THE TRUMP DISASTER AREA

Donald Trump Calls Out 'Publicity Seeking' Lindsey Graham Over Charlottesville Jabs.

President Donald Trump said that Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina misrepresented his comments and called the senator "publicity seeking" in a series of tweets Thursday morning.

"Publicity seeking Lindsey Graham falsely stated that I said there is moral equivalency between the KKK, neo-Nazis & white supremacists and people like Ms. Heyer. Such a disgusting lie. He just can't forget his election trouncing. The people of South Carolina will remember! The public is learning (even more so) how dishonest the Fake News is. They totally misrepresent what I say about hate, bigotry etc. Shame!" the President tweeted at around 6:30 a.m. Thursday.

Graham released a statement saying he does not endorse parts of Trump's response to the violence that broke out in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday when a car rammed into a crowd of counter-protesters at a white supremacist rally, which killed one and injured 19.

Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump
Publicity seeking Lindsey Graham falsely stated that I said there is moral equivalency between the KKK, neo-Nazis & white supremacists......

Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump
...and people like Ms. Heyer. Such a disgusting lie. He just can't forget his election trouncing.The people of South Carolina will remember!

Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump
The public is learning (even more so) how dishonest the Fake News is. They totally misrepresent what I say about hate, bigotry etc. Shame!

"Your words are dividing Americans, not healing them," Graham, who ran against Trump for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, said in a statement.

Graham added that Trump "took a step backward by again suggesting there is a moral equivalency between the white supremacist neo-Nazis and KKK members who attended the Charlottesville rally and people like Ms. Heyer."

Trump was criticized for his response to the events in Charlottesville when he said there is blame "on both sides."
http://time.com/4904344/donald-trump-lindsey-graham-twitter-charlottesville/

And on and on the trainwreck rolls.....

My son, reading all this, wondered which is worse, an ancestor who kept slaves, a normal occurance at the time, or a grandfather whose morals were definitely murky and whose family fortune may well have been funded by immoral actions.   He enlosed the following:

Donald Trump's grandfather got rich in the Yukon with hotels known for 'female companionship'.
https://www.adn.com/commentary/article/donald-trumps-grandfather-struck-it-rich-klondike-how/2015/09/13/

Donald Trump's grandfather ran Canadian brothel during gold rush, author says.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/trump-canada-yukon-1.3235254

LL

Good questions, LL. It goes without saying that human bondage - whether historic or contemporary - is just plain evil, full stop.

But - go back to the US Civil War. Lincoln the supposed Great Emancipator was contemplating deporting the freed slaves back to Africa before his unfortunate trip to the theatre. Half-starved young Irishmen came off the boats in New York harbour and were press-ganged into the US Army. New Yorkers rioted and lynched Black Americans when threatened with being drafted.

It is utterly wrong to pretend that one 'side' was exclusively, uniquely evil and the other 'side' uniquely moral and upstanding.

Donald Trump Cares About Irreplaceable Objects, Except When He Doesn't.

President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Thursday to condemn the removal of “beautiful statues and monuments” around the United States.

His remark came just days after a group of white supremacists protested the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, Virginia. The resulting tension between neo-Nazis and counter-protesters in the city’s Emancipation Park came to a head when 20-year-old James Fields Jr. drove into a crowd, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer with his car.

Since the weekend’s disturbing events, city officials in Baltimore, Maryland, have quietly removed four of its Confederate monuments in the middle of the night. Demonstrators tore down a similar statue in Durham, North Carolina.

“The beauty that is being taken out of our cities, towns and parks will be greatly missed,” Trump said in response, “and never able to be comparably replaced!”

Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump
Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments. You.....

Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump
...can't change history, but you can learn from it. Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson - who's next, Washington, Jefferson? So foolish! Also...

Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump
...the beauty that is being taken out of our cities, towns and parks will be greatly missed and never able to be comparably replaced!

More at link.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-cares-irreplaceable-objects-181930216.html

I didn't realise that Trump Tower stood where Bonwit Teller used to be. It was a grand store, whereas Trump FollyTower looks like the work of a lower class wannabe high flyer. LL

Donald Trump responds to Barcelona attack by reviving myth of US general dipping bullets in pigs' blood to kill Muslims.

Donald Trump has responded to the Barcelona terror attack with a suggestion that Islamist terrorists should be executed with bullets soaked in pig's blood - reviving the story of an early 1900s event which most scholars believe never actually happened.

Mr Trump initially tweeted his condemnation of the attack, offering US help to Spain if it was sought.

Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump
The United States condemns the terror attack in Barcelona, Spain, and will do whatever is necessary to help. Be tough & strong, we love you!

He then followed it up with a second tweet, praising a discredited story of a 20th-century atrocity.

Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump
Study what General Pershing of the United States did to terrorists when caught. There was no more Radical Islamic Terror for 35 years!

The tweet harked back to Mr Trump's speech on the campaign trail in February 2016. He referenced the supposed actions of General Pershing, and suggested them as a blueprint for how terrorists should be treated.

The only problem was that no historians believe the US general did what Mr Trump claimed.

The president said that, during the Moro rebellion in the Philippines between 1901 and 1913, General John Pershing executed Muslim insurgents with bullets dipped in pig's blood.

Critics called it apocryphal, misleading or outright false.

The fact-checking website Snopes considered the evidence and called it a "legend", while Politifact rated it "pants on fire".

While historians agree that there were indeed efforts to offend Muslim Filipinos, there was no evidence for the pigs' blood on bullets story.

Politifact reported: "We decided to check with historians of the period to see what they thought of the story. We heard back from eight scholars. Most expressed skepticism that the specific story ever happened, and many added that Trump’s takeaway is wrong-headed."

They pointed out, that, in addition to the shootings likely never having happened, Mr Trump's conclusion that it resulted in an era of peace was also misguided.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ap-explains-trump-pershing-terrorism-primer-205506112.html

After the article in the above there is a piece on the Pershing story which explains the whole myth.   LL

Donald Trump's approval rating sinks to new low, latest poll finds.

Donald Trump’s approval rating has hit a new low and most Americans have an unfavourable view of him, according to a new poll.

Around 55 per cent of those surveyed said they disapproved of the manner in which Mr Trump is leading the country with just 35 per cent expressing positivity about his performance, the poll by analysts Marist found.

The clear majority of Americans - 60 per cent - had an unfavourable impression of Mr Trump generally, while just 34 per cent viewed him favourably. It marks the highest negative poll rating Mr Trump has received by Marist during his tenure as president so far.

Meanwhile around 79 per cent of people who identified as strong Republicans said they had a positive view of the president’s performance, down from 91 per cent in June.

More than six in ten Americans, including a notable proportion of Republicans, thought Mr Trump had fallen short on the global stage.

Dr Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute, said the poll indicated Mr Trump needed to acknowledge a “cautionary tale” about the dip in his support.

“Since his numbers among Democrats and independents are weak, a crack among his most ardent Republican supporters is something Trump can ill afford,” he said. “They are sending a clear message to the president about his role internationally.”

Meanwhile around 79 per cent of people who identified as strong Republicans said they had a positive view of the president’s performance, down from 91 per cent in June.

More than six in ten Americans, including a notable proportion of Republicans, thought Mr Trump had fallen short on the global stage.

Dr Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute, said the poll indicated Mr Trump needed to acknowledge a “cautionary tale” about the dip in his support.

“Since his numbers among Democrats and independents are weak, a crack among his most ardent Republican supporters is something Trump can ill afford,” he said. “They are sending a clear message to the president about his role internationally.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-apos-approval-rating-095626766.html

The comments are worth a read. LL

How Donald Trump's plan to create a foreign policy revolution fell apart.

Donald Trump breaks off from his vacation today to meet his national security team at Camp David. Yet, a half year on from his inauguration as president, his plans to deliver a dramatic new foreign policy direction are in tatters.

When Trump moved into the White House, he promised an isolationist, “America first” platform that could have reshaped US foreign and trade policy more radically than at any point since the beginning of the Cold War. That was the time that Harry Truman helped build a consensus around US global international leadership

Trump has indeed made moves to shift away from this post-war orthodoxy – pursued by both Democratic and Republican presidents – such as building US-led alliances to expand the liberal democratic order. He has launched a review of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); scrapped US involvement in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal with key allies in Asia-Pacific and the Americas and withdrawn from the Paris climate change deal agreed by over 170 nations.    More at link.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/donald-trump-apos-plan-create-114300759.html
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Trump has an interesting history with the Civil War.

President Donald Trump's Thursday morning tweets about how the removal of Confederate monuments is ripping apart the "culture of our great country" were just his latest in a growing list of curious Civil War statements and beliefs.

Trump has prodded at the Civil War in ways recent past presidents haven't dared to come close to, whether it's through his staunch defense of the monuments, his asking why the Civil War even took place, or his apparent belief that he could've made a deal to avoid the outbreak of war between the Union and the Confederacy.

That prodding was at a high point during an interview with the journalist Salena Zito earlier this year.

It was in that Sirius XM interview that Trump asked why the war even took place.

"People don't realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it, why?" Trump said. "People don't ask that question, but why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?"     More at link.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-interesting-history-civil-war-120700083.html
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Trump's Quick Response To Barcelona Attack Makes His Charlottesville Reactions Look Even Worse.

He advises people to “study what General Pershing of the United States did to terrorists when caught’’ — a story with no basis in fact.

President Donald Trump issued an explosive statement against “Radical Islamic Terror” just hours after an attack in Barcelona, Spain, on Thursday left at least 13 people dead.

Earlier this week, Trump said he needed to get all “the facts” before singling out hate groups for condemnation after violent protests sparked by a white supremacist rally left one woman dead in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday.
More at link.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-barcelona_us_5995bcd4e4b0d0d2cc851561

Newsweek published this story under the headline of “Citizen Trump” on September 28, 1987. Newsweek is republishing the story.

Donald Trump Has Never Had Any Friends, Likes to Speak to His Family Every Day.

Donald Trump, America's brash billionaire, wants the land Harry Stein's restaurant-equipment store stands on, and he wants it badly. It's behind Trump Plaza, a hotel and casino in Atlantic City that on a good day drops roughly $ 2 million into its owner's pocket. Where the Steins' store now stands, Trump wants to build a huge wall and turn it into a waterfall—a $ 4 million touch. If he can buy out Harry Stein and knock down the building, the waterfall will look better. The Stein family has been in business in Atlantic City for more than 90 years; Harry and his son Bill sit alone with Trump in a windowless casino office. No lawyers, no bankers, no aides.
Full article at link.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/donald-trump-never-had-friends-140042384.html
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Trump is a 'victim' and is being 'bullied,' says a GOP megadonor and veteran money manager.

Americans are flocking to President Trump because they hate seeing people bullied, says conservative philanthropist Foster Friess.

The uproar over Trump's response to the deadly violence is "politically inspired" by critics, he says.

President Donald Trump was correct to point to "bad people" among the protesters demonstrating against the white nationalists in Virginia, said Foster Friess, founder of the boutique investment group Friess Associates.

"I love Donald Trump," he told CNBC on Friday. "He's become a victim. And he's being bullied. And that's why Americans are flocking to him, because they hate [seeing] people ... bullied." More at link.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/18/trump-is-a-victim-and-is-being-bullied-says-gop-megadonor.html
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Donald Trump: How to remove a US President from office.

Donald Trump has already tangled with more than half the Republicans on a Senate committee that would play a key role if he were impeached.

In series of tweets, Mr Trump called Senator Lindsey Graham "publicity seeking" and said he "just can't forget his election trouncing" in the 2016 presidential race. He also assailed Senator Jeff Flake, another Republican critic, as "a non-factor in the Senate," adding, "He's toxic." More at link.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-remove-us-president-125209722.html

Americans are flocking to President Trump because they hate seeing people bullied, says conservative philanthropist Foster Friess.

Er, right....does Friess have a drinking problem?

bb1 wrote:Americans are flocking to President Trump because they hate seeing people bullied, says conservative philanthropist Foster Friess.

Er, right....does  Friess have a drinking problem?

I don't know. LL

Strategist Steve Bannon leaves Trump's turbulent White House.

Steve Bannon, a forceful but divisive presence in President Donald Trump's White House, is leaving.

Trump accepted Bannon's resignation on Friday, ending a turbulent seven months for his chief strategist, the latest to depart from the president's administration in turmoil.

White House spokesman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Friday would be Bannon's last day on the job.

"We are grateful for his service and wish him the best," she said in a statement confirming reports of Bannon's departure.

A combative and unorthodox Republican, Bannon was a key adviser in Trump's general election campaign, but he has been a contentious presence in a White House divided by warring staff loyalties.

The former leader of conservative Breitbart News has pushed Trump to follow through on his campaign promises and was the man behind many of his most controversial efforts, including Trump's travel ban and decision to pull out of the Paris Climate agreement.

But Bannon repeatedly clashed with other top White House advisers and often ran afoul of the president himself.

Bannon offered his resignation to Trump on Aug. 7, according to one person close to the adviser.

The resignation was to go into effect a week later, Aug. 14, which was the one year anniversary of when he officially joined Trump's presidential campaign. It was then held back a few days after the violence in Charlottesville.

But Bannon had been on shaky ground for weeks, and his standing appeared in jeopardy when Trump's new chief of staff, John Kelly, embarked on a personnel review of West Wing staff. Kelly had indicated to aides that significant changes could be coming, according to an official familiar with Kelly's plans but not authorized to speak publicly.

The president had also repeatedly diminished Bannon's role in his campaign in recent remarks and refused to express confidence during an impromptu news conference Tuesday.

"He's a good person. He actually gets very unfair press in that regard," Trump said. "But we'll see what happens with Mr. Bannon."

The decision whether to drop Bannon was more than just a personnel matter. The media guru is viewed in some circles as Trump's connection to his base and the protector of Trump's disruptive, conservative agenda.

"It's a tough pill to swallow if Steve is gone because you have a Republican West Wing that's filled with generals and Democrats," said former campaign strategist Sam Nunberg, shortly before the news of Bannon's departure broke. "It would feel like the twilight zone."

http://www.beaches.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/new-york-times-trump-has-decided-to-push-steve-bannon-out/2334325

Donald Trump Wanted Steve Bannon ‘Gone.’ Now, Bannonites Threaten ‘Revolution’.

The chief strategist was increasingly on an island inside the White House. Now that he's out, he could cause even more damage.

He’s out.

Late this week, President Donald Trump began telling senior staffers and outside confidants that he intended to sack Steve Bannon, the nationalist firebrand and White House chief strategist who helped steer Trump’s chaotic presidential campaign to victory.

Two Trump administration officials told The Daily Beast on Friday that the president has said that he wanted Bannon “out” and “gone” this week.

On Friday afternoon, they made it official, with chief of staff John Kelly informing Bannon of the change in direction.

Bannon did not respond to requests for comment on this story, but multiple reporters tweeted that Bannon had told them he had submitted his resignation on August 7, with an effective date of August 14 - exactly one year to the date of him joining Trump on the 2016 campaign. Per the Team Bannon narrative, he stayed on through the week to help with the chaos in the wake of the white-supremacist gathering in Charlottesville, Virginia.

“White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Steve Bannon have mutually agreed today would be Steve's last day,” read a statement from White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders. “We are grateful for his service and wish him the best.”

The confusing, competing narratives over the timing of Bannon’s departure is an appropriate coda to White House stint that has been increasingly chaotic for months. Bannon has butted heads for months with various senior administration officials, including Trump family member Jared Kushner. If he knew he was leaving the White House early in August, he wasn’t telling close allies and associates.

As The Daily Beast reported on Sunday, Bannon had privately told friends—well after August 7—that Trump and Kelly weren’t itching to fire him; indeed, even supporting him. According to multiple sources close to Bannon and the president, Bannon has described Trump in conversations as “one of us” and a fellow right-wing “nationalist,” who still wanted a him working in his West Wing, despite external and internal pressures.

As we now know, Bannon would not last the month.

Towards the end of his tenure, even Bannon’s fellow anti-immigration hardliners and nationalist fellow travelers in the White House—such as senior policy adviser Stephen Miller and presidential assistant and Bannon’s former Breitbart employee Julia Hahn - had started to distance themselves from him. According to multiple White House sources, they vented about Bannon behind his back, viewing him as a leaker, as a shameless self-promoter, and as a “glory hog,” as another senior official characterized their sentiments.

“They’ve turned on Steve,” as one White House official told The Daily Beast, request anonymity in order to speak freely about internal drama.

Bannon has consistently denied allegations of engineering aggressive leak and smear campaigns against his Trump administration enemies. Now, however, he s plotting his next moves.

“Bannon had one hell of a run…” influential conservative figure and commentator Matt Drudge tweeted, shortly before Bannon’s exit was made official.

Bannon has privately mused about returning to the pro-Trump website Breitbart, which he ran before joining the Trump campaign, or even attempting to launch the vast, Fox-News-rivalling media empire that he had envisioned with Roger Ailes shortly before Ailes died. In May, one source close to President Trump’s now former chief strategist described Bannon’s unrealized dream project as “Bannon TV.”

While there are several West Wing officials who are cheering Bannon’s demise, others fear the kind of damage he could do now that he’s exiled from the administration. “There are some who are genuinely worried about what he could do from the outside, if thrown out,” a White House official conceded earlier this week.

Bannon continues to wield influence among pro-Trump media and the heavy-hitter Republican donors the Mercer family. And in the immediate aftermath of his departure, a top Breitbart editor signalled that the site would wage “#WAR” on the Trump administration.

“If he leaves, it’s French Revolution,” one source close to Bannon told The Daily Beast, minutes before news of Bannon’s exit broke on Friday afternoon.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-wanted-steve-bannon-gone-now-bannonites-threaten-revolution?source=twitter&via=mobile

Well, what to say to this? This isn't 'government', this is sheer anarchy, and I don't see it ending well at all.

bb1 wrote:Well, what to say to this? This isn't 'government', this is sheer anarchy, and I don't see it ending well at all.

Bannon has rejoined Brietbart .... LL

I can see the US tearing itself apart in the coming months, LL. Between the chaos at the top, and identity politics setting American against American,  the country simply doesn't look stable.

And Americans needn't kid themselves that they are somehow immune to the sort of tribal unrest that has laid other nations low - often with Washington stirring up trouble in the background. Chickens, home to roost.

Also, IMO, those shouting about there being 'no place for fascism in America' need to take the blinkers off - ever since WW2, Washington has actively worked with real, genuine Nazis when it suited.

Sure, they made all these feel-good government films to assure Americans they were somehow different, morally superior, but the picture away from home was very different indeed.

Just who, exactly, do Americans think was involved with the CIA and all the Right-Wing death squads in South America?

Washington has been arming real, genuine murderous modern Nazis in Ukraine.

And just how do Americans think they managed to land a man on the Moon? Or have they wiped Operation Paperclip from their memories, or have they so little grasp of history that they simply don't know about it?

To be taking the moral high ground now these monsters are on their own streets is, IMO, is to be in denial of what the US government has been doing to sovereign states elsewhere in the world.

Oh, and demonstrators who wave the Hammer and Sickle are not one bit better than those who wave the foul swaztika - two sides of the same evil, murderous coin. America needs to take a long, hard look at itself, before its too late, IMO.

Steve Bannon declares 'Trump presidency is over' after being ousted as White House chief strategist.

A defiant Steve Bannon declared the Trump presidency he had campaigned for was over as he vowed to carry on the fight after being ousted as the White House chief strategist.

Within hours of leaving his office,  Mr Bannon was back at Breitbart, the right wing website he ran, presiding over the evening news conference.  

In interviews he made it clear he was not going quietly as he rounded on those he held responsible for his departure.

“The Trump presidency that we fought for, and won, is over," he told the Weekly Standard, a right-wing newspaper   “We still have a huge movement, and we will make something of this Trump presidency," he continued.

"But that presidency is over. It’ll be something else. And there’ll be all kinds of fights, and there’ll be good days and bad days, but that presidency is over.”  

He added: “I feel jacked up. Now I’ve got my hands back on my weapons,” he added as he vowed “Bannon the barbarian” would crush the opposition.  

"There’s no doubt. I built a -----ng machine at Breitbart.  And now I’m about to go back, knowing what I know, and we’re about to rev that machine up. And rev it up we will do.”

His loyalty to Donald Trump remained undimmed.

“If there’s any confusion out there, let me clear it up: I’m leaving the White House and going to war for Trump against his opponents -- on Capitol Hill, in the media, and in corporate America,”  he told Bloomberg.  

Earlier Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House press secretary said Mr Bannon, 63,  had departed “by mutual agreement.”

The White House then issued a statement, saying that the decision was agreed by Mr Bannon and John Kelly, the chief of staff – a sign of Mr Kelly’s grappling to control the chaos, or perhaps simply to avoid Mr Trump having to put his name to the firing of the man who most connects him to his diehard supporters.

Joel Pollack, Breitbart's  editor at large, tweeted a one-word response to Mr Bannon’s departure: “War”.   More at link.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/steve-bannon-donald-trump-apos-182147039.html

bb1 wrote:

His loyalty to Donald Trump remained undimmed.

Oh, yeah, I believe that like I believe the earth is flat.    More like it's a neat setup. Outside the WH he can cause huge friction between Trumper and his associates with inflamatory articles in Breitbart attacking people ad infinitum.   How long, I wonder, before screams of "You're fired!!" echo round the Oval Office?   And I bet Banner has a real go at Jared Kushner.   Move over, I'll join you!!   LL  

Trump Phoenix rally to highlight feisty feud with senator.

When President Donald Trump takes the stage this week at a rally in Arizona, the state's junior senator will be nowhere to be seen. But Trump is likely to save some choice words for Sen. Jeff Flake.

The senator is currently in an escalating feud with the president — a spat that illustrates the upside-down world of Republican politics heading into the 2018 elections. Flake is a Republican incumbent who is beloved by many high-ranking party officials and he is trying to hold onto a seat that the party needs to keep control of Congress. Meanwhile, the president from his own party is actively campaigning against him and Flake is returning the punches.

The dynamic highlights the ongoing turmoil in the GOP over how to closely to align with a deeply unpopular president who still retains a devoted base of supporters — voters candidates like Flake will need to win.     More at link.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-phoenix-rally-highlight-feisty-131911444.html
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Donald Trump has less influence every day and politicians are 'already looking beyond him', former White House advisor says.

Donald Trump's influence is rapidly shrinking and politicians are "already looking beyond him", a former White House advisor has said.

Pippa Malmgren, who served as a special assistant to former President George W Bush, said the US President was failing to turn his words into concrete action.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Ms Malmgren said Mr Trump was "less and less [influential] every day", adding "he says something and then nothing happens".

"In the political area, people are already looking beyond him," she said.

Ms Malmgren said Mr Trump did not know how to operate the US government which, she claimed, was leaving the door open for Vice President Mike Pence to wield his influence.

"The vice-president is effectively acting as the president in the sense of running the meetings, handling the day-to-day flow," she added.    More at link.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-less-influence-every-131058925.html
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Donald Trump Won't Attend Kennedy Center Honors Ceremony

"The president and first lady have decided not to participate to allow the honorees to celebrate without any political distraction," White House says.

Donald and Melania Trump announced Saturday that they would not attend this year's Kennedy Center Honors ceremony, which will honor LL Cool J, Lionel Richie, Gloria Estefan, TV producer Norman Lear and dancer-choreographer Carmen de Lavallade.

"Each year, the Kennedy Center honors the careers and achievements of artists who have helped shape cultural life in the United States with a weekend that includes celebrations and events," the White House said Saturday in a statement.

"The president and first lady have decided not to participate in this year's activities to allow the honorees to celebrate without any political distraction. First lady Melania Trump, along with her husband President Donald J. Trump, extend their sincerest congratulations and well wishes to all of this year's award recipients for their many accomplishments."    More at link.
ww.rollingstone.com/music/news/donald-trump-wont-attend-kennedy-center-honors-ceremony-w498559
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Donald Trump's presidency 'will be a failure' says Breitbart editor after Steve Bannon fired from White House.

Donald Trump's presidency following the dismissal of Steve Bannon, an editor at far-right outlet Breitbart has said.

Joel Pollak, a senior editor at large at Breitbart News predicts Mr Trump's presidency will lose direction and the backing of his supporters after the firing of the far-right figurehead in the White House.

Mr Pollak, who said his publication will be going to "war" with the White House following the announcement of Mr Bannon's departure, warned that unless the US President upheld his campaign pledges that were so vigorously defended by his chief strategist, "his presidency will be a failure".

Speaking to Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Pollak said: "If Trump veers away from the agenda that he campaigned on and the white board of promises that was hanging in Steve Bannon's office then he will lose his base and he wil lose his direction and his presidency will be a failure.    More at link.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-apos-presidency-apos-123116839.html

Donald Trump's influence is rapidly shrinking and politicians are "already looking beyond him", a former White House advisor has said.

Trump looks totally isolated, the lamest of lame ducks. I suspect it's just a matter of time before he's gone, though I shudder to think what happens next.

Boston hopes to keep peace at 'Free Speech Rally'.

In the wake of Charlottesville, all eyes are turning to Boston, which is scheduled to hold a “Free Speech Rally” on Saturday afternoon.

Just one week after the disastrous “Unite the Right” rally in Virginia that left one woman dead and dozens more injured – and just days after Boston’s Holocaust Memorial was smashed to pieces -- the City of Boston and Police Commissioner William Evans were preparing for possible confrontations at the “Free Speech Rally,” organized by the Boston Free Speech Coalition.

In order to keep the peace between conservative activists and leftist counter-protesters during a rally that could draw thousands of people to Boston Common, the city is deploying 500 police officers -- some in uniform, others undercover, Williams said. More at link.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/08/19/boston-hopes-to-keep-peace-at-free-speech-rally.html

Donald Trump Jr: US investigators 'examining President's son's meeting with Kremlin-linked lawyer'.

A team of special prosecutors appointed to examine the alleged link between Donald Trump’s election campaign and Moscow are reportedly focusing their efforts on the President’s son.

Donald Trump Jr met with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya in June 2016 during the campaign.

The prosecutors, led by Robert Mueller, a former director of the FBI, are now trying to find out Mr Trump Jr’s motives in attending the meeting, according to Buzzfeed News, which cited a source close to the investigation.

Ms Veselnitskaya is alleged to have links to the Russian government but has denied wielding any influence.

Establishing the purpose of the meeting is key to determining if it was illegal.

The prosecutors reportedly want to know what information Mr Trump Jr received at the meeting, which he attended along with Presidential aide Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort, former campaign manager.  

Music producer Rob Goldstone, who arranged the meeting, emailed Mr Trump Jr in June 2016.

He said Ms Veselnitskaya had "very high level and sensitive information" that concerned "Russia and its government's support for Mr Trump".

Mr Goldstone said it would “incriminate Hillary”.

Mr Trump Jr replied: “if it's what you say I love it”.

But he later claimed in June the meeting was a “short introductory” and received no information.

Receiving foreign help for a US presidential campaign is illegal.

Mr Trump Jr later said in a statement: “We primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago and was since ended by the Russian government, but it was not a campaign issue at the time and there was no follow up."

The 16-strong prosecution team has made no public comment about their investigations.

Mr Manafort, a political strategist with links to Ukraine, is reportedly under further scrutiny from the prosecutors. His property was searched by the FBI in July in relation to the investigation.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-jr-us-investigators-145507530.html

Boston’s ‘Free Speech’ Rally Goes Bust vs. 40,000 Protesters.

One organizer said he’s “definitely” not coming back soon after tens of thousands drowned out 50 people and him in a gazebo.

Hours after he had been escorted from Boston Common in a police van, one of the organizers of the “free speech” rally was still shaken up.

“I honestly thought I was going to die in there,” Steven said of the “paddy wagon” in which he and 16 others were escorted from a gazebo that hosted the “Boston Free Speech Rally.”

The Saturday afternoon event was billed as an event to advocate for First Amendment rights, but in wake of the violent Charlottesville meeting of white supremacists, it was widely thought to be another neo-Nazi rally.

That belief drew an estimated 40,000 people out to protest them, a human river that made the gazebo look like a speck by comparison. Separating two sides were acres of grass, gates, and police. The city had deployed more than 500 officers to the event.

Steven, a 17-year-old high-school dropout who declined to give his last name due to fear of retribution from “antifa” groups, claimed there were about 50 people with him. The event ended prematurely when Steven’s group was told 15,000 marchers from Roxbury were coming.

Tens of thousands of people screamed and chanted on the outer rings, yelling “F**k your voice!” to the ralliers as they rushed past the gates and to the gazebo, with the assistance of police.  

“I want to do to them what they did to my grandparents,” yelled a woman named Rina, wearing a red dress plastered with black and white photos of the Holocaust.

Despite widespread fear among rally attendees of “antifa violence” the only injuries sustained by the libertarian-leaning group was when Steven claims a zip-tied counter-protester in the van fell on top of his face and broke his glasses. He was able to temporarily mend his frames for his journey home, via public transportation.

“It was really hot in there and everyone was panicking,” he said.

He added that though he believes the few who gathered today “made an impact,” he does not plan to organize a similar event soon. “Definitely not in the near future,” he said.

The event booked 15 people to speak, according to Steven, but only two did: Deaconess Anne Armstrong of “The Healing Church,” who could be seen blowing marijuana smoke out of a shofa prior to the event, and Shiva Ayyadurai, a scientist who claims he invented email and is running against Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

None of this could be seen by the thousands who came to protest against the group. Or by the press, who was also blocked from attending.

The only audible cry that could be heard from outside the pavilion where they were gathered was a brief chant of “BPD” for the Boston Police Department

At least one speaker was not able to join the group.

“Don’t touch me!” and “Don’t f**k with me!” Rinaldo Del Gallo, a man with long, curly gray hair and a Bernie Sanders t-shirt, yelled as he made his way to the gated entrance to the gazebo, which was now sealed shut with zip-ties.

He was apparently one of the speakers slated to talk at the event.

“I’m a speaker, I’m going to sue you if you don’t let me in,” he yelled to a Boston Police Officer.

“I probably really will sue them,” he told The Daily Beast. “I mean, I can’t speak without being arrested, we have a permit.”

Del Gallo says he doesn’t know the other speakers. “They might have been extremists, I don’t think it should be stopped. But basically I think you should be able to speak unless you are presenting clear and present danger and I don’t think these guys are inciting violence.”

“I think a lot of people who are respectable progressives are being labeled antifa. I think there are a lot of people who are respectable conservatives who are being labeled as white supremacists.”

Those there to support the rally were mostly young men from Massachusetts, in their teens and early 20s, as well as several young men of color, and a few women. One man was from New Hampshire, and another was from South Carolina but said he was in Boston to attend a college graduation.

When asked why they were there that day, most gave vague answers about free speech without citing what speech in specific they were there to protect. All denounced the KKK and neo-Nazis, several also denounced white nationalists, others said they “plead the fifth.”

Yet Steven said the white supremacists “have a point in where we shouldn’t mass immigrate people with a lot of different cultures because it’s never going to work. It has to be a slow process to get them integrated, you can’t just take a bunch of them and expect them to integrated, they are going to form a parallel society”.

Other individuals not formally associated with the rally also received the ire of the counter protesters. “Micro-p*n*s,” people called out to a man with a “Save America, vote Republican” t-shirt on, as he was booed away from the event by a small crowd.

“This is my brother, I don’t care what people think,” said one man, wrapping his arms around him, with a hunk of burning sage.

“Take that shirt off!” yelled another woman, who said she had come to the event to “f**k a Nazi up.”

Twenty-seven counter protesters were arrested, according to the Boston Police Commissioner.

“I want to thank all the people who came out today to spread that message of love not hate, to fight back on racism, to fight back on anti-Semitism, to fight back on the white supremacists that were coming to our city, to the Nazis that were coming to our city, I want to thank everyone who came here today,” said Mayor Marty Walsh in a press conference after the event.

Jahira Dealto, who marched from Roxbury, says she doesn’t believe those who gathered today who say they aren’t white nationalists. “It’s dog whistle and bait and switch, let’s insert the right words and use the right tactics and circumnavigate our real intent, for the purpose of attempting to get their point across,” she said of their claims they were there to promote free speech.

While pleased the group was shut down, Kyle Snyder-Drumand, 26, of Boston, said he was also a little disappointed, “I wanted to see what they looked like.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/bostons-free-speech-rally-goes-bust-vs-40000-protesters?via=twitter_page

Trump may snap his streak, issue first presidential pardon — ANALYSIS.

President Donald Trump has not used the power granted to him by the U.S. Constitution to pardon or commute federal offenders.

But that could change Tuesday when Trump visits Phoenix, where former Sheriff Joe Arpaio will be sentenced Oct. 5. His crime? Last month, Arpaio was found guilty of defying a federal court order that he stop apprehending undocumented Latino immigrants and handing them over to federal authorities.

Trump told Fox News he is “seriously considering” a pardon for Arpaio because, “He has done a lot in the fight against illegal immigration. He’s a great American patriot and I hate to see what has happened to him.”

As for Arpaio, who as Maricopa County Sheriff endorsed Trump early in 2016, he told Fox News, “I would accept the pardon because I am 100 percent not guilty.” His attorneys also have appealed the verdict because U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton issued it herself, rather than allow a jury to do so, as was Arpaio’s right.

Trump must be aware that predecessors Barack Obama and George W. Bush stayed away from the pardon power during their first year in office. They saw the exercise of mercy as too politically risky — thanks to politicians who have given mercy a bad name.

The most well-known name in modern pardons? It has to be Marc Rich, the fugitive gazillionaire whom President Bill Clinton pardoned on his way out the door. It was a new low — a president rewarding a well-connected rich guy for evading prosecution.

“I’ve always had the thought that the so-called controversial pardons, they wouldn’t be as controversial” if presidents also pardoned people who aren’t well-connected, said P.S. Ruckman, Jr., the political scientist behind the PardonPower.com blog. That way, the pardon power could be used to equalize prison terms — and produce justice where it is lacking.

When George W. Bush and Barack Obama rode in a limo together on the way to Obama’s inauguration, Bush had one piece of advice for his successor: “Announce a pardon policy early on and stick to it.” Bush understood too well the pressure that presidents are under to grant mercy to people who have fought on their side.

Bush issued a partial commutation to Scooter Libby, the former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney who was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice. That is, he commuted Libby’s 30-month prison sentence, but let stay the conviction, two years of probation and a $250,000 fine.

(A pardon essentially blots out a criminal conviction; a commutation does not revoke a conviction, but reduces or eliminates the sentence.)

Obama pardoned retired Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about leaking information on cyberattacks against Iran.

Suffice it to say there were few cheerleaders for either act of clemency. Some Republicans believe Bush should have pardoned Libby outright — Libby, after all, was tried for revealing information about former CIA officer Valerie Plame that it turns out was released by someone else.

As for the Cartwright pardon, it flew in the face of the record of the Obama administration, which prosecuted more leaks alone than the previous three administrations put together.

In his second term, Obama distinguished himself by commuting the sentences of more than a thousand federal drug offenders. Given the draconian nature of the federal mandatory minimum sentencing system, Obama can claim a strong legacy of showing mercy toward a group of mostly low-level, nonviolent offenders who deserved to serve time in prison, but not decades.

As Trump heads to Phoenix, Ruckman has his own advice for the president. Trump, he said, would do well to convey “the sense that he thinks the pardon — its power — is something a president does, or should do.” Trump should not use this power as “a stunt.”

https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/trump-may-snap-his-streak-issue-first-presidential-pardon-analysis/