So Donald Trump seems pretty convinced that he would have pulled a Die Hard during the Parkland shooting, and I had a pretty good laugh about it. He says “I really believe I’d run in there even if I didn’t have a weapon.” I can’t tell if that’s a lie or if he actually believes that about himself. I mean, Donald Trump is famously squeamish about blood. He admits himself that he can’t be around blood in even small amounts without getting sketchy. But his inner Harrison Ford would have DEFINITELY kicked in to take down a terrorist.
So the Republicans and Right Wing Media outlets are really trying to push this narrative that the Russians colluded with the Democrats. That THAT is the real story and not potential collusion with Trump. I mean they make a good point. I mean, only by working with the Russians could they have tanked the 2016 elections so hard. It’s a damn goofy claim that flies in the face evidence and…you know, reality? I mean, I’m willing to take the word of right-wing armchair philosophers over a vast network of non-partisan intelligence gatherers whose job and expertise involve this very thing.
So, a young woman, Lauren Hogg, called out Melania Trump, suggesting that if she aims to combat cyber bullying, a good place to start would be at home, where Donald Trump, Jr. called her and her family “Crisis Actors”, effectively putting a target on her and her brother’s back. It’s a tragic outcome, and Don Jr. should be ashamed of himself, even though he obviously isn’t. And it really, again, brings into stark relief the irony of Melania Trump’s campaign.
So, the Dems released a memo of their own. And despite having some redactions, it’s a pretty comprehensive rebuttal to the one Nunes released a few weeks back. It has several more detailed pages regarding the FISA requests and the evidence regarding it, and just all the things that took place behind the scenes of the surveillance of Carter Page and the early investigation into Russia’s interference. Trump of course is leading the charge of the pushback, saying that the whole thing nothing, fraudulent, and suggesting that Adam Schiff broke the law. Basically all the same things the Dems said when Nune’s memo came out. It’s the political Circle of Life.
So Trump held a “listening session” at the White House on Wednesday, so people affected by the tragedy in Florida could express themselves to him. The session is hard to listen to, as you’re having to hear the rawest emotions from people who were struck by the most horrendous act of human hatred, and having to be composed and responsive…well I don’t know that I can blame someone for having some structured notes to make sure when they were asking questions, they could get to the heart of the matter. So I can’t in good conscience give Trump guff for having notes, even though they were clearly written by someone with better handwriting then him. But what I can take note of is the fact that on the bottom, number 5) was a clear note for him to tell these poor people that he hears them. To suggest that Trump would need a reminder to say something like this shows that the people around the President are concerned that he can’t project his sincere attention.
Trump and friends are now floating around the idea of arming teachers in the wake of Parkland. I know it’s not a new idea, but it’s a particularly bad one. Seriously, it’s dumb. It’s a bad idea for a multitude of reasons, where the benefits are haphazard at best. A teacher holding a gun is expected to get into a standoff with a mentally unstable person, perhaps shoot the person, who is hopefully not wearing any kind of body armor, and will hopefully, in a high stress situation, not misfire the weapon, or shoot an innocent person in the crossfire. All of this doesn’t even take into account the idea of having a stressed out teacher having a firearm within reach while thinking about a frustrating problem child who won’t shut up…Just sayin’….
The Florida House of Representatives has declared Pornography a health risk. The bill, which was voted on and passed, took precedence over state gun control legislation, which some might argue, is a bit more urgent in light of recent events. But no, the Florida legislature might be going to war with porn, which is, if nothing else, entertaining.
Trump endorsed Mitt Romney for his Senate bid…and I have to wonder how Romney feels about that. I can’t imagine that Trump has suddenly become self aware, and I think he genuinely thinks that he’s maybe helping Romney. But it’s still odd, considering how often and how fervently Romney has spoken out against Trump and his policies. But back to Romney, I wonder if he’s going to distance himself from that endorsement or run with it. I know he officially thanked Trump, but even in his thank you, it seemed like he was quick to pivot back away from him. So who knows? It will be interesting to watch though.
Bill Gates was on Fareed Zakaria on Sunday, saying, for probably the hundredth time, that he thinks people in his position need to be paying higher taxes. He also talked about how the new tax bill is regressive, and how people with wealth are just getting more benefits from the system. Basically, he’s the rich guy pooing in the punch bowl. I can only imagine how much it must drive Trump nuts that not only is Bill Gates just orders of magnitude more wealthy than him, but that he’s better liked, and has no compunction about giving the wealthy few the business.
Trump is now using a national tragedy and utter failure in addressing policy, to trash the investigation into Russia. He’s claiming that because the FBI was busy investigating Russia, they somehow missed out on preventing the school shooting in Florida. Beyond being an utterly disgusting way to shift the conversation away from his own misdeeds, it thoroughly, willfully disregards a lot of things, namely that the ENTIRE of the FBI, including the FBI agents in Florida, were focused on the Russia investigation, as opposed to a relatively small team lead by Robert Mueller.
Mind the Exit 