The Rose Garden and White House happenings: Listening to voters’ concerns

So much for the dangers of  guilt by association....

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/13/nyregion/jeffrey-epstein-new-york-elite.html

“A strange thing happened when Jeffrey Epstein came back to New York City after being branded a sex offender: His reputation appeared to rise.

In 2010, the year after he got out of a Florida jail, Katie Couric and George Stephanopoulos dined at his Manhattan mansion with a British royal. The next year, Mr. Epstein was photographed at a “billionaire’s dinner” attended by tech titans like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. A page popped up on Harvard University’s website lauding his accomplishments, and superlative-filled news releases described his lofty ambitions as he dedicated $10 million to charitable causes.

Powerful female friends served as social guarantors: Peggy Siegal, a gatekeeper for A-list events, included him in movie screenings, and Dr. Eva Andersson-Dubin, a champion of women’s health, maintained a friendship that some felt gave him credibility. Mr. Epstein put up a website showing Stephen Hawking and other luminaries at a science gathering he had organized.

“If you looked up Jeffrey Epstein online in 2012, you would see what we all saw,” Leon Botstein, the president of Bard College, said in an interview. He seemed “like an ex-con who had done well on Wall Street,” who was close to the Clintons and gave money to academic pursuits, Dr. Botstein said. That was why, he noted, Bard accepted an unsolicited $50,000 in 2011 for its high schools, followed later that year and in 2012 by another $75,000 in donations.

More

“

Of all the names Mr. Epstein dropped, perhaps the most frequent was Harvard’s.

Though Mr. Epstein never attended Harvard or even got a college degree, the university has been a recurring theme in his self-styled image as a Renaissance man of finance and science. He found Harvard’s doors open to him once he opened his wallet, with donations starting in the early 1990s that eventually totaled at least $7.5 million.

He took to wearing Harvard sweatshirts, gravitated to mingling with celebrity scientists like Stephen Jay Gould and Steven Pinker, and developed friendships with the former Harvard president Lawrence H. Summers and the law professor Alan Dershowitz, who later helped defend him. (In civil suits, Mr. Dershowitz has been accused of having sex with two of Mr. Epstein’s accusers; he has denied the allegations and accused their lawyers of malfeasance.) Mr. Epstein, a former math teacher, even popped up for lunchtime discussions among scientists at a Harvard cafeteria, Dr. Pinker said in an interview, adding, “He weighted his own opinions as much as scholarly literature.”

By 2014, a page appeared on the website for Harvard’s Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, the initiative Mr. Epstein had financed 11 years earlier with a $6.5 million donation (and a pledge of $23.5 million more that never came), featuring a studio portrait, his résumé and links to his websites. “He is one of the largest supporters of individual scientists, including theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, Marvin Minsky, Seth Lloyd and Nobel Laureates Gerard ’t Hooft, David Gross and Frank Wilczek,” the Harvard bio said, in what appears to be an exaggerated claim.”

Financier with sexual predator.

Waiting for mtiernney’s defense of Trump’s racist tirade. 

Or will it be more convenient to let it slide on by?

Trump demands apology from freshman congresswomen who clashed with Pelosi
(via POLITICO for iOS)

https://politi.co/2LlGGNW

Right here in our nation’s capital, helping the homeless directly...

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/teens-encounter-christ-through-by-homeless-persons-in-dc-62031

Thought I was posting this on the Pope thread, my bad.

@jamie... has any evaluation been done of merits for the political threads being isolated? Seems page 1 is mostly day old and more items.

mtierney said:

Trump demands apology from freshman congresswomen who clashed with Pelosi
(via POLITICO for iOS)
https://politi.co/2LlGGNW

 What do you think about that?  

mtierney said:

Trump demands apology from freshman congresswomen who clashed with Pelosi
(via POLITICO for iOS)
https://politi.co/2LlGGNW

You read that article and that's your takeaway?

my god

mtierney said:
@jamie... has any evaluation been done of merits for the political threads being isolated? Seems page 1 is mostly day old and more items.

 The same could be said for this Category, so I don't think there's any major difference (at least in my browsing). 

Re: those most inappropriate tweets and comments by your President, and the lack of disavowal by Republicans:  it's certainly not a wonderful PR image to project internationally (considering the nations he's trying to impress), especially if you're trying to gain great sales deals. Your whole nation has just been confirmed as a bully of women standing up for their civil rights and the rights of other vulnerable people - which diversity, strangely enough was apparently the point of founding your independent nation.  

As we'd say here, yeah nah. Not a good look, mate. And now, he's worked himself into a piston where he can't do anything else but dig in deeper. It's just so pig-headed and inappropriate for the office, and embarrassing for all of you. 

I believe that people across the globe  “scolding” our President won’t accomplish anything — he gets enough scoldings right here at home! And, of course, from MOL.

As this is the first POTUS who has used an online communication tool, Twitter, it is too early in the game to evaluate his gamesmanship. I am not an enthusiast re Twitter (I do have an account from back in the day each character was counted.)

In an article on Politico, there is this opinion:

“The president has rarely found broad support when voters are polled on his use of Twitter. In a recent POLITICO/Morning Consult poll, 70 percent of respondents said Trump uses the social media platform more than he should. Another 46 percent said his Twitter use harms his shot at reelection.

Publicly, Trump’s allies argue that the president’s tweets helps him evade media spin. Trump employs Twitter “to speak directly to the American people without the filter of corporate media and poll-tested talking points,” said Kelly Sadler, spokeswoman for the pro-Trump super PAC America First Action, in a text to POLITICO.

And his latest remarks, she argued, merely highlighted how “The socialist wing of the Democratic party routinely criticizes America,” she said, adding, “the toxic attitudes and policies these socialists are promoting are dangerous and will be rejected by voters.”

mtierney said:
I believe that people across the globe  “scolding” our President won’t accomplish anything — he gets enough scoldings right here at home! And, of course, from MOL.


As this is the first POTUS who has used an online communication tool, Twitter, it is too early in the game to evaluate his gamesmanship. I am not an enthusiast re Twitter (I do have an account from back in the day each character was counted.)
In an article on Politico, there is this opinion:
“The president has rarely found broad support when voters are polled on his use of Twitter. In a recent POLITICO/Morning Consult poll, 70 percent of respondents said Trump uses the social media platform more than he should. Another 46 percent said his Twitter use harms his shot at reelection.
Publicly, Trump’s allies argue that the president’s tweets helps him evade media spin. Trump employs Twitter “to speak directly to the American people without the filter of corporate media and poll-tested talking points,” said Kelly Sadler, spokeswoman for the pro-Trump super PAC America First Action, in a text to POLITICO.
And his latest remarks, she argued, merely highlighted how “The socialist wing of the Democratic party routinely criticizes America,” she said, adding, “the toxic attitudes and policies these socialists are promoting are dangerous and will be rejected by voters.”

When you write stuff like this, where you seem to be giving tacit approval to Trump's racism, please don't get upset when people assume things about you that you find insulting.  It should be really easy to admit that the president crossed a very different line this weekend and put his own racist thoughts prominently on display.  The fact that you are considering whether it was a bit of effective "gamesmanship" says a lot about you.

I can't read people's minds, so I try to limit myself to describing behavior.  And Trump's behavior over the past few days is clearly racism on display.  The "gamesmanship" appears to be an attempt to curry favor with white supremacists.  I'll leave it to you to figure out what your response to it says about you.

Meh.  Some people did something ...:

The gamesmanship had more to do with changing the subject from Acosta/Epstein than anything else. At which he won.

ml1 said:

mtierney said:
I believe that people across the globe  “scolding” our President won’t accomplish anything — he gets enough scoldings right here at home! And, of course, from MOL.


As this is the first POTUS who has used an online communication tool, Twitter, it is too early in the game to evaluate his gamesmanship. I am not an enthusiast re Twitter (I do have an account from back in the day each character was counted.)
In an article on Politico, there is this opinion:
“The president has rarely found broad support when voters are polled on his use of Twitter. In a recent POLITICO/Morning Consult poll, 70 percent of respondents said Trump uses the social media platform more than he should. Another 46 percent said his Twitter use harms his shot at reelection.
Publicly, Trump’s allies argue that the president’s tweets helps him evade media spin. Trump employs Twitter “to speak directly to the American people without the filter of corporate media and poll-tested talking points,” said Kelly Sadler, spokeswoman for the pro-Trump super PAC America First Action, in a text to POLITICO.
And his latest remarks, she argued, merely highlighted how “The socialist wing of the Democratic party routinely criticizes America,” she said, adding, “the toxic attitudes and policies these socialists are promoting are dangerous and will be rejected by voters.”

When you write stuff like this, where you seem to be giving tacit approval to Trump's racism, please don't get upset when people assume things about you that you find insulting.  It should be really easy to admit that the president crossed a very different line this weekend and put his own racist thoughts prominently on display.  The fact that you are considering whether it was a bit of effective "gamesmanship" says a lot about you.
I can't read people's minds, so I try to limit myself to describing behavior.  And Trump's behavior over the past few days is clearly racism on display.  The "gamesmanship" appears to be an attempt to curry favor with white supremacists.  I'll leave it to you to figure out what your response to it says about you.

 In a perfect world, DJT's tweet should instead be about getting people to discuss their different POVs.  IMHO. we need as many people providing as many POVs as possible.  So that all of us can engage with those with whom we disagree (without such engagement, it is difficult for us to understand the other person's POV).  IOW we need more speech about ideas and policies (not more ad hominem attacks).  DJT's "go-back" twitter increases polarization in US and makes it more difficult for all of us to engage (in constructive dialogue) with those persons with whom we disagree.

proeasdf said:
 In a perfect world, DJT's tweet should instead be about getting people to discuss their different POVs.  IMHO. we need as many people providing as many POVs as possible.  So that all of us can engage with those with whom we disagree (without such engagement, it is difficult for us to understand the other person's POV).  IOW we need more speech about ideas and policies (not more ad hominem attacks).  DJT's "go-back" twitter increases polarization in US and makes it more difficult for all of us to engage (in constructive dialogue) with those persons with whom we disagree.

 yes. It's all that and worse. It's polarizing because it's a direct appeal to the worst of the worst in our country. 

drummerboy said:
The gamesmanship had more to do with changing the subject from Acosta/Epstein than anything else. At which he won.

 for now. 

The Epstein case isn't going away any time soon.  But he can count on Fox News making it only about Epstein and Bill Clinton.  Their audience won't even know about Acosta and they'll think Trump never even met Epstein. 

There is no socialist wing of the Democratic Party.

mtierney said:
I believe that people across the globe  “scolding” our President won’t accomplish anything — he gets enough scoldings right here at home! And, of course, from MOL.


As this is the first POTUS who has used an online communication tool, Twitter, it is too early in the game to evaluate his gamesmanship. I am not an enthusiast re Twitter (I do have an account from back in the day each character was counted.)
In an article on Politico, there is this opinion:
“The president has rarely found broad support when voters are polled on his use of Twitter. In a recent POLITICO/Morning Consult poll, 70 percent of respondents said Trump uses the social media platform more than he should. Another 46 percent said his Twitter use harms his shot at reelection.
Publicly, Trump’s allies argue that the president’s tweets helps him evade media spin. Trump employs Twitter “to speak directly to the American people without the filter of corporate media and poll-tested talking points,” said Kelly Sadler, spokeswoman for the pro-Trump super PAC America First Action, in a text to POLITICO.
And his latest remarks, she argued, merely highlighted how “The socialist wing of the Democratic party routinely criticizes America,” she said, adding, “the toxic attitudes and policies these socialists are promoting are dangerous and will be rejected by voters.”

 It is such a cop-out and deflection to critique the medium (Twitter) and Trump's use of the medium rather than what Trump says on the medium.

A friend of mine who's a Trump guy does this -- says oh yeah I wish he'd tweet less, or something lame like that in response to Trump's divisiveness, pettiness and racism via Twitter.

Trump said a long time ago that he uses Twitter to bypass the media -- ok great, so twitter is his communication tool. Just like a podium and microphone were the communication tools of previous presidents.

So critiquing the medium is like if a previous president had said something abhorrent at the podium, you'd be like oh well, I'm not sure about that podium, maybe the angle is bad or the lighting is bad or the mic is scratchy, maybe he shouldn't be behind the podium so much. Oh did he say something abhorrent?  Well you know, that dang podium... 

ridski said:
There is no socialist wing of the Democratic Party.

 maybe there should be.  Three-quarters of Democrats and half of independents say they would vote for a Socialist for POTUS. Even one in five Republicans would.

Actually, mtierney, others have had Twitter accounts; he's only the first to almost solely use Twitter and to use it 'unfiltered' i.e. unedited for grammar, spelling, factual accuracy and sense. In other words, it's like reading his diary and it's not flattering nor impressive.

When I wrote my earlier post it wasn't to point out that non-Americans were critical ('scolding'), rather it was to point out that it's bad for for business - tarnishing Brand USA. Given he's always bragging about his business genius, and how great his actions are for the US economy, you'd think he'd want to watch this aspect really carefully. 

As some economists pointed out today, in an international conference, there's more than few reasons why allies and trading partners like us are turning instead towards China and Europe...

ml1 said:

ridski said:
There is no socialist wing of the Democratic Party.

 maybe there should be.  Three-quarters of Democrats and half of independents say they would vote for a Socialist for POTUS. Even one in five Republicans would.

 The only group with an absolute ceiling of <50%, and the only group to not rise since 2015? Doesn't seem like a growth area.

Smedley said:
 The only group with an absolute ceiling of <50%, and the only group to not rise since 2015? Doesn't seem like a growth area.

I was being facetious.  But the term "socialist wing" probably doesn't carry quite the amount of weight as a slur that Kelly Sadler thinks it does. 

joanne said:
Actually, mtierney, others have had Twitter accounts; he's only the first to almost solely use Twitter and to use it 'unfiltered' i.e. unedited for grammar, spelling, factual accuracy and sense. In other words, it's like reading his diary and it's not flattering nor impressive.
When I wrote my earlier post it wasn't to point out that non-Americans were critical ('scolding'), rather it was to point out that it's bad for for business - tarnishing Brand USA. Given he's always bragging about his business genius, and how great his actions are for the US economy, you'd think he'd want to watch this aspect really carefully. 
As some economists pointed out today, in an international conference, there's more than few reasons why allies and trading partners like us are turning instead towards China and Europe...

Trump doesn't care.  For him, it's good politics.  It's good for his OWN brand among his base.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/15/us/colorado-child-abuse-hotline-email.html

Hundreds of Thousands of families are suffering at our borders, and instantaneous relief is expected and demanded. No excuses for process. Yet, within our country, Colorado and other states can’t seem to get it right, either!

Excuse the vulgarity.  

mtierney said:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/15/us/colorado-child-abuse-hotline-email.html


Hundreds of Thousands of families are suffering at our borders, and instantaneous relief is expected and demanded. No excuses for process. Yet, within our country, Colorado and other states can’t seem to get it right, either!


Excuse the vulgarity.  

I have no problem with the word "piss."  But I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that such a word bothers you more than the president's racist tweets.

The difference between what's reported in your link and what's happening at the border is that the at the state level people were trying to do the right thing and either made mistakes, or were too overwhelmed and under resourced to do the jobs properly.

By contrast, the Trump administration is purposely creating a humanitarian crisis by a process they implemented called "metering."  They are deliberately bottlenecking the asylum process in order to cause misery as a deterrent.  A deterrent to people who are following a completely legal process for entry in to this country I might add.

The US Is Making a Mockery of Its Asylum Obligations

There’s vulgarity here that has nothing to do with feathers. 

ml1 said:

joanne said:
Actually, mtierney, others have had Twitter accounts; he's only the first to almost solely use Twitter and to use it 'unfiltered' i.e. unedited for grammar, spelling, factual accuracy and sense. In other words, it's like reading his diary and it's not flattering nor impressive.
When I wrote my earlier post it wasn't to point out that non-Americans were critical ('scolding'), rather it was to point out that it's bad for for business - tarnishing Brand USA. Given he's always bragging about his business genius, and how great his actions are for the US economy, you'd think he'd want to watch this aspect really carefully. 
As some economists pointed out today, in an international conference, there's more than few reasons why allies and trading partners like us are turning instead towards China and Europe...

Trump doesn't care.  For him, it's good politics.  It's good for his OWN brand among his base.

 My point being that the President of your nation should care about such things. That's what the person is elected to do. Especially a person whose major 'selling point' was 'I'm not a politician, I'm a recognised business leader and negotiator'.  (I know we're both saying the same things, from opposite perspectives)

joanne said:
 My point being that the President of your nation should care about such things. That's what the person is elected to do. Especially a person whose major 'selling point' was 'I'm not a politician, I'm a recognised business leader and negotiator'.  (I know we're both saying the same things, from opposite perspectives)

 turns out that wasn't the selling point. Turns out what a lot of people were buying into was the hatred of immigrants and the promise to treat them with cruelty. And he's working hard to deliver on that one. 

and 187 Republicans voted in support of Trump's clearly racist tweets.  How can any decent person continue to support a party that is so morally bankrupt?

The Democrats certainly are far from perfect, but every time you think the GOP has scraped the bottom, they find another lower level.

ml1 said:
and 187 Republicans voted in support of Trump's clearly racist tweets.  How can any decent person continue to support a party that is so morally bankrupt?

Those supporting the Republican party are not decent. What we see is what there is, moral bankruptcy. They like Trump's tweets.

Republican support for Trump rises after racially charged tweets: Reuters/Ipsos poll

Centrist Democrats who think moving the Democratic party to the center, more to the right, hoping to get centrist Republicans are on a fools errand.

meanwhile, on the West  Coast, there is this beyond the pale reality.....

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/16/us/ms13-la-murders-indictment.html