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The post-speech people are talking to Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) from the Finger Lakes region, which I call something close to home. Asked about how Trump can restart industry and create all the new jobs we need, and the $1 trillion infrastructure bit, Rep. Collins was stuck with tariffs and...

It’s hard to know how the speech worked.  It’ll probably be well received by his base, since he didn’t trip over his tongue, and even waxed poetic at the end. At least as poetic as you can be talking about immigrants as “vicious, murdering criminals”, as Rachael Maddow characterized it....

Trump Talks about strongly supporting NATO.  And then swears that money is starting to pour in from our partners. He conflates that money with respect from our partners, as if they are the same thing. He talks about respect as measured by the money our partners provide. NATO payments have...

Oh, Jeez. He introduces a widow of “a warrior and a hero, battling against terrorism, and securing our nation.” It’s Chief Petty Officer William “Ryan” Owens, the Special  Forces guy who died on the Seal Team 6 raid in Yemen. You remember? That raid that Trump authorized over dinner, and...

“We must break the cycle of violence.”  The murder rate is growing, he almost says. “This is not acceptable.” Every American child should be able to grow up in a safe community, to attend a safe school, and to have access to a high paying job. But to create this...

He hits his infrastructure bill. One Trillion Dollars! So Doctor Evil. Then he moved one. “I call on our people to repeal and replace Obamacare!” So much for being hard to do.  It’ll all be better, cheaper, faster, without inconveniencing anyone.  Good luck there. But it’s not like he’ll be...

Not quite live-streaming here, but I’ve got a DVR, I’ve got a really strong drink, and I’m watching damn Trump. First, he’s reading from the teleprompter, not off the cuff.  Not yet.  Is it wrong to be disappointed? Trump started with a pretty good unity message. I’m sure someone wrote...

I know it’s hard to get upset with Republican hypocrisy, but why is it, I wonder, that the GOP is so set against free trade, almost across the board? If a question comes up, they dependably support monopolies, oligopolies, and any carefully protected and entrenched industry. There’s no industrial protection...

Wilbur Ross is, among other roles, the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Cyprus PCL, and the bank’s majority shareholder. The Bank of Cyprus PCL is a murky, closed back that is reputed to be a favorite of Russian oligarchs. Since the second largest shareholder...

Listening to Rep. Tom Cotton (R-OK) talk on Meet The Press is pretty frightening. Chuck Todd asked Rep. Tom Cotton whether he’d been asked to speak to the press. He said ‘no’, but added: SEN. TOM COTTON: Chuck, I generally try to refrain from much comment about what’s happening in...

Pay attention to language. It matters. Trump remains outraged about how information is leaked to the press and the public, but in his mind, the ‘leaks’ are the problem, giving us the classic quote: “The leaks are real, the news is fake”. Trump, Friday at CPAC: “We are fighting the...

Trump ordered DHS’s Intelligence arm to investigate the risks from the seven countries in Trump’s Muslim Travel Ban. That investigation would, he announced ahead of the actual investigation, prove that his immigration ban was really just and great, and the claims to the contrary were Fake News! The DHS, unsurprisingly,...

Trump does enjoy squalling about the mean, nasty, unfriendly, uncomplimentary major news sources, and now they keep talking about ugly stuff. You know, the actions the White House has actually taken? This morning, at CPAC, Trump reiterated his call that the news companies are “The enemy of the people!”  (Another...