O please proceed! This GOP demolition derby is going ever so much better than I thought it would.
Is Trump aware that he is bankrupt in terms of political capital too?
Oh, wait. Trump aware?
Never mind.
Even though I frequently disagree with Amash I admire his independence and some of his views. He is supported by the Amway owners. Good luck to anyone who opposes him.
O.T. A great article in Slate and recommended by Paul Krugman about how conservative business leaders live in a 'sentiment" bubble apart from reality. It gives cause to wonder how many business decisions that effect large numbers of people are based on sheer sentiment and not on objective reality.
https://twitter.com/paulkrugman/status/848173378506805249
The issue with sentiment indices is that they measure what people are feeling and saying, not what they are actually doing. A recent report form Morgan Stanley highlighted the remarkable divergence between soft indicators like sentiment and hard indicators like actual economic data that has emerged in the past few months. Again, this is Trump’s work. The former show an economy poised to rocket to the moon after eight years of expansion. The latter point to continuing muddling at a low growth rate. They can’t both be right.
The reality, of course, is that very little has changed in the economy under Trump and that the new power arrangement has yet to enact any legislation that is good for businesses on the whole. In the meantime, actions taken by the administration have been bad for many particular businesses and industries, like travel and tourism, or anyone who depends on trade. The big question, for now, is what it will take to send all those sentiments southward.
More tactics from Chapter 13 of " Bullies Making Friends " …
Somebody needs a hug – 
I think it was the innovation of the figure 8 track that made it work out so well.
Amash told the Washington Post that these public attacks, on social media and in the press, would only be “constructive in fifth grade. It may allow a child to get his way, but that’s not how our government works.”
http://cdn.cjr.org/wp-content/themes/cjr2017/images-body/NY3.jpg
The really ridiculous thing is that so many of Trump’s policy pronouncements and hires are firmly within the sphere of the nuttery that passes for policy for the Freedom Caucus loons.
They’re like fervent fans of the same college football team who nonetheless are ready stab each other in the face with broken beer bottles over whether the team should run the ball more or pass the ball more.
The most vicious conflicts in human history are essentially family quarrels over philosophical differences in religious theology or political ideology, especially when exacerbated by class or ethnic differences. In this instance, I’d say the FC people are the Shia, and the Trumpers are the Sunnis, but maybe there are better analogies.
Popcorn here! Popcorn here! Get your hot buttered popcorn here!
Dan Scavino is a political idiot. He apparently does not know that Amash’s family are neighbors of the DeVos family (i.e. the Secretary of Uneducation) here in GR. He ain’t getting primaried.
Dan Scavino is a political idiot.
As much as I’d love to see Trump out of the Oval Office, he’s surrounded himself with the most amazingly incompetent buffoons when it comes to the retail politics that Presidents have to deal with, and that has made implementing legislation that much more difficult. If Pence got in, there’s the danger he’d get rid of the Trump flotsam and jetsam and instead get people who know what the fuck they’re doing, and that would be bad for the country.
And, relevant to Amash and other House Republicans, support among GOPers for Trump is finally starting to decline:
“A drop of five percentage points among Republicans isn’t ideal, but it’s not that huge a deal. A drop of nine points among independents, though, is a loss of more than one-fifth of Trump’s support from that group over the last two months. That’s a brutal decline that may start to make Republicans nervous about how he could affect their electoral prospects over the long-term. Among those who identify as independents ideologically (as opposed to their partisan identification), the drop was 11 points, a loss of nearly a third of all support from that group since Jan. 20. Other groups saw less-steep but still-important drops, like those Republicans. White voters have dropped under 50 percent support as has support from regular churchgoers. Those without a college degree — a bastion of Trump support — have dropped from 48 percent to 42 percent.”
A party unable to govern is becoming unfit to govern
Such withering criticism from solid conservative Republicans like Gerson—he was a pretty major figure in GWB’s maladministration, and is a notable Evangelical to boot—are just another sign of how fucked things are for Trump, and how at odds most of his supporters are with people like Gerson. It’s a real class divide, among other things—people in Gerson’s social milieu wouldn’t be caught dead wearing “Trump Can Grab My Pussy” or “Fuck Your Feelings” t-shirts.
Good link, thanks.
Largely unmentioned in that piece is that the various “confidence” indices predict how likely a consumer is to shop for a new car or house or vacation, or how likely a business is to invest in plant improvements or decide to come out with a new line. In other words, these indices are good for the economy. Not sure if I should be happy about that.
-edit- for grammar
Oh holy f***. This guy is a flunky. Memo to Scavino, your job should be to rein in DJT’s crazy tweets, not try to outdo them.
Daniel Scavino Jr. is the White House Director of Social Media … Previously he was the general manager of Trump National Golf Club Westchester …In 1990, Scavino was selected caddie for Trump’s golf party at Briar Hall Country Club (later renamed Trump National Golf Club Westchester). He graduated from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh in 1998 with a B.A. in communications. Scavino worked a few years at Coca-Cola Enterprises and Galderma Laboratories before being promoted to general manager of Trump National Golf Club Westchester.
Luckovich is a genius.
Excerpt –
Michael Gerson/WaPo:
Trump’s failing presidency has the GOP in a free fall
This is a pretty bad combination: empty, easily distracted, vindictive, shallow, impatient, incompetent and morally small. This is not the profile of a governing party…
It is now dawning on Republicans what they have done to themselves. They thought they could somehow get away with Trump. That he could be contained. That the adults could provide guidance. That the economy might come to the rescue. That the damage could be limited.
Instead, they are seeing a downward spiral of incompetence and public contempt — a collapse that is yet to reach a floor. A presidency is failing. A party unable to govern is becoming unfit to govern.
And what, in the short term, can be done about it? Nothing. Nothing at all.
Previously he was the general manager of Trump National Golf Club Westchester
That resume reminds me of another august Republican administration figure:
“Before joining the DHS/FEMA, Brown was the Judges and Stewards Commissioner for the International Arabian Horse Association (IAHA) from 1989-2001.”
Well, we can watch.