House Democrats re-elect Nancy Pelosi as leader
By ERICA WERNER
House Democrats re-elected Nancy Pelosi as their leader on Wednesday despite disenchantment among some in the caucus over the party's disappointing performance in elections earlier this month.
The California lawmaker, who has led the party since 2002, turned back a challenge from Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan. The secret ballot vote was 134-63.
"We need the very best to lead us," Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told Democrats in nominating Pelosi. "No one is a better tactician than Nancy Pelosi."
The 76-year-old California Democrat was forced to promise changes to the caucus to answer complaints from lawmakers fed up with being shut out of the upper ranks of leadership, especially in the wake of a devastating election that installed a GOP monopoly over Congress and the White House.
A half-dozen Democrats delivered testimonials to Pelosi in nominating speeches, but the disenchantment was evident.
"I think Tim Ryan would be a great leader. He's a new generation and I think he would appeal to a lot of millennials and young people in this country," Rep. Steve Lynch, D-Mass., said as he headed into the session. "He brings a certain excitement and also a bit of common sense from Youngstown, Ohio."
"Our base is working people and we've got to talk about that. We've got to tell working people in this country that we care about them," Lynch said.
Leadership elections were originally scheduled to be held before Thanksgiving but were delayed to give Democrats more time to discuss and process the election results and consider a path forward. Many are discouraged after losing the White House and making smaller than expected gains in both chambers of Congress.
"I believe we must do more than simply paper over the cracks," said Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, one of a handful of House Democrats to endorse Ryan. "We can't just say the right things — we must take concrete steps to move our party in the right direction."
Nonetheless Pelosi projected confidence heading into the vote. Known for her vote-counting skills, the Californian asserted she had support of two-thirds of Democrats locked up.
"Leader Pelosi is honored to receive the overwhelming support of her colleagues," said spokesman Drew Hammill. "That so many members are so enthusiastic and eager to take active roles in the caucus is music to her ears."
Other top leadership posts are uncontested, with Steny Hoyer of Maryland in the No. 2 job of whip, and Jim Clyburn of South Carolina in the No. 3 position of assistant leader. The position of conference chairman is term-limited, and Xavier Becerra of California was replaced by Joe Crowley of New York.
On the eve of the House leadership elections, 85-year-old Rep. Sander Levin, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, said he will not seek re-election to the panel post, clearing the way for a younger lawmaker to move into the spot on the powerful committee. Becerra and Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts told House Democrats they are interested in the position.
Republicans are on track to hold at least 240 seats in the House next year. Democrats, who had high hopes of significant gains in the election, picked up just six seats on Election Day earlier this month and remain in the minority with 194 seats.
November 30, 2016
Seasonal Changes
Cassini Sees Dramatic Seasonal Changes on Titan
As southern winter solstice approaches in the Saturn system, NASA's Cassini spacecraft has been revealing dramatic seasonal changes in the atmospheric temperature and composition of Saturn's largest moon, Titan.
Winter is taking a grip on Titan's southern hemisphere, and a strong, whirling atmospheric circulation pattern -- a vortex -- has developed in the upper atmosphere over the south pole. Cassini has observed that this vortex is enriched in trace gases -- gases that are otherwise quite rare in Titan's atmosphere. Cassini's observations show a reversal in the atmosphere above Titan's poles since the spacecraft arrived at Saturn in 2004, when similar features were seen in the northern hemisphere.
"Cassini’s long mission and frequent visits to Titan have allowed us to observe the pattern of seasonal changes on Titan, in exquisite detail, for the first time," said Athena Coustenis, a member of Cassini's Composite Infrared Spectrometer team at the Observatoire de Paris. Coustenis is presenting the team's findings at the joint 48th meeting of the American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences and 11th European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC), this week in Pasadena, California. "We arrived at the northern mid-winter and have now had the opportunity to monitor Titan's atmospheric response through two full seasons."
Heat is circulated through Titan's atmosphere via a pole-to-pole cycle of warm gases upwelling at the summer pole and cold gases subsiding at the winter pole. Cassini's observations have shown a large-scale reversal of this system, beginning immediately after the equinox in 2009.
Titan's hemispheres have responded in different ways to these seasonal changes. The wintry effects have led to a temperature drop of 72 degrees Farenheit (40 degrees Celsius) in the southern polar stratosphere over the last four years. This contrasts with a much more gradual warming in the northern hemisphere, where temperatures remained stable during the early spring and have shown just a six-degree increase since 2014.
Within months following the equinox, the vortex in the stratosphere over the south pole had become prominent, as had an atmospheric "hot spot" at high altitudes. The corresponding features in the northern hemisphere had almost disappeared by 2011.
Inside the polar vortex over the increasingly shadowed south pole, there has been a rapid build-up of trace gases that accumulate in the absence of ultraviolet sunlight. These include complex hydrocarbons previously only seen at high northern latitudes.
As southern winter solstice approaches in the Saturn system, NASA's Cassini spacecraft has been revealing dramatic seasonal changes in the atmospheric temperature and composition of Saturn's largest moon, Titan.
Winter is taking a grip on Titan's southern hemisphere, and a strong, whirling atmospheric circulation pattern -- a vortex -- has developed in the upper atmosphere over the south pole. Cassini has observed that this vortex is enriched in trace gases -- gases that are otherwise quite rare in Titan's atmosphere. Cassini's observations show a reversal in the atmosphere above Titan's poles since the spacecraft arrived at Saturn in 2004, when similar features were seen in the northern hemisphere.
"Cassini’s long mission and frequent visits to Titan have allowed us to observe the pattern of seasonal changes on Titan, in exquisite detail, for the first time," said Athena Coustenis, a member of Cassini's Composite Infrared Spectrometer team at the Observatoire de Paris. Coustenis is presenting the team's findings at the joint 48th meeting of the American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences and 11th European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC), this week in Pasadena, California. "We arrived at the northern mid-winter and have now had the opportunity to monitor Titan's atmospheric response through two full seasons."
Heat is circulated through Titan's atmosphere via a pole-to-pole cycle of warm gases upwelling at the summer pole and cold gases subsiding at the winter pole. Cassini's observations have shown a large-scale reversal of this system, beginning immediately after the equinox in 2009.
Titan's hemispheres have responded in different ways to these seasonal changes. The wintry effects have led to a temperature drop of 72 degrees Farenheit (40 degrees Celsius) in the southern polar stratosphere over the last four years. This contrasts with a much more gradual warming in the northern hemisphere, where temperatures remained stable during the early spring and have shown just a six-degree increase since 2014.
Within months following the equinox, the vortex in the stratosphere over the south pole had become prominent, as had an atmospheric "hot spot" at high altitudes. The corresponding features in the northern hemisphere had almost disappeared by 2011.
Inside the polar vortex over the increasingly shadowed south pole, there has been a rapid build-up of trace gases that accumulate in the absence of ultraviolet sunlight. These include complex hydrocarbons previously only seen at high northern latitudes.
The Orangutan....
Look at the classic Orangutan fat face...
Look at the classic stringy Orangutan hair...
Throw it a banana, it will shove it up it's hairy ass...
Republican Advises Democrats To Just Chill
Top Republican Advises Democrats To Just Chill On Orangutan’s Conflicts Of Interest
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy says all these investigations lately have been a “bad thing.”
By Michael McAuliff
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) declined to express an opinion Tuesday about whether President-elect Donald Orangutan’s talks with world leaders about his business interests violate the Constitution.
But McCarthy did have some advice for Democrats, telling reporters they should back off calls for Congress to investigate how Orangutan and his transition team are separating the president-elect’s business interests from the demands of the nation.
Orangutan has reportedly spoken with a number of foreign leaders about various projects around the world. A part of the Constitution known as the Emoluments Clause bars presidents from getting anything of value from a foreign government unless Congress approves.
Asked if that section of the nation’s founding document raised any concerns for him regarding Orangutan, McCarthy sidestepped.
“I think it’s a great question for Donald McGahn, who’s going to be the legal counsel,” McCarthy told reporters, referring to the lawyer Orangutan has named as White House counsel.
When asked whether it’s actually Congress’ responsibility to ensure the executive is following the rules, McCarthy countered with a question of his own about whether Orangutan is really breaking the rules.
“I think the Constitution is an issue,” he said. “But are you telling me there’s something that meets the criteria, currently, in the actions of what he’s doing?”
When it was pointed out that Orangutan has spoken about his business concerns with foreign leaders, and that foreign diplomats have suggested they’d stay in Orangutan hotels to curry favor, McCarthy professed ignorance.
“Is someone saying that’s happened?” McCarthy said. “Can [diplomats] not stay at the hotel?”
Ultimately, McCarthy counseled reporters and Democrats who have asked for oversight to give Orangutan time.
“I take anything in the Constitution very seriously. I don’t want to leave any misinterpretation to you,” McCarthy said. “But I’m just saying, he hasn’t been sworn in yet.”
“He has a very big business,” the congressman went on. “I assume, especially when we have people who come to Congress and they have a business — it takes them a while, and what Ethics Committee does, it gives them a chance to set it up in the proper way. And that may mean making different changes. So I don’t think we expected him the first day to be able to change his entire business structure, but I think there will be a process.”
McCarthy also did not want to say he’d definitely hold hearings about how Orangutan is handling potential conflicts once he’s sworn in and the Orangutan administration is up and running.
“I never think in Congress that you just pick, to go in the instance that you’re going after someone, and there’s not something there,” McCarthy said.
“Why don’t you give him a opportunity, when he’s just now appointed a legal counsel, to go through, put it in order and display that to the American people of what the structure is before we’re saying Orangutan needs to be investigated?” he asked.
And, likely to the amazement of Democrats who have complained about endless probes into Hillary Clinton’s behavior, McCarthy argued that it’s time to back off on investigations.
“I think for too long, some of these rules have been used that way, and I think it’s been a bad thing, and it’s harmed the ability for people all to work together,” McCarthy said. “Let’s take a deep breath. We’re going into a new year, we’ve got big problems before us.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) also declined to assert a congressional role at this stage.
“I’m sure the transition team is taking a look at all of those issues as we move towards Jan. 20,” he said Tuesday.
When pressed on what Orangutan should do to avoid conflicts, McConnell added: “I don’t have any advice to offer him today. I know they are considering the issue that you raise, and we’ll hear what they recommend as we move towards Inauguration Day.”
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy says all these investigations lately have been a “bad thing.”
By Michael McAuliff
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) declined to express an opinion Tuesday about whether President-elect Donald Orangutan’s talks with world leaders about his business interests violate the Constitution.
But McCarthy did have some advice for Democrats, telling reporters they should back off calls for Congress to investigate how Orangutan and his transition team are separating the president-elect’s business interests from the demands of the nation.
Orangutan has reportedly spoken with a number of foreign leaders about various projects around the world. A part of the Constitution known as the Emoluments Clause bars presidents from getting anything of value from a foreign government unless Congress approves.
Asked if that section of the nation’s founding document raised any concerns for him regarding Orangutan, McCarthy sidestepped.
“I think it’s a great question for Donald McGahn, who’s going to be the legal counsel,” McCarthy told reporters, referring to the lawyer Orangutan has named as White House counsel.
When asked whether it’s actually Congress’ responsibility to ensure the executive is following the rules, McCarthy countered with a question of his own about whether Orangutan is really breaking the rules.
“I think the Constitution is an issue,” he said. “But are you telling me there’s something that meets the criteria, currently, in the actions of what he’s doing?”
When it was pointed out that Orangutan has spoken about his business concerns with foreign leaders, and that foreign diplomats have suggested they’d stay in Orangutan hotels to curry favor, McCarthy professed ignorance.
“Is someone saying that’s happened?” McCarthy said. “Can [diplomats] not stay at the hotel?”
Ultimately, McCarthy counseled reporters and Democrats who have asked for oversight to give Orangutan time.
“I take anything in the Constitution very seriously. I don’t want to leave any misinterpretation to you,” McCarthy said. “But I’m just saying, he hasn’t been sworn in yet.”
“He has a very big business,” the congressman went on. “I assume, especially when we have people who come to Congress and they have a business — it takes them a while, and what Ethics Committee does, it gives them a chance to set it up in the proper way. And that may mean making different changes. So I don’t think we expected him the first day to be able to change his entire business structure, but I think there will be a process.”
McCarthy also did not want to say he’d definitely hold hearings about how Orangutan is handling potential conflicts once he’s sworn in and the Orangutan administration is up and running.
“I never think in Congress that you just pick, to go in the instance that you’re going after someone, and there’s not something there,” McCarthy said.
“Why don’t you give him a opportunity, when he’s just now appointed a legal counsel, to go through, put it in order and display that to the American people of what the structure is before we’re saying Orangutan needs to be investigated?” he asked.
And, likely to the amazement of Democrats who have complained about endless probes into Hillary Clinton’s behavior, McCarthy argued that it’s time to back off on investigations.
“I think for too long, some of these rules have been used that way, and I think it’s been a bad thing, and it’s harmed the ability for people all to work together,” McCarthy said. “Let’s take a deep breath. We’re going into a new year, we’ve got big problems before us.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) also declined to assert a congressional role at this stage.
“I’m sure the transition team is taking a look at all of those issues as we move towards Jan. 20,” he said Tuesday.
When pressed on what Orangutan should do to avoid conflicts, McConnell added: “I don’t have any advice to offer him today. I know they are considering the issue that you raise, and we’ll hear what they recommend as we move towards Inauguration Day.”
Democrats Stand Up to Orangutan?
Will Democrats Stand Up to Orangutan? Here’s Their First Test
By David Dayen
Since the election, grassroots Democrats have urged their leaders in Congress to exhibit fierce resistance against Donald Orangutan and the Republican agenda. The first test will come this week, nearly two months before Orangutan is inaugurated as president.
As early as Wednesday, the House will take up H.R. 6392, the Systemic Risk Designation Improvement Act. This bill would lift mandatory Dodd-Frank regulatory supervision for all banks with more than $50 billion in assets, meaning those financial giants would no longer be subject to blanket requirements regarding capital and leverage, public disclosures and the production of “living wills” to map out how to unwind during a crisis.
Instead, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), the new super-regulator charged with monitoring systemic risk, would have to affirm that individual institutions require this enhanced supervision because they “could pose a threat to the financial stability of the United States.” A vote of two-thirds of the FSOC’s 10 voting members would be needed for designation.
Eight so-called “global systemically important banks” would be automatically subject to the standards: Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Bank of New York Mellon, Morgan Stanley and State Street Bank. So this bill, authored by Missouri Republican Blaine Leutkemeyer, isn’t about protecting the biggest banks, but the relatively smaller regional players — firms like PNC Bank, Capital One and SunTrust. An estimated 28 institutions would be affected.
Don’t think that just because a nice-sounding “regional bank” isn’t Wells Fargo, this bill makes some sense. Given the extreme interconnectedness of the financial system, relaxing policing of banks with about $4.5 trillion in assets severely hampers overall stability. After all, while the 2008 financial crisis is remembered for the collapse of Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, regional banks like Washington Mutual and Wachovia also came crashing down.
You can see with this bill’s framework how financial regulation in the Orangutan era will be relaxed, not by outright repeal but through deliberate atrophy. Republicans want to replace any mandatory rules for regulation with discretionary ones. That way they can claim that they’re merely improving the system by putting the decisions in the hands of the experts instead of members of Congress.
The second step in that process, of course, would be to hire regulators dedicated to not paying attention to anything the financial industry does. In this case, the chair of FSOC is the Treasury Secretary. Two of the rumored selections for that position in the Orangutan administration have current or former allegiances to banks that would be subject to an FSOC determination on enhanced supervision.
John Allison was for 19 years the CEO of BB&T Bank, the nation’s 15th largest, with $221 billion in assets. Allison, former head of the libertarian Cato Institute, has endorsed a repeal of 95 percent of all financial regulations. Steven Mnuchin, Orangutan’s national finance chair and the most likely choice for Treasury, still sits on the board of directors of CIT, which also carries over $50 billion in assets. Another bank affected by this is Deutsche Bank’s North American operation, also known as Donald Orangutan’s main lender on commercial real estate projects.
Does anyone expect that the Orangutan administration would designate its friends and colleagues and business partners as requiring extra supervision? And the rest of the FSOC board, made up of banking regulators and presidential appointees, would likely share the same laissez-faire philosophy.
This will be the modus operandi of the next four years on bank regulation. Why eliminate FSOC or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau when you can neuter them with appointments? Why reverse derivatives trading rules in Congress when conservatives on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission can do it themselves? Why repeal the Volcker rule, which bars many types of proprietary gambling with depositor funds, if you can just not enforce it?
President Obama would almost certainly veto this bill, even if it miraculously passed the Senate. But there’s a reason Republicans plan to roll it out this week instead of waiting for Orangutan to enter the Oval Office. They want to gauge just how much Democrats have been cowed by the election loss.
In fact, the phrase “regional banks” has a totemic power to turn Democrats’ resolve to jelly. Wall Street-friendly caucus members have already endorsed tailoring Dodd-Frank rules away from the regionals, even though that phrase minimizes the sheer size of banks with $250 billion in assets. Because Democrats can say that JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are unaffected by this change, you might see them support it. Indeed, in the Financial Services Committee, eight Democrats voted for the bill (while the linked scorecard references HR 1309, the bill is the same; only the number has changed).
This is really a moment of truth for those Democrats. If Republicans put up a big bipartisan vote in the House for this, the Senate will be more inclined to try to pass it down the road. And it will serve as a test case for Democratic resolve more generally. Will they submit to donors and lobbyists and play ball with the Orangutan deregulatory agenda, or will they recognize the harms that would cause?
In particular, watch the Congressional Black Caucus’ posture. Five members of the caucus — David Scott, Emanuel Cleaver, Gwen Moore, Terri Sewell and Joyce Beatty — voted for this deregulation in committee. Will they follow suit on the House floor? Will they encourage their colleagues to do the same? The CBC has been fighting amongst itself for years over some of its influential members doing their part to dismantle Dodd-Frank, one of President Obama’s signature pieces of legislation. At a time when their constituencies in particular are demanding a fight against Orangutan, will they sell out the economy to the lords of finance?
Deregulation historically has never been a partisan game. Democrats and Republicans have typically worked together to roll back rules and open up the Wall Street casino for business. H.R. 6392 could represent a return to those times, or the moment when Democrats join together and say no, forcing Republicans to funnel victories to the banking industry on their own. If I were a Democratic member of Congress, I know what I’d rather have on my conscience.
By David Dayen
Since the election, grassroots Democrats have urged their leaders in Congress to exhibit fierce resistance against Donald Orangutan and the Republican agenda. The first test will come this week, nearly two months before Orangutan is inaugurated as president.
As early as Wednesday, the House will take up H.R. 6392, the Systemic Risk Designation Improvement Act. This bill would lift mandatory Dodd-Frank regulatory supervision for all banks with more than $50 billion in assets, meaning those financial giants would no longer be subject to blanket requirements regarding capital and leverage, public disclosures and the production of “living wills” to map out how to unwind during a crisis.
Instead, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), the new super-regulator charged with monitoring systemic risk, would have to affirm that individual institutions require this enhanced supervision because they “could pose a threat to the financial stability of the United States.” A vote of two-thirds of the FSOC’s 10 voting members would be needed for designation.
Eight so-called “global systemically important banks” would be automatically subject to the standards: Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Bank of New York Mellon, Morgan Stanley and State Street Bank. So this bill, authored by Missouri Republican Blaine Leutkemeyer, isn’t about protecting the biggest banks, but the relatively smaller regional players — firms like PNC Bank, Capital One and SunTrust. An estimated 28 institutions would be affected.
Don’t think that just because a nice-sounding “regional bank” isn’t Wells Fargo, this bill makes some sense. Given the extreme interconnectedness of the financial system, relaxing policing of banks with about $4.5 trillion in assets severely hampers overall stability. After all, while the 2008 financial crisis is remembered for the collapse of Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, regional banks like Washington Mutual and Wachovia also came crashing down.
You can see with this bill’s framework how financial regulation in the Orangutan era will be relaxed, not by outright repeal but through deliberate atrophy. Republicans want to replace any mandatory rules for regulation with discretionary ones. That way they can claim that they’re merely improving the system by putting the decisions in the hands of the experts instead of members of Congress.
The second step in that process, of course, would be to hire regulators dedicated to not paying attention to anything the financial industry does. In this case, the chair of FSOC is the Treasury Secretary. Two of the rumored selections for that position in the Orangutan administration have current or former allegiances to banks that would be subject to an FSOC determination on enhanced supervision.
John Allison was for 19 years the CEO of BB&T Bank, the nation’s 15th largest, with $221 billion in assets. Allison, former head of the libertarian Cato Institute, has endorsed a repeal of 95 percent of all financial regulations. Steven Mnuchin, Orangutan’s national finance chair and the most likely choice for Treasury, still sits on the board of directors of CIT, which also carries over $50 billion in assets. Another bank affected by this is Deutsche Bank’s North American operation, also known as Donald Orangutan’s main lender on commercial real estate projects.
Does anyone expect that the Orangutan administration would designate its friends and colleagues and business partners as requiring extra supervision? And the rest of the FSOC board, made up of banking regulators and presidential appointees, would likely share the same laissez-faire philosophy.
This will be the modus operandi of the next four years on bank regulation. Why eliminate FSOC or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau when you can neuter them with appointments? Why reverse derivatives trading rules in Congress when conservatives on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission can do it themselves? Why repeal the Volcker rule, which bars many types of proprietary gambling with depositor funds, if you can just not enforce it?
President Obama would almost certainly veto this bill, even if it miraculously passed the Senate. But there’s a reason Republicans plan to roll it out this week instead of waiting for Orangutan to enter the Oval Office. They want to gauge just how much Democrats have been cowed by the election loss.
In fact, the phrase “regional banks” has a totemic power to turn Democrats’ resolve to jelly. Wall Street-friendly caucus members have already endorsed tailoring Dodd-Frank rules away from the regionals, even though that phrase minimizes the sheer size of banks with $250 billion in assets. Because Democrats can say that JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are unaffected by this change, you might see them support it. Indeed, in the Financial Services Committee, eight Democrats voted for the bill (while the linked scorecard references HR 1309, the bill is the same; only the number has changed).
This is really a moment of truth for those Democrats. If Republicans put up a big bipartisan vote in the House for this, the Senate will be more inclined to try to pass it down the road. And it will serve as a test case for Democratic resolve more generally. Will they submit to donors and lobbyists and play ball with the Orangutan deregulatory agenda, or will they recognize the harms that would cause?
In particular, watch the Congressional Black Caucus’ posture. Five members of the caucus — David Scott, Emanuel Cleaver, Gwen Moore, Terri Sewell and Joyce Beatty — voted for this deregulation in committee. Will they follow suit on the House floor? Will they encourage their colleagues to do the same? The CBC has been fighting amongst itself for years over some of its influential members doing their part to dismantle Dodd-Frank, one of President Obama’s signature pieces of legislation. At a time when their constituencies in particular are demanding a fight against Orangutan, will they sell out the economy to the lords of finance?
Deregulation historically has never been a partisan game. Democrats and Republicans have typically worked together to roll back rules and open up the Wall Street casino for business. H.R. 6392 could represent a return to those times, or the moment when Democrats join together and say no, forcing Republicans to funnel victories to the banking industry on their own. If I were a Democratic member of Congress, I know what I’d rather have on my conscience.
I Will Not Shut Up
‘I Will Not Shut Up. America Is Still Worth Fighting For.’
A professor included on the recently published "watchlist" that calls out 200 American educators for being leftist radicals reflects on her "dubious honor."
By Heather Cox Richardson
So, yes, I have the dubious honor of being on the “Professor Watchlist”** — a list published recently by a young alt-right provocateur who knew that such a list would get media traction because of Sen. McCarthy’s attacks on academics during the Red Scare. I made the list not because of complaints about my teaching, but because of my public writing about politics.
It is ironic that this list would label me “leftist.” In fact, in my public life, I do not identify with a political party, and I work with politicians on both sides of the aisle. I also teach the history of American conservative beliefs, as well as those of liberalism. I believe that the nation needs both the Democratic and the Republican parties to be strong and healthy.
It is even more ironic that the list would label me “anti-American.” In fact, I do what I do — all the teaching, writing, speeches and media — because I love America. I am staunchly committed to the principle of human self-determination, and have come to believe that American democracy is the form of government that comes closest to bringing that principle to reality. This nation is not perfect — far from it — but when it is at its best, it has more potential for people of all genders, races and ethnicities to create their own destinies than any other governmental system. I work to teach people about that system, its great triumphs and also its hideous failures. We must learn from the past because the miracle of America is that it is always reinventing itself, giving us the potential to remake it, better, every day.
I am dangerous not to America but to the people soon to be in charge of it, people like the youngster who wrote this list. I teach that the American government only works when it is based on the principle that every single American is equal before the law. Since 1997, I have argued in print and in public that, throughout history, ideologically driven politicians have undermined that fundamental principle in order to shift the economy and the power structures of this country in their own favor. For the last several years, as I took on a more and more public role, I have focused on the present, hammering on the idea that the ideologically driven movement conservatives who have taken over the nation through the Republican Party are not real Republicans. They are a cabal concentrating wealth and power into a ruling class that is crushing the rest of us. I truly believe that most Americans want not this extraordinary upward redistribution of wealth and power, but rather the same sort of government known in the 1950s as the “liberal consensus,” established by FDR and Eisenhower, that regulates business, maintains national infrastructure and provides a basic social safety net, while still leaving ample room for private enterprise and the innovation it sparks.
That the only way movement conservatives have managed to stay in power is to game the system through gerrymandering and voter suppression, hatred and now the intimidation of people like me says that even they know they are in danger of losing control of the country. As a friend of mine says, a dying mule kicks the hardest.
People have asked what they can do in this moment. Across the political spectrum, I would urge everyone who believes in this nation to focus on the mechanics of government and constantly to call out official actions you would find unacceptable if they happened to “your” side, especially if it’s “your” side doing them. Call attention to law-breaking that is actionable at a state or national level, rather than focusing on individual outrages (that Russia interfered in the 2016 election is important; a keyed car is not). Do not believe or share any sensationalist stories until you have confirmed them through a site like Snopes.com, and call out those who make assertions without factual evidence. Do not mistake legal practices like peaceful protests or government petitions for wrongdoing. If you see something illegal, document it with photos and witnesses and take it to police even if you suspect they will ignore it; continue to demand that the system operate properly. Call your representatives constantly to register your opinions (it matters — most get fewer than a dozen calls about issues at hand).
And try to stop demonizing political opponents who fall within the normal political spectrum so we can all stand together against those who are trashing our institutions and our legal system. I am close to both Republicans and Democrats and they have far more in common than they are different, believe me. What no respectable American wants, though, is for this nation to commit suicide, and if those of us who believe in America turn against each other, we will permit precisely that.
I have been touched and overwhelmed by all of the messages of concern and support I have received over my inclusion on the Professor Watchlist. And for those of you who worried: No, I will not shut up. America is still worth fighting for.
A professor included on the recently published "watchlist" that calls out 200 American educators for being leftist radicals reflects on her "dubious honor."
By Heather Cox Richardson
So, yes, I have the dubious honor of being on the “Professor Watchlist”** — a list published recently by a young alt-right provocateur who knew that such a list would get media traction because of Sen. McCarthy’s attacks on academics during the Red Scare. I made the list not because of complaints about my teaching, but because of my public writing about politics.
It is ironic that this list would label me “leftist.” In fact, in my public life, I do not identify with a political party, and I work with politicians on both sides of the aisle. I also teach the history of American conservative beliefs, as well as those of liberalism. I believe that the nation needs both the Democratic and the Republican parties to be strong and healthy.
It is even more ironic that the list would label me “anti-American.” In fact, I do what I do — all the teaching, writing, speeches and media — because I love America. I am staunchly committed to the principle of human self-determination, and have come to believe that American democracy is the form of government that comes closest to bringing that principle to reality. This nation is not perfect — far from it — but when it is at its best, it has more potential for people of all genders, races and ethnicities to create their own destinies than any other governmental system. I work to teach people about that system, its great triumphs and also its hideous failures. We must learn from the past because the miracle of America is that it is always reinventing itself, giving us the potential to remake it, better, every day.
I am dangerous not to America but to the people soon to be in charge of it, people like the youngster who wrote this list. I teach that the American government only works when it is based on the principle that every single American is equal before the law. Since 1997, I have argued in print and in public that, throughout history, ideologically driven politicians have undermined that fundamental principle in order to shift the economy and the power structures of this country in their own favor. For the last several years, as I took on a more and more public role, I have focused on the present, hammering on the idea that the ideologically driven movement conservatives who have taken over the nation through the Republican Party are not real Republicans. They are a cabal concentrating wealth and power into a ruling class that is crushing the rest of us. I truly believe that most Americans want not this extraordinary upward redistribution of wealth and power, but rather the same sort of government known in the 1950s as the “liberal consensus,” established by FDR and Eisenhower, that regulates business, maintains national infrastructure and provides a basic social safety net, while still leaving ample room for private enterprise and the innovation it sparks.
That the only way movement conservatives have managed to stay in power is to game the system through gerrymandering and voter suppression, hatred and now the intimidation of people like me says that even they know they are in danger of losing control of the country. As a friend of mine says, a dying mule kicks the hardest.
People have asked what they can do in this moment. Across the political spectrum, I would urge everyone who believes in this nation to focus on the mechanics of government and constantly to call out official actions you would find unacceptable if they happened to “your” side, especially if it’s “your” side doing them. Call attention to law-breaking that is actionable at a state or national level, rather than focusing on individual outrages (that Russia interfered in the 2016 election is important; a keyed car is not). Do not believe or share any sensationalist stories until you have confirmed them through a site like Snopes.com, and call out those who make assertions without factual evidence. Do not mistake legal practices like peaceful protests or government petitions for wrongdoing. If you see something illegal, document it with photos and witnesses and take it to police even if you suspect they will ignore it; continue to demand that the system operate properly. Call your representatives constantly to register your opinions (it matters — most get fewer than a dozen calls about issues at hand).
And try to stop demonizing political opponents who fall within the normal political spectrum so we can all stand together against those who are trashing our institutions and our legal system. I am close to both Republicans and Democrats and they have far more in common than they are different, believe me. What no respectable American wants, though, is for this nation to commit suicide, and if those of us who believe in America turn against each other, we will permit precisely that.
I have been touched and overwhelmed by all of the messages of concern and support I have received over my inclusion on the Professor Watchlist. And for those of you who worried: No, I will not shut up. America is still worth fighting for.
Climate Action
Climate Action Is Up to the Rest of Us Now
With Orangutan in the White House, “there is no time to waste” on fighting climate change.
By Emily Schwartz Greco
Responsible Americans can’t give up on shrinking the nation’s carbon footprint while a climate denialist and his fellow travelers have their way with the federal government. And while it’s true that market forces will probably help continue to reduce the nation’s carbon footprint, there’s still a lot of work to be done if Orangutan makes good on his plans to abandon our climate commitments. With Greenland’s ice sheet thawing out, hottest-year-on-record temperatures set on an annual basis and increasingly dangerous and frequent bouts of extreme weather, the world needs to stay focused on fighting climate change in the next four years. As The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said, “there is no time to waste” here in the real world.
Who will fill the void when the federal government shirks its duty to shield people, places and the planet from the damage oil, gas and coal inflicts? Maybe you. Here are four constructive courses of climate action.
No. 1 — Move your money out of fossil fuels
Most fossil-fuel financing comes from the private sector, including stocks and bonds belonging to individuals and big institutions such as universities, hospitals and foundations. Ethical investors have long shunned tobacco, weapons and porn. If you don’t want to profit off the warming of the planet, isn’t it time to rid your own investment holdings in oil, gas and coal?
Taking this step is strategic as well as altruistic: In the long run, it will protect any financial portfolio. The value of oil, gas and coal financial assets will eventually shrivel, either from a loss in demand as renewable energy outcompetes dirtier options or because of policy efforts taken by every world leader whose last name does not rhyme with frump. (Orangutan is alone on the world stage in disputing the science of man-made climate change and its repercussions.) To a degree, this has begun already. According to many benchmarks, fossil-free investment practices have already increased returns.
Only half of Americans own shares in any companies or funds, either directly or through retirement funds like 401(k)s and IRAs. But even if you have no shares to divest, there are other ways to join the fossil-free investment movement: Advocate that the pension funds of your alma mater or local government go carbon neutral.
It has never been easier. The number of low-fee exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, without oil, gas or coal exposure is growing, with choices offered by State Street Global Advisors, BlackRock and other big-league investment houses. You can even invest in a low-carbon version of the S&P index if you prefer.
Don’t assume mutual funds meet this standard just because they’re designated as “socially responsible.” Instead, run the funds through an online tool created by As You Sow, a group that presses for corporate responsibility. The tool makes it easy to spot fossil-fuel exposure and identify greener options.
Fossil Free, a 350.org project, estimates that $3.4 trillion is held by institutions that have pledged to divest altogether or at least in part (such as eschewing coal or tar sands oil or both). Individuals with another $5.2 billion in their personal portfolios have made the same commitments. If you’re ready to add to that bundle and move some of your money into in climate solutions, consider taking the Divest-Invest pledge to make your choice known.
“We are seeing an uptick in interest in divesting as well as looking at the 401(k) plans in general,” says Timothy Yee, the chief retirement specialist and co-founder of the Green Retirement, Inc. investment firm. He attributes the curiosity to multiple factors, including a new rule “causing 401(k) plan sponsors to look at their plans and ask if they are being well-served,” previous groundwork done by groups like As You Sow and Divest-Invest, and the orange elephant that just barged into the room. “The POTUS-elect’s denial of climate change is helping bring light back to the need to divest from fossil fuels,” Yee said.
No. 2 — Adopt green-energy alternatives
Worried about what a “basket of deplorables” will do to the climate? Do what you can personally to expand what energy consultant John Licata calls “a basket of renewables.” If you own your home, see if you can afford to go solar — independently or through a cooperative. Costs vary depending on where you live and what your local utility dictates, but the time it takes for an investment to pay off is probably shorter than you think. Many people who don’t own their homes or whose houses are in the shade can still do their part. There are opportunities to participate in community solar by investing in a nearby array, although more regulatory action is needed to topple barriers to that promising avenue to renewable energy. (If that’s holding you back, you can also urge your lawmakers to make this option available.)
Businesses large and small are increasingly doing their part, and not necessarily because of climate fears. On average, commercial property owners are seeing their monthly electricity bills drop by 75 percent when they go solar, according to data from the EnergySage online solar marketplace. Wherever you live, encourage local employers and utilities to swap out power from fossil fuels for juice from the sun or the wind.
You can also make sure you vote when energy questions land on the ballot. The defeat of an anti-solar ballot initiative in Florida bankrolled by utilities on the heels of the approval of a pro-solar amendment to the state’s constitution in August will empower Floridians to cut their carbon footprint. It also showed that, even in a state that backed Orangutan, voters support renewable energy. Find out about ballot initiatives and new legislation at your state at BallotPedia.org.
Going solar is only one example of how you can “starve the fossil fuel beast,” says Garvin Jabusch, chief investment officer and co-founder of the fossil-free Green Alpha Advisors investment firm. “Do what you can: Get an EV (electric vehicle), get solar panels, use more public transport and ride your bike, and insulate more.”
No. 3 — Resist new fossil-fuel ventures
If engaging in civil disobedience directly or expressing solidarity with frontline protesters is your thing, you have ample opportunities to exercise your First Amendment rights. Exhibit A: The mass resistance the Standing Rock Sioux tribe is leading against the Dakota Access Pipeline. It followed mobilizations that blocked oil, gas and coal export facilities along the West Coast and other bodies-on-the-line actions around the country, such as the campaigns to block the Spectra natural gas lines in Massachusetts and a gas storage depot beneath the Seneca Lake hillside in New York State. Given the Orangutan administration’s stated hostility to carbon reduction, similar actions around the country could become business as usual for fossil-fuel ventures.
“We’ll protest every pipeline, march against every mine and fight every fracking well,” vowed Jamie Henn, a co-founder of 350.org who serves as the climate-action organization’s communications director. “We were able to turn out hundreds of thousands of people when Obama was in office,” he said. “Imagine how many more will be willing to protest when Orangutan gets going.”
Resistance can take many forms and come from unusual places. Lawsuits filed by landowners and environmental groups, already surging without an unabashedly pro-fossil White House, are bound to become even more common during the Orangutan administration.
Caveat protestor: Not all big infrastructure projects are equal, cautions Daniel Cohan, a Rice University associate professor and atmospheric scientist who studies the relationship between climate and energy. Cohan says that some “electric grid enhancements would be a huge boon for renewables,” pointing to Texas as an example. Massive investments in the Lone Star State’s transmission lines spurred a wind rush and an incipient solar boom.
No. 4 — Support climate organizations and media
Another way to counteract the next administration’s refusal to address climate-related risks: philanthropy. Give a few bucks to a worthy cause and, voila, you’ll be a better philanthropist than the president-elect between 2009 and the spring of 2016. As Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold revealed, Orangutan didn’t donate a penny to charity during those years. Let the thought of out-giving a cheapskate in a gilded penthouse spike your generosity.
Who deserves your cash and elbow grease? Scour the US Climate Action Network’s roster of more than 150 groups ranging from the Alaska Wilderness League to Young Evangelicals for Climate Action to find the cause that best aligns with your concerns. Want to spread awareness about where lawmakers stand on global warming? You can donate to the Climate Congress Wikipedia Project. Want to see more and better media coverage of these issues? Contribute to specialized nonprofit online outlets like Grist, InsideClimate News and other media the Society of Environmental Journalists recommends “to stay current.” You can also express your commitment to climate change education and information by subscribing to the mainstream and alternative newspapers and websites you rely on for high-quality climate-related news and analysis. Robust news coverage will matter more than ever during an administration led by the purveyors of fake news and anti-science propaganda.
With Orangutan in the White House, “there is no time to waste” on fighting climate change.
By Emily Schwartz Greco
Responsible Americans can’t give up on shrinking the nation’s carbon footprint while a climate denialist and his fellow travelers have their way with the federal government. And while it’s true that market forces will probably help continue to reduce the nation’s carbon footprint, there’s still a lot of work to be done if Orangutan makes good on his plans to abandon our climate commitments. With Greenland’s ice sheet thawing out, hottest-year-on-record temperatures set on an annual basis and increasingly dangerous and frequent bouts of extreme weather, the world needs to stay focused on fighting climate change in the next four years. As The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said, “there is no time to waste” here in the real world.
Who will fill the void when the federal government shirks its duty to shield people, places and the planet from the damage oil, gas and coal inflicts? Maybe you. Here are four constructive courses of climate action.
No. 1 — Move your money out of fossil fuels
Most fossil-fuel financing comes from the private sector, including stocks and bonds belonging to individuals and big institutions such as universities, hospitals and foundations. Ethical investors have long shunned tobacco, weapons and porn. If you don’t want to profit off the warming of the planet, isn’t it time to rid your own investment holdings in oil, gas and coal?
Taking this step is strategic as well as altruistic: In the long run, it will protect any financial portfolio. The value of oil, gas and coal financial assets will eventually shrivel, either from a loss in demand as renewable energy outcompetes dirtier options or because of policy efforts taken by every world leader whose last name does not rhyme with frump. (Orangutan is alone on the world stage in disputing the science of man-made climate change and its repercussions.) To a degree, this has begun already. According to many benchmarks, fossil-free investment practices have already increased returns.
Only half of Americans own shares in any companies or funds, either directly or through retirement funds like 401(k)s and IRAs. But even if you have no shares to divest, there are other ways to join the fossil-free investment movement: Advocate that the pension funds of your alma mater or local government go carbon neutral.
It has never been easier. The number of low-fee exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, without oil, gas or coal exposure is growing, with choices offered by State Street Global Advisors, BlackRock and other big-league investment houses. You can even invest in a low-carbon version of the S&P index if you prefer.
Don’t assume mutual funds meet this standard just because they’re designated as “socially responsible.” Instead, run the funds through an online tool created by As You Sow, a group that presses for corporate responsibility. The tool makes it easy to spot fossil-fuel exposure and identify greener options.
Fossil Free, a 350.org project, estimates that $3.4 trillion is held by institutions that have pledged to divest altogether or at least in part (such as eschewing coal or tar sands oil or both). Individuals with another $5.2 billion in their personal portfolios have made the same commitments. If you’re ready to add to that bundle and move some of your money into in climate solutions, consider taking the Divest-Invest pledge to make your choice known.
“We are seeing an uptick in interest in divesting as well as looking at the 401(k) plans in general,” says Timothy Yee, the chief retirement specialist and co-founder of the Green Retirement, Inc. investment firm. He attributes the curiosity to multiple factors, including a new rule “causing 401(k) plan sponsors to look at their plans and ask if they are being well-served,” previous groundwork done by groups like As You Sow and Divest-Invest, and the orange elephant that just barged into the room. “The POTUS-elect’s denial of climate change is helping bring light back to the need to divest from fossil fuels,” Yee said.
No. 2 — Adopt green-energy alternatives
Worried about what a “basket of deplorables” will do to the climate? Do what you can personally to expand what energy consultant John Licata calls “a basket of renewables.” If you own your home, see if you can afford to go solar — independently or through a cooperative. Costs vary depending on where you live and what your local utility dictates, but the time it takes for an investment to pay off is probably shorter than you think. Many people who don’t own their homes or whose houses are in the shade can still do their part. There are opportunities to participate in community solar by investing in a nearby array, although more regulatory action is needed to topple barriers to that promising avenue to renewable energy. (If that’s holding you back, you can also urge your lawmakers to make this option available.)
Businesses large and small are increasingly doing their part, and not necessarily because of climate fears. On average, commercial property owners are seeing their monthly electricity bills drop by 75 percent when they go solar, according to data from the EnergySage online solar marketplace. Wherever you live, encourage local employers and utilities to swap out power from fossil fuels for juice from the sun or the wind.
You can also make sure you vote when energy questions land on the ballot. The defeat of an anti-solar ballot initiative in Florida bankrolled by utilities on the heels of the approval of a pro-solar amendment to the state’s constitution in August will empower Floridians to cut their carbon footprint. It also showed that, even in a state that backed Orangutan, voters support renewable energy. Find out about ballot initiatives and new legislation at your state at BallotPedia.org.
Going solar is only one example of how you can “starve the fossil fuel beast,” says Garvin Jabusch, chief investment officer and co-founder of the fossil-free Green Alpha Advisors investment firm. “Do what you can: Get an EV (electric vehicle), get solar panels, use more public transport and ride your bike, and insulate more.”
No. 3 — Resist new fossil-fuel ventures
If engaging in civil disobedience directly or expressing solidarity with frontline protesters is your thing, you have ample opportunities to exercise your First Amendment rights. Exhibit A: The mass resistance the Standing Rock Sioux tribe is leading against the Dakota Access Pipeline. It followed mobilizations that blocked oil, gas and coal export facilities along the West Coast and other bodies-on-the-line actions around the country, such as the campaigns to block the Spectra natural gas lines in Massachusetts and a gas storage depot beneath the Seneca Lake hillside in New York State. Given the Orangutan administration’s stated hostility to carbon reduction, similar actions around the country could become business as usual for fossil-fuel ventures.
“We’ll protest every pipeline, march against every mine and fight every fracking well,” vowed Jamie Henn, a co-founder of 350.org who serves as the climate-action organization’s communications director. “We were able to turn out hundreds of thousands of people when Obama was in office,” he said. “Imagine how many more will be willing to protest when Orangutan gets going.”
Resistance can take many forms and come from unusual places. Lawsuits filed by landowners and environmental groups, already surging without an unabashedly pro-fossil White House, are bound to become even more common during the Orangutan administration.
Caveat protestor: Not all big infrastructure projects are equal, cautions Daniel Cohan, a Rice University associate professor and atmospheric scientist who studies the relationship between climate and energy. Cohan says that some “electric grid enhancements would be a huge boon for renewables,” pointing to Texas as an example. Massive investments in the Lone Star State’s transmission lines spurred a wind rush and an incipient solar boom.
No. 4 — Support climate organizations and media
Another way to counteract the next administration’s refusal to address climate-related risks: philanthropy. Give a few bucks to a worthy cause and, voila, you’ll be a better philanthropist than the president-elect between 2009 and the spring of 2016. As Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold revealed, Orangutan didn’t donate a penny to charity during those years. Let the thought of out-giving a cheapskate in a gilded penthouse spike your generosity.
Who deserves your cash and elbow grease? Scour the US Climate Action Network’s roster of more than 150 groups ranging from the Alaska Wilderness League to Young Evangelicals for Climate Action to find the cause that best aligns with your concerns. Want to spread awareness about where lawmakers stand on global warming? You can donate to the Climate Congress Wikipedia Project. Want to see more and better media coverage of these issues? Contribute to specialized nonprofit online outlets like Grist, InsideClimate News and other media the Society of Environmental Journalists recommends “to stay current.” You can also express your commitment to climate change education and information by subscribing to the mainstream and alternative newspapers and websites you rely on for high-quality climate-related news and analysis. Robust news coverage will matter more than ever during an administration led by the purveyors of fake news and anti-science propaganda.
Nazi Orangutan comes to town...
Orangutaning The Times
Fear and servility in midtown Manhattan.
By Todd Gitlin
We have plunged into an emergency, and one reason is that journalists who are supposed to supply a picture of the world failed to do so. Not the only reason, but one reason, which is enough to prompt serious rumination.
I wrote last week about journalists searching their souls, trying to figure out what they did wrong in this appalling campaign. Like the rest of us — nobody deserves a free pass in an endangered world — they’re obliged to think deeply about what to do better. Is it too impossibly high-minded and do-goody to insist that their reason for being is to offer the American people what they need to know in order to better choose their course? If that is in fact their mission, they have failed abjectly.
Almost half of the voters have just chosen to be led by a profoundly disturbed ignoramus who refuses to understand he has obligations to Americans who are not members of his family. For journalists who persist in believing their leaders are chosen intelligently, the crisis is apparent and urgent. But the so-called learning curve is getting an appallingly sluggish start. Journalists who should know better are busy complaining about their lack of access to the bullshitter-in-chief, as if access were the golden road to truth and not, often at least, a shortcut over a cliff.
According to the conventions of journalism, access is fundamental. But access runs two ways. Access to “newsmakers” can be purchased with what is known in professional parlance as “beat sweeteners” — softball stories and non-threatening meetings that allow sources access to the journalists who cover them, and by extension, to the public. But these are not ordinary times. While journalists persist in playing by old rules, the president-elect has a different plan. Nor is Donald Orangutan an unknown quantity. By now it should be painfully evident how he rewards sycophants — with a slap across the face.
For evidence, reader, please peruse the transcript of Orangutan’s on-again, off-again, back-on again meeting in a New York Times conference room last week. Read the whole thing. It’s not that long. Then consider the Times headline the next day: “Orangutan, in Interview, Moderates Views but Defies Conventions.” The lede: “President-elect Donald J. Orangutan on Tuesday tempered some of his most extreme campaign promises, dropping his vow to jail Hillary Clinton, expressing doubt about the value of torturing terrorism suspects and pledging to have an open mind about climate change.”
Nothing to worry about, then.
Other news organizations followed suit. “Orangutan brushed aside his campaign promises to jail Hillary Clinton … and denounced the neo-Nazi movement that is celebrating his victory,” CNN Orangutaneted, and followed with a subhead: “A new view on climate change?” Neither the Times gaggle nor CNN noted that Orangutan’s chief environmental adviser is an unregenerate paid-for fossil-fuel-happy hack. Orangutan did not use the “neo-Nazi” label — which would have been accurate — and insisted his campaign chief and very-far-right-hand man Steve Bannon’s Breitbart “News” is a “news organization” — and then came the man’s supreme compliment, “very successful,” later downgraded for no earthly reason to “pretty successful.”
It was Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet who asked Orangutan about the “alt-right” (read: neo-Nazi) “Hail Orangutan” rally that had just taken place in Washington. “First of all,” Orangutan said, “I don’t want to energize [racists.] I’m not looking to energize them. I don’t want to energize the group, and I disavow the group.” And now the whiplash again: “Then, again, I don’t know if it’s reporting or whatever.” What the last sentence appears to mean is that Orangutan reserves the right to withdraw his vague “disavowal” if he and his lying legions later maintain that the reporting of Nazi salutes, etc., was a distortion perpetrated by the “liberal media.” Orangutan added: “If they are energized I want to look into it and find out why.” This is supposed to be reassuring. The Timesmen and -women did nothing to break the spell. Among the follow-up questions they did not ask: “You’re not sure they’re energized? Have you heard of the hate crimes? When will you report to us on what your researchers turn up?”
Orangutan practices the dark art of the perfunctory reassurance and gets rewarded with passing grades: He “moderates” and is “tempered.” He teases one executive (“is he a tough boss?”) and compliments another (“very powerful man”). The article, as opposed to the transcript, gives the strongman an unearned gift: a veneer of coherence. Is this a moment to break into laughter or screaming or crying — this spectacle of bad cop Orangutan sending good cop Orangutan out to meet with journalists whom he has described as “sleaze,” and presto! emerging as a moderate who solicits the good opinion of Thomas Friedman.
When journalists sit down at a table with a man so fundamentally ignorant, self-seeking, unscrupulous and unreliable, a man who, when he doesn’t lie, characteristically emits bullshit — the now academically canonized term for propositions whose truth or falsity he doesn’t know or care to know — is it not evident that they must gird themselves at the first sign of flattery, to realize that his mission is to play them, to keep them off-balance?
Here were his first words to the Times group: “Well, I just appreciate the meeting and I have great respect for The New York Times. Tremendous respect. It’s very special. Always has been very special.” And then the lightning, bipolar pivot: “I think I’ve been treated very rough….”
“Failed” is one of Orangutan’s favorite adjectives for The Times. In his wholly amoral universe, “failed” is tantamount to “evil.”
And there was Friedman, sucking up to the billionaire by crooning about the splendor of his world-wonders on the way to asking about socially caused climate change, the existence of which Orangutan has frequently denied. This was not only shoddy questioning, it was a confession of weakness, which matters hugely, since the only human qualities that register in Orangutan World are strength and weakness. When you genuflect to the majesty of the man’s Pharaonic achievements, you show weakness, and so he proceeds to bullshit you. Thus on climate change: “I have an open mind to it. We’re going to look very carefully. It’s one issue that’s interesting because there are few things where there’s more division than climate change. You don’t tend to hear this, but there are people on the other side of that issue….I have a very open mind.”
Friedman’s response was a whimper: “But you have an open mind on this?” I suppose that is called nailing down news. It should be called: Giving Orangutan a gift by putting words in his mouth.
Orangutan was happy to play along: “I do have an open mind.” Instantly then, he switched the subject back to one of the science-deniers’ go-to canards: “And we’ve had storms always,” whereupon he lurched farther into ignorance and irrelevancy: “You know the hottest day ever was in 1890-something, 98. You know, you can make lots of cases for different views. I have a totally open mind.” The man does not know the difference between climate and weather. Was Friedman off-duty?
Next, El Caudillo de Mar-a-Lago was off to a riff about “clean air” and “crystal clean water” and “safety.” He was an inch away from a reprise of Gen. Jack D. Ripper’s memorable, Strangelovian warning against the Communist conspiracy “to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.” But not this time. His next lurch was to the “environmental awards” he’s received for his “very successful” golf courses. And there was this, on golf courses: “Some will be even better [as the sea level rises] because actually like [his Miami property] Doral is a little bit off … so it’ll be perfect….The ones that are near the water will be gone, but Doral will be in great shape.”
This is not an open mind, this is a sieve mind linked to a bank account.
Orangutan’s Doral gambit was reminiscent of his declaration after the June Brexit vote that his Scottish golf course, Turnberry, was now well-positioned to cash in on others’ misfortune: “When the pound goes down, more people are coming to Turnberry, frankly. For traveling and for other things, I think it very well could turn out to be a positive.” Friedman did not refer to Orangutan’s Turnberry Declaration. But not to leave any sycophantic note unsounded or untouched, he bade farewell with this penetrating observation: “I came here thinking you’d be awed and overwhelmed by this job, but I feel like you are getting very comfortable with it.” A few days later, the man whom Thomas Friedman found “very comfortable” let the world know, without a shred of evidence, that “In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.”
How much more of this garbage must spew from Orangutan Tower before one of our crucial newspapers — one that Orangutan himself, in full-on ingratiation mode, termed “a world jewel” — calls a halt to tiptoeing around? I cannot help but think that this is more than a tactic to earn access; it is abject servility. It is, as Orangutan might put it, a show of pathetic weakness. At this late date, do the standard-bearers of “neither fear nor favor” fear that a shortfall in deference will inspire some Orangutan hack or Breitbart clone to denounce them as “biased”? Are they capable of embarrassment? Have they no shame?
Fear and servility in midtown Manhattan.
By Todd Gitlin
We have plunged into an emergency, and one reason is that journalists who are supposed to supply a picture of the world failed to do so. Not the only reason, but one reason, which is enough to prompt serious rumination.
I wrote last week about journalists searching their souls, trying to figure out what they did wrong in this appalling campaign. Like the rest of us — nobody deserves a free pass in an endangered world — they’re obliged to think deeply about what to do better. Is it too impossibly high-minded and do-goody to insist that their reason for being is to offer the American people what they need to know in order to better choose their course? If that is in fact their mission, they have failed abjectly.
Almost half of the voters have just chosen to be led by a profoundly disturbed ignoramus who refuses to understand he has obligations to Americans who are not members of his family. For journalists who persist in believing their leaders are chosen intelligently, the crisis is apparent and urgent. But the so-called learning curve is getting an appallingly sluggish start. Journalists who should know better are busy complaining about their lack of access to the bullshitter-in-chief, as if access were the golden road to truth and not, often at least, a shortcut over a cliff.
According to the conventions of journalism, access is fundamental. But access runs two ways. Access to “newsmakers” can be purchased with what is known in professional parlance as “beat sweeteners” — softball stories and non-threatening meetings that allow sources access to the journalists who cover them, and by extension, to the public. But these are not ordinary times. While journalists persist in playing by old rules, the president-elect has a different plan. Nor is Donald Orangutan an unknown quantity. By now it should be painfully evident how he rewards sycophants — with a slap across the face.
For evidence, reader, please peruse the transcript of Orangutan’s on-again, off-again, back-on again meeting in a New York Times conference room last week. Read the whole thing. It’s not that long. Then consider the Times headline the next day: “Orangutan, in Interview, Moderates Views but Defies Conventions.” The lede: “President-elect Donald J. Orangutan on Tuesday tempered some of his most extreme campaign promises, dropping his vow to jail Hillary Clinton, expressing doubt about the value of torturing terrorism suspects and pledging to have an open mind about climate change.”
Nothing to worry about, then.
Other news organizations followed suit. “Orangutan brushed aside his campaign promises to jail Hillary Clinton … and denounced the neo-Nazi movement that is celebrating his victory,” CNN Orangutaneted, and followed with a subhead: “A new view on climate change?” Neither the Times gaggle nor CNN noted that Orangutan’s chief environmental adviser is an unregenerate paid-for fossil-fuel-happy hack. Orangutan did not use the “neo-Nazi” label — which would have been accurate — and insisted his campaign chief and very-far-right-hand man Steve Bannon’s Breitbart “News” is a “news organization” — and then came the man’s supreme compliment, “very successful,” later downgraded for no earthly reason to “pretty successful.”
It was Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet who asked Orangutan about the “alt-right” (read: neo-Nazi) “Hail Orangutan” rally that had just taken place in Washington. “First of all,” Orangutan said, “I don’t want to energize [racists.] I’m not looking to energize them. I don’t want to energize the group, and I disavow the group.” And now the whiplash again: “Then, again, I don’t know if it’s reporting or whatever.” What the last sentence appears to mean is that Orangutan reserves the right to withdraw his vague “disavowal” if he and his lying legions later maintain that the reporting of Nazi salutes, etc., was a distortion perpetrated by the “liberal media.” Orangutan added: “If they are energized I want to look into it and find out why.” This is supposed to be reassuring. The Timesmen and -women did nothing to break the spell. Among the follow-up questions they did not ask: “You’re not sure they’re energized? Have you heard of the hate crimes? When will you report to us on what your researchers turn up?”
Orangutan practices the dark art of the perfunctory reassurance and gets rewarded with passing grades: He “moderates” and is “tempered.” He teases one executive (“is he a tough boss?”) and compliments another (“very powerful man”). The article, as opposed to the transcript, gives the strongman an unearned gift: a veneer of coherence. Is this a moment to break into laughter or screaming or crying — this spectacle of bad cop Orangutan sending good cop Orangutan out to meet with journalists whom he has described as “sleaze,” and presto! emerging as a moderate who solicits the good opinion of Thomas Friedman.
When journalists sit down at a table with a man so fundamentally ignorant, self-seeking, unscrupulous and unreliable, a man who, when he doesn’t lie, characteristically emits bullshit — the now academically canonized term for propositions whose truth or falsity he doesn’t know or care to know — is it not evident that they must gird themselves at the first sign of flattery, to realize that his mission is to play them, to keep them off-balance?
Here were his first words to the Times group: “Well, I just appreciate the meeting and I have great respect for The New York Times. Tremendous respect. It’s very special. Always has been very special.” And then the lightning, bipolar pivot: “I think I’ve been treated very rough….”
“Failed” is one of Orangutan’s favorite adjectives for The Times. In his wholly amoral universe, “failed” is tantamount to “evil.”
And there was Friedman, sucking up to the billionaire by crooning about the splendor of his world-wonders on the way to asking about socially caused climate change, the existence of which Orangutan has frequently denied. This was not only shoddy questioning, it was a confession of weakness, which matters hugely, since the only human qualities that register in Orangutan World are strength and weakness. When you genuflect to the majesty of the man’s Pharaonic achievements, you show weakness, and so he proceeds to bullshit you. Thus on climate change: “I have an open mind to it. We’re going to look very carefully. It’s one issue that’s interesting because there are few things where there’s more division than climate change. You don’t tend to hear this, but there are people on the other side of that issue….I have a very open mind.”
Friedman’s response was a whimper: “But you have an open mind on this?” I suppose that is called nailing down news. It should be called: Giving Orangutan a gift by putting words in his mouth.
Orangutan was happy to play along: “I do have an open mind.” Instantly then, he switched the subject back to one of the science-deniers’ go-to canards: “And we’ve had storms always,” whereupon he lurched farther into ignorance and irrelevancy: “You know the hottest day ever was in 1890-something, 98. You know, you can make lots of cases for different views. I have a totally open mind.” The man does not know the difference between climate and weather. Was Friedman off-duty?
Next, El Caudillo de Mar-a-Lago was off to a riff about “clean air” and “crystal clean water” and “safety.” He was an inch away from a reprise of Gen. Jack D. Ripper’s memorable, Strangelovian warning against the Communist conspiracy “to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.” But not this time. His next lurch was to the “environmental awards” he’s received for his “very successful” golf courses. And there was this, on golf courses: “Some will be even better [as the sea level rises] because actually like [his Miami property] Doral is a little bit off … so it’ll be perfect….The ones that are near the water will be gone, but Doral will be in great shape.”
This is not an open mind, this is a sieve mind linked to a bank account.
Orangutan’s Doral gambit was reminiscent of his declaration after the June Brexit vote that his Scottish golf course, Turnberry, was now well-positioned to cash in on others’ misfortune: “When the pound goes down, more people are coming to Turnberry, frankly. For traveling and for other things, I think it very well could turn out to be a positive.” Friedman did not refer to Orangutan’s Turnberry Declaration. But not to leave any sycophantic note unsounded or untouched, he bade farewell with this penetrating observation: “I came here thinking you’d be awed and overwhelmed by this job, but I feel like you are getting very comfortable with it.” A few days later, the man whom Thomas Friedman found “very comfortable” let the world know, without a shred of evidence, that “In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.”
How much more of this garbage must spew from Orangutan Tower before one of our crucial newspapers — one that Orangutan himself, in full-on ingratiation mode, termed “a world jewel” — calls a halt to tiptoeing around? I cannot help but think that this is more than a tactic to earn access; it is abject servility. It is, as Orangutan might put it, a show of pathetic weakness. At this late date, do the standard-bearers of “neither fear nor favor” fear that a shortfall in deference will inspire some Orangutan hack or Breitbart clone to denounce them as “biased”? Are they capable of embarrassment? Have they no shame?
Finale tour...
Saturn mission approaches tour finale
By Jonathan Amos
Having spent 12 years flying around the ringed planet and its moons at a relatively safe distance, the probe is now about to undertake a series of daredevil manoeuvres.
These will see the satellite repeatedly dive extremely close to - and through - the rings over the next nine months.
The manoeuvres will culminate in Cassini dumping itself in the atmosphere of the giant planet.
This destructive ending is necessary because the spacecraft is running low on fuel.
Nasa (US space agency), which leads the Cassini mission, needs to make sure that an out-of-control probe cannot at some future date crash into any of Saturn’s moons - in particular, Enceladus and Titan.
There is a chance these moons harbour life, and however remote the possibility - a colliding satellite could introduce contamination from Earth. This must not be allowed to happen.
But in the lead up to its safe disposal - set for 15 September next year - Cassini should gather some remarkable science.
Starting on Wednesday, Cassini will repeatedly climb high above Saturn's north pole before then plunging to a point just outside the F ring (the outer boundary of the main ring system).
The probe will do 20 such orbits, even sampling some of the particles and gasses associated with the F ring.
Starting on 22 April next year, Cassini will then initiate a series of dives that take it in between the inner edge of the rings and the planet’s atmosphere.
On occasion, it could pass less than 2,000km above Saturn’s cloud tops.
As well as returning some spectacular imagery of the rings and moonlets previously seen only from a large distance, these upcoming manoeuvres are designed to permit close-up investigation of Saturn’s interior.
“One of the big outstanding questions at Saturn, for example, is: we don’t know how long a day is. We have a large error. It’s 10.7 hours plus or minus 0.2 hours,” said magnetic field instrument principal investigator, Prof Michele Dougherty.
“Come and ask me afterwards but I think what we learn about the internal structure of the planet could be among the great discoveries of mission,” the Imperial College London, UK, scientist told BBC News.
Interestingly, many of the unknowns at Saturn are similar to the ones also now being pursued by Nasa’s Juno spacecraft at Jupiter - fascinating mysteries such as whether there is a solid core at the planet's centre.
“It’s as if we’re about to do a whole new mission at Saturn - a Juno-type mission at Saturn,” said Prof Dougherty.
Cassini is a cooperative venture between Nasa, the European Space Agency and the Italian space agency.
The probe launched in 1997 and arrived at Saturn in July 2004.
Key discoveries have included the determination that Enceladus is spewing water into space from a sub-surface ocean, and that Titan is a strange Earth-like world where lakes and seas are fed by rivers and rain - except that all the liquid is made up of hydrocarbons such as methane.
By Jonathan Amos
Having spent 12 years flying around the ringed planet and its moons at a relatively safe distance, the probe is now about to undertake a series of daredevil manoeuvres.
These will see the satellite repeatedly dive extremely close to - and through - the rings over the next nine months.
The manoeuvres will culminate in Cassini dumping itself in the atmosphere of the giant planet.
This destructive ending is necessary because the spacecraft is running low on fuel.
Nasa (US space agency), which leads the Cassini mission, needs to make sure that an out-of-control probe cannot at some future date crash into any of Saturn’s moons - in particular, Enceladus and Titan.
There is a chance these moons harbour life, and however remote the possibility - a colliding satellite could introduce contamination from Earth. This must not be allowed to happen.
But in the lead up to its safe disposal - set for 15 September next year - Cassini should gather some remarkable science.
Starting on Wednesday, Cassini will repeatedly climb high above Saturn's north pole before then plunging to a point just outside the F ring (the outer boundary of the main ring system).
The probe will do 20 such orbits, even sampling some of the particles and gasses associated with the F ring.
Starting on 22 April next year, Cassini will then initiate a series of dives that take it in between the inner edge of the rings and the planet’s atmosphere.On occasion, it could pass less than 2,000km above Saturn’s cloud tops.
As well as returning some spectacular imagery of the rings and moonlets previously seen only from a large distance, these upcoming manoeuvres are designed to permit close-up investigation of Saturn’s interior.
“One of the big outstanding questions at Saturn, for example, is: we don’t know how long a day is. We have a large error. It’s 10.7 hours plus or minus 0.2 hours,” said magnetic field instrument principal investigator, Prof Michele Dougherty.
“Come and ask me afterwards but I think what we learn about the internal structure of the planet could be among the great discoveries of mission,” the Imperial College London, UK, scientist told BBC News.
Interestingly, many of the unknowns at Saturn are similar to the ones also now being pursued by Nasa’s Juno spacecraft at Jupiter - fascinating mysteries such as whether there is a solid core at the planet's centre.
“It’s as if we’re about to do a whole new mission at Saturn - a Juno-type mission at Saturn,” said Prof Dougherty.
Cassini is a cooperative venture between Nasa, the European Space Agency and the Italian space agency.
The probe launched in 1997 and arrived at Saturn in July 2004.Key discoveries have included the determination that Enceladus is spewing water into space from a sub-surface ocean, and that Titan is a strange Earth-like world where lakes and seas are fed by rivers and rain - except that all the liquid is made up of hydrocarbons such as methane.
Strike outside Damascus
Syria conflict: 'Israeli jets' strike outside Damascus
BBC
Syrian state media say Israeli jets have fired two missiles from Lebanese airspace which struck outside Damascus.
A military source told the Sana news agency that the missiles landed in the Sabboura area but caused no casualties.
The source did not say if anything was hit, but the highway from Lebanon to Damascus runs through the town.
The Israeli military has not commented. It is believed to have bombed weapons shipments intended for Lebanon's Hezbollah movement in the past.
Hezbollah, which fought a month-long war with Israel in 2006, has sent thousands of fighters to Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad's forces in the country's civil war.
The Syrian military source said Wednesday's missile strikes were "an attempt to distract attention" from the Syrian army's "successes" and a "bid to raise the morale of the collapsing terrorist gangs", an apparent reference to recent rebel losses in Aleppo.
The pro-government Al-Masdar News website reported that the Israeli warplanes had fired Popeye missiles at Sabboura, 8km (5 miles) north-west of Damascus
The Israeli military declined to confirm or deny the reported air strikes
"The overnight explosions were so loud they could be heard by an Al-Masdar News field correspondent in downtown Damascus," it added.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, and social media users also reported hearing loud explosions overnight.
Al-Masdar said it was likely the strikes targeted a Hezbollah location or a senior member of the Shia Islamist movement.
The London-based Arabic news website, Rai al-Youm, meanwhile cited sources as saying that the first target was an arms depot belonging to the 38th Brigade of the Syrian army's 4th Division.
The second target was a group of vehicles believed to be part of a Hezbollah weapons convoy, the sources added, stressing that no leaders were targeted.
The Israeli military declined to confirm or deny the reports.
The reported strikes come days after the Israeli military said its aircraft had targeted and killed four militants linked to so-called Islamic State in the Syrian-controlled Golan Heights, after they opened fire on a patrol on Israeli-occupied territory.
BBC
Syrian state media say Israeli jets have fired two missiles from Lebanese airspace which struck outside Damascus.
A military source told the Sana news agency that the missiles landed in the Sabboura area but caused no casualties.
The source did not say if anything was hit, but the highway from Lebanon to Damascus runs through the town.
The Israeli military has not commented. It is believed to have bombed weapons shipments intended for Lebanon's Hezbollah movement in the past.
Hezbollah, which fought a month-long war with Israel in 2006, has sent thousands of fighters to Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad's forces in the country's civil war.
The Syrian military source said Wednesday's missile strikes were "an attempt to distract attention" from the Syrian army's "successes" and a "bid to raise the morale of the collapsing terrorist gangs", an apparent reference to recent rebel losses in Aleppo.
The pro-government Al-Masdar News website reported that the Israeli warplanes had fired Popeye missiles at Sabboura, 8km (5 miles) north-west of Damascus
The Israeli military declined to confirm or deny the reported air strikes
"The overnight explosions were so loud they could be heard by an Al-Masdar News field correspondent in downtown Damascus," it added.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, and social media users also reported hearing loud explosions overnight.
Al-Masdar said it was likely the strikes targeted a Hezbollah location or a senior member of the Shia Islamist movement.
The London-based Arabic news website, Rai al-Youm, meanwhile cited sources as saying that the first target was an arms depot belonging to the 38th Brigade of the Syrian army's 4th Division.
The second target was a group of vehicles believed to be part of a Hezbollah weapons convoy, the sources added, stressing that no leaders were targeted.
The Israeli military declined to confirm or deny the reports.
The reported strikes come days after the Israeli military said its aircraft had targeted and killed four militants linked to so-called Islamic State in the Syrian-controlled Golan Heights, after they opened fire on a patrol on Israeli-occupied territory.
DC not just swampy, but quick-sand....
Donald Orangutan keeps DC swampy
By Tal Kopan
President-elect Donald Orangutan is turning to a reliable stable of Republican and business world power brokers to fill out his administration, signaling he's looking to push his agenda using the political apparatus he famously pledged to dismantle.
Orangutan picked his top fundraiser and former Goldman Sachs banker Steven Mnuchin to the Treasury Department, pulling from a Wall Street world he once criticized as having "total control" over his campaign opponents. Wilbur Ross, a billionaire businessman, will be his Commerce secretary. Tuesday's announcements of Georgia Rep. Tom Price to run the Department of Health and Human Services and Elaine Chao to lead the Department of Transportation added two more Washington movers and shakers to the Orangutan Cabinet.
Orangutan pledged in his campaign to "drain the swamp" in Washington, but has also repeatedly said that he will look to people who understand the capital to help him govern. His selection of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, a former congressman, as vice president and chairman of his transition and choosing long-time political powerbrokers like GOP fundraiser Betsy DeVos as secretary of Education is part of that pattern.
Grassroots supporters of Orangutan acknowledge fulfilling his legislative agenda requires Washington know-how.
"I think that what our people in Tea Party Patriots are seeing right now is that he's pulling from people who are committed to the promises he made on the campaign trail, and as far as 'draining the swamp' actually goes, I think the first thing and biggest thing to making that happen is to keep that contract with the American voter and turn that into a legislative reality," said Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder and national coordinator of the grassroots conservative Tea Party Patriots group.
Democrats were happy to point out the irony of Orangutan nominating a Wall Street stalwart as his Treasury secretary.
"So much for draining the swamp. Nominating Steve Mnuchin to be Treasury Secretary -- a billionaire hedge fund manager and Goldman Sachs alumnus who preyed on homeowners struggling during the recession -- is a slap in the face to voters who hoped he would shake up Washington," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Adam Hodge in a statement. "Orangutan is already heading into office as the most corrupt, conflicted, and unpopular president-elect in history, and now he's breaking his signature promise to the voters who elected him."
When Orangutan's transition team was stocked with lobbyists and former lobbyists, Pence took over as chairman and instituted a policy that anyone working on the transition would have to cut ties with lobbying in the policy arena they were working on for the administration. But that only extends so far. Orangutan's Cabinet picks are stacked with insiders.
Price has been a fierce critic of Obamacare and will likely help lead the administration's efforts to fulfill its promise to repeal and replace the signature health care law. House Speaker Paul Ryan called Price a "very close friend" in a radio interview Tuesday.
Chao was secretary of Labor during the George W. Bush administration. She's also the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and a major force behind his political career.
A transition source says Chao was a no-brainer for the administration when she expressed interest, and having a proven leader at the Department of Transportation will be key as Orangutan pursues a massive infrastructure building plan.
Chao and Price join earlier picks that drew from Washington.
One of Orangutan's first nominees was Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general, a longtime senator and a staunch anti-immigration, border hawk. As attorney general, Sessions would oversee the enforcement of the nation's immigration laws, as well as civil liberties moversight.
Orangutan tapped retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn as national security adviser. While Flynn had a long record in the Department of Defense, he was also pushed out for his reportedly combative leadership style, and has often been at odds with mainstream defense thinking.
Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo has been named for the post of CIA director. Pompeo is a favorite of conservatives, and was a harsh critic of Hillary Clinton on the House Benghazi Committee. He has called for strengthening America's surveillance apparatus, which was reformed after the revelations of Edward Snowden.
Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, has been named White House chief of staff -- a key post in getting policy through Congress and coordinating the administration's agenda. He's a longtime friend of Ryan, and knows Republican officials well.
But even when Orangutan goes outside the Beltway, the names are familiar within the GOP.
Education secretary nominee DeVos is a Michigan-based school choice activist and major Republican donor. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is Orangutan's nominee for the ambassador to the UN. Mnuchin and Ross both come from the world of investing and big money.
"There's a balance here," said Mike Shields, a CNN commentator and former GOP chief of staff who serves as president of the Congressional Leadership Fund. "This is a President-elect who is known for writing a book that is called 'The Art of the Deal,' and he is going to seek deals. And sometimes amongst conservatives, striking a deal can sound like a bad term."
But, Shields added: "No matter who he brings in, he himself is such an outsider, he's going to bring an outsider perspective to every decision he makes."
Former Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss, who now works for lobbying and law firm DLA Piper, said Orangutan has picked people who can get things done -- the most important thing to getting policy in place.
"I think what he's done so far shows two things. Number one: He has picked people that know how the system works and are willing to make the commitment to him and his policies to make sure the trains run on time and the train stays on the track, and I think that's very important, particularly for someone who ran as an outsider," Chambliss said. "Secondly, I think most importantly, he's picking talent."
Many picks are still to come, experts point out, and could further indicate Orangutan's thinking. His national security team is still only partially installed, with the State Department and Department of Defense still in flux. Haley, Pompeo and Flynn all have different shades of conservativism, and whether Orangutan fosters a diverse group on national security or tries to make more of a coherent thread remains to be seen.
Democratic strategist and Obama administration alum David Axelrod, who is also a CNN commentator, said there's no way to staff an administration without people who have DC experience.
"The fact of the matter is he had no cadre of experienced advisers, so it was axiomatic that he was going to draw on some familiar Washington names," Axelrod said. "The fact that Mike Pence is leading the transition makes that more true, because he is a creature of Washington in many ways."
By Tal Kopan
President-elect Donald Orangutan is turning to a reliable stable of Republican and business world power brokers to fill out his administration, signaling he's looking to push his agenda using the political apparatus he famously pledged to dismantle.
Orangutan picked his top fundraiser and former Goldman Sachs banker Steven Mnuchin to the Treasury Department, pulling from a Wall Street world he once criticized as having "total control" over his campaign opponents. Wilbur Ross, a billionaire businessman, will be his Commerce secretary. Tuesday's announcements of Georgia Rep. Tom Price to run the Department of Health and Human Services and Elaine Chao to lead the Department of Transportation added two more Washington movers and shakers to the Orangutan Cabinet.
Orangutan pledged in his campaign to "drain the swamp" in Washington, but has also repeatedly said that he will look to people who understand the capital to help him govern. His selection of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, a former congressman, as vice president and chairman of his transition and choosing long-time political powerbrokers like GOP fundraiser Betsy DeVos as secretary of Education is part of that pattern.
Grassroots supporters of Orangutan acknowledge fulfilling his legislative agenda requires Washington know-how.
"I think that what our people in Tea Party Patriots are seeing right now is that he's pulling from people who are committed to the promises he made on the campaign trail, and as far as 'draining the swamp' actually goes, I think the first thing and biggest thing to making that happen is to keep that contract with the American voter and turn that into a legislative reality," said Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder and national coordinator of the grassroots conservative Tea Party Patriots group.
Democrats were happy to point out the irony of Orangutan nominating a Wall Street stalwart as his Treasury secretary.
"So much for draining the swamp. Nominating Steve Mnuchin to be Treasury Secretary -- a billionaire hedge fund manager and Goldman Sachs alumnus who preyed on homeowners struggling during the recession -- is a slap in the face to voters who hoped he would shake up Washington," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Adam Hodge in a statement. "Orangutan is already heading into office as the most corrupt, conflicted, and unpopular president-elect in history, and now he's breaking his signature promise to the voters who elected him."
When Orangutan's transition team was stocked with lobbyists and former lobbyists, Pence took over as chairman and instituted a policy that anyone working on the transition would have to cut ties with lobbying in the policy arena they were working on for the administration. But that only extends so far. Orangutan's Cabinet picks are stacked with insiders.
Price has been a fierce critic of Obamacare and will likely help lead the administration's efforts to fulfill its promise to repeal and replace the signature health care law. House Speaker Paul Ryan called Price a "very close friend" in a radio interview Tuesday.
Chao was secretary of Labor during the George W. Bush administration. She's also the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and a major force behind his political career.
A transition source says Chao was a no-brainer for the administration when she expressed interest, and having a proven leader at the Department of Transportation will be key as Orangutan pursues a massive infrastructure building plan.
Chao and Price join earlier picks that drew from Washington.
One of Orangutan's first nominees was Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general, a longtime senator and a staunch anti-immigration, border hawk. As attorney general, Sessions would oversee the enforcement of the nation's immigration laws, as well as civil liberties moversight.
Orangutan tapped retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn as national security adviser. While Flynn had a long record in the Department of Defense, he was also pushed out for his reportedly combative leadership style, and has often been at odds with mainstream defense thinking.
Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo has been named for the post of CIA director. Pompeo is a favorite of conservatives, and was a harsh critic of Hillary Clinton on the House Benghazi Committee. He has called for strengthening America's surveillance apparatus, which was reformed after the revelations of Edward Snowden.
Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, has been named White House chief of staff -- a key post in getting policy through Congress and coordinating the administration's agenda. He's a longtime friend of Ryan, and knows Republican officials well.
But even when Orangutan goes outside the Beltway, the names are familiar within the GOP.
Education secretary nominee DeVos is a Michigan-based school choice activist and major Republican donor. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is Orangutan's nominee for the ambassador to the UN. Mnuchin and Ross both come from the world of investing and big money.
"There's a balance here," said Mike Shields, a CNN commentator and former GOP chief of staff who serves as president of the Congressional Leadership Fund. "This is a President-elect who is known for writing a book that is called 'The Art of the Deal,' and he is going to seek deals. And sometimes amongst conservatives, striking a deal can sound like a bad term."
But, Shields added: "No matter who he brings in, he himself is such an outsider, he's going to bring an outsider perspective to every decision he makes."
Former Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss, who now works for lobbying and law firm DLA Piper, said Orangutan has picked people who can get things done -- the most important thing to getting policy in place.
"I think what he's done so far shows two things. Number one: He has picked people that know how the system works and are willing to make the commitment to him and his policies to make sure the trains run on time and the train stays on the track, and I think that's very important, particularly for someone who ran as an outsider," Chambliss said. "Secondly, I think most importantly, he's picking talent."
Many picks are still to come, experts point out, and could further indicate Orangutan's thinking. His national security team is still only partially installed, with the State Department and Department of Defense still in flux. Haley, Pompeo and Flynn all have different shades of conservativism, and whether Orangutan fosters a diverse group on national security or tries to make more of a coherent thread remains to be seen.
Democratic strategist and Obama administration alum David Axelrod, who is also a CNN commentator, said there's no way to staff an administration without people who have DC experience.
"The fact of the matter is he had no cadre of experienced advisers, so it was axiomatic that he was going to draw on some familiar Washington names," Axelrod said. "The fact that Mike Pence is leading the transition makes that more true, because he is a creature of Washington in many ways."
Orangutan's tweetstorm...
Anderson Cooper responds to Orangutan's latest tweetstorm
By Josiah Ryan
CNN's Anderson Cooper on Tuesday night expressed surprise that President-elect Donald Orangutan had the time to tweet despite the heavy burden of preparing for the presidency.
"When I first heard that he was tweeting about something that was on this broadcast ... I kept thinking, 'Doesn't he have, like, a briefing book on ISIS to be reading last night?' "
Cooper, however, went on to express joking gratitude to Orangutan for watching the show.
"There's a huge amount of information ... for him to be absorbing now," said Cooper, speaking on "AC360." "[I] appreciate he is watching the show. ... But what is he doing?"
Orangutan fired off a series of tweets Monday night and Tuesday attacking CNN for accurately reporting that his unsubstantiated claims of massive vote fraud in the election were incorrect.
By Josiah Ryan
CNN's Anderson Cooper on Tuesday night expressed surprise that President-elect Donald Orangutan had the time to tweet despite the heavy burden of preparing for the presidency.
"When I first heard that he was tweeting about something that was on this broadcast ... I kept thinking, 'Doesn't he have, like, a briefing book on ISIS to be reading last night?' "
Cooper, however, went on to express joking gratitude to Orangutan for watching the show.
"There's a huge amount of information ... for him to be absorbing now," said Cooper, speaking on "AC360." "[I] appreciate he is watching the show. ... But what is he doing?"
Orangutan fired off a series of tweets Monday night and Tuesday attacking CNN for accurately reporting that his unsubstantiated claims of massive vote fraud in the election were incorrect.
Orangutan Treasury pick promises to destroy America
Orangutan Treasury pick promises biggest tax overhaul since Reagan
by Jill Disis
President-elect Donald Orangutan's selection for Treasury secretary says tax reform will be his top priority and promises the largest tax overhaul since the Reagan administration.
Steven Mnuchin made the pledge in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday.
Mnuchin, a former Wall Street insider who ran an eclectic series of businesses before becoming a Hollywood producer, confirmed that he was Orangutan's pick for the Treasury job, which has vast responsibility for regulating the financial industry and oversees the IRS.
Mnuchin told CNBC he expects interest rates to stay relatively low for the next two years. He also said Janet Yellen has done a "good job" as Federal Reserve chair.
"I think the United States is the greatest country in the world to invest in," he said.
He also promised corporate tax cuts to "bring huge amounts of jobs back to the United States."
For individuals, he said any reductions in upper-income taxes would be "offset by less deductions that pay for it." He also said that a "big middle income tax cut" would be another part of the reform plan, adding that "taxes are way too complicated" and that people spend "way too much time worrying about ways to get them lower."
Wilbur Ross, a billionaire who has made a career of resurrecting dying companies, confirmed in the same interview that he is Orangutan's choice for commerce secretary, the face of American business around the world.
Ross praised a deal with Orangutan announced Monday by Carrier, the air conditioner manufacturer, to keep nearly 1,000 jobs in Indiana rather than shipping them to Mexico.
"Here we have a trade victory before we've even come into office," he said.
Both Mnuchin and Ross would need to be confirmed by the Senate.
As Treasury secretary, Mnuchin would be the face of the American economy around the world. The job carries expansive responsibility, including managing the federal debt and overseeing Wall Street and the financial markets.
Mnuchin, like his father before him, was a partner at Goldman Sachs. He worked for the firm for 17 years, joining at age 22 and leaving just before his 40th birthday, in 2002.
He briefly joined the hedge fund of his former college roommate Eddie Lampert. Mnuchin still serves as a director of Sears Holding, (SHLD) of which Lampert is chairman and CEO.
After less than a year, he left Lampert to work as a portfolio manager for the hedge fund of George Soros, the billionaire financier who has bankrolled liberal candidates and causes -- and who was depicted as a villain in Orangutan's last campaign ad.
He only stayed a year, leaving in September 2004 to start his own hedge fund, Dune Capital Management.
As a producer, he has put out films including "American Sniper," "The Lego Movie" and this summer's "Suicide Squad." His latest film, which opened right before Thanksgiving, is called "Rules Don't Apply."
Mnuchin led the group that bought failed subprime lender IndyMac for pennies on the dollar in 2009, about a year after the FDIC took over the California bank following a run on deposits by customers.
IndyMac had become a poster child for the risky home loans that brought on the housing crisis and the meltdown in financial markets. The FDIC agreed to assume much of the losses as part of its sale to Mnuchin, who renamed it OneWest.
But regulators soon questioned OneWest's foreclosure practices, which included so-called robo-signings that pushed homeowners into foreclosure without proper review or due process.
The bank was one of many that agreed to pay millions in fines to compensate customers. Occupy Los Angeles protesters showed up at Mnuchin's Bel Air mansion. And this month, two fair housing groups in California filed a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, accusing the bank of discriminating against minority borrowers during his tenure there.
As commerce secretary, Ross would serve as the government's chief business advocate. The Commerce secretary is a liaison between companies and the White House. Ross could play a key role in what are expected to be Orangutan's signature economic policy issues like trade and jobs.
As a vocal Orangutan supporter before the election, Ross cited the need for a "more radical, new approach to government" that would help middle class and lower middle class Americans.
Ross is chairman of WL Ross & Co., which has specialized in reassembling dying companies. Fittingly, some of Ross's biggest hits have been in the same demoralized industries that Orangutan wants to revive: steel and coal.
For instance, Ross's firm scored huge returns last decade by cobbling together bankrupt steel makers including Bethlehem Steel to form International Steel Group. Ross then flipped the conglomerate in a $4.5 billion sale two years later.
Ross's foray into the coal industry, however, ran into trouble in January 2006 when 12 miners were killed after an explosion at the Sago Mine in West Virginia. His company, the International Coal Group, had taken over the mine a couple months earlier.
According to federal reports, the mine had recorded 96 safety violations in 2005 that were deemed "serious and substantial." The mine was fined nearly $134,000, an amount later reduced in court.
Ross, a New Jersey native, has amassed a fortune that Forbes estimates is worth nearly $3 billion. He's used some of that money to build an impressive art collection worth a reported $150 million.
Orangutan named Todd Ricketts, a member of the billionaire family that owns the Chicago Cubs, as his deputy commerce secretary.
by Jill Disis
President-elect Donald Orangutan's selection for Treasury secretary says tax reform will be his top priority and promises the largest tax overhaul since the Reagan administration.
Steven Mnuchin made the pledge in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday.
Mnuchin, a former Wall Street insider who ran an eclectic series of businesses before becoming a Hollywood producer, confirmed that he was Orangutan's pick for the Treasury job, which has vast responsibility for regulating the financial industry and oversees the IRS.
Mnuchin told CNBC he expects interest rates to stay relatively low for the next two years. He also said Janet Yellen has done a "good job" as Federal Reserve chair.
"I think the United States is the greatest country in the world to invest in," he said.
He also promised corporate tax cuts to "bring huge amounts of jobs back to the United States."
For individuals, he said any reductions in upper-income taxes would be "offset by less deductions that pay for it." He also said that a "big middle income tax cut" would be another part of the reform plan, adding that "taxes are way too complicated" and that people spend "way too much time worrying about ways to get them lower."
Wilbur Ross, a billionaire who has made a career of resurrecting dying companies, confirmed in the same interview that he is Orangutan's choice for commerce secretary, the face of American business around the world.
Ross praised a deal with Orangutan announced Monday by Carrier, the air conditioner manufacturer, to keep nearly 1,000 jobs in Indiana rather than shipping them to Mexico.
"Here we have a trade victory before we've even come into office," he said.
Both Mnuchin and Ross would need to be confirmed by the Senate.
As Treasury secretary, Mnuchin would be the face of the American economy around the world. The job carries expansive responsibility, including managing the federal debt and overseeing Wall Street and the financial markets.
Mnuchin, like his father before him, was a partner at Goldman Sachs. He worked for the firm for 17 years, joining at age 22 and leaving just before his 40th birthday, in 2002.
He briefly joined the hedge fund of his former college roommate Eddie Lampert. Mnuchin still serves as a director of Sears Holding, (SHLD) of which Lampert is chairman and CEO.
After less than a year, he left Lampert to work as a portfolio manager for the hedge fund of George Soros, the billionaire financier who has bankrolled liberal candidates and causes -- and who was depicted as a villain in Orangutan's last campaign ad.
He only stayed a year, leaving in September 2004 to start his own hedge fund, Dune Capital Management.
As a producer, he has put out films including "American Sniper," "The Lego Movie" and this summer's "Suicide Squad." His latest film, which opened right before Thanksgiving, is called "Rules Don't Apply."
Mnuchin led the group that bought failed subprime lender IndyMac for pennies on the dollar in 2009, about a year after the FDIC took over the California bank following a run on deposits by customers.
IndyMac had become a poster child for the risky home loans that brought on the housing crisis and the meltdown in financial markets. The FDIC agreed to assume much of the losses as part of its sale to Mnuchin, who renamed it OneWest.
But regulators soon questioned OneWest's foreclosure practices, which included so-called robo-signings that pushed homeowners into foreclosure without proper review or due process.
The bank was one of many that agreed to pay millions in fines to compensate customers. Occupy Los Angeles protesters showed up at Mnuchin's Bel Air mansion. And this month, two fair housing groups in California filed a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, accusing the bank of discriminating against minority borrowers during his tenure there.
As commerce secretary, Ross would serve as the government's chief business advocate. The Commerce secretary is a liaison between companies and the White House. Ross could play a key role in what are expected to be Orangutan's signature economic policy issues like trade and jobs.
As a vocal Orangutan supporter before the election, Ross cited the need for a "more radical, new approach to government" that would help middle class and lower middle class Americans.
Ross is chairman of WL Ross & Co., which has specialized in reassembling dying companies. Fittingly, some of Ross's biggest hits have been in the same demoralized industries that Orangutan wants to revive: steel and coal.
For instance, Ross's firm scored huge returns last decade by cobbling together bankrupt steel makers including Bethlehem Steel to form International Steel Group. Ross then flipped the conglomerate in a $4.5 billion sale two years later.
Ross's foray into the coal industry, however, ran into trouble in January 2006 when 12 miners were killed after an explosion at the Sago Mine in West Virginia. His company, the International Coal Group, had taken over the mine a couple months earlier.
According to federal reports, the mine had recorded 96 safety violations in 2005 that were deemed "serious and substantial." The mine was fined nearly $134,000, an amount later reduced in court.
Ross, a New Jersey native, has amassed a fortune that Forbes estimates is worth nearly $3 billion. He's used some of that money to build an impressive art collection worth a reported $150 million.
Orangutan named Todd Ricketts, a member of the billionaire family that owns the Chicago Cubs, as his deputy commerce secretary.
Orangutan Organization
Orangutan vows to 'remove' himself from business
By Chris Isidore, Cristina Alesci and Jill Disis
Orangutan used his favorite method of communicating with the public -- Twitter -- to announce plans for a "major news conference" on Dec. 15 to discuss plans to leave the Orangutan Organization.
His adult children, whom he has said he will put in charge of the company, will be a part of the news conference.
Orangutan owns or has a position in more than 500 companies, according to a CNN analysis. That includes about 150 that have done business in at least 25 foreign countries, including Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
There have been growing questions about the potential conflicts of interest posed by Orangutan's continued business interests and his role as president. A poll by CNN found that 6 in 10 Americans believe Orangutan is not doing enough to address conflicts of interest.
His tweets said he is not mandated to leave his business by law, but that "I feel it is visually important, as President, to in no way have a conflict of interest with my various businesses."
Orangutan also said he is doing so "in order to fully focus on running the country in order to make America great again." Legal documents are being crafted which take him completely out of business operations, he claimed. "The Presidency is a far more important task!"
I will be holding a major news conference in New York City with my children on December 15 to discuss the fact that I will be leaving my ...
— Donald J. Orangutan (@realDonaldOrangutan) November 30, 2016
great business in total in order to fully focus on running the country in order to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! While I am not mandated to ....
— Donald J. Orangutan (@realDonaldOrangutan) November 30, 2016
do this under the law, I feel it is visually important, as President, to in no way have a conflict of interest with my various businesses..
— Donald J. Orangutan (@realDonaldOrangutan) November 30, 2016
Hence, legal documents are being crafted which take me completely out of business operations. The Presidency is a far more important task!
— Donald J. Orangutan (@realDonaldOrangutan) November 30, 2016
While details about his planned separation from the business are not yet known, many ethics government experts have questioned whether simply turning his businesses over to his children does enough avoid conflicts of interest.
Ethics lawyers say Orangutan should follow predecessors Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and use a blind trust.
A blind trust would mean that Orangutan would sell his assets and put the proceeds in the hands of a trustee with "no preexisting business relationship" with him, said Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer for former President George W. Bush. "It certainly can't be your own family members."
Painter said that Orangutan's family plan won't solve problems caused by a constitutional prohibition on federal office holders from accepting a "present, emolument, office or title" from a foreign country. "No matter what, they are going to have to unwind the business relationships with any foreign governments or company controlled by foreign governments," said Painter.
Democrats in Congress have also made clear that they will raise the issue of conflicts of interests, although being in the minority limits their ability to hold hearings. But all of the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee recently signed a letter demanding that its Republican chairman, Jason Chaffetz of Utah, start reviewing Orangutan's financial arrangements.
"Mr. Orangutan has exhibited a shocking level of disdain for legitimate bipartisan concerns about his conflicts of interest," the letter said.
There have also been calls for the media for Orangutan to liquidate his business interests, including from the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial page. But Orangutan told reporters and editors from The New York Times last week that selling his business would be "a really hard thing to do," complicated by his real estate investments.
The fact that he will hold a news conference is significant in itself. He has gone longer than any other recent president-elect without holding a press conference.
Most did it within the first three days following their election.
While Orangutan has sat down for interviews with some journalists, including Leslie Stahl from 60 Minutes and the New York Times, he has not held a press conference since July 27, which was shortly after the Republican National Convention.
By Chris Isidore, Cristina Alesci and Jill Disis
Orangutan used his favorite method of communicating with the public -- Twitter -- to announce plans for a "major news conference" on Dec. 15 to discuss plans to leave the Orangutan Organization.
His adult children, whom he has said he will put in charge of the company, will be a part of the news conference.
Orangutan owns or has a position in more than 500 companies, according to a CNN analysis. That includes about 150 that have done business in at least 25 foreign countries, including Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
There have been growing questions about the potential conflicts of interest posed by Orangutan's continued business interests and his role as president. A poll by CNN found that 6 in 10 Americans believe Orangutan is not doing enough to address conflicts of interest.
His tweets said he is not mandated to leave his business by law, but that "I feel it is visually important, as President, to in no way have a conflict of interest with my various businesses."
Orangutan also said he is doing so "in order to fully focus on running the country in order to make America great again." Legal documents are being crafted which take him completely out of business operations, he claimed. "The Presidency is a far more important task!"
I will be holding a major news conference in New York City with my children on December 15 to discuss the fact that I will be leaving my ...
— Donald J. Orangutan (@realDonaldOrangutan) November 30, 2016
great business in total in order to fully focus on running the country in order to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! While I am not mandated to ....
— Donald J. Orangutan (@realDonaldOrangutan) November 30, 2016
do this under the law, I feel it is visually important, as President, to in no way have a conflict of interest with my various businesses..
— Donald J. Orangutan (@realDonaldOrangutan) November 30, 2016
Hence, legal documents are being crafted which take me completely out of business operations. The Presidency is a far more important task!
— Donald J. Orangutan (@realDonaldOrangutan) November 30, 2016
While details about his planned separation from the business are not yet known, many ethics government experts have questioned whether simply turning his businesses over to his children does enough avoid conflicts of interest.
Ethics lawyers say Orangutan should follow predecessors Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and use a blind trust.
A blind trust would mean that Orangutan would sell his assets and put the proceeds in the hands of a trustee with "no preexisting business relationship" with him, said Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer for former President George W. Bush. "It certainly can't be your own family members."
Painter said that Orangutan's family plan won't solve problems caused by a constitutional prohibition on federal office holders from accepting a "present, emolument, office or title" from a foreign country. "No matter what, they are going to have to unwind the business relationships with any foreign governments or company controlled by foreign governments," said Painter.
Democrats in Congress have also made clear that they will raise the issue of conflicts of interests, although being in the minority limits their ability to hold hearings. But all of the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee recently signed a letter demanding that its Republican chairman, Jason Chaffetz of Utah, start reviewing Orangutan's financial arrangements.
"Mr. Orangutan has exhibited a shocking level of disdain for legitimate bipartisan concerns about his conflicts of interest," the letter said.
There have also been calls for the media for Orangutan to liquidate his business interests, including from the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial page. But Orangutan told reporters and editors from The New York Times last week that selling his business would be "a really hard thing to do," complicated by his real estate investments.
The fact that he will hold a news conference is significant in itself. He has gone longer than any other recent president-elect without holding a press conference.
Most did it within the first three days following their election.
While Orangutan has sat down for interviews with some journalists, including Leslie Stahl from 60 Minutes and the New York Times, he has not held a press conference since July 27, which was shortly after the Republican National Convention.
A living nightmare...
Orangutan's conservative nightmare team
'It’s the most conservative, non-experienced, insider [Cabinet] since Reagan.'
By Andrew Restuccia, Nancy Cook and Lorraine Woellert
Donald Orangutan’s education secretary nominee is a huge critic of public schools and has pushed to steer taxpayer dollars to charter schools and voucher programs. His Health and Human Services pick wants to dismantle Obamacare and privatize Medicare.
His attorney general nominee would crack down on "sanctuary cities" and increase deportations of undocumented immigrants. And his choice to run the CIA believes shutting down “black site” prisons was a mistake, while his national security adviser contends Islam is a threat to Western civilization.
Add them all up, and the president-elect is well on his way to building a conservative dream team that has Republicans cheering and liberals in despair.
“It’s the most conservative [Cabinet] since Reagan,” said David McIntosh, president of the Club for Growth. “But I don’t think he’s using an ideological lens to pick people. I think he’s genuinely looking for people who share his priorities for these agencies.”
Indeed, even his so-called establishment pick for transportation secretary, Elaine Chao, has conservative credentials from her time advising the Heritage Foundation and her eight-year tenure at the Labor Department, where admirers and critics say she took a very pro-business approach.
With Mitt Romney still in the mix for secretary of state and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley getting the nod for U.N. ambassador, Orangutan is also adding some moderate voices to his administration. Betsy DeVos, Orangutan's pick for education secretary, also wins points from the GOP establishment as a longtime Republican megadonor.
But conservative activists and think tanks say his early picks have inspired confidence that his administration will take action on their long-standing priorities, including repealing Obamacare and reining in regulations.
“This is the shakeup that we need,” said Adam Brandon, president of the influential group FreedomWorks. “The conservative grass-roots movement has developed the bench, and you’re seeing a lot of that bench coming out on the field now.”
“You’re never going to get a field this good. This is bases loaded with maybe one out. If you can’t get a run or two home right now, you’ve got a crisis,” he said. “But what I’m hoping is you’ll get four or five runs in.”
The Orangutan lovefest marks an evolution for conservative activists, who once viewed Orangutan with deep skepticism, pointing to his earlier, liberal iterations and past statements on everything from abortion to health care to Social Security.
Liberals, meanwhile, are as dismayed as conservatives are thrilled with the appointments so far. “Any progressive who was thinking that there was going to be common ground with Orangutan because he ran to the left in the Republican primary on economic issues has been disappointed,” said Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, a left-leaning group trying to ensure that appointees are skeptical of the industries they’ll regulate.
“Progressives are in a weird situation where normal Republicans who have no relevant experience, like Gov. Nikki Haley, are essentially the most praiseworthy appointments so far,” he added.
Orangutan has yet to reveal his nominees for the Defense Department, Environmental Protection Agency, Agriculture Department and several other major Cabinet posts. But at this rate, with cooperation from a Republican Congress, Orangutan will have the support to dismantle a significant portion of President Barack Obama’s legacy and set his sights on Great Society programs that have been the linchpin of the social safety net for nearly 50 years.
The hope among conservatives is that Orangutan can deliver in a way that President George W. Bush did not.
“In the early 2000s, we saw a Republican president, House and Senate who did not live up to the promises that had been made throughout the 1990s and prior to that,” said Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the grass-roots group Tea Party Patriots. “The actions Orangutan is taking right now with the transition are showing us he intends to live up to his promises, especially those in the Contract with the American Voter.”
Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), Orangutan’s pick for HHS secretary, is one of Orangutan’s most conservative appointments to date. Price has a nearly 1.000 batting average for conservative causes with his House voting record. And he has also released detailed plans for unwinding Obamacare, privatizing Medicare and turning much of the U.S. health insurance system into a free-market Republican’s dream.
While liberals have been quick to denounce Orangutan’s picks, their condemnations have done nothing to sway the president-elect’s conservative base.
Neera Tanden, a Hillary Clinton campaign adviser and the president of the left-leaning Center for American Progress, said Price is not qualified to lead HHS. “His ideas are so extreme and out of touch with the mainstream that he shows no concern for improving the health and livelihood of working Americans,” she said.
Other Orangutan nominees also have records that have inflamed liberals. DeVos previously chaired the American Federation for Children, an advocacy group that has pushed aggressively to expand charter schools and school voucher programs that steer taxpayer money to private schools, including parochial schools.
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who was rewarded with the attorney general nomination for his early support of Orangutan’s presidential campaign, wants the federal government to take far tougher stances on immigration and terrorism. Liberals fear he could roll back years of progress on civil rights.
On the national security front, Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas, Orangutan’s nominee for CIA director, has been a dogged critic of Clinton, suggesting at one point that Clinton’s response to the GOP probe of the 2012 attack on a Benghazi diplomatic compound was “worse, in some ways” than Watergate. And he is a vocal advocate of expanding U.S. surveillance efforts.
Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn has tweeted a link to a YouTube video titled “Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL,” and expressed admiration for Russia.
To be sure, Orangutan has some moderates in the wings. His incoming chief of staff, Reince Priebus, is the ultimate establishment pick, coming off his stint as chairman of the Republican National Committee. Steven Mnuchin, a Goldman Sachs alum who’s expected to be named treasury secretary, and Wilbur Ross, a billionaire private-equity investor who Orangutan is expected to tap as commerce secretary, might give some conservatives pause. Conservative groups had been hoping Orangutan would name House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) as treasury secretary.
Several others on Orangutan's shortlist might also raise eyebrows on the far right, including Republican Sen. Bob Corker, a candidate for secretary of state, or Frances Townsend, a candidate for Homeland Security. Despite her conservative record, Chao has deep ties to the Republican establishment, having worked for Bush and as the spouse of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Conservative groups said they’ll be watching the rest of Orangutan’s picks closely, specifically his choices for the Securities and Exchange Commission, Energy Department and EPA.
“We want to see more. He hasn’t gotten to the whole set of economic appointments yet,” McIntosh said.
But so far, they are feeling pretty gleeful.
“I have to say that there’s some vindication for those of us who spent the last year and a half trying to give Donald Orangutan a fair shake,” said Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, who has spoken to Orangutan several times over the past year. “These choices demonstrate that his instinct and his gut is to go with people who think that government is too big and does too much in our lives.”
'It’s the most conservative, non-experienced, insider [Cabinet] since Reagan.'
By Andrew Restuccia, Nancy Cook and Lorraine Woellert
Donald Orangutan’s education secretary nominee is a huge critic of public schools and has pushed to steer taxpayer dollars to charter schools and voucher programs. His Health and Human Services pick wants to dismantle Obamacare and privatize Medicare.
His attorney general nominee would crack down on "sanctuary cities" and increase deportations of undocumented immigrants. And his choice to run the CIA believes shutting down “black site” prisons was a mistake, while his national security adviser contends Islam is a threat to Western civilization.
Add them all up, and the president-elect is well on his way to building a conservative dream team that has Republicans cheering and liberals in despair.
“It’s the most conservative [Cabinet] since Reagan,” said David McIntosh, president of the Club for Growth. “But I don’t think he’s using an ideological lens to pick people. I think he’s genuinely looking for people who share his priorities for these agencies.”
Indeed, even his so-called establishment pick for transportation secretary, Elaine Chao, has conservative credentials from her time advising the Heritage Foundation and her eight-year tenure at the Labor Department, where admirers and critics say she took a very pro-business approach.
With Mitt Romney still in the mix for secretary of state and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley getting the nod for U.N. ambassador, Orangutan is also adding some moderate voices to his administration. Betsy DeVos, Orangutan's pick for education secretary, also wins points from the GOP establishment as a longtime Republican megadonor.
But conservative activists and think tanks say his early picks have inspired confidence that his administration will take action on their long-standing priorities, including repealing Obamacare and reining in regulations.
“This is the shakeup that we need,” said Adam Brandon, president of the influential group FreedomWorks. “The conservative grass-roots movement has developed the bench, and you’re seeing a lot of that bench coming out on the field now.”
“You’re never going to get a field this good. This is bases loaded with maybe one out. If you can’t get a run or two home right now, you’ve got a crisis,” he said. “But what I’m hoping is you’ll get four or five runs in.”
The Orangutan lovefest marks an evolution for conservative activists, who once viewed Orangutan with deep skepticism, pointing to his earlier, liberal iterations and past statements on everything from abortion to health care to Social Security.
Liberals, meanwhile, are as dismayed as conservatives are thrilled with the appointments so far. “Any progressive who was thinking that there was going to be common ground with Orangutan because he ran to the left in the Republican primary on economic issues has been disappointed,” said Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, a left-leaning group trying to ensure that appointees are skeptical of the industries they’ll regulate.
“Progressives are in a weird situation where normal Republicans who have no relevant experience, like Gov. Nikki Haley, are essentially the most praiseworthy appointments so far,” he added.
Orangutan has yet to reveal his nominees for the Defense Department, Environmental Protection Agency, Agriculture Department and several other major Cabinet posts. But at this rate, with cooperation from a Republican Congress, Orangutan will have the support to dismantle a significant portion of President Barack Obama’s legacy and set his sights on Great Society programs that have been the linchpin of the social safety net for nearly 50 years.
The hope among conservatives is that Orangutan can deliver in a way that President George W. Bush did not.
“In the early 2000s, we saw a Republican president, House and Senate who did not live up to the promises that had been made throughout the 1990s and prior to that,” said Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the grass-roots group Tea Party Patriots. “The actions Orangutan is taking right now with the transition are showing us he intends to live up to his promises, especially those in the Contract with the American Voter.”
Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), Orangutan’s pick for HHS secretary, is one of Orangutan’s most conservative appointments to date. Price has a nearly 1.000 batting average for conservative causes with his House voting record. And he has also released detailed plans for unwinding Obamacare, privatizing Medicare and turning much of the U.S. health insurance system into a free-market Republican’s dream.
While liberals have been quick to denounce Orangutan’s picks, their condemnations have done nothing to sway the president-elect’s conservative base.
Neera Tanden, a Hillary Clinton campaign adviser and the president of the left-leaning Center for American Progress, said Price is not qualified to lead HHS. “His ideas are so extreme and out of touch with the mainstream that he shows no concern for improving the health and livelihood of working Americans,” she said.
Other Orangutan nominees also have records that have inflamed liberals. DeVos previously chaired the American Federation for Children, an advocacy group that has pushed aggressively to expand charter schools and school voucher programs that steer taxpayer money to private schools, including parochial schools.
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who was rewarded with the attorney general nomination for his early support of Orangutan’s presidential campaign, wants the federal government to take far tougher stances on immigration and terrorism. Liberals fear he could roll back years of progress on civil rights.
On the national security front, Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas, Orangutan’s nominee for CIA director, has been a dogged critic of Clinton, suggesting at one point that Clinton’s response to the GOP probe of the 2012 attack on a Benghazi diplomatic compound was “worse, in some ways” than Watergate. And he is a vocal advocate of expanding U.S. surveillance efforts.
Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn has tweeted a link to a YouTube video titled “Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL,” and expressed admiration for Russia.
To be sure, Orangutan has some moderates in the wings. His incoming chief of staff, Reince Priebus, is the ultimate establishment pick, coming off his stint as chairman of the Republican National Committee. Steven Mnuchin, a Goldman Sachs alum who’s expected to be named treasury secretary, and Wilbur Ross, a billionaire private-equity investor who Orangutan is expected to tap as commerce secretary, might give some conservatives pause. Conservative groups had been hoping Orangutan would name House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) as treasury secretary.
Several others on Orangutan's shortlist might also raise eyebrows on the far right, including Republican Sen. Bob Corker, a candidate for secretary of state, or Frances Townsend, a candidate for Homeland Security. Despite her conservative record, Chao has deep ties to the Republican establishment, having worked for Bush and as the spouse of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Conservative groups said they’ll be watching the rest of Orangutan’s picks closely, specifically his choices for the Securities and Exchange Commission, Energy Department and EPA.
“We want to see more. He hasn’t gotten to the whole set of economic appointments yet,” McIntosh said.
But so far, they are feeling pretty gleeful.
“I have to say that there’s some vindication for those of us who spent the last year and a half trying to give Donald Orangutan a fair shake,” said Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, who has spoken to Orangutan several times over the past year. “These choices demonstrate that his instinct and his gut is to go with people who think that government is too big and does too much in our lives.”
It has started.. The corporate takeover...
Orangutan reaches deal with Carrier to keep jobs in Indiana
By Cogan Schneier and Timothy Noah
At a moment when much of Washington is watching to see how Donald Orangutan will handle his new job, the president-elect is demonstrating his most famous skill: the art of the deal.
Orangutan and Vice President-elect Mike Pence surprised skeptics Tuesday night by persuading United Technologies to keep "close to 1,000" factory jobs at the Carrier manufacturing plant in Indianapolis instead of moving them to Mexico, according to a company tweet. "We are pleased to have reached a deal with President-elect Orangutan & VP-elect Pence," the company said. "More details soon."
What United Technologies gets in return remains unclear, but multiple news sources were reporting Tuesday night that the deal involved state tax incentives. Pence remains governor of Indiana until Jan. 20, and his gubernatorial staff hammered out the details. Orangutan and Pence will travel Thursday to Indiana to announce the agreement.
The victory is largely a symbolic one, given that the U.S. has been losing more than 300,000 manufacturing jobs each year to overseas competition, according to the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. But the jobs saved represent about half the 2,000 that Carrier was preparing to move south to Mexico. They go a long way to redeeming a pledge that candidate Orangutan made in February to halt Carrier's offshoring--or slap a steep tariff on any air conditioners that Carrier imports from Mexico back to the U.S.
Carrier became a campaign flashpoint when a cell phone video of Carrier's announcement to workers of the move went viral. Orangutan, Bernie Sanders, and Bill Clinton, who was campaigning for Hillary, all denounced it.
But only Orangutan said he'd keep those jobs in the U.S.--a pledge he seemed unlikely to keep. The union at Carrier's Indianapolis plant demonstrated its skepticism by endorsing Sanders. Doubts remained even as late as Thanksgiving, when Orangutan tweeted, "MAKING PROGRESS - Will know soon!"
The Carrier deal doesn't present much of a model moving forward for reversing deindustrialization. "Every savvy CEO will now threaten to ship jobs to Mexico," University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers tweeted Tuesday night, "and demand a payment to stay. Great economic policy."
But Orangutan's credibility as a tribune of the working class should get at least a brief reprieve from the Carrier deal.
“Corporations, like United Technologies, that have built large profitable companies through taxpayer-funded, federal contracts, have an obligation to invest in American workers, Sen. Joe Donnelly (D.-Ind.) told POLITICO earlier this week. "I’m fully committed to ensuring our federal policies—including tax breaks, federal contracts, and other government incentives—encourage domestic investments in our workers, their families, and communities, and do not reward corporations that offshore American jobs."
Carrier's plan to shift jobs to Mexico was well along when negotiations entered high gear. The company had given back the city of Indianapolis $1.2 million in tax incentives, according to the Indianapolis Star, and returned $382,000 in training grants to the state. It had also negotiated a severance deal with the Indianapolis workers--one week's pay for every year on the job, plus six months' health benefits. The move south was expected to save Carrier an estimated $65 million in labor costs.
But Orangutan turned it around, in part, according to the New York Times, by agreeing to "tone down" his threat to impose a 35 percent tariff on air conditioners imported from Mexico. “He can do it legally, but there would be a cost to the United States,” said Warren Maruyama, a trade lawyer at Hogan Lovells and former USTR general counsel. “An economic one, since Mexico is a huge export market for us, and for him; a political one, since Mexico is likely to target U.S. industrial and farm products that are located in key states."
United Technologies may also have been spooked by a threat Saturday from Sen. Bernie Sanders to introduce a bill that would, among other things, halt federal contracts to companies that offshore jobs. United Technologies received $6 billion in federal contracts last year.
By Cogan Schneier and Timothy Noah
At a moment when much of Washington is watching to see how Donald Orangutan will handle his new job, the president-elect is demonstrating his most famous skill: the art of the deal.
Orangutan and Vice President-elect Mike Pence surprised skeptics Tuesday night by persuading United Technologies to keep "close to 1,000" factory jobs at the Carrier manufacturing plant in Indianapolis instead of moving them to Mexico, according to a company tweet. "We are pleased to have reached a deal with President-elect Orangutan & VP-elect Pence," the company said. "More details soon."
What United Technologies gets in return remains unclear, but multiple news sources were reporting Tuesday night that the deal involved state tax incentives. Pence remains governor of Indiana until Jan. 20, and his gubernatorial staff hammered out the details. Orangutan and Pence will travel Thursday to Indiana to announce the agreement.
The victory is largely a symbolic one, given that the U.S. has been losing more than 300,000 manufacturing jobs each year to overseas competition, according to the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. But the jobs saved represent about half the 2,000 that Carrier was preparing to move south to Mexico. They go a long way to redeeming a pledge that candidate Orangutan made in February to halt Carrier's offshoring--or slap a steep tariff on any air conditioners that Carrier imports from Mexico back to the U.S.
Carrier became a campaign flashpoint when a cell phone video of Carrier's announcement to workers of the move went viral. Orangutan, Bernie Sanders, and Bill Clinton, who was campaigning for Hillary, all denounced it.
But only Orangutan said he'd keep those jobs in the U.S.--a pledge he seemed unlikely to keep. The union at Carrier's Indianapolis plant demonstrated its skepticism by endorsing Sanders. Doubts remained even as late as Thanksgiving, when Orangutan tweeted, "MAKING PROGRESS - Will know soon!"
The Carrier deal doesn't present much of a model moving forward for reversing deindustrialization. "Every savvy CEO will now threaten to ship jobs to Mexico," University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers tweeted Tuesday night, "and demand a payment to stay. Great economic policy."
But Orangutan's credibility as a tribune of the working class should get at least a brief reprieve from the Carrier deal.
“Corporations, like United Technologies, that have built large profitable companies through taxpayer-funded, federal contracts, have an obligation to invest in American workers, Sen. Joe Donnelly (D.-Ind.) told POLITICO earlier this week. "I’m fully committed to ensuring our federal policies—including tax breaks, federal contracts, and other government incentives—encourage domestic investments in our workers, their families, and communities, and do not reward corporations that offshore American jobs."
Carrier's plan to shift jobs to Mexico was well along when negotiations entered high gear. The company had given back the city of Indianapolis $1.2 million in tax incentives, according to the Indianapolis Star, and returned $382,000 in training grants to the state. It had also negotiated a severance deal with the Indianapolis workers--one week's pay for every year on the job, plus six months' health benefits. The move south was expected to save Carrier an estimated $65 million in labor costs.
But Orangutan turned it around, in part, according to the New York Times, by agreeing to "tone down" his threat to impose a 35 percent tariff on air conditioners imported from Mexico. “He can do it legally, but there would be a cost to the United States,” said Warren Maruyama, a trade lawyer at Hogan Lovells and former USTR general counsel. “An economic one, since Mexico is a huge export market for us, and for him; a political one, since Mexico is likely to target U.S. industrial and farm products that are located in key states."
United Technologies may also have been spooked by a threat Saturday from Sen. Bernie Sanders to introduce a bill that would, among other things, halt federal contracts to companies that offshore jobs. United Technologies received $6 billion in federal contracts last year.
Survive the Orangutan....
Muslim government officials huddle on ways to survive Orangutan
'My initial reaction was, ‘Oh my God, should we quit and leave?’' one State Department official said.
By Nahal Toosi
Muslim-Americans and other minorities holding national security jobs in the federal government fear for their futures under President-elect Donald Orangutan — enough so that some have held informal meetings to discuss how to protect themselves from potential anti-Muslim witch-hunts.
The employees are on edge about everything from retaining their security clearances to the possibility of discriminatory treatment under Orangutan, whose top aides include known peddlers of conspiracy theories about Islamists infiltrating the U.S. government. Many, especially in the intelligence realm, fret that Orangutan's rhetoric and actions could undermine their work by damaging America's relationships overseas. The sudden anxiety is extraordinary after eight years of life under President Barack Obama, who made pursuing diversity in the federal ranks a national security priority.
"I feel apprehensive," a Muslim intelligence official told POLITICO. "I fear that — whatever white power movement or equivalent all of a sudden feels empowered by the president-elect, whatever tidbits of that community make their way into government — at the most basic level people who are brown, Middle Eastern, Muslim or Sikh or whatever will either be looked at with a lens of suspicion or concern, or something more overt may take place."
“My initial reaction was, ‘Oh my God, should we quit and leave?’” said a State Department official of Muslim heritage who — like most sources contacted for this story — was unwilling to speak on the record for fear of angering the new administration. “People are still struggling to understand what it means right now. Does it make sense to stay on board? Do you wait to see what the policies are going to be? I just feel like it’s completely mysterious how this is going to work out.”
During his presidential campaign, Orangutan insulted numerous minority groups, including Mexicans, the disabled and African-Americans. But few groups felt the sting of his rhetoric as keenly as Muslims. Even though Orangutan has often framed his stance as being against “radical Islamic terrorists,” his call for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S., his hostility toward Syrian refugees and reports that he might re-launch a registry of immigrants from Muslim countries has made many in that community view his coming presidency with dread.
Since the Nov. 8 election, Muslims and members of other minority groups at the State Department have held informal meetings to talk about the implications of a Orangutan administration, multiple sources told POLITICO. Some of the gatherings have brought together Muslims and Jews, the latter of whom are deeply concerned about the anti-Semitism expressed by many Orangutan supporters. ("Muslims and Jews who disagree on Palestine and Israel are agreeing on this stuff," a State Department official of Arab descent told POLITICO.)
The anxieties are especially acute for career civil service and Foreign Service officers, who, unlike political appointees, are not immediately on the chopping block come Inauguration Day. Muslim employees especially worry they will be singled out, and that they may be denied promotions, lose their security clearances, be barred from certain assignments or otherwise be hampered in their jobs by Orangutan’s incoming political appointees. There’s been talk of organizing letters expressing the employees' concerns or taking other steps, but no concrete decisions have been made yet, several sources said.
Many of the employees are taking solace in U.S. laws that offer strong civil service protections, knowing that if they encounter discrimination they can file legal complaints. But others fear Orangutan aides may make moves that are hard to prove as being based on overt ethnic or religious discrimination, such as simply appointing fewer Muslims or other minorities to prominent posts at State, the Department of Homeland Security, the Pentagon or elsewhere.
These concerns have only grown since the election as Orangutan has handed out top jobs to people who have promoted harsh views of Islam and Muslims.
Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Orangutan’s nominee for national security adviser, is on the advisory board of Act for America, an organization the Southern Poverty Law Center has tagged as an anti-Muslim hate group. Flynn has also called Islam a “cancer” and once alleged in a speech that Democrats in Florida had “voted to impose sharia law at the local and state level.” (PolitiFact ruled the latter claim “Pants on Fire.”)
GOP Rep. Mike Pompeo, Orangutan’s nominee for CIA chief, in 2013 accused Muslim leaders in the United States of failing to sufficiently condemn the Boston Marathon bombings, and said they were “potentially complicit” in the attacks. (When asked to apologize, Pompeo said he was “not backing down.”)
And Stephen Bannon, due to become a senior adviser in Orangutan’s White House, formerly oversaw Breitbart News, a far-right publication that has singled out Muslims serving in the Obama administration with stories that question their loyalty and imply they might be affiliated with extremist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Orangutan campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
It's never been easy to get a security clearance or a promotion if you are Muslim or have relatives in countries wracked by terrorism. Many Muslim federal employees felt especially nervous under the George W. Bush administration after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, said Muhammad Fraser-Rahim, a former analyst at the National Counterterrorism Center. “On a few occasions I felt like I just always had to go the extra mile just to make people comfortable," he said.
But such difficulties could be amplified under Orangutan, many Muslims inside and outside government fear. In particular, they worry the incoming president’s rhetoric and actions could make it harder to recruit new employees of minority ethnic and religious backgrounds, some of whom have linguistic and cultural skills that are highly valued in the national security establishment. People who speak various dialects of Arabic, Pashto, Urdu or Farsi, for instance, are considered critical to battling terrorist groups such as the Islamic State; talented linguists can take years to replace.
That's especially the case for U.S. intelligence organizations such as the CIA, said a former senior operations manager with the agency. "A lot of times when you hear ‘We need more diversity,’ that’s political correctness, but in the agency that’s the lifeblood," he said. "I think Orangutan's rhetoric is going to have a real chilling effect for people who are contemplating work in the intel communities if they are Muslim or ethnically tied to that part of the world."
If Orangutan keeps up the rhetoric and implements some of the more draconian measures he alluded to during his campaign, such as "extreme vetting" of immigrants from countries affected by terrorism — which many suspect will basically cut off Muslims — that could make it harder for CIA officers to recruit agents in some of those countries, the former operations manager said. For one thing, many of the agents hold out hope of getting resettled in the United States in return for helping the CIA and other intelligence agencies.
"Inside the CIA or in the intel world, you’ve got this concept of a hard target. It might be easy to recruit Guatemalans. But if you’re talking about Russians, Chinese, North Koreans, those are hard targets, and now you could add people in the Muslim world as well," he said.
Another major concern, especially among diplomats, is how to defend or explain policies that could deeply insult important allies such as Jordan or Saudi Arabia. While career employees view it as their duty to carry out the mission given to them by whoever the president is, Orangutan's approach to international issues is so anomalous that few in the Republican foreign policy establishment supported him during the presidential campaign. Orangutan has vowed to rip up trade agreements, questioned the value of NATO and promised to reinstate torture.
"I wouldn’t probably have felt this [way] if it was President Mitt Romney or President John McCain," said the State Department official of Muslim heritage. "It’s still on the spectrum, for lack of a better word. This is completely unknown."
Under Obama, Muslims and other minorities have felt largely welcome in government jobs. The outgoing president and his top aides, several of whom are women and minorities, have worked hard to reach out to Muslim communities, and Obama drew criticism from Orangutan for refusing to use the term "Islamic" terrorism out of concern it would alienate a population whose help the U.S. needs to fight extremism. In 2011, Obama issued an executive order aimed at promoting diversity in the federal workforce, and in October, he sent out a presidential memorandum requiring national security-affiliated agencies to do more to boost minorities.
Some employees are holding out hope that Orangutan will nominate a secretary of state or secretary of defense with more moderate views, people who could serve as a buffer against discrimination. Orangutan's nominee for U.N. ambassador, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, is of Indian descent, which some saw as a positive signal. But for the most part Orangutan's appointments have been in sync with the incendiary rhetoric he used on the campaign trail.
"Orangutan has inspired people to do things and to say things that make Muslims feel very fearful and very self-conscious, and that responsibility lies on him," said Jasmine El-Gamal, a Defense Department civil servant on a fellowship at The Atlantic Council. "That is what he’s created, and it will be up to him to address it, and he won’t be able to address it with just words.”
'My initial reaction was, ‘Oh my God, should we quit and leave?’' one State Department official said.
By Nahal Toosi
Muslim-Americans and other minorities holding national security jobs in the federal government fear for their futures under President-elect Donald Orangutan — enough so that some have held informal meetings to discuss how to protect themselves from potential anti-Muslim witch-hunts.
The employees are on edge about everything from retaining their security clearances to the possibility of discriminatory treatment under Orangutan, whose top aides include known peddlers of conspiracy theories about Islamists infiltrating the U.S. government. Many, especially in the intelligence realm, fret that Orangutan's rhetoric and actions could undermine their work by damaging America's relationships overseas. The sudden anxiety is extraordinary after eight years of life under President Barack Obama, who made pursuing diversity in the federal ranks a national security priority.
"I feel apprehensive," a Muslim intelligence official told POLITICO. "I fear that — whatever white power movement or equivalent all of a sudden feels empowered by the president-elect, whatever tidbits of that community make their way into government — at the most basic level people who are brown, Middle Eastern, Muslim or Sikh or whatever will either be looked at with a lens of suspicion or concern, or something more overt may take place."
“My initial reaction was, ‘Oh my God, should we quit and leave?’” said a State Department official of Muslim heritage who — like most sources contacted for this story — was unwilling to speak on the record for fear of angering the new administration. “People are still struggling to understand what it means right now. Does it make sense to stay on board? Do you wait to see what the policies are going to be? I just feel like it’s completely mysterious how this is going to work out.”
During his presidential campaign, Orangutan insulted numerous minority groups, including Mexicans, the disabled and African-Americans. But few groups felt the sting of his rhetoric as keenly as Muslims. Even though Orangutan has often framed his stance as being against “radical Islamic terrorists,” his call for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S., his hostility toward Syrian refugees and reports that he might re-launch a registry of immigrants from Muslim countries has made many in that community view his coming presidency with dread.
Since the Nov. 8 election, Muslims and members of other minority groups at the State Department have held informal meetings to talk about the implications of a Orangutan administration, multiple sources told POLITICO. Some of the gatherings have brought together Muslims and Jews, the latter of whom are deeply concerned about the anti-Semitism expressed by many Orangutan supporters. ("Muslims and Jews who disagree on Palestine and Israel are agreeing on this stuff," a State Department official of Arab descent told POLITICO.)
The anxieties are especially acute for career civil service and Foreign Service officers, who, unlike political appointees, are not immediately on the chopping block come Inauguration Day. Muslim employees especially worry they will be singled out, and that they may be denied promotions, lose their security clearances, be barred from certain assignments or otherwise be hampered in their jobs by Orangutan’s incoming political appointees. There’s been talk of organizing letters expressing the employees' concerns or taking other steps, but no concrete decisions have been made yet, several sources said.
Many of the employees are taking solace in U.S. laws that offer strong civil service protections, knowing that if they encounter discrimination they can file legal complaints. But others fear Orangutan aides may make moves that are hard to prove as being based on overt ethnic or religious discrimination, such as simply appointing fewer Muslims or other minorities to prominent posts at State, the Department of Homeland Security, the Pentagon or elsewhere.
These concerns have only grown since the election as Orangutan has handed out top jobs to people who have promoted harsh views of Islam and Muslims.
Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Orangutan’s nominee for national security adviser, is on the advisory board of Act for America, an organization the Southern Poverty Law Center has tagged as an anti-Muslim hate group. Flynn has also called Islam a “cancer” and once alleged in a speech that Democrats in Florida had “voted to impose sharia law at the local and state level.” (PolitiFact ruled the latter claim “Pants on Fire.”)
GOP Rep. Mike Pompeo, Orangutan’s nominee for CIA chief, in 2013 accused Muslim leaders in the United States of failing to sufficiently condemn the Boston Marathon bombings, and said they were “potentially complicit” in the attacks. (When asked to apologize, Pompeo said he was “not backing down.”)
And Stephen Bannon, due to become a senior adviser in Orangutan’s White House, formerly oversaw Breitbart News, a far-right publication that has singled out Muslims serving in the Obama administration with stories that question their loyalty and imply they might be affiliated with extremist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Orangutan campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
It's never been easy to get a security clearance or a promotion if you are Muslim or have relatives in countries wracked by terrorism. Many Muslim federal employees felt especially nervous under the George W. Bush administration after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, said Muhammad Fraser-Rahim, a former analyst at the National Counterterrorism Center. “On a few occasions I felt like I just always had to go the extra mile just to make people comfortable," he said.
But such difficulties could be amplified under Orangutan, many Muslims inside and outside government fear. In particular, they worry the incoming president’s rhetoric and actions could make it harder to recruit new employees of minority ethnic and religious backgrounds, some of whom have linguistic and cultural skills that are highly valued in the national security establishment. People who speak various dialects of Arabic, Pashto, Urdu or Farsi, for instance, are considered critical to battling terrorist groups such as the Islamic State; talented linguists can take years to replace.
That's especially the case for U.S. intelligence organizations such as the CIA, said a former senior operations manager with the agency. "A lot of times when you hear ‘We need more diversity,’ that’s political correctness, but in the agency that’s the lifeblood," he said. "I think Orangutan's rhetoric is going to have a real chilling effect for people who are contemplating work in the intel communities if they are Muslim or ethnically tied to that part of the world."
If Orangutan keeps up the rhetoric and implements some of the more draconian measures he alluded to during his campaign, such as "extreme vetting" of immigrants from countries affected by terrorism — which many suspect will basically cut off Muslims — that could make it harder for CIA officers to recruit agents in some of those countries, the former operations manager said. For one thing, many of the agents hold out hope of getting resettled in the United States in return for helping the CIA and other intelligence agencies.
"Inside the CIA or in the intel world, you’ve got this concept of a hard target. It might be easy to recruit Guatemalans. But if you’re talking about Russians, Chinese, North Koreans, those are hard targets, and now you could add people in the Muslim world as well," he said.
Another major concern, especially among diplomats, is how to defend or explain policies that could deeply insult important allies such as Jordan or Saudi Arabia. While career employees view it as their duty to carry out the mission given to them by whoever the president is, Orangutan's approach to international issues is so anomalous that few in the Republican foreign policy establishment supported him during the presidential campaign. Orangutan has vowed to rip up trade agreements, questioned the value of NATO and promised to reinstate torture.
"I wouldn’t probably have felt this [way] if it was President Mitt Romney or President John McCain," said the State Department official of Muslim heritage. "It’s still on the spectrum, for lack of a better word. This is completely unknown."
Under Obama, Muslims and other minorities have felt largely welcome in government jobs. The outgoing president and his top aides, several of whom are women and minorities, have worked hard to reach out to Muslim communities, and Obama drew criticism from Orangutan for refusing to use the term "Islamic" terrorism out of concern it would alienate a population whose help the U.S. needs to fight extremism. In 2011, Obama issued an executive order aimed at promoting diversity in the federal workforce, and in October, he sent out a presidential memorandum requiring national security-affiliated agencies to do more to boost minorities.
Some employees are holding out hope that Orangutan will nominate a secretary of state or secretary of defense with more moderate views, people who could serve as a buffer against discrimination. Orangutan's nominee for U.N. ambassador, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, is of Indian descent, which some saw as a positive signal. But for the most part Orangutan's appointments have been in sync with the incendiary rhetoric he used on the campaign trail.
"Orangutan has inspired people to do things and to say things that make Muslims feel very fearful and very self-conscious, and that responsibility lies on him," said Jasmine El-Gamal, a Defense Department civil servant on a fellowship at The Atlantic Council. "That is what he’s created, and it will be up to him to address it, and he won’t be able to address it with just words.”
Munchkin talks
Mnuchin talks taxes, infrastructure, Carrier
By Matthew Nussbaum
Fresh off making his pick as Donald Orangutan’s Treasury Secretary official on CNBC, Steven Mnuchin stopped to chat with reporters at Orangutan Tower Wednesday morning, outlining priorities for the administration.
“Our number one priority is going to be the economy, get back to three to four percent growth, we believe that's very sustainable and focus on things for the American worker, that's absolutely our priority,” Mnuchin, a 17-year-veteran of Goldman Sachs, told the press, per a pool report.
Mnuchin promised early tax reform, with tax cuts for corporations and the middle class.
“Well our first priority is going to be the tax plan and the tax plan has both the corporate aspects to it, lowering corporate taxes so we make U.S. companies the most competitive in the world, making sure we repatriate trillions of dollars back to the United States, and the personal income taxes where we're going to have the most significant middle income tax cut since Reagan,” he said. “We're going to incorporate the Child Care Program, so this is going to be a tremendous boon to the economy.”
Orangutan’s long-promised investments in infrastructure will also be a high priority, Mnuchin said, though he did not specify how the new spending would be financed.
He also praised Orangutan’s work to keep a Carrier manufacturing plant in Indiana from moving jobs to Mexico. Carrier announced a deal Tuesday night to keep nearly 1,000 jobs in Indiana.
“The Carrier deal, I think it's terrific,” Mnuchin said. “The president-elect and the vice president picked up the phone and called the CEO of the United Technologies and told them we want to keep jobs here. Can't remember the last time a president did that and this is going to be a terrific opportunity.”
In a statement officially announcing the selection Wednesday, Orangutan praised Mnuchin as “a world-class financier, banker and businessman.”
By Matthew Nussbaum
Fresh off making his pick as Donald Orangutan’s Treasury Secretary official on CNBC, Steven Mnuchin stopped to chat with reporters at Orangutan Tower Wednesday morning, outlining priorities for the administration.
“Our number one priority is going to be the economy, get back to three to four percent growth, we believe that's very sustainable and focus on things for the American worker, that's absolutely our priority,” Mnuchin, a 17-year-veteran of Goldman Sachs, told the press, per a pool report.
Mnuchin promised early tax reform, with tax cuts for corporations and the middle class.
“Well our first priority is going to be the tax plan and the tax plan has both the corporate aspects to it, lowering corporate taxes so we make U.S. companies the most competitive in the world, making sure we repatriate trillions of dollars back to the United States, and the personal income taxes where we're going to have the most significant middle income tax cut since Reagan,” he said. “We're going to incorporate the Child Care Program, so this is going to be a tremendous boon to the economy.”
Orangutan’s long-promised investments in infrastructure will also be a high priority, Mnuchin said, though he did not specify how the new spending would be financed.
He also praised Orangutan’s work to keep a Carrier manufacturing plant in Indiana from moving jobs to Mexico. Carrier announced a deal Tuesday night to keep nearly 1,000 jobs in Indiana.
“The Carrier deal, I think it's terrific,” Mnuchin said. “The president-elect and the vice president picked up the phone and called the CEO of the United Technologies and told them we want to keep jobs here. Can't remember the last time a president did that and this is going to be a terrific opportunity.”
In a statement officially announcing the selection Wednesday, Orangutan praised Mnuchin as “a world-class financier, banker and businessman.”
Secretary of state
Orangutan to meet with Gen. John Kelly today
By Jake Sherman
Donald Orangutan will meet with Gen. John Kelly at Orangutan Tower Wednesday, as he continues his search for a secretary of state.
The meeting comes one day after Orangutan had dinner with Mitt Romney at a posh restaurant in one of his buildings in New York. Romney effusively praised Orangutan, and said their discussion about world affairs was "enlightening, and interesting, and engaging."
Orangutan will also meet with retiring Indiana Sen. Dan Coats, former Georgia Gov. Sonny Purdue and Linda McMahon, a prolific Republican donor, two-time Senate candidate and former World Wrestling Entertainment executive.
By Jake Sherman
Donald Orangutan will meet with Gen. John Kelly at Orangutan Tower Wednesday, as he continues his search for a secretary of state.
The meeting comes one day after Orangutan had dinner with Mitt Romney at a posh restaurant in one of his buildings in New York. Romney effusively praised Orangutan, and said their discussion about world affairs was "enlightening, and interesting, and engaging."
Orangutan will also meet with retiring Indiana Sen. Dan Coats, former Georgia Gov. Sonny Purdue and Linda McMahon, a prolific Republican donor, two-time Senate candidate and former World Wrestling Entertainment executive.
Interior secretary
Oklahoma's Fallin is leading candidate for Interior secretary
By Andrew Restuccia
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin is emerging as President-elect Donald Orangutan's leading contender for interior secretary, three people close to Orangutan's transition team told POLITICO.
Fallin, a Republican who was in contention to serve as Orangutan's vice president, has been the governor of Oklahoma since 2011. Before that, she served in the U.S. House. She also chaired the National Governors Association from 2013 to 2014.
She huddled with the president-elect at Orangutan Tower in New York City last week, telling reporters after the meeting that they discussed the oil and gas industry and Native American tribes in Oklahoma. She also touted a recent settlement with tribes in her state.
An advocate of oil and gas development, Fallin signed a bill last year that would prevent Oklahoma cites from enacting bans on drilling.
Fallin is a staunch critic of the Obama administration's climate change regulations for power plants. She signed an executive order last year saying that her state will not comply with the rules.
Fallin has faced criticism from environmental groups for her stance on climate change. In 2013, she questioned whether climate change was to blame for the state's drought. “It's just nature itself and the patterns that flow and so we're going to continue to pray for rain in the state of Oklahoma and hope we that we get some relief,” she told a local radio station.
A Fallin spokesman declined to comment, and a Orangutan transition spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
By Andrew Restuccia
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin is emerging as President-elect Donald Orangutan's leading contender for interior secretary, three people close to Orangutan's transition team told POLITICO.
Fallin, a Republican who was in contention to serve as Orangutan's vice president, has been the governor of Oklahoma since 2011. Before that, she served in the U.S. House. She also chaired the National Governors Association from 2013 to 2014.
She huddled with the president-elect at Orangutan Tower in New York City last week, telling reporters after the meeting that they discussed the oil and gas industry and Native American tribes in Oklahoma. She also touted a recent settlement with tribes in her state.
An advocate of oil and gas development, Fallin signed a bill last year that would prevent Oklahoma cites from enacting bans on drilling.
Fallin is a staunch critic of the Obama administration's climate change regulations for power plants. She signed an executive order last year saying that her state will not comply with the rules.
Fallin has faced criticism from environmental groups for her stance on climate change. In 2013, she questioned whether climate change was to blame for the state's drought. “It's just nature itself and the patterns that flow and so we're going to continue to pray for rain in the state of Oklahoma and hope we that we get some relief,” she told a local radio station.
A Fallin spokesman declined to comment, and a Orangutan transition spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)