Now That Trump's President... (not any more!)

betsy devos is erik prince's sister

betsy devos is an idiot and couldn't even pass a straight-face test.  Got pwned by Al Franken on edumacation 101.  Too bad no one cares. Sorry kids, you're focked.

  On 1/19/2017 at 3:55 AM, Bob Dobalina said:

betsy devos is an idiot and couldn't even pass a straight-face test.  Got pwned by Al Franken on edumacation 101.  Too bad no one cares. Sorry kids, you're focked.

pretty much. it's like when P-diddy comes out w/the worst song you ever heard and in a week it's No. 1 and the whole country goes bananas for it and he makes millions of dollars for it. 

"worst person ever."

"oh, she'll get confirmed easily"

lol'd when I just read that her brother founded Blackwater. this crew could not be any more fucked.

draining the swamp innit 

Al Franken wasn't the only one who grilled her. Bernie Sanders wasn't holding back either. He asked her point blank if being a multibillionaire made it possible for her to get her cabinet appointment.

Just further confirms the corruption and ineptitude of Trump's cabinet if nothing else.

  On 1/19/2017 at 4:20 AM, chenGOD said:

  On 1/19/2017 at 4:31 AM, ambermonk said:

Al Franken wasn't the only one who grilled her. Bernie Sanders wasn't holding back either. He asked her point blank if being a multibillionaire made it possible for her to get her cabinet appointment.

 

Just further confirms the corruption and ineptitude of Trump's cabinet if nothing else.

kaine played the affable goofy dad during the election, but that dude was a killer. it's good to be reminded that politicians work really hard to play characters which are usually some version of regular person but most of them, and i'm sorry if this offends the government haters out there, are very bright, highly competitive, and well-educated. i wish someone like kaine could just do kaine.

and being a politician means you have to master complex systems and ideas. because they play these regular guys/gals on TV, people tend to think they can just walk into the work. devos is fucking hobbyist. i get that trump gets to pick his idealogues, but FFS pick someone who understands the intellectual landscape of the job.

^^^^^^^

  On 1/19/2017 at 4:19 AM, usagi said:

lol'd when I just read that her brother founded Blackwater. this crew could not be any more fucked.

how the fuck am I just now reading about this, i totally skimmed over that when I was reading this article about how he's supplied cropdusters converted into COIN attack planes, flown by UAE backed mercenary pilots, to one of the warring factions in Libya

that dude is currently leading covert multinational operations of private contractors / mercenaries for over a decade now, the kind of figure fictional hollywood and cable tv show kingpins are made of normally, not a real life leader. 

Not a fan of Scahill overall, but his book Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army is hard to put down. It provides an interesting history of the Iraq War, in a way, just because Blackwater was such a big part of it.

  On 1/19/2017 at 4:48 AM, mammalsolidarity said:

 

  On 1/19/2017 at 4:31 AM, ambermonk said:

Al Franken wasn't the only one who grilled her. Bernie Sanders wasn't holding back either. He asked her point blank if being a multibillionaire made it possible for her to get her cabinet appointment.

Just further confirms the corruption and ineptitude of Trump's cabinet if nothing else.

 

kaine played the affable goofy dad during the election, but that dude was a killer. it's good to be reminded that politicians work really hard to play characters which are usually some version of regular person but most of them, and i'm sorry if this offends the government haters out there, are very bright, highly competitive, and well-educated. i wish someone like kaine could just do kaine.

 

and being a politician means you have to master complex systems and ideas. because they play these regular guys/gals on TV, people tend to think they can just walk into the work. devos is fucking hobbyist. i get that trump gets to pick his idealogues, but FFS pick someone who understands the intellectual landscape of the job.

Remember an interview at "morning joe" with kaine during the elections on syria and the bewilderment in mikas and joes eyes on his response made two things clear: the non-answers from the trump team during an actual election cycle where you would want to pick a candidate on their policies ( actually saying they couldnt talk about solutions because "the enemy might find out") and kaines answer (saying everything you need to know and showing actual knowledge about what is happening, might going to happen and the possible options for actions). That guy is so underrated. He's got the media-charm of a dad who hasnt had sex with his wife in years and instead locked himself away in the basement with his train collection, but in the meantime, he's a world class politician.

Couldnt find the actual interview, but found another one which says enough. Havent checked the date, but it looks like the election cycle was yet to begin. In the interview during the election he basically gave his off the cuff views like he did here. Compare that to the proverbial macfries from team trump...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvuJ3bKt3iQ

  On 1/19/2017 at 5:11 AM, joshuatx said:

 

  On 1/19/2017 at 4:19 AM, usagi said:

lol'd when I just read that her brother founded Blackwater. this crew could not be any more fucked.

 

how the fuck am I just now reading about this, i totally skimmed over that when I was reading this article about how he's supplied cropdusters converted into COIN attack planes, flown by UAE backed mercenary pilots, to one of the warring factions in Libya

 

that dude is currently leading covert multinational operations of private contractors / mercenaries for over a decade now, the kind of figure fictional hollywood and cable tv show kingpins are made of normally, not a real life leader. 

 

but tony orlando is playing the inauguration

http://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/entertainmentnews/the-latest-tony-orlando-to-perform-at-an-inaugural-ball/ar-AAlWIiO

TIL:  Tony Orlando is still alive

  On 1/19/2017 at 7:12 AM, ignatius said:

 

but tony orlando is playing the inauguration

 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/entertainmentnews/the-latest-tony-orlando-to-perform-at-an-inaugural-ball/ar-AAlWIiO

 

TIL:  Tony Orlando is still alive

 

I'm well familar with the Devos family & Betsy, being from Michigan myself. Out of all the trump cabinet picks, she is potentially the most dangerous. When I heard she was picked weeks ago my initial reaction was "Oh, fuck." She's been trying to fuck with Public education for years here. Basically de-fund public education & put that money to charter schools. Where hey! there's no oversight, we can pay teachers pennies on the dollar! and much, much more...Hey, Did you know she has zero...zero educational experience whatsoever. Makes perfect sense in this new land we call Idiocracy.

more thorough look below.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/12/08/a-sobering-look-at-what-betsy-devos-did-to-education-in-michigan-and-what-she-might-do-as-secretary-of-education/?utm_term=.bd4602e47f14

And this chestnut:

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/betsy-devos-schools-might-need-guns-due-potential-grizzlies-n708261

check out Trump writing his inauguration speech on this totally-not-blank pad:

Elizabeth Warren roasted Betsy Devos, but it probably won't save your children.

edit - lol @ that tweet. The yellow legal pad is a dead giveaway for someone who never actually writes anything.

  On 1/19/2017 at 5:16 AM, very honest said:

Not a fan of Scahill overall, but his book Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army is hard to put down. It provides an interesting history of the Iraq War, in a way, just because Blackwater was such a big part of it.

PMC's are fascinating. I say that as part military aficionado / history buff which has made me, despite being left-wing, fairly pragmatic when it comes to armed conflict. The danger in Blackwater was never really their personal, scope, and resources in and of itself BUT the political and corporate gain to be made by using and abusing their services. Likewise, they aren't inherently more dangerous than regular soldiers nor more likely to kill civilians...but legally they are in much grayer area and that makes them more unchecked by default.

Also a lot of what they do is just straight up legit security. My wife had a co-worker whose son worked for Blackwater / XE Services and the majority of his contracts were guarding gold and cash shipments on planes between national banks. He also trained Afghan military personal until the US military took that over again, something he was irked by. When my wife asked him why that bothered him it was "because Blackwater hasn't 'accidentally' shot and killed Afghani soldiers in training, the army has"

  On 1/19/2017 at 1:48 PM, caze said:

check out Trump writing his inauguration speech on this totally-not-blank pad:

 

he couldn't look less eager about all of this

I can't tell if that's him or the wax statue with yak hair.

Apparently he's writing it in a taco restaurant bathroom

Also, I wonder if anyone is thinking about an assassination attempt tomorrow?

@CIA

In case that happens I'm not involved in any way.

  On 1/19/2017 at 7:24 AM, joshuatx said:

 

  On 1/19/2017 at 7:12 AM, ignatius said:

 

but tony orlando is playing the inauguration

 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/entertainmentnews/the-latest-tony-orlando-to-perform-at-an-inaugural-ball/ar-AAlWIiO

 

TIL:  Tony Orlando is still alive

 

 

 

  On 1/19/2017 at 4:00 PM, Squee said:

Also, I wonder if anyone is thinking about an assassination attempt tomorrow?

 

@CIA

In case that happens I'm not involved in any way.

Isn't almost everyone thinking about that happening every day since he won?