This will be in lieu of Freak Out Friday this week.
8:48: We’ve decided to tune in to CNN for the coverage.
8:52: Kathleen is going to be monitoring the NYT for fact checking, and as she brings me up to speed with lies I will relay them to you.
8:55: Well, all of Trump’s idiot conservative justices from the SCOTUS walked in. God, I hate Kavanaugh.
9:03: Good Christ. He looks even more orange than usual. What the hëll are they slathering on his skin. And I’m not sure if I’m imagining it, but does the applause sound far less thunderous than it usually does? I have a strong suspicion that a lot of them aren’t clapping.
9:06: Wow. What a sea of white. It’s a solidarity among women in honor of Suffragettes.
9:08: Yeah. Sure you’re ready to work with Democrats. Yes, we do hope that the two parties will govern together, but considering he already stated a previous draft went too soft on Dems, it’s unlikely.
9:09: He sounds like he’s half asleep.
9:09: Yup. No applause from the Democrats. They’re just sitting there.
9:11: Okay, that’s impressive. D-Day vets. Probably some of the few left alive.
9:12: Uh,no, Neil Armstrong planned the flag, I’m pretty sure.
9:13: Buzz Aldrin was honored at a $600 a plate dinner at Mar-A-Largo. So Trump benefited from him.
9:14: Considering the middle class is howling they are getting screwed by taxes this year, that’s going to be quite a trick.
9:15: Mr. “I’m not signing this without my wall” wants compromise? Uh huh.
9:16: He’s setting it up so that he can blame the Democrats for everything. “Greatness.” “Continue American greatness.” As he uses his tweets to tear down everyone who disagrees with him.
9:17: No. The economy has been growing non-stop since 2008. Meanwhile the tax cut is killing growth.
9:18: Wrong. Latvia, Poland, China and Greece have better economies. Meanwhile the economy slowed in the last quarter of 2018 and even more in the first quarter of 2019.
9:19: False. Yes, more people are working, but that’s only because there are more people in the United States. And the tax cut was aimed at the top one percent. Meanwhile the elimination of the estate tax only applies to people with estates over $10 million.
9:21: No, they’re not returning.
9:22: Pretty sure Russia and Saudi Arabia produce more oil.
9:24: Under Obama we gained 900,000 manufacturing jobs. Under trump, half that.
9:25: Trump administration has slowed down the pace of adopting new rules and wants to roll back some, especially environmental protection.
9:28: They have not created 5.3 million new jobs. Meanwhile the creation of manufacturing jobs has dropped since the 1990s and early 2000s.
9:29: Yes. He did one thing right in pardoning her. Dozens of things wrong, one things right. A batter with a .005 average is hardly a quality hitter.
9:30: Okay, turns out we did pass Russia and Saudi Arabia in oil.
9:32: Here we go.
9:33: Jesus, MORE troops? Christ.
9:34: As Trump brought up the caravans, Pelosi raised a hand to silence the booing from the Democrats.
9:35: Border crossings are not an urgent national crisis. they have been declining for the past two decades. It’s the separating of kids from their parents that is causing problems.
9:35: Did he just say compassion for immigrants is CRUEL? Congratulations, it’s officially 1984.
9:37: Yes. Drugs coming through legal ports of entry, you idiot. And no, MOST drugs do NOT come through the southern border.
9:39: Jesus. A shooting from an illegal alien. How terrible. Now let’s bring in people whose families were shot in Pittsburgh, and Las Vegas, and Connecticut, etc., by good old Americans.
9:41: And if Elvin’s family were trying to come in now, Trump’s policies would likely do everything they could to keep them out. And what is his obsession with sex crimes.
9:43: That’s a lie. They didn’t vote for a massive wall covering 2000 miles.
9:48: Yes, and the vast majority of the women are Democrats.
9:50: Crime in El Paso actually dropped over 30 percent before the wall was even constructed.
9:52: Trump’s speech thus far has covered seven pages. There’s another seven pages to go.
9:52: The problem is that auto workers have been laid off because we’re not getting in the steel from China.
9:54: I agree, except that’s called the Affordable Care Act, which he’s been trying to kill.
9:55: Is anybody reading this? I’ve gotten no comments.
9:56: They tried this before. It didn’t work.
9:59: Good for Grace.
10:01: School choice, so that religious and private schools can siphon off money from the public schools.
10:02: Oh my fûçkìņg God. He’s bought into the lies and trash about the new abortion laws. Late term abortion is NOT HAPPENING. It is NOT A THING. This is the beginning of the end of Roe v. Wade.
10:06: And so Trump decided to give Putin exactly what he wanted: the demolition of the treaty that Reagan put together so that the Russians can do whatever the hëll they want.
10:07: Lies. Nuclear testing has not stopped, and missiles have launched. Even his own people aren’t buying into his assertion that we’d be at war with North Korea right now.
10:08: Considering all the name calling he hurled at Kim Jong-un, he doesn’t really get to boast about great relations with them.
10:10: Thereby exacerbating relations between Israelis and Arabs.
10:15: Isis, if Trump clears out the troops, could easily resurge and take back all the territory they’ve lost.
10:18: Okay, NOW he brings up the Pittsburgh shootings.
10:21: Okay, that’s a pretty good story. Of course it’s Judah’s story, not Trumps, but still…
10:26: Yes that’s right. We used to face down evil empires. Which is why it’s so disturbing that Trump adores the dictator of modern day evil empires.
10:27: If by thrilling achievements he’s referring to his impeachment, I’m on board with that.
10:28: He’s definitely winding down.
10:29: It’s just hilarious to hear the most divisive president in our history talking about how we have to work together.
10:29: I mean, for all that he speaks about unity, as of tomorrow he’ll be back to tweeting divisive messages lambasting anyone he dislikes. It’s nice words, but he won’t live up to them.
I was going to live blog the Democrats, but screw that. Ninety minutes of this is enough.
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I am
I’m watching, but considering that I agree with what you’re saying, I don’t have much to say. At least anything that is printable about Trump.
I am, because 1) I can’t bring myself to watch it, 2) this is far more entertaining, and 3) I vicariously share your pain
Reading from outside the US. Was wondering about the comments myself.
OF course, it’s only the white men applauding.
Oh man, did you see that response from the newly-elected congresswomen after Trump brought up creating jobs? The high point of the evening!
Good heaven’s. Did I just hear the beginning of a round of jingoism coming from his mouth?
How is this thing still going? Not you, PAD – is everyone asleep yet?
OK. Now for the Democratic response.
I found “Flash” REALLY boring last night (please have Sherloque’s five ex-wives gang up and kill him off, PLEASE) and ended up going to bed before the speech. Unless Trump did an LBJ and announced he was not going to run for re-election, just not interested.
I apparently can’t escape hearing snippets of the State of the Union tonight.
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Caught a moment of Trump proudly lying about crime statistics in El Paso and the impact on them from building a wall before pitching this as why a wall is needed. And this is why reaching across the isle to find common ground with Trump and his supporters is dámņëd near impossible. Trump brazenly lies, Trump’s supporters repeat the lie, and then they all insist that you meet them halfway based on the falsehoods they’re presenting.
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Here are the facts:
https://www.factcheck.org/2019/01/trump-wrong-about-wall-effect-in-el-paso/
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El Paso has never been “one of the most dangerous cities in the country.” The city had the third lowest violent crime rate among 35 U.S. cities with a population over 500,000 in 2005, 2006 and 2007 – before construction of a 57-mile-long fence started in mid-2008.
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There was no “overnight” drop in violent crimes in El Paso after “a wall was put up.” In fact, the city’s violent crime rate increased 5.5 percent from 2007 to 2010 — the years before and after construction of the fence, which was completed in mid-2009.
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Along with the rest of the country, El Paso’s violent crime rate spiked in the early 1990s and has been trending downward ever since. The city’s violent crime rate dropped 62 percent from its peak in 1993 to 2007, a year before construction on the fence began.
To be fair, I remember the 2016 election, lying about crime statistics is at least on brand for him.
And people say he isn’t consistent.
I didn’t watch, so thank you, PAD for enduring and giving the updates. Twitter also says that Pelosi wins by the night by inventing the ‘fûçk you’ clap…
I could see where he obviously didn’t write this stuff. The joking was so awkward. I stopped watching at about 9:50pm when my dear husband got home from work and we watched the recently recorded episode of The Orville instead. Muuuuuch better than watching trump lie more. Thanks for the play by play, Peter. It helped me to endure what I did watch!
Peter David: “He’s bought into the lies and trash about the new abortion laws.”
Luigi Novi: He doesn’t need to buy into it. He only needs to appear to, in order to pander to the evangelicals, 80% of whom voted for him.
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Peter David: “It’s just hilarious to hear the most divisive president in our history talking about how we have to work together.”
Luigi Novi: And just a few hours after he trashed a bunch of different fellow political figures at a broadcasters luncheon, from Joe Biden to even (again) the late John McCain.
And now this :
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-supporter-attacks-bbc-cameraman_us_5c629078e4b0ffd8515dd234?guccounter=1
And the worst thing is, it’s spreading. For weeks now, one of the favourite targets of the “Gilets Jaunes” here have been journalists. I don’t know what this world is coming to, but I don’t like it. Not one bit.