We are in the midst of a heat wave getting to 32C (90F) yesterday and very muggy. Today is more of the same. I think later this afternoon I will go play under my neighbour’s garden hose to cool off. One is never too old to have some good old fashion play time! To make things hotter, the Orange Ogre is being his loathsome self and tweeting right, left and centre about illegal immigration. In yesterday’s tirade, he used the word ‘infest’ in talking about illegal immigrants and conflated immigrants with gang bangers. But there was good news — Kris Kobach, Kansas Secretary of State and Drumpf acolyte, was handed his walking papers by a judge.
Short Takes
Mamamia — And in an uncomfortable turn of events, Donald Trump may have just been caught fibbing about his height as he innocently stood next to Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
This photo taken during the G7 summit in Quebec has, unfortunately for Trump, gone viral. And when you stop ogling at Trudeau, you might just see why. …
Photo by Edward Hardy, photojournalist
Trudeau, you see, is standing taller than Trump. Which is difficult to explain when Trudeau is 6″2, and Trump claims to be 6″3. At least, that figure is according to Trump’s physical exam results which were released in January this year by the White House doctor. …
Here’s where it gets even more confusing: Trump’s New York driver’s licence stated he was 6″2. Did the 71-year-old President have a sudden… growth spurt?
OK, OK! Who cares how tall Trump is . . . is it really all that important? Well in this case, Trump’s height is a measure of the man so it is of some importance. He is shorter than Justin Trudeau but his narcissistic personality has to say “I am the leader” or in this case “I am tallest”. Is the demonstration of the height difference the source of his disdain of Trudeau. But “fibbing”? I call this outright lying which is all Drumpf knows how to do. In these politically hot times, I’ll leave this with you for a good laugh! . . . at the Liar-in-Chief’s expense of course!
Mother Jones — A federal judge on Monday struck down a 2013 Kansas law that required people to provide proof of citizenship such as a passport or birth certificate in order to register to vote. The decision deals a major blow to efforts by conservative activists to erect barriers to voting under the pretense that voter fraud is rampant. The law, Judge Julie Robinson determined, violated the 1993 National Voter Registration Act and the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. …
Instead, Kobach and his team repeatedly failed to follow basic rules of evidence, requiring the judge to lecture him on what she called “Evidence 101.” (As it turns out, Robinson really did think Kobach needed to study up. In her opinion Monday, she ordered Kobach, a Yale-educated attorney, to take six hours of continuing legal education on the subject of how to introduce evidence at trial.)
In the words of Jackie Gleason, “How sweet it is!” It is about time that this legal weenie pipsqueak got his comeuppance! I doubt that this is the end of this. As noted in the article, Kobach was earlier found in contempt of court “for failing to comply with a court order to register Kansas voters whose applications had been held up by his proof-of-citizenship law. “I wonder what Kobach thinks about karma!
NY Times — President Trump said on Monday that he would direct the Pentagon to establish a sixth branch of the armed forces dedicated to protecting American interests in outer space, an idea that has troubled lawmakers and even some members of his administration, who have cautioned that the action could create unnecessary bureaucratic responsibilities for a military already burdened by conflicts.
During a speech at a meeting of the National Space Council, Mr. Trump announced plans to protect American interests in space through monitoring commercial traffic and debris, initiatives he said would be “great not only in terms of jobs and everything else, it’s great for the psyche of our country.” …
The US’s original Space Cadet during a meeting of the National Space Council on Monday, when he waded into a policy debate about space that has spanned administrations. Credit Tom Brenner/The New York Times
The creation of a sixth branch of the military to join the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard would require congressional authorization and approval. Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida, who is on the Senate Commerce Committee overseeing the nation’s space program — and who once spent six days in space — said that the president’s order lacked the support of the generals who would be required to carry it out.
The most recent proclamation from the US’s original “space cadet”, Drumpf. With 40 million Americans living under the poverty line as noted by the UN Special Rapporteur and Drumpf giving big tax concessions to the wealthiest Americans and corporations, where the hell does he think the money will come from for this folly? That’s right, after all those campaign promises for better health care etc, Drumpf will yet again cut programmes that are sorely needed. Is it any wonder that mental health professionals are saying Drumpf is NUTS??? (my word for brevity’s sake)
DC Report — The federal court suit over the Affordable Care Act became a potent threat to pre-existing conditions when the Justice Department filed a brief arguing that as of Jan. 1, 2019, those protections should be invalidated. The Justice Department argued that the judge should strike down the section of the law that protects people buying insurance from being charged higher premiums because of their health histories.
According to a 2016 analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation, approximately 52 million Americans under the age of 65 could find their access to health insurance at risk because of a wide range of pre-existing conditions, from diabetes to cancer to pregnancy. Health insurers have for years been raising premiums, complaining about uncertainty and withdrawing from the business of selling individual insurance plans; more changes could further destabilize the market.
As a follow-up to TC’s article yesterday, read through David Cay Johnston’s interesting take on just where healthcare in the US is going. It can’t be said too often that the only healthcare that Republicans have is Republicare . . . pay or die. And these are your elected officials.
My Universe — Don’t let this be you with Republicans!
Resist!!!
Posted to Care2
9 Responses to “Squatch’s Open Thread 19 June 2018”
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MM: It would be an even greater picture without thump posing with the others. dt lies every single day, w/o pausing to consider what’s he’s sayin’. Ill take PM Trudeau any day of the week, btw…can we clone him?
MJ: Read this earlier this morning. Yes, how wonderful and ‘Sweet It Is” !!
NYT: I find this rather odd that ‘Cadet BoneSpurs’ is promoting this. Here’s an idea….why not send HIM up in Space for a few months, and see if it works out??? lol
DCReport: This is indeed, a hard pill to swallow. imho.
Cartoon: Yes, exactly! RESIST!!
Spent last week watering my brown lawn, and the last two days it’s rained. lol. Thank you, Lynn for your post.
Good riddance Kobitch!
Trudeau has bigger …hands too.
Love that judge!
Great minds do fall in the same ditch, don’t they?
That’s the RepubliCare Death Benefit!
Great article Squatch!!
Yes that ditch was there, front and centre. Actually, I was looking at the AlterNet article but I had some difficulties with the website so I switched to the NYT.
As to Trudeau, while not perfect, he has more compassion in his little pinky than 10 Drumpfs (God forbid he should be cloned!) all totalled!
Thanks boss!
I disagree. 10 is a gross underestimation.
Mamamia – At 72 (but just a month and a half till I won’t be the same age as Orange Judas for another 10.5 months!), I am still saying, on my drivers license or whenever asked, I am the height I was in my twenties. I’m probably shorter, but for my needs, who cares. I agree a President needs to be more accurate, but my guess is that he’s shrunk too, but never changed the driver’s license. The 6’3″ figure, though, is pure fantasy (and that’s throwing roses at it.) Did anyone else notice he’s also the only one who looks like he has fake teeth?
MoJo -Best news of the week, and would probably have been the best news in a week not as rough as this one also!
NYT – You know, since 1775, we have never just “created another branch of the military.” The Air Force came into being and grew as the Army Air Corps (and even adopted their official song while it was still there – the original lyric was “No one can stop the Army Air Corps,” not “No one can stop the U. S. Air Force.” It took fifteen years for it to come to the point where it was feasible to split it off, and another thirteen before it had an academy. Oh, but his mind is made up, and here I am trying to confuse him with facts. Also, it may be some small consolation to realize that the Trump regime is incapable of hiring any scientists who actually know enough to put something into space.
DCR – Nothing new about Republicare. Nothing good, either, though.
My Universe – Relaxing on Fridays is definitely not an option in this regime! And we need to work hard to make it go away!
RESIST!!! and PURR-SIST!!
No matter how tall Trump says he is, he will always be a very small person in my eyes.
Great stuff, Lynn!
Mamamia:
Drumpf must have seen this picture too: next to the relaxed, but powerful stance of young and good looking Trudeau, Drumpf looks like the frumpy, overweight, old, AND SHORTER man he really is. This picture may explain Drumpf’s unprovoked attack on Trudeau and Canada after he left the G6.
By the way: has anyone paid any attention to Drumpf’s footwear? I wouldn’t past him to wear inlays to appear taller and to tower over his “opponents”.
MJ:
Another judge who utterly disgraced Korbach by not only striking down “his law” but also ordering this Yale-boy “to take six hours of continuing legal education on the subject of how to introduce evidence at trial.” I hope they next hold in contempt of court when he fails to do so, and combined with an earlier failure to do as ordered, throw him in prison for a while. Not that would teach Korbach a lesson, but it’ll give judges some time to recuperate from having him in front of their benches.
NYT: Just another instance where Drumpf shows his megalomania knows no bounds. His contact with Kim had a really troubling effect on him. Drumpf now thinks it’s wonderful for a tyrant to let his people starve to finance his absurd military plans. And of course he feels the need to compete with Kim and top him, hence the creation of a military space force, with American dominion of space in mind.
DCR: Living in two countries which have good healthcare for everyone, just like Canada has, and compared to the US even excellent healthcare, I will refrain from rubbing that in. It suffices to say that all Americans should realises they deserve better and they can have better, but not unless thy rid themselves of Republicans and their Republicare.
My Universe: No, definitely not the time to relax, not even on a Friday.
One of Colorado’s more disgraceful members of Congress, Ken Buck, some years ago was running against a Democratic woman. While campaigning, someone asked him why he was a better choice than his opponent, and he replied, “I don’t wear high heels.” (At the time, he was wearing COWBOY BOOTS with 3″ heels.)
MM: Just another indication/iteration of how empty he is. Quelle fartface!
MJ: Kobach needs a lot more education than any 6 hours can provide! He needs to spend some months living among the people he is so happy to deprive of their voting rights, to see how to be a human! It’d like the words from the song “…people on the river are happy to give.”
NYT: I am a mental health professional, and have been saying that he is “A sick puppy,” for long time, now! It’s hard to get sick than being a “Malignant Narcissist.” But, he does know what he is doing, pandering to some of his biggest supporters, the Military Industrial Complex, whose members have donated heavily to his campaign! That’s the, sadly, real problem with his type, they have enough grasp on reality to be frigggggging dangerous!
DC Report: Hopefully these will have been our elected officials.