off golfing again without saying anything about his refusal to acknowledge that the Russian meddled in the 2016 to get him elected. Trump has not had one meeting to address this threat that continues and will attack our country again in the 2018 elections.

Whose side is Trump on?



ABC NEWS:


"The indictment depicts an elaborate scheme in which some of the Russians accused allegedly came to the U.S. with the deliberate intention of undermining the American political and electoral process, including the 2016 presidential election. 

 In one case, for example, one American was paid to dress up as Hillary Clinton clad in a prison uniform and another person was hired to construct a cage on a flatbed truck — all part of a coordinated effort to organize rallies in Florida in the lead up to the presidential election. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said the Russians charged called their work "information warfare against the United States" with the goal of spreading distrust of candidates and the political system in general. 

 Some defendants "communicated with unwitting individuals associated with the Trump campaign" without revealing their association with Russia. The indictment also says the defendants posted negative information about a number of candidates during the last general election. The individuals operated social media pages and groups designed to attract American audiences with a strategic goal to "sow discord in the U.S. political system". They staged rallies and had a basic infrastructure which included computers and other support systems. 

 Ultimately, the "defendants' operations included supporting the presidential campaign on then-candidate Donald J. Trump and disparaging Hillary Clinton" his Democratic rival, according to the indictment. According to the agency, "the indictment charges all of the defendants with conspiracy to defraud the United States, three defendants with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and five defendants with aggravated identity theft."

The Iowa Citizen is contacting Sena