Monday, December 31, 2018
John Kelly confirms that he was lying all along about Trump and his WH.
Generals Mattis, McMaster, and Kelly have left the White House and its corrupt, incompetent "fking moron."* And yet the TrumpCultists claim liberals/Dems are the ones who lost their minds when Trump was installed by Russia as POTUS!
Only ideologically twisted minds remain loyal to the moral pig, cheat, liar and fraud.
Read General Mattis's letter to understand what a disaster the GOP base supports.
It is the GOP BASE that has lost its mind. What else can explain their continuing support of this morally diseased sexual predator and fraud as their president?
*"fking moron" -- Trump's Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson's characterization of Trump.
The GOP that fetishizes all things military apparently feel fine ignoring what 3 of America's most distinguished generals have observed during the two disastrous years of the Trump administration:
John F. Kelly says his tenure as Trump's chief of staff is best measured by what the president did not do
The Goopers cling to the fantasy that it is the Liberals/Dems who've "lost their minds when Trump was elected," when clearly it is THEY who have embraced a moronic, incompetent, morally diseased human being.
They are Trump's biggest fans and have clearly lost their minds. They're the 30 percenters who will stay loyal and forever tainted by their blindness their own corruption.
John Kelly Confirms He Was Lying All Along:
The White House Is in Chaos
In an exit interview, the outgoing chief of staff tries to protect his legacy
Trump is incompetent, impulsive and amoral. Heaven help us all.
Saturday, December 29, 2018
Michelle Obama is America's most admired woman of 2018. Barack Obama is America's most admired man.
For those of you who follow popularity contests, here's one for you:
Former first lady Michelle Obama has been named America's most admired woman of 2018, according to a Gallup poll. This is the first time in 17 years that someone other than Hillary Clinton was at the top of the list, according to Gallup. As for the most admired man, former President Barack Obama won for the 11th year in a row.
as mentioned 5 percent of the time. Hillary Clinton and Melania Trump followed with 4 percent mentioning each.
as mentioned 5 percent of the time. Hillary Clinton and Melania Trump followed with 4 percent mentioning each.
Gallup attributes the switch at the top of the women's list to the fact that Clinton "more fully retreated to private life after a long career as first lady, U.S. senator, secretary of state and two-time presidential candidate." Michelle Obama is currently touring the U.S. to promote her best-selling autobiography, "Becoming," putting her back in the spotlight despite the fact that her role as first lady is over.
Queen Elizabeth also made the top 10 for a record 50th time. Other world leaders, activists, entertainers and one Supreme Court justice rounded out the list.
Gallup Poll: Most Admired Woman, 2018
Michelle Obama 15% mentioned
Oprah Winfrey 5%
Hillary Clinton 4%
Melania Trump 4%
Queen Elizabeth 2%
Angela Merkel 2%
Ruth Bader Ginsburg 2%
Ellen DeGeneres 2%
Nikki Haley 1%
Malala Yousafzai 1%
Nancy Pelosi 1%
Oprah Winfrey 5%
Hillary Clinton 4%
Melania Trump 4%
Queen Elizabeth 2%
Angela Merkel 2%
Ruth Bader Ginsburg 2%
Ellen DeGeneres 2%
Nikki Haley 1%
Malala Yousafzai 1%
Nancy Pelosi 1%
As for the most admired man, former President Barack Obama's 11-year winning streak leaves him one first-place finish short of tying former WWII commander and President Dwight Eisenhower for the most times being most admired man, Gallup writes.
This year marks the 13th time since the poll began in 1946 that the incumbent president did not win. However, President Trump did make the list, coming in second, with 13 percent of people surveyed mentioning him.
Friday, December 28, 2018
Trump Tweets Out Another Misspelled Tweet
The guy who bragged about being the top of his class doesn't know how to communicate in his own language. What a dope!
Tweeting on Day 7 of his government shutdown over border wall funding, Trump wrote that the U.S. “looses soooo much money on Trade with Mexico under NAFTA, over 75 Billion Dollars a year (not including Drug Money which would be many times that amount), that I would consider closing the Southern Border a ‘profit making operation’.”
“We build a Wall or close the Southern Border. Bring our car industry back into the United States where it belongs. Go back to pre-NAFTA, before so may of our companies and jobs were so foolishly sent to Mexico. Either we build (finish) the Wall or we close the Border,” Trump tweeted.
Thursday, December 27, 2018
Happy New Year to all my P.E. friends and fellow bloggers!
Look who's coming for a visit (grandson Max on leave will fly up from Norfolk, Virginia, and spend the New Year's celebration here in the North End!)
Best present ever!:
I'll be busy with other family who will come to say hello to him. Today I'm making a huge pot of sauce with meatballs, sausages, pork ribs, and lamb. Also eggplant parmigiano, and lots of other of Max's favorite Italian food and goodies.
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| Antipasto |
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| Nonna's sauce |
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| Eggplant parmesan |
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| pizzelle |
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| struffoli |
Happy New Year to all!
Monday, December 24, 2018
Saturday, December 22, 2018
The Malignancy in the White House
I'd like to be posting pictures of Christmas decorations, trees, scenes, cookies, etc., but the reckless person the far right TrumpCultists put in the White House makes that impossible.
Here's an eye-popping opinion piece from Bret Stephens, a Conservative columnist at the NYTimes. He's addressing the "Anonymous" of the op-ed piece written in September, explaining to the American people that he or she is working inside the Trump administration to keep the brakes on the heedless, reckless buffoon in the Oval Office::
Mattis is the highest-ranking cabinet member to resign over differences of policy and principle since Cyrus Vance quit the State Department in 1980 after Jimmy Carter’s Desert One fiasco. He is the only defense secretary to leave this way since the position was created in 1947.
Mattis resigned because he no longer shares your analysis. He no longer believes he can be a steadying or blocking force in the councils of government because it isn’t clear there are “councils of government.” Donald Trump made a snap decision to remove U.S. troops from Syria following a phone call with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He did so over the unanimous objections of his national-security team. He did so after leading members of that team had said publicly and recently that the U.S. would not withdraw.
A president who sticks it to his own team while sticking with a foreign strongman is not worth sticking by.
Mattis also resigned because he has concluded that the problem with Trump isn’t that he’s an empty vessel. It’s that he’s a malignant one.
[skip]
[Trump] is sympathetic to Erdogan, as he is to other tyrants, because he is indifferent to considerations of human rights and civil liberties. Above all, he’s against “meddling,” whether it’s meddling in the affairs of others — or having others meddle in his.
The Trump Doctrine is the doctrine of unaccountability. It’s also the doctrine of dishonor. And this is what should most concern you and whatever is left of your in-house resistance.
The United States is about to abandon our allies to the tender mercies of thugs. We are breaking our word to those who helped us decimate the Islamic State.
We are standing aside so that Erdogan, Bashar al-Assad, Vladimir Putin, and the Taliban can roll in, and ISIS can fight on.
Friday, December 21, 2018
A STAGGERINGLY RECKLESS DECISION BY A STAGGERINGLY RECKLESS POTUS
From Daily Kos:
Defense Secretary James Mattis, a former Marine general who has the respect of everyone at the Pentagon, didn’t simply resign and head out for retirement. He did something historic—resigning with a public letter saying he was in stark disagreement with Donald Trump, quite specifically in regards to his views on Russia and China. Never in the history of this nation has a defense secretary resigned in protest over issues of national security and military strategy. Never.
But, Mattis did something else extraordinary, something that should quite seriously set off alarm bells for us all. As Donald Trump was tweeting that Mattis was heading off to retirement, Mattis was ordering his aides to distribute 50 copies of his resignation letter throughout the highest echelons of the Pentagon. The New York Times has the extraordinarily unusual details of Mattis’s resignation.
Officials said Mr. Mattis went to the White House with his resignation letter already written, but nonetheless made a last attempt at persuading the president to reverse his decision about Syria, which Mr. Trump announced on Wednesday over the objections of his senior advisers.
Mr. Mattis, a retired four-star Marine general, was rebuffed. Returning to the Pentagon, he asked aides to print out 50 copies of his resignation letter and distribute them around the building.
James Mattis thought pulling out of Syria was such a danger to the United States that he again tried to talk Donald Trump out of it and resigned on the spot when Trump refused, deploying his resignation letter around the Pentagon to make certain our military leaders knew he was resigning because Donald Trump’s view are so dangerous to the security of the United States. That’s the equivalent of pulling every fire alarm in the building on the way out the door. Sen. Lindsey Graham very directly said on national television last night that he believed this was such a serious national security lapse that it “would be paving the way for a second 9/11.”
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw American troops from Syria was made hastily, without consulting his national security team or allies, and over strong objections from virtually everyone involved in the fight against the Islamic State group, according to U.S. and Turkish officials. Trump stunned his Cabinet, lawmakers and much of the world with the move by rejecting the advice of his top aides and agreeing to a withdrawal in a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week, two U.S. officials and a Turkish official briefed on the matter told The Associated Press.
**************************************
I remind my readers that Vladimir Putin approved of this decision and praised Donald Trump on his recklessness.
A four-star general of the US Marines tried to talk Trump out of the decision TWICE. Trump disregarded General Mattis's advice and TRUMP PLEASED VLADIMIR PUTIN.
Putin's gambit in 2015 is working well for him and the Russians.
Not so good for US Americans..
General Mattis' Resignation Letter
Dear Mr. President:
I have been privileged to serve as our country’s 26th Secretary of Defense which has allowed me to serve alongside our men and women of the Department in defense of our citizens and our ideals.
I am proud of the progress that has been made over the past two years on some of the key goals articulated in our National Defense Strategy: putting the Department on a more sound budgetary footing, improving readiness and lethality in our forces, and reforming the Department’s business practices for greater performance. Our troops continue to provide the capabilities needed to prevail in conflict and sustain strong US global influence.
One core belief I have always held is that our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships. While the US remains the indispensable nation in the free world, we cannot protect our interests or serve that role effectively without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies. Like you, I have said from the beginning that the armed forces of the United States should not be the policeman of the world. Instead, we must use all tools of American power to provide for the common defense, including providing effective leadership to our alliances. NATO’s 29 democracies demonstrated that strength in their commitment to fighting alongside us following the 9-11 attack on America. The Defeat-ISIS coalition of 74 nations is further proof.
Similarly, I believe we must be resolute and unambiguous in our approach to those countries whose strategic interests are increasingly in tension with ours. It is clear that China and Russia, for example, want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian model—gaining veto authority over other nations’ economic, diplomatic, and security decisions—to promote their own interests at the expense of their neighbors, America and our allies. That is why we must use all the tools of American power to provide for the common defense.
My views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues. We must do everything possible to advance an international order that is most conducive to our security, prosperity and values, and we are strengthened in this effort by the solidarity of our alliances.
Because you have the right to a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position. The end date for my tenure is February 28, 2019, a date that should allow sufficient time for a successor to be nominated and confirmed as well as to make sure the Department’s interests are properly articulated and protected at upcoming events to include Congressional posture hearings and the NATO Defense Ministerial meeting in February. Further, that a full transition to a new Secretary of Defense occurs well in advance of the transition of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in September in order to ensure stability within the Department.
I pledge my full effort to a smooth transition that ensures the needs and interests of the 2.15 million Service Members and 732,079 DoD civilians receive undistracted attention of the Department at all times so that they can fulfill their critical, round-the-clock mission to protect the American people. I very much appreciate this opportunity to serve the nation and our men and women in uniform.
James N. Mattis
I have been privileged to serve as our country’s 26th Secretary of Defense which has allowed me to serve alongside our men and women of the Department in defense of our citizens and our ideals.
I am proud of the progress that has been made over the past two years on some of the key goals articulated in our National Defense Strategy: putting the Department on a more sound budgetary footing, improving readiness and lethality in our forces, and reforming the Department’s business practices for greater performance. Our troops continue to provide the capabilities needed to prevail in conflict and sustain strong US global influence.
One core belief I have always held is that our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships. While the US remains the indispensable nation in the free world, we cannot protect our interests or serve that role effectively without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies. Like you, I have said from the beginning that the armed forces of the United States should not be the policeman of the world. Instead, we must use all tools of American power to provide for the common defense, including providing effective leadership to our alliances. NATO’s 29 democracies demonstrated that strength in their commitment to fighting alongside us following the 9-11 attack on America. The Defeat-ISIS coalition of 74 nations is further proof.
Similarly, I believe we must be resolute and unambiguous in our approach to those countries whose strategic interests are increasingly in tension with ours. It is clear that China and Russia, for example, want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian model—gaining veto authority over other nations’ economic, diplomatic, and security decisions—to promote their own interests at the expense of their neighbors, America and our allies. That is why we must use all the tools of American power to provide for the common defense.
My views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues. We must do everything possible to advance an international order that is most conducive to our security, prosperity and values, and we are strengthened in this effort by the solidarity of our alliances.
Because you have the right to a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position. The end date for my tenure is February 28, 2019, a date that should allow sufficient time for a successor to be nominated and confirmed as well as to make sure the Department’s interests are properly articulated and protected at upcoming events to include Congressional posture hearings and the NATO Defense Ministerial meeting in February. Further, that a full transition to a new Secretary of Defense occurs well in advance of the transition of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in September in order to ensure stability within the Department.
I pledge my full effort to a smooth transition that ensures the needs and interests of the 2.15 million Service Members and 732,079 DoD civilians receive undistracted attention of the Department at all times so that they can fulfill their critical, round-the-clock mission to protect the American people. I very much appreciate this opportunity to serve the nation and our men and women in uniform.
James N. Mattis
MATTIS QUITS AFTER TRUMP QUITS SYRIA
BUT VLADIMIR PUTIN IS VERY, VERY HAPPY WITH TRUMP'S DECISIONS:
A major split between Trump and Mattis concerned Russian President Vladimir Putin. The defense secretary has characterized Putin as trying to undermine NATO and assaulting Western democracies while violating international norms.
“[Putin’s] actions are designed not to challenge our arms at this point, but to undercut and compromise our belief in our ideals,” Mattis told U.S. Naval War College graduates at a commencement ceremony in June.
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
"What is going to put him [Trump] in jail, eventually..."
From Nancy LeTourneau of Washington Monthly
[Tr"What is going to put him in jail eventually... destroy anything he's ever built, and his children, is a 30 year dishonest criminal enterprise. One thing will take him out of the presidency, the other will ruin him forever..."- @DonnyDeutsch w/ @NicolleDWallace
13K people are talking about this
"Deutsch makes a powerful point about Trump being the bottom of the food chain when it comes to real estate developers. But it was his comments about what would motivate prosecutors that I found startling.
'The political incentive for every U.S. Attorney in New York or Virginia to do this…this guy showed up and tried to undo what 250 years of people have been dying for in this country—who we are, what we stand for. So there is a moral imperative, rule of law, what our grandfathers died for—democracy—he single-handedly is the first guy in our lifetime to try to undo that. He’s going to pay for that for the rest of his life as they pick apart his criminal enterprise. This is the very, very beginning of the story.' "
"Arguably, you sold your country out." -- Judge Emmet Sullivan to Michael Flyn at his sentencing appearance today.
BREAKING:
"The US president and his three eldest children are accused of using the charity for private and political gain."
Trump and his eldest children: A bunch of venal, avaricious low-lifes who make the Sopranos look like St. Francis of Assissi.
Flynn's sentencing postponed.
Stunner!
Michael Flynn KNEW that lying to the FBI is a federal offense, a felony. Michael Flynn admitted that to Judge Sullivan today.
"I cannot hide my disgust or disdain for what you did." ----Judge Sullivan to General Flynn.
"The US president and his three eldest children are accused of using the charity for private and political gain."
Trump and his eldest children: A bunch of venal, avaricious low-lifes who make the Sopranos look like St. Francis of Assissi.
On to the disgraced Michael Flynn:
Flynn's sentencing postponed.
Stunner!
Michael Flynn KNEW that lying to the FBI is a federal offense, a felony. Michael Flynn admitted that to Judge Sullivan today.
"I cannot hide my disgust or disdain for what you did." ----Judge Sullivan to General Flynn.
Flynn sentencing postponed after judge scolds ex-Trump aide
'You were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the national security adviser to the president,' said U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan.
"All along you were an unregistered agent of a foreign country while serving as the national security adviser to the president of the United States,” Sullivan said at Tuesday's hearing. “Arguably, that undermines everything that flag over here stands for."
File under "You Can't Make This Stuff Up!"
Donald Trump wants the courts to determine if it is legal for 'Saturday Night Live' to 'belittle' him
Instead of governing the country, this man-child watches comedy shows and seethes when he sees comedians parody him.
In the past, normal presidents either chuckled at the parodies or ignored them. Every president since Saturday Night Live came to television has been parodied, from Chevy Chase's Gerald Ford, to Jimmah Carter, to Ronnie Raygun, to George H.W. Bush, to Slick Willie (Big Dog), to Dubya, to Barack "Big Ears" Obama. Every one of our presidents.
Trump, however, is the first president I remember who has no sense of humor and who whines, pouts, and has hissy fits whenever SNL (or anyone) does a comedy routine about him, his administration, or his family. He's humorless and clueless and shows himself to be a thin-skinned WATB each time he bitches about comedians acting like comedians.
His anti-American instincts to want to shut down or shut up anyone who mocks him is EXACTLY what dictators all through history have done to people who satirize or criticize leaders for a living.
Trump and his cultists would love to see the government destroy anyone who dares to portray him as he is: A loud-mouth, ignorant, corrupt bully.
Happily, this is America. He can't do that. All Trump can do is stamp his feet and bray like the weak little jackass that he is.
Monday, December 17, 2018
Trump keeps showing America what a crook he is:
Fox News contributor and former chief assistant U.S. attorney Andrew McCarthy told Trump via Twitter that he might want to pick a different word.
McCarthy wasn’t the only one to point out the definition:
Wrote back in August, this president uses lexicon of a gangster. Whatever one thinks of M. Cohen — for @POTUS to call him a “rat” — utterly disgraceful & unconscionable.
And, DOJ doesn’t “break into” attorney offices w/o cause, warrant approved by judge. washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/trump-…
