http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-11-16/ted-cruz-said-to-be-considered-by-trump-for-attorney-general

Jesus, what in the ever living fuck, no, no, no, no.

11/16/2016 7:39:37 AM

Wow. That one...I didn't see coming.

11/16/2016 7:59:15 AM

The only thing I could console myself with after Trump won is that at least it wasn't Cruz.

11/16/2016 8:37:37 AM

Is it really useful to freak out about every rumor on his cabinet?

Let's actually wait to see before freaking out.

11/16/2016 8:47:51 AM

Sure, he's floating all kinds of rumors to keep the press guessing and freaking out.

But I still don't like the rumors.

11/16/2016 8:54:55 AM

I'd rather have Cruz as AG than on the Supreme fucking Court, which is what "reasonable" Republican Lindsay Graham wants to see happen

11/16/2016 10:21:58 AM

If he is AG it will be interesting to see what happens in states that legalized marijuana

11/16/2016 12:19:12 PM

Obergruppenführer Bannon

11/16/2016 3:52:38 PM

Fox Business just said that Jamie Dimon should be announced as Treasury Secretary tomorrow.

Bipartisan but certainly not draining the swamp.

(Of course literally the next headline I see says Fox is calling Dimon low probability -- FNC and FBC war!)

11/16/2016 3:58:27 PM

Trump is draining the swamp to fill his sewer.

11/16/2016 4:00:42 PM

Here's a Q&A with Bannon from 2014 that I found interesting. He talks about right wing movements and racism near the end. No comment from me, make your own judgements.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/lesterfeder/this-is-how-steve-bannon-sees-the-entire-world

11/16/2016 5:17:14 PM

Quote :

"Just to put it in perspective, with the assassination that took place 100 years ago tomorrow in Sarajevo, the world was at total peace. There was trade, there was globalization, there was technological transfer, the High Church of England and the Catholic Church and the Christian faith was predominant throughout Europe of practicing Christians. "

Is this real life?

11/16/2016 6:25:53 PM

Yea, there is so much scary shit wrapped up in "Judeo-Christian West", "Jude-Christian principles" etc, for me anyways. It's a telling interview though.



When Bannon is describing crony capitalists, who does it sound exactly like? Trump.

11/16/2016 6:39:42 PM

That's what I got out of it. It's not racism we should worry about, it's Christian fundamentalism. It's intertwined in his entire worldview.

But for a Republican, he had a lot of reasonable things to say about capitalism, bailouts, and the middle class.

[Edited on November 16, 2016 at 6:50 PM. Reason : .]

11/16/2016 6:42:52 PM

^well that's what else I found strange about it. I'd be reading along with an attitude of "ok, this is a pretty common opinion blah blah. Blah" then down another 3 paragraphs I'm shaking my head violently NOOOO!!!

...

The problem with putting "judeo-Christian" in front of stuff is that it's so hard to read, like how many different groups on this earth have associated themselves with that??? It ranges from all over the political map (KKK to "holiday" celebrations). The worst part is so many of us (myself included) project our own meaning on to it.

11/16/2016 6:53:10 PM

I don't think it's fair to make the association based on that choice of phrase. The media has been playing that game this entire election, though.

See also: socialism

And for some clarity maybe, this was a Q&A with a christian organization in the vatican

[Edited on November 16, 2016 at 7:35 PM. Reason : .]

11/16/2016 7:07:18 PM

welp, this is actually horrifying. michael flynn as national security advisor.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/18/us/politics/donald-trump-administration.html

http://nypost.com/2016/07/09/the-military-fired-me-for-calling-our-enemies-radical-jihadis/
https://theintercept.com/2016/07/13/an-interview-with-lt-gen-michael-flynn/

11/17/2016 10:49:14 PM

of course it is

it's the exact reason why the, "let's just give him a chance" people are completely in the wrong

11/17/2016 10:58:10 PM

i'm glad you could use this moment to boost your ego

let's not forget how we got here in the first place, though.

11/17/2016 11:02:36 PM

what?

11/17/2016 11:08:04 PM

LOL. I wonder if his other cabinet picks will be any better?

11/17/2016 11:11:37 PM

I can't tell if trump couldn't find anyone better or he thinks Flynn is a good choice.

I hope people are keeping phone numbers of elected representatives closer at hand. This is what confirmation hearings are for.

11/17/2016 11:13:22 PM

christ. from the intercept interview above.

Quote :

"The book’s language, at times, mirrors the rhetoric against political correctness that has become a hallmark of the Trump campaign. “This administration has forbidden us to describe our enemies properly and clearly: they are Radical Islamists,” Flynn writes. “They are not alone, and are allied with countries and groups who, though not religious fanatics, share their hatred of the West, particularly the United States and Israel. Those allies include North Korea, Russia, China, Cuba, and Venezuela.”“Let’s face it: right now we’re losing, and I’m talking about a very big war, not just Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan,” Flynn goes on to write. “We’re in a world war against a messianic mass movement of evil people, most of them inspired by a totalitarian ideology: Radical Islam. But we are not permitted to speak or write those two words, which is potentially fatal to our culture.” Militarily, the campaign Flynn envisions would be “similar to the effort during World War II or the Cold War” and would be guided by a single leader answering to the president. Additionally, Flynn adds, “Another more fundamental and dramatic effort would be a call for a complete reformation of the Islamic religion. This must start inside the Muslim community in order to succeed — but it must start somewhere.” Flynn does not shy away from hyperbole. “There is no escape from this war,” he writes. “Do you want to be ruled by men who eagerly drink the blood of their dying enemies? Such questions are almost never asked. Yet if you read the publicly available ISIS documents on their intentions, there’s no doubt that they are dead set on taking us over and drinking our blood.”"

[Edited on November 17, 2016 at 11:15 PM. Reason : .]

11/17/2016 11:14:48 PM

Yeah the people who thought trump would be less likely to start a new world war couldn't have been more wrong.

11/17/2016 11:22:33 PM

Jeremy Scahill (of the intercept) made an excellent point:

These are the people giving Trump, (who has zero military experience, and zero understanding of foreign policy) national security briefings every day. You really think that after the 20th or 30th briefing, Trump isn't going to cave into fanatical pressure and do something irrevocably dangerous?

11/17/2016 11:33:24 PM

Quote :

"i'm glad you could use this moment to boost your ego let's not forget how we got here in the first place, though."

please, expand on this post

11/18/2016 12:15:06 AM

Sessions for AG

11/18/2016 8:17:27 AM

^^^^That is some pretty scary rhetoric. But isn't Trump more isolationist than anything else? I don't envision and isolationist getting caught up in a war that would involve so many fronts.

11/18/2016 8:18:19 AM

you know he's isolationist from his long history in foreign policy?

11/18/2016 9:06:55 AM

I don't know what everyone is worried about. As the constitution clearly states, only congress can declare war.

Doesn't limited Presidential power look so good right now.

11/18/2016 9:26:31 AM

^^^
He talks about non-interventionism, then flips around and says "we're going to destroy ISIS".

11/18/2016 11:16:34 AM

What do we know about Pompeo?

I know Sessions and Flynn are disasters but even though I feel like I should I don't remember Pompeo.

11/18/2016 11:22:41 AM

Here's a Wall Street Journal op-ed that he co-authored:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/time-for-a-rigorous-national-debate-about-surveillance-1451856106

Here's a small snippet:

Quote :

"Congress should pass a law re-establishing collection of all metadata, and combining it with publicly available financial and lifestyle information into a comprehensive, searchable database. Legal and bureaucratic impediments to surveillance should be removed."

[Edited on November 18, 2016 at 11:33 AM. Reason : ]

11/18/2016 11:32:04 AM

When people tell me to "give Trump a chance"

11/18/2016 2:21:26 PM

I said I'd wait for more cabinet picks. I'm out.

11/18/2016 2:25:31 PM

When people tell me that California can't leave, because it needs to stay to be a leader for other liberal states:

11/18/2016 2:28:24 PM

http://www.trumpwatcher.org

There's some info there on which senate agencies to contact if anyone's interested

11/18/2016 4:43:30 PM

Quote :

"I said I'd wait for more cabinet picks. I'm out."

I mean, isn't it obvious by now? Trump only cares about tax codes and trade. He won't do a goddamn thing about trade because he's a failure. He'll probably cut taxes for the rich, and he'll leave the rest of governing up to the radical right-wing, because they were the only ones who were willing to back him from the beginning. Pencey-Pence and Paul Ryan are probably calling most of the shots when it comes to stacking the cabinet and setting horrible policy into motion. Trump will be an absentee President at best, and at worst he'll allow the alt-right and radical christian right to make all the horrible decisions that they want.

There is no honor in a "wait and see" approach. He ran as an autocrat, so you have to assume the worse with him. He doesn't have the slightest idea about how to govern, and clearly has no respect for the law or any precedent that was set before him. It was reported that he was surprised about how many people he would have to appoint to his cabinet. I think he genuinely thought that most of the people in the white house would just "stick around" after Obama leaves to handle all the day to day stuff.

This is going to be awful. None of this will be normal. Do not get used to it.

11/18/2016 7:25:36 PM

but hey man, we just gotta wait and see

11/18/2016 11:40:16 PM

Quote :

"but hey man, we just gotta wait and see"

inorite? the waiting and seeing was over once Bannon's name came out, BUT STILL, people were like "oh it's not a major role...more of a nod" or some such BS. Shit is majorly fucked.

11/19/2016 12:06:09 AM

It's not like any of us rushing to say, yep this presidency is going to be a failure will actually change anything. That said, I doubt it will be anything looked back upon favorably but I guess we will see.

11/19/2016 8:51:50 AM

Quote :

"it's Christian fundamentalism. It's intertwined in his entire worldview."

wtf? no.

what's intertwined in his worldview is to surround himself with loyal surrogates, regardless of competency or suitability. it just so happens that a lot of those people, in this case, have a worldview intertwined with Christian fundamentalism.

11/19/2016 10:25:40 AM

wut? i was talking about bannon. read the linked Q&A

11/19/2016 10:31:45 AM

ah ok. I thought you were talking about Trump.

Bannon, I'm not familiar enough with what makes him tick. I just know that anyone with his hand on the wheel at Breitbart, who has said all the things he has said, is a total fuckstick.

11/20/2016 7:21:20 PM

General John Kelly met with President Elect Trump yesterday as a possible SecState pick?

Man....Mad Dog and Kelly in the Cabinet...holy crap that would be awesome.

11/21/2016 2:01:29 PM

http://gabbard.house.gov/index.php/press-releases/655-gabbard-statement-on-meeting-with-president-elect-donald-trump

Quote :

"New York, NY—U.S. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02) today released the following statement on her meeting with President-elect Donald Trump regarding Syria: "President-elect Trump asked me to meet with him about our current policies regarding Syria, our fight against terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS, as well as other foreign policy challenges we face. I felt it important to take the opportunity to meet with the President-elect now before the drumbeats of war that neocons have been beating drag us into an escalation of the war to overthrow the Syrian government—a war which has already cost hundreds of thousands of lives and forced millions of refugees to flee their homes in search of safety for themselves and their families. “While the rules of political expediency would say I should have refused to meet with President-elect Trump, I never have and never will play politics with American and Syrian lives. “Serving the people of Hawai?i and our nation is an honor and responsibility that I do not take lightly. Representing the aloha spirit and diversity of the people of Hawai?i, I will continue to seek common ground to deliver results that best serve all Americans, as I have tried to do during my time in Congress. “Where I disagree with President-elect Trump on issues, I will not hesitate to express that disagreement. However, I believe we can disagree, even strongly, but still come together on issues that matter to the American people and affect their daily lives. We cannot allow continued divisiveness to destroy our country. “President-elect Trump and I had a frank and positive conversation in which we discussed a variety of foreign policy issues in depth. I shared with him my grave concerns that escalating the war in Syria by implementing a so-called no fly/safe zone would be disastrous for the Syrian people, our country, and the world. It would lead to more death and suffering, exacerbate the refugee crisis, strengthen ISIS and al-Qaeda, and bring us into a direct conflict with Russia which could result in a nuclear war. We discussed my bill to end our country’s illegal war to overthrow the Syrian government, and the need to focus our precious resources on rebuilding our own country, and on defeating al-Qaeda, ISIS, and other terrorist groups who pose a threat to the American people. “For years, the issue of ending interventionist, regime change warfare has been one of my top priorities. This was the major reason I ran for Congress—I saw firsthand the cost of war, and the lives lost due to the interventionist warmongering policies our country has pursued for far too long. “Let me be clear, I will never allow partisanship to undermine our national security when the lives of countless people lay in the balance.""

11/21/2016 2:38:53 PM

Why are some people (mostly trump supporters) so fearful of offending Russia these days? Russia would never fight us in open conflict over Syria, no fly zone or not.

11/21/2016 3:01:28 PM

let's shoot down some Russian planes and test that theory then.

11/21/2016 3:08:59 PM

Why would Russian planes be going into a no fly zone?

11/21/2016 3:25:01 PM

hi, welcome to current events

11/21/2016 3:52:09 PM