USA under presidency of a know-nothing, neo-fascist, racist, sexist, mobbed-up narcissist!!

[Tracy Riddle]

Emperor Commodus in the gladiator arena

[Peter Lemkin]

Emperor Commodus in the gladiator arena

How very Presidential....sickening, really. Puts Reagan playing second fiddle to a chimp to shame. The flashing neon signs [Las Vegas style] will be up at the White House a few weeks after the Groper-in-Chief moves in...and slots in the halls of Congress.....Playmate photos signed by the new Prez for the kiddies who visit.

[Lauren Johnson]

From NPR:

At the end of October, Donald Trump spoke in Gettysburg, Pa., and released a plan for his first 100 days in office.

The plan (below) outlines three main areas of focus: cleaning up Washington, including by imposing term limits on Congress; protecting American workers; and restoring rule of law. He also laid out his plan for working with Congress to introduce 10 pieces of legislation that would repeal Obamacare, fund the construction of a wall at the Southern border (with a provision that Mexico would reimburse the U.S.), encourage infrastructure investment, rebuild military bases, promote school choice and more.
McConnell also threw some cold water on Trump's infrastructure plans, calling it not a top priority.On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell mostly made nice with Trump but also shot down or expressed little enthusiasm in some of his plans. On Trump's proposal to impose term limits on Congress, McConnell said, "It will not be on the agenda in the Senate." McConnell has been a long-standing opponent of term limits, as NPR's Susan Davis reports. "I would say we have term limits now they're called elections."
McConnell did say repealing Obamacare is a "pretty high item on our agenda" along with comprehensive tax reform and achieving border security "in whatever way is the most effective." But he also declined to discuss the Senate's immigration agenda further.
"We l00k forward to working with him, "McConnell said. "I think most of the things that he's likely to advocate we're going to be enthusiastically for."
Below is the 100-day plan Trump's campaign released in October, called "Donald Trump's Contract With The American Voter."
What follows is my 100-day action plan to Make America Great Again. It is a contract between myself and the American voter and begins with restoring honesty, accountability and change to Washington
Therefore, on the first day of my term of office, my administration will immediately pursue the following six measures to clean up the corruption and special interest collusion in Washington, DC:
* FIRST, propose a Constitutional Amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress;
* SECOND, a hiring freeze on all federal employees to reduce federal workforce through attrition (exempting military, public safety, and public health);
* THIRD, a requirement that for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations must be eliminated;
* FOURTH, a 5 year-ban on White House and Congressional officials becoming lobbyists after they leave government service;* SIXTH, a complete ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections.* FIFTH, a lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government;
On the same day, I will begin taking the following 7 actions to protect American workers:
* FIRST, I will announce my intention to renegotiate NAFTA or withdraw from the deal under Article 2205
* SECOND, I will announce our withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership
* THIRD, I will direct my Secretary of the Treasury to label China a currency manipulator
* FOURTH, I will direct the Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative to identify all foreign trading abuses that unfairly impact American workers and direct them to use every tool under American and international law to end those abuses immediately

* SIXTH, lift the Obama-Clinton roadblocks and allow vital energy infrastructure projects, like the Keystone Pipeline, to move forward* FIFTH, I will lift the restrictions on the production of $50 trillion dollars' worth of job-producing American energy reserves, including shale, oil, natural gas and clean coal.
* SEVENTH, cancel billions in payments to U.N. climate change programs and use the money to fix America's water and environmental infrastructure
Additionally, on the first day, I will take the following five actions to restore security and the constitutional rule of law:
* FIRST, cancel every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum and order issued by President Obama
* SECOND, begin the process of selecting a replacement for Justice Scalia from one of the 20 judges on my list, who will uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States
* THIRD, cancel all federal funding to Sanctuary Cities
* FOURTH, begin removing the more than 2 million criminal illegal immigrants from the country and cancel visas to foreign countries that won't take them back
* FIFTH, suspend immigration from terror-prone regions where vetting cannot safely occur. All vetting of people coming into our country will be considered extreme vetting.
Next, I will work with Congress to introduce the following broader legislative measures and fight for their passage within the first 100 days of my Administration:

• Middle Class Tax Relief And Simplification Act. An economic plan designed to grow the economy 4% per year and create at least 25 million new jobs through massive tax reduction and simplification, in combination with trade reform, regulatory relief, and lifting the restrictions on American energy. The largest tax reductions are for the middle class. A middle-class family with 2 children will get a 35% tax cut. The current number of brackets will be reduced from 7 to 3, and tax forms will likewise be greatly simplified. The business rate will be lowered from 35 to 15 percent, and the trillions of dollars of American corporate money overseas can now be brought back at a 10 percent rate.
  
• End The Offshoring Act. Establishes tariffs to discourage companies from laying off their workers in order to relocate in other countries and ship their products back to the U.S. tax-free.
  
• American Energy & Infrastructure Act. Leverages public-private partnerships, and private investments through tax incentives, to spur $1 trillion in infrastructure investment over 10 years. It is revenue neutral.
  
• School Choice And Education Opportunity Act. Redirects education dollars to give parents the right to send their kid to the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school of their choice. Ends common core, brings education supervision to local communities. It expands vocational and technical education, and make 2 and 4-year college more affordable.
  
• Repeal and Replace Obamacare Act. Fully repeals Obamacare and replaces it with Health Savings Accounts, the ability to purchase health insurance across state lines, and lets states manage Medicaid funds. Reforms will also include cutting the red tape at the FDA: there are over 4,000 drugs awaiting approval, and we especially want to speed the approval of life-saving medications.
  
• Affordable Childcare and Eldercare Act. Allows Americans to deduct childcare and elder care from their taxes, incentivizes employers to provide on-side childcare services, and creates tax-free Dependent Care Savings Accounts for both young and elderly dependents, with matching contributions for low-income families.
  
• End Illegal Immigration Act Fully-funds the construction of a wall on our southern border with the full understanding that the country Mexico will be reimbursing the United States for the full cost of such wall; establishes a 2-year mandatory minimum federal prison sentence for illegally re-entering the U.S. after a previous deportation, and a 5-year mandatory minimum for illegally re-entering for those with felony convictions, multiple misdemeanor convictions or two or more prior deportations; also reforms visa rules to enhance penalties for overstaying and to ensure open jobs are offered to American workers first.
  
• Restoring Community Safety Act. Reduces surging crime, drugs and violence by creating a Task Force On Violent Crime and increasing funding for programs that train and assist local police; increases resources for federal law enforcement agencies and federal prosecutors to dismantle criminal gangs and put violent offenders behind bars.
  
• Restoring National Security Act. Rebuilds our military by eliminating the defense sequester and expanding military investment; provides Veterans with the ability to receive public VA treatment or attend the private doctor of their choice; protects our vital infrastructure from cyber-attack; establishes new screening procedures for immigration to ensure those who are admitted to our country support our people and our values
  
• Clean up Corruption in Washington Act. Enacts new ethics reforms to Drain the Swamp and reduce the corrupting influence of special interests on our politics.
  

On November 8th, Americans will be voting for this 100-day plan to restore prosperity to our economy, security to our communities, and honesty to our government.
This is my pledge to you.
And if we follow these steps, we will once more have a government of, by and for the people.

[Cliff Varnell]

A so-called President who not only doesn't believe in climate change but wants to triple down on the technologies which create climate change.

Hope all you default Trump-rooters don't sunburn much.

[Tracy Riddle]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/20...trump.html

The real-estate developer turned politician is familiar with the courtroom. As reported by USA Today in June, Trump has been a party to some 4,000 lawsuits over the last 30 yearsa uniquely large number of actions framed by detractors as a telling indicator of a life of crooked dealing, and by supporters as simply the cost of running an enormously successful business in America.

Whatever one's position on the election, it's clear that Trump's ongoing court battlessomewhere around 75, according to the USA Today analysisare the first of their kind for any president, and because even the highest office in the land is not above the law, will accompany Trump as he moves into the White House.


At issue in Trump's most well-known and problematic legal battlesthe subject of three separate lawsuits in factis Trump University, the eponymous real-estate seminar program that former students say was nothing more than a scam selling Trump-made promises of financial success that never materialized and stripped the poor, the naive, and the elderly of life's savings instead.

The federal class action cases were filed in 2010 and 2013, before Trump made good on his decades of teasing a presidential run. They are both being heard in California, by Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was dragged into the campaign over the summer when Trump told an interviewer that the case was stacked against him because Curiel was "a Mexican," and explained, "we're building a wall between here and Mexico." (Judge Curiel was born in Indiana.)

The fraud case filed in 2010, Low v. Trump University, goes to trial in less than three weeks. The second, Cohen v. Trump, alleges Trump's "school" was really a criminal organization and violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Lawyers are currently fighting over evidence in that case and a trial date hasn't been set.

The New York fraud casewhich was also brought back in 2013 and alleges Trump's unlicensed university scammed New Yorkers out of a collective $40 millionis still a go, according to Amy Spitalnick of the New York State Attorney General's Office. A judge decided in March that the case would go to trial, but Trump has appealed the ruling.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman responded at the time in a statement that read in part, "This meritless appeal is yet another example of how Donald Trump will do everything in his power to avoid standing trial for allegedly defrauding hundreds of financially struggling New Yorkers at Trump University… We look forward to holding Donald Trump accountable for this brazen scam when he finally faces trial."

The next relevant date is Dec. 5, when the people's opening brief is due.


But allegations of fraud are really just the beginning for President Trump.

Most of the 75 open lawsuits are likely going nowhere. More than a dozen of the 20 ongoing federal cases where Trump is a defendant are actual nonsense, filed against the future president along with co-defendants Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and even Walt Disney, on behalf of seemingly mentally-ill plaintiffs. (Anyone can file a lawsuit.) The complaints in the wildest cases include allegations of kidnapping by the president-elect and his sonmembers of the supposed Illuminati.

Others may turn out to be much more legitimate. Members of Trump's golf course in Jupiter, Florida, are currently suing the flaxen-haired businessman for $2.4 million for taking fees and dues while allegedly blocking admission to the actual club. A former employee of the same club brought a lawsuit last month, alleging she was unlawfully fired after reporting sexual harassment by a coworker.

A hearing is scheduled in Chicago on Nov. 29, in another case alleging Trump's campaign violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by sending unsolicited text messages urging the plaintiff to "Help Make America Great Again!"

And there's more. In New York State, two open cases are making their way through the courts. Republican consultant Cheryl Jacobus filed a $4 million libel lawsuit after Trump "destroyed her career," namely by calling her "a dummy" on Twitter. And a status conference is scheduled for next week in the case of Efrain Galicia, who in 2015 sued the then-candidate when one of Trump's security guards assaulted him during a protest outside of Trump Tower. (There's a video of the incident.)

This is not an exhaustive list and there may be other suits winding their way through the legal system in the coming months. But Trump's camp doesn't seem alarmed.


Alan Garten told USA Today, "We'll treat all cases the same way if he's elected or notand the results shouldn't be different in the eyes of the law."

Though presidential immunity may keep Trump safe from civil liability for any shady schools he starts from the White House or any libelous tweets he sends from Obama's seized @potus account, litigation involving pre-presidential conduct can proceed as it would had Trump lost the election.

"The lawsuits don't stop because someone happens to be president of the United States," said Michael Gerhardt, a professor of Constitutional Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law in Chapel Hill.

The decision that will keep the wheels of justice moving for dozens of plaintiffs suing Trump, ironically came from the Supreme Court's 9-to-0 ruling in 1997 which allowed Paula Jones's lawsuit alleging sexual harassment by Bill Clinton to move forward.

Though Trump could be deposed or have to testify in the cases against him, the time away from the Oval Office wouldn't likely be too taxing as Trump depends heavily on his team of attorneys. What's more dangerous, Gerhardt said, is the risk of discoverythat testimony or evidence gathered in the litigation of a case could be embarrassing to a sitting president, or worse, "could warrant an impeachment."

An impeachment in a Republican-dominated House of Representatives is extremely unlikely, but two lawyers have already dangled the threat of discovery in front of the soon-to-be president. Famed feminist attorney Gloria Allred and her daughter, civil-rights lawyer Lisa Bloom, told Trump to back off his threats to sue the handful of women who came forward during the campaign to accuse the Republican candidate of harassment or sexual assault, including forced kissing and groping.

In a statement, Bloom said, "In that lawsuit I would take the deposition of Trump and all of his enablers, and subpoena his business and personal records as well as any recordings that may exist in which he brags about sexual assault, such as the Access Hollywood recording and potentially, the Apprentice raw footage."

The possible humiliation and danger of discovery aside, Gerhardt said a defamation suit against the women or any others by whom the famously litigious Trump might feel aggrieved, would be ill-advised.

"[Trump] would have to deal with the law as it is, not as he would like it to be, Gerhardt said. "Truth is a defense," that could potentially lead to an impeachment, and damages would be hard to prove.

"Given the fact that the man was just elected president, it might be hard to quantify his harm."

[Peter Lemkin]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/20...trump.html

The real-estate developer turned politician is familiar with the courtroom. As reported by USA Today in June, Trump has been a party to some 4,000 lawsuits over the last 30 yearsa uniquely large number of actions framed by detractors as a telling indicator of a life of crooked dealing, and by supporters as simply the cost of running an enormously successful business in America.

Whatever one's position on the election, it's clear that Trump's ongoing court battlessomewhere around 75, according to the USA Today analysisare the first of their kind for any president, and because even the highest office in the land is not above the law, will accompany Trump as he moves into the White House.


At issue in Trump's most well-known and problematic legal battlesthe subject of three separate lawsuits in factis Trump University, the eponymous real-estate seminar program that former students say was nothing more than a scam selling Trump-made promises of financial success that never materialized and stripped the poor, the naive, and the elderly of life's savings instead.

The federal class action cases were filed in 2010 and 2013, before Trump made good on his decades of teasing a presidential run. They are both being heard in California, by Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was dragged into the campaign over the summer when Trump told an interviewer that the case was stacked against him because Curiel was "a Mexican," and explained, "we're building a wall between here and Mexico." (Judge Curiel was born in Indiana.)

The fraud case filed in 2010, Low v. Trump University, goes to trial in less than three weeks. The second, Cohen v. Trump, alleges Trump's "school" was really a criminal organization and violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Lawyers are currently fighting over evidence in that case and a trial date hasn't been set.

The New York fraud casewhich was also brought back in 2013 and alleges Trump's unlicensed university scammed New Yorkers out of a collective $40 millionis still a go, according to Amy Spitalnick of the New York State Attorney General's Office. A judge decided in March that the case would go to trial, but Trump has appealed the ruling.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman responded at the time in a statement that read in part, "This meritless appeal is yet another example of how Donald Trump will do everything in his power to avoid standing trial for allegedly defrauding hundreds of financially struggling New Yorkers at Trump University… We look forward to holding Donald Trump accountable for this brazen scam when he finally faces trial."

The next relevant date is Dec. 5, when the people's opening brief is due.


But allegations of fraud are really just the beginning for President Trump.

Most of the 75 open lawsuits are likely going nowhere. More than a dozen of the 20 ongoing federal cases where Trump is a defendant are actual nonsense, filed against the future president along with co-defendants Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and even Walt Disney, on behalf of seemingly mentally-ill plaintiffs. (Anyone can file a lawsuit.) The complaints in the wildest cases include allegations of kidnapping by the president-elect and his sonmembers of the supposed Illuminati.

Others may turn out to be much more legitimate. Members of Trump's golf course in Jupiter, Florida, are currently suing the flaxen-haired businessman for $2.4 million for taking fees and dues while allegedly blocking admission to the actual club. A former employee of the same club brought a lawsuit last month, alleging she was unlawfully fired after reporting sexual harassment by a coworker.

A hearing is scheduled in Chicago on Nov. 29, in another case alleging Trump's campaign violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by sending unsolicited text messages urging the plaintiff to "Help Make America Great Again!"

And there's more. In New York State, two open cases are making their way through the courts. Republican consultant Cheryl Jacobus filed a $4 million libel lawsuit after Trump "destroyed her career," namely by calling her "a dummy" on Twitter. And a status conference is scheduled for next week in the case of Efrain Galicia, who in 2015 sued the then-candidate when one of Trump's security guards assaulted him during a protest outside of Trump Tower. (There's a video of the incident.)

This is not an exhaustive list and there may be other suits winding their way through the legal system in the coming months. But Trump's camp doesn't seem alarmed.


Alan Garten told USA Today, "We'll treat all cases the same way if he's elected or notand the results shouldn't be different in the eyes of the law."

Though presidential immunity may keep Trump safe from civil liability for any shady schools he starts from the White House or any libelous tweets he sends from Obama's seized @potus account, litigation involving pre-presidential conduct can proceed as it would had Trump lost the election.

"The lawsuits don't stop because someone happens to be president of the United States," said Michael Gerhardt, a professor of Constitutional Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law in Chapel Hill.

The decision that will keep the wheels of justice moving for dozens of plaintiffs suing Trump, ironically came from the Supreme Court's 9-to-0 ruling in 1997 which allowed Paula Jones's lawsuit alleging sexual harassment by Bill Clinton to move forward.

Though Trump could be deposed or have to testify in the cases against him, the time away from the Oval Office wouldn't likely be too taxing as Trump depends heavily on his team of attorneys. What's more dangerous, Gerhardt said, is the risk of discoverythat testimony or evidence gathered in the litigation of a case could be embarrassing to a sitting president, or worse, "could warrant an impeachment."

An impeachment in a Republican-dominated House of Representatives is extremely unlikely, but two lawyers have already dangled the threat of discovery in front of the soon-to-be president. Famed feminist attorney Gloria Allred and her daughter, civil-rights lawyer Lisa Bloom, told Trump to back off his threats to sue the handful of women who came forward during the campaign to accuse the Republican candidate of harassment or sexual assault, including forced kissing and groping.

In a statement, Bloom said, "In that lawsuit I would take the deposition of Trump and all of his enablers, and subpoena his business and personal records as well as any recordings that may exist in which he brags about sexual assault, such as the Access Hollywood recording and potentially, the Apprentice raw footage."

The possible humiliation and danger of discovery aside, Gerhardt said a defamation suit against the women or any others by whom the famously litigious Trump might feel aggrieved, would be ill-advised.

"[Trump] would have to deal with the law as it is, not as he would like it to be, Gerhardt said. "Truth is a defense," that could potentially lead to an impeachment, and damages would be hard to prove.

"Given the fact that the man was just elected president, it might be hard to quantify his harm."

As I pointed out before the vote, Trump is very likely to be impeachable...but that leaves a bigger problem...his VEEP!
The USA has made its foul bed and now must sleep in it....it is going to be a wild and I believe horrible four years.

[Cliff Varnell]

As I pointed out before the vote, Trump is very likely to be impeachable...but that leaves a bigger problem...his VEEP!
The USA has made its foul bed and now must sleep in it....it is going to be a wild and I believe horrible four years.

Mike Pence, arch bible thumper, homophobe.

Pence will become the real power in this Administration as it dawns on Trump that he has zero skill set for what a POTUS does day-to-day.

[Tracy Riddle]

As I pointed out before the vote, Trump is very likely to be impeachable...but that leaves a bigger problem...his VEEP!
The USA has made its foul bed and now must sleep in it....it is going to be a wild and I believe horrible four years.

Mike Pence, arch bible thumper, homophobe.

Pence will become the real power in this Administration as it dawns on Trump that he has zero skill set for what a POTUS does day-to-day.

Possibly, but that sure isn't what Trump's supporters voted for.
Bush was the power behind Reagan, and Reagan was a friggin' genius by comparison (he actually read books, was a two-term governor).

[Tracy Riddle]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/20...-jobs.html

President-elect Donald Trump is scrambling to line up senior officials to run the government's sprawling intelligence and homeland security bureaucracy.
Team Trump is struggling to fill numerous key slots or even attract many candidates because hundreds have either sworn they'd never work in a Trump administration or have directly turned down requests to join, multiple current and former U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the transition efforts told The Daily Beast.
Team Trump didn't expect to win until the campaign's internal polling a month before the election signaled a possible victory. That's when senior Trump officials went into overdrive, trying to build a bench of experienced national security candidates with top secret clearances willing to work for a Trump presidencyand they met resistance across the landscape of experienced GOP national security professionals.
One person who met last month with Trump's national security and homeland security transition team leader said that she confessed that many candidates had flatly rejected attempts to recruit them, believing that Trump was unfit to hold the office of commander in chief.
"She said that it was going to be very difficult to fill positions in that space because everybody that had experience was a never-Trumper," this person said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
"She wasn't even sure that she was going to be able to fill a transition team," much less find people to serve in government positions, this person said.
"In theory, 20 people are supposed to parachute into the Department of Homeland Security [during the transition between administrations]. And I don't think they have anybody to do it."
A second individual, also speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed this person's account that there are a large number of vacancies to fill without a clear plan of how that will happen. Since Trump's improbable win, Team Trump has been aggressively reaching out to possible candidates with a flurry of meetings in New York and Washington, D.C.
Two career U.S. officials, currently serving in the government, also said they were unsure whether they would continue in their positions, which are slated to last into the next administration.
On Monday morning, a group of officials working on a range of national security issues including the resettlement of refugees and methods for countering terrorists' violent rhetoric met to discuss their progress. But it wasn't at all clear whether a President Trump would even continue those initiatives, one participant said. Trump has promised to ban Muslims from certain countries from entering the United States and has claimed he knows better how to combat terrorists than military generals and intelligence officials.
But before he can take the axe to Obama-era programs, Trump has to staff up his own administration. It won't be easy.
It was clear the Trump team would have trouble staffing their national security bench nine months ago, when more than 100 Republican national security leaders signed an open letter vowing not to support him as the GOP nominee and "working energetically to prevent the election of someone so utterly unfitted to the office."
"Everybody who has signed a never-Trump letter or indicated an anti-Trump attitude is not going to get a job. And that's most of the Republican foreign policy, national security, intelligence, homeland security, and Department of Justice experience," Paul Rosenzweig, who held a senior position at the Department of Homeland Security in the George W. Bush administration, told The Daily Beast. (Bush told reporters on Tuesday that neither he nor his wife, Laura, cast a vote for president.)

[R.K. Locke]

Pence would likely be even worse than Trump.