The 45th POTUS - Donald J. Trump

[philpritchard]

I bought a copy of The Art of The Deal. It shouldn't take long to get through because the font is big.

The biggest.

[BurtReynolds]

My stepdad had that book years ago and worshipped it. He was a royal sack of crap.

[dimejinky99]

'Come after me you shit gibbon!'

[Strat]

Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch told a US senator Wednesday that President Donald Trump's tweets about the judiciary are "demoralizing" and "disheartening."

In a meeting with Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Gorsuch, who's largely been silent since Trump nominated him last week, took exception to Trump calling a federal judge in Seattle a "so-called judge" after blocking the President's travel ban.

"He said very specifically that they were demoralizing and disheartening and he characterized them very specifically that way," Blumenthal said of Gorsuch. "I said they were more than disheartening and I said to him that he has an obligation to make his views clear to the American people, so they understand how abhorrent or unacceptable President Trump's attacks on the judiciary are."

Ron Bonjean, who is leading communications for Gorsuch during the confirmation process, confirmed Gorsuch called Trump's tweet about the "so-called judge" "disheartening" and "demoralizing" in his conversation with Blumenthal.

[BurtReynolds]

'Come after me you shit gibbon!'

[Strat]

'Come after me you shit gibbon!'

I had to look this up.

Awesome

http://www.phillyvoice.com/pennsylvania ... -s-gibbon/

[dimejinky99]

'Come after me you shit gibbon!'

I'm all for politics being a bit more parliamentary language/ bar fight and a lot less stuck up lifeless evil.

I laughed so hard at that guy saying 'shit gibbon' I didn't even get his name. Think he's a senator? I'll send him money just for that comment. It was gold.

[dimejinky99]

'Come after me you shit gibbon!'

I had to look this up.

Awesome

http://www.phillyvoice.com/pennsylvania ... -s-gibbon/

That's him!

Just brilliant. And exactly what's needed.

[doug rr]

haha..gibbon will be the most googled word this week

[pepperwhiteMFC]

I bought a copy of The Art of The Deal. It shouldn't take long to get through because the font is big.

The biggest.

The best. You're going to love this font.

[McParadigm]

haha..gibbon will be the most googled word this week

[doug rr]

haha..gibbon will be the most googled word this week

i'm just guessing that not everyone knows their primates

[Strat]

RIP Atlanta

Another high-profile Trump administration official has made statements about a terror attack that never occurred.

This time, it's Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Three times in one week, Spicer alluded to a terror attack in Atlanta by someone from overseas.
But the last high-profile terror attack in Atlanta was the Centennial Olympic Park bombing, 21 years ago. And that bombing was carried out by Eric Robert Rudolph, a radical right-wing terrorist from Florida -- not a foreign-inspired terrorist.

So what exactly did Spicer say about Atlanta?

The first time
Here's what Spicer told ABC's "This Week" on January 29 while defending the President's travel ban:
"What do we say to the family who loses somebody over a terroristic (sic) -- to whether it's Atlanta or San Bernardino or the Boston bomber? Those people, each of whom had gone out to a country and then come back," Spicer said.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/08/politics/ ... index.html

[Simple Torture]

RIP Atlanta

Too soon. Electro or Biff might read this thread.

[bune]

H.R.899 - To terminate the Department of Education
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-con ... e-bill/899

What the ever-loving fuck. Doesn't the sort of undermine the whole "education secretary" thing?

[McParadigm]

H.R.899 - To terminate the Department of Education
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-con ... e-bill/899

What the ever-loving fuck. Doesn't the sort of undermine the whole "education secretary" thing?

Surely even THEY wouldn't pass this, but then why introduce it at all?

[simple schoolboy]

H.R.899 - To terminate the Department of Education
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-con ... e-bill/899

What the ever-loving fuck. Doesn't the sort of undermine the whole "education secretary" thing?

Surely even THEY wouldn't pass this, but then why introduce it at all?

To further buttress the authors small 'l' libertarian bonafides? Political theater like so much else. You can't be surprised that some segment of Republicans do see the Department of Education as superfluous.

Prior to 1980-ish, education was the purview of the states. A crazy idea, I know.

[Electromatic]

RIP Atlanta

Too soon. Electro or Biff might read this thread.

Well, I was going to read it, but Turrorizm. It's just so violent and dangerous here in John Lewis' district, I don't feel comfortable taking time to read.

[McParadigm]

H.R.899 - To terminate the Department of Education
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-con ... e-bill/899

What the ever-loving fuck. Doesn't the sort of undermine the whole "education secretary" thing?

Surely even THEY wouldn't pass this, but then why introduce it at all?

To further buttress the authors small 'l' libertarian bonafides? Political theater like so much else. You can't be surprised that some segment of Republicans do see the Department of Education as superfluous.

Prior to 1980-ish, education was the purview of the states. A crazy idea, I know.

You had the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare from 53 onwards. Before that I believe it was a bureau. The major change in establishing the modern Dept was that it earned education a distinct cabinet position, and consolidated authority over some services previously overseen by other institutions or the states.

There are a lot of services the Department provides or guides, especially surrounding higher education, that simply didn't exist before and have been very positively impactful, but I think the best example of why this move is concerning is Special Education.

SPED laws have always been depended on federal funding. All public institutions receiving federal funds must provide etcetera. The All Handicapped Children law, in the 70's, was drastically incapable of achieving its goals precisely BECAUSE education was still primarily a state-level service. The government could provide 'broad statement' directives, and it did, but the states still had the right to interpret and establish what that meant for them individually. The result was an unnavigable web of state policies and laws that must have been hell for any parent moving across state lines. Some few states did their best, but most did everything they could to lower the cost of having a special education system at all. One state standard excluded from all services any child with a disability that involved "extreme emotional expressions." Several set conditions under which a fully mentally capable child with a severe physical handicap could be said to be "reasonably served" at one of the separate facilities, usually a reduced education facility for people with an IQ below...I forget what it was. New York simply declared that an IQ of 50 or below warranted no education of any kind, ever, full stop.

Special education in the time of state-based education systems were so catastrophically underdone that special education spending and legal expenses represent more than 2/3rds of the increase in education costs in the US, from 1980 to 2009.

The fact of the matter is that educating special needs students is terribly expensive, and many poorer states rely on the Feds to pay for it. Even if you continue to fund special education at the federal level, while still dismantling the department, those states will not be able to provide the same level of service without spending more, because they will be taking on additional oversight and services related to Special Education delivery and auditing.

And this isn't even taking into account certain drastic changes (i.e. Autism services) since that time, or the compounding mess of tossing a voucher system into the game.

[Strat]

https://thinkprogress.org/kellyanne-con ... .4s2igesgr