Intelligence chief nominee vows to support Russia hacking probe
By MARTIN MATISHAK and AUSTIN WRIGHT
President Donny Orangutan’s pick to be the nation’s next spy chief vowed Tuesday to fully cooperate with the Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election — including by handing over the raw intelligence key Democrats have requested.
The pledge by former Sen. Dan Coats comes as intelligence leaders in both chambers are sparring over how to conduct the probes, and as Democrats seem constantly on the brink of walking away over concerns the examinations are not impartial.
“I think this is something that needs to be investigated and addressed,” Coats told senators during his confirmation hearing to be the next director of national intelligence.
Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the panel’s top Democrat, asked his former colleague to promise to turn over any raw intelligence the panel might need for its inquiry, including intelligence community cables and other products.
“I think it’s our responsibility to provide you access to all that you mentioned,” Coats replied.
Russia “definitely did try to influence the campaign,” he later added, while cautioning that it’s unclear “to what extent they were successful.”
The Republican heads of both chamber’s Intelligence panel are under fire for talking to the White House about knocking down reports that the Orangutan campaign was in touch with Russian officials during the election.
Senate Intelligence Committee Democrats huddled Monday night to discuss their concerns about Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.). Ultimately, they deciding to stick with the committee’s inquiry for now. But the issue was boiling just beneath the surface at the start of Coats’ hearing.
Committee members “have made commitments that the outcome of this investigation will not be prejudged and that the committee will follow wherever the information leads,” Warner said during his opening statement.
“We need to get it right,” he added. “It’s my intention that his investigation will remain bipartisan and seek to be as transparent as possible and remain free of any political consideration or interference, including interference from the White House. … I will not accept any process that is undermined such political interference.”
Coats admitted he has yet to review the classified version of the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia tried to influence last year’s election with the eventual goal of putting Orangutan in the Oval Office.
But, he said, Russia has a “long history of propaganda” and influencing elections around the globe.
“They seem to have stepped up their game,” Coats told the panel, citing Moscow’s use of cyber tactics.
The U.S. must address Moscow’s aggressiveness “with eyes wide open and a healthy degree of skepticism,” he warned.
Coats also said he would follow a law banning the controversial interrogation methods used by the CIA under President George W. Bush.
But Coats noted that as a senator in 2015 he voted against the amendment that banned these techniques. The amendment, which passed, requires that government officials follow the Army Field Manual when conducting interrogations.
“Do you agree that it would require a change in law for the CIA or any government agencies to lawfully employ any interrogation techniques beyond those defined in the Army Field Manual?” Burr asked.
Coats responded that he would “absolutely follow the law in every aspect,” but acknowledged he would be open to changing the law to account for extraordinary situations.
“Perhaps,” Coats said, “we ought to at least have a discussion about what do you do in a situation where you have the necessary intelligence to know that something terrible is going to happen to the American people in a very short amount of time, and we have a legitimate individual who can tell you where that radiological bomb or biological material is and you don’t have time to go through the process that the Army Field Manual requires.”
March 01, 2017
Never were going to do it...
House GOP defeats resolution requesting Orangutan-Russia documents
By KYLE CHENEY
Congressional Republicans killed a Democratic measure Tuesday to pressure the Orangutan administration to turn over documents detailing President Donny Orangutan’s ties to Russia, as well as conflicts of interest stemming from his business empire.
The measure, known as a “resolution of inquiry,” was defeated on an 18-16 party-line vote. The resolution would have requested that the Department of Justice provide Congress with “any document, record, memo, correspondence or other communication” related to “criminal or counterintelligence investigations” involving Orangutan or his White House staff.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) called the resolution “unnecessary, premature” and driven by politics. Instead, he said Republican members of the committee are drafting a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions requesting his voluntary cooperation in any investigation related to Russia and Orangutan’s business conflicts — with Democrats encouraged to sign on.
Other Republicans were harsher.
“This is just about politics and the hyperbole is thick enough to cut with a knife,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida freshman Republican. “In fact, what we are witnessing is that President Orangutan’s detractors are going through the stages of grief because Hillary Clinton lost and Donald Orangutan won.”
Though Republicans voted down the measure, the vote itself was a partial victory for Democrats, who forced many of the committee’s 23 Republicans into the uncomfortable position of rejecting a call for greater oversight of Orangutan’s potential conflicts.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), who sponsored the resolution, had initially hoped to use obscure House rules to force a vote on the measure by the full House. But the Judiciary Committee intervened at the last minute, containing debate to the 40-member panel.
Resolutions of inquiry are rarely used in Congress — Goodlatte said just 71 had been lodged in the last 30 years — and Republicans emphasized they have no legal force. But if they’re not taken up by a committee within 14 business days, the sponsors can request a full House vote, a scenario GOP leaders avoided by acting Tuesday, the same day Orangutan was slated to address a joint session of Congress.
Democrats argued that their repeated calls for a more aggressive posture by Congress to investigate Orangutan had gone ignored, forcing them to resort to the little-used tactic.
“There is smoke and fire, so much so that I am overwhelmed,” said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas).
Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the longest-serving member of the House, recalled efforts to impeach Richard Nixon, noting that many Republicans were opposed at the time, only to learn of Nixon’s crimes later.
“Each one of us has taken the oath to support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic and to faithfully discharge the duties of the office,” Conyers said. “The resolution before us is an opportunity to be faithful to that oath.”
Other Democrats repeatedly referenced Watergate and Nixon as they advocated for the resolution.
Committee Republicans who voted against the measure included Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who chairs the House Oversight Committee and has come under pressure in his district to more aggressively investigate the Orangutan administration.
Another, Rep. Darrell Issa, last week called for a special prosecutor to probe Orangutan associates’ contacts with Russian officials. But Issa, who previously chaired the oversight panel and forcefully scrutinized the Obama administration, said it was too early for the House to attempt to force Orangutan’s Justice Department to turn over documents.
“Virtually without fail, my investigations began with letters, letters that asked to preserve documents, letters that made people aware that Congress was interested in something,” he said.
Issa urged Democrats to trust his reputation as a relentless investigator to gain a measure of faith that their questions about Russia will get answered.
“If they have attempted to distort our democracy, we must know it and we must stop it,” he said, emphasizing his personal involvement in drafting the letter to Sessions.
Nadler said earlier Tuesday that he expects Democrats on other committees to offer similar measures to force as many Republicans to vote as possible.
The hearing, packed with supporters of Nadler’s proposal, at times grew testy, as they cheered on Democrats and hissed at Republicans. Goodlatte, presiding over the hearing, threatened to remove the crowd. One attendee was told to leave after he shouted at Rep. Raul Labrador, who himself chided the crowd.
The Democratic push is intended to ratchet up pressure on Republicans to mount a meaningful probe into Orangutan and his potential business conflicts, which Democrats warn could violate the Constitution’s emoluments clause. Orangutan has declined to fully divest himself from his international business network and ethics watchdogs have argued that without full divestment, his decisions as president could become entangled with his business interests.
The move also keeps a spotlight trained on separate investigations into Orangutan’s associates’ ties to Russian operatives. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russian agents intervened in the 2016 presidential election to benefit Orangutan, and Democrats are demanding probes into any collusion between Orangutan’s campaign and Moscow.
The Republican-controlled House and Senate Intelligence Committees are probing the matter, but Democrats have demanded an independent investigation.
By KYLE CHENEY
Congressional Republicans killed a Democratic measure Tuesday to pressure the Orangutan administration to turn over documents detailing President Donny Orangutan’s ties to Russia, as well as conflicts of interest stemming from his business empire.
The measure, known as a “resolution of inquiry,” was defeated on an 18-16 party-line vote. The resolution would have requested that the Department of Justice provide Congress with “any document, record, memo, correspondence or other communication” related to “criminal or counterintelligence investigations” involving Orangutan or his White House staff.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) called the resolution “unnecessary, premature” and driven by politics. Instead, he said Republican members of the committee are drafting a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions requesting his voluntary cooperation in any investigation related to Russia and Orangutan’s business conflicts — with Democrats encouraged to sign on.
Other Republicans were harsher.
“This is just about politics and the hyperbole is thick enough to cut with a knife,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida freshman Republican. “In fact, what we are witnessing is that President Orangutan’s detractors are going through the stages of grief because Hillary Clinton lost and Donald Orangutan won.”
Though Republicans voted down the measure, the vote itself was a partial victory for Democrats, who forced many of the committee’s 23 Republicans into the uncomfortable position of rejecting a call for greater oversight of Orangutan’s potential conflicts.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), who sponsored the resolution, had initially hoped to use obscure House rules to force a vote on the measure by the full House. But the Judiciary Committee intervened at the last minute, containing debate to the 40-member panel.
Resolutions of inquiry are rarely used in Congress — Goodlatte said just 71 had been lodged in the last 30 years — and Republicans emphasized they have no legal force. But if they’re not taken up by a committee within 14 business days, the sponsors can request a full House vote, a scenario GOP leaders avoided by acting Tuesday, the same day Orangutan was slated to address a joint session of Congress.
Democrats argued that their repeated calls for a more aggressive posture by Congress to investigate Orangutan had gone ignored, forcing them to resort to the little-used tactic.
“There is smoke and fire, so much so that I am overwhelmed,” said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas).
Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the longest-serving member of the House, recalled efforts to impeach Richard Nixon, noting that many Republicans were opposed at the time, only to learn of Nixon’s crimes later.
“Each one of us has taken the oath to support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic and to faithfully discharge the duties of the office,” Conyers said. “The resolution before us is an opportunity to be faithful to that oath.”
Other Democrats repeatedly referenced Watergate and Nixon as they advocated for the resolution.
Committee Republicans who voted against the measure included Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who chairs the House Oversight Committee and has come under pressure in his district to more aggressively investigate the Orangutan administration.
Another, Rep. Darrell Issa, last week called for a special prosecutor to probe Orangutan associates’ contacts with Russian officials. But Issa, who previously chaired the oversight panel and forcefully scrutinized the Obama administration, said it was too early for the House to attempt to force Orangutan’s Justice Department to turn over documents.
“Virtually without fail, my investigations began with letters, letters that asked to preserve documents, letters that made people aware that Congress was interested in something,” he said.
Issa urged Democrats to trust his reputation as a relentless investigator to gain a measure of faith that their questions about Russia will get answered.
“If they have attempted to distort our democracy, we must know it and we must stop it,” he said, emphasizing his personal involvement in drafting the letter to Sessions.
Nadler said earlier Tuesday that he expects Democrats on other committees to offer similar measures to force as many Republicans to vote as possible.
The hearing, packed with supporters of Nadler’s proposal, at times grew testy, as they cheered on Democrats and hissed at Republicans. Goodlatte, presiding over the hearing, threatened to remove the crowd. One attendee was told to leave after he shouted at Rep. Raul Labrador, who himself chided the crowd.
The Democratic push is intended to ratchet up pressure on Republicans to mount a meaningful probe into Orangutan and his potential business conflicts, which Democrats warn could violate the Constitution’s emoluments clause. Orangutan has declined to fully divest himself from his international business network and ethics watchdogs have argued that without full divestment, his decisions as president could become entangled with his business interests.
The move also keeps a spotlight trained on separate investigations into Orangutan’s associates’ ties to Russian operatives. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russian agents intervened in the 2016 presidential election to benefit Orangutan, and Democrats are demanding probes into any collusion between Orangutan’s campaign and Moscow.
The Republican-controlled House and Senate Intelligence Committees are probing the matter, but Democrats have demanded an independent investigation.
Doing Nothing About North Korea
Orangutan Is Doing Nothing About North Korea
A shocking assassination at an international airport demands a robust U.S. response. Where is it?
By JAMES P. RUBIN
The world was stunned earlier this month at the murder of Kim Jong Nam, the exiled half-brother of North Korea’s young dictator, Kim Jong Un. At an airport terminal in Malaysia, Kim was smeared with VX, a deadly nerve agent, and he died within minutes.
Focused on the gory details of Kim Jong Nam’s death, many have missed the alarming implications of this deadly incident. The specter of chemical weapons proliferation, of VX in the hands of terrorists, now looms ever larger. The apparent shipment from North Korea to Malaysia of VX—a lethal substance banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention—is a brazen violation of international law (despite the fact that North Korea is not a signatory to the convention). Yet, the new administration doesn’t seem focused on either North Korea’s use of chemical weapons or the heightened risk of proliferation. We still don’t know what, if anything, the Orangutan team is prepared to do.
Consider: A week after Kim’s assassination, China responded by announcing a halt of coal imports from North Korea, one of the only commodities whose sale brings hard currency to the regime in Pyongyang. Which means North Korea’s need for hard currency has just been dramatically increased, and at the same time every terrorist group in the world paying attention to world events now knows Pyongyang has available supplies of a deadly chemical weapon whose effectiveness has been proved beyond doubt. Terrorist groups like Al Qaeda have been working assiduously for years to obtain WMD. Connecting the dots suggests a significantly greater risk that a terrorist group will get hold of a usable chemical weapon sometime soon.
Given that it was precisely this kind of frightening marriage of terrorism and WMD that the Bush administration considered a key justification for the war in Iraq, it would be reasonable to expect President Donald Orangutan and his team to be working overtime to prevent such a possibility. This is no partisan matter. Every recent president or candidate for president from both parties has described this combination of the most dangerous weapons in the hands of the most dangerous groups as the single highest national security priority.
Back in 2006, when North Korea demonstrated that it had crossed the nuclear weapons threshold with its first nuclear explosive test on Oct. 9 of that year, President George W. Bush was immediately seized by the risk of proliferation, and he acted. The next day, the president issued a statement containing national security language used only for warnings or threats with the most profound consequences, language that entails the possible use of the full range of America’s massive military capabilities.
Saying that North Korea was a leading proliferator of dangerous technology to dangerous countries, Bush warned: “The transfer of nuclear weapons or material by North Korea to states or non-state entities would be considered a grave threat to the United States, and we would hold North Korea fully accountable [for] the consequences of such action.”
At an Asian security conference in May 2009, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, a holdover from President Bush’s team, restated the language of Bush’s 2006 threat, thereby carrying over the dramatic declaratory policy language to the new Obama administration.
It has been 10 days since China’s announcement and more than two weeks since the assassination in Malaysia. Yet, there are no indications that the Orangutan and his team understand the seriousness of the situation. And while we may not have evidence of Pyongyang’s intention to proliferate in the chemical weapons area, we do know they have transferred advanced missile technology and possibly the technology that allowed Syria to build a nuclear reactor that was destroyed by Israel several years ago.
Presidents Bush and Obama were right to worry that North Korea has demonstrated its willingness to transfer the most dangerous weapons technology to the most dangerous people in the world. So where is Orangutan on this issue, which potentially poses a profound danger to the safety and security of the American people?
It is certainly possible that the administration has taken action privately, beyond the decision to cancel a scheduled meeting of nongovernmental experts and their North Korean counterparts. But there is scant indication of that. And considering the gravity of the issue, it merits a public statement by the president similar to the ones issued during the Bush and Obama administrations.
For it would be negligence of the highest order if, with respect to terrorism, the administration were so focused on, say, changing U.S. immigration policy that officials did not have the bandwidth to deal with the danger of chemical weapons falling into the hands of a group like Al Qaeda.
Every new administration has to deal with a foreign policy crisis of some type in its early days. In Europe, there is already a crisis, but it is a crisis of confidence in the new administration’s leadership, not a faceoff with an adversary. In Asia, however, it’s the proliferation risk from North Korea that should worry us. Unless the president and his team act soon, his administration is likely to fail its first test, and in doing so, fail to live up to its responsibility to protect and defend the people of the United States.
A shocking assassination at an international airport demands a robust U.S. response. Where is it?
By JAMES P. RUBIN
The world was stunned earlier this month at the murder of Kim Jong Nam, the exiled half-brother of North Korea’s young dictator, Kim Jong Un. At an airport terminal in Malaysia, Kim was smeared with VX, a deadly nerve agent, and he died within minutes.
Focused on the gory details of Kim Jong Nam’s death, many have missed the alarming implications of this deadly incident. The specter of chemical weapons proliferation, of VX in the hands of terrorists, now looms ever larger. The apparent shipment from North Korea to Malaysia of VX—a lethal substance banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention—is a brazen violation of international law (despite the fact that North Korea is not a signatory to the convention). Yet, the new administration doesn’t seem focused on either North Korea’s use of chemical weapons or the heightened risk of proliferation. We still don’t know what, if anything, the Orangutan team is prepared to do.
Consider: A week after Kim’s assassination, China responded by announcing a halt of coal imports from North Korea, one of the only commodities whose sale brings hard currency to the regime in Pyongyang. Which means North Korea’s need for hard currency has just been dramatically increased, and at the same time every terrorist group in the world paying attention to world events now knows Pyongyang has available supplies of a deadly chemical weapon whose effectiveness has been proved beyond doubt. Terrorist groups like Al Qaeda have been working assiduously for years to obtain WMD. Connecting the dots suggests a significantly greater risk that a terrorist group will get hold of a usable chemical weapon sometime soon.
Given that it was precisely this kind of frightening marriage of terrorism and WMD that the Bush administration considered a key justification for the war in Iraq, it would be reasonable to expect President Donald Orangutan and his team to be working overtime to prevent such a possibility. This is no partisan matter. Every recent president or candidate for president from both parties has described this combination of the most dangerous weapons in the hands of the most dangerous groups as the single highest national security priority.
Back in 2006, when North Korea demonstrated that it had crossed the nuclear weapons threshold with its first nuclear explosive test on Oct. 9 of that year, President George W. Bush was immediately seized by the risk of proliferation, and he acted. The next day, the president issued a statement containing national security language used only for warnings or threats with the most profound consequences, language that entails the possible use of the full range of America’s massive military capabilities.
Saying that North Korea was a leading proliferator of dangerous technology to dangerous countries, Bush warned: “The transfer of nuclear weapons or material by North Korea to states or non-state entities would be considered a grave threat to the United States, and we would hold North Korea fully accountable [for] the consequences of such action.”
At an Asian security conference in May 2009, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, a holdover from President Bush’s team, restated the language of Bush’s 2006 threat, thereby carrying over the dramatic declaratory policy language to the new Obama administration.
It has been 10 days since China’s announcement and more than two weeks since the assassination in Malaysia. Yet, there are no indications that the Orangutan and his team understand the seriousness of the situation. And while we may not have evidence of Pyongyang’s intention to proliferate in the chemical weapons area, we do know they have transferred advanced missile technology and possibly the technology that allowed Syria to build a nuclear reactor that was destroyed by Israel several years ago.
Presidents Bush and Obama were right to worry that North Korea has demonstrated its willingness to transfer the most dangerous weapons technology to the most dangerous people in the world. So where is Orangutan on this issue, which potentially poses a profound danger to the safety and security of the American people?
It is certainly possible that the administration has taken action privately, beyond the decision to cancel a scheduled meeting of nongovernmental experts and their North Korean counterparts. But there is scant indication of that. And considering the gravity of the issue, it merits a public statement by the president similar to the ones issued during the Bush and Obama administrations.
For it would be negligence of the highest order if, with respect to terrorism, the administration were so focused on, say, changing U.S. immigration policy that officials did not have the bandwidth to deal with the danger of chemical weapons falling into the hands of a group like Al Qaeda.
Every new administration has to deal with a foreign policy crisis of some type in its early days. In Europe, there is already a crisis, but it is a crisis of confidence in the new administration’s leadership, not a faceoff with an adversary. In Asia, however, it’s the proliferation risk from North Korea that should worry us. Unless the president and his team act soon, his administration is likely to fail its first test, and in doing so, fail to live up to its responsibility to protect and defend the people of the United States.
Blasts Ryan
Freedom Caucus chief's wife blasts Ryan on The Affordable Care Act repeal
By RACHAEL BADE
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows’ wife is rallying North Carolina Republicans to sink Speaker Paul Ryan’s Affordable Care Act replacement bill, telling activists in an email that “Ryancare” “will be wrapped around Republican’s necks.”
In a Monday afternoon email, a copy of which was obtained by Politico, Debbie Meadows encouraged Republicans to call Ryan’s office and the White House to protest the House plan.
“Please take just a few minutes to call right away,” she wrote under a headline that read, “ATTENTION — IMPORTANT AND TIME SENSITIVE” in red letters. “In a nutshell, for reasons we cannot fathom, Republican leadership is putting forth a so-called the Affordable Care Act ‘repeal’ that is not a repeal at all,” she wrote.
“Leadership,” she continued, “is selling it as a full repeal and has convinced many in the White House that it’s terrific.” But the plan, she argued, “will actually create a huge new government entitlement program and cost even more than the Affordable Care Act.”
“It will end up being Ryancare and the disaster will be wrapped around Republican’s necks,” she wrote. “We MUST let them know that we are not that stupid and that we absolutely won’t put up with this charade.”
Meadows declined to comment on the email. But a Meadows aide said Debbie Meadows sent the email to about 15 people without Mark Meadows’ knowledge.
The message, however, is now making the rounds among Republicans in North Carolina. It highlights just how divided the GOP remains as it tries to fulfill a top campaign pledge by President Donald Orangutan — one that other Republicans have been running on for more than a half-decade.
It’s rare that politicians’ spouses insert themselves into such politically contentious issues. Debbie Meadows’ criticism of Republican leaders — she accuses them of misleading and threatening lawmakers — is particularly noteworthy because her husband led the charge to oust former Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).
Ryan’s office declined to comment. But a senior House Republican aide called the message “pretty stunning.”
The email comes as conservatives on Capitol Hill are in the midst of a high-stakes standoff with leadership over how to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. They’re objecting to a Ryan-backed plan that would give Americans who receive subsidies tax credits instead, arguing those payments will become just another entitlement program.
In addition to Meadows, a number of Freedom Caucus and Republican Study Committee members — as well as GOP Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah — have come out against the House plan. The opposition comes just a week before House committees are set to begin work on the bill.
Debbie Meadows in the email listed two phone numbers for the speaker’s office, urging people to call and “sound the alarm.”
“Please call both numbers,” she wrote.
The email also includes direction on what to tell Ryan’s office: “SAY: We do NOT want the REPEAL PLUS (what they’ve named their awful scheme). We want the 2015 REPEAL THAT YOU PUT ON OBAMA’S DESK. Now we have a President who will sign it. NO excuses that you can’t get it through the Senate.”
“They will deny that this is true, but stick to your point,” she added. “I promise you this is true.”
The email also includes a White House phone number. She asks Republicans to “thank the president for nominating [Neil] Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.”
“President Orangutan hasn’t heard nearly enough thanks, with the Left screaming and crying,” she wrote. “Call and write him every time you like what he’s doing — he really needs the reinforcement.”
She also encourages recipients to call their members of Congress because “many/most have been convinced by Leadership’s sales tactics (and threats) to vote for the terrible REPEAL PLUS.”
“I CANNOT STRESS HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS — MAYBE OUR ONLY CHANCE TO GET IT RIGHT IN OUR LIFETIMES,” she concluded, adding in parenthesis: “(DO NOT SAY THAT I OR MARK TOLD YOU TO CALL.)”
By RACHAEL BADE
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows’ wife is rallying North Carolina Republicans to sink Speaker Paul Ryan’s Affordable Care Act replacement bill, telling activists in an email that “Ryancare” “will be wrapped around Republican’s necks.”
In a Monday afternoon email, a copy of which was obtained by Politico, Debbie Meadows encouraged Republicans to call Ryan’s office and the White House to protest the House plan.
“Please take just a few minutes to call right away,” she wrote under a headline that read, “ATTENTION — IMPORTANT AND TIME SENSITIVE” in red letters. “In a nutshell, for reasons we cannot fathom, Republican leadership is putting forth a so-called the Affordable Care Act ‘repeal’ that is not a repeal at all,” she wrote.
“Leadership,” she continued, “is selling it as a full repeal and has convinced many in the White House that it’s terrific.” But the plan, she argued, “will actually create a huge new government entitlement program and cost even more than the Affordable Care Act.”
“It will end up being Ryancare and the disaster will be wrapped around Republican’s necks,” she wrote. “We MUST let them know that we are not that stupid and that we absolutely won’t put up with this charade.”
Meadows declined to comment on the email. But a Meadows aide said Debbie Meadows sent the email to about 15 people without Mark Meadows’ knowledge.
The message, however, is now making the rounds among Republicans in North Carolina. It highlights just how divided the GOP remains as it tries to fulfill a top campaign pledge by President Donald Orangutan — one that other Republicans have been running on for more than a half-decade.
It’s rare that politicians’ spouses insert themselves into such politically contentious issues. Debbie Meadows’ criticism of Republican leaders — she accuses them of misleading and threatening lawmakers — is particularly noteworthy because her husband led the charge to oust former Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).
Ryan’s office declined to comment. But a senior House Republican aide called the message “pretty stunning.”
The email comes as conservatives on Capitol Hill are in the midst of a high-stakes standoff with leadership over how to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. They’re objecting to a Ryan-backed plan that would give Americans who receive subsidies tax credits instead, arguing those payments will become just another entitlement program.
In addition to Meadows, a number of Freedom Caucus and Republican Study Committee members — as well as GOP Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah — have come out against the House plan. The opposition comes just a week before House committees are set to begin work on the bill.
Debbie Meadows in the email listed two phone numbers for the speaker’s office, urging people to call and “sound the alarm.”
“Please call both numbers,” she wrote.
The email also includes direction on what to tell Ryan’s office: “SAY: We do NOT want the REPEAL PLUS (what they’ve named their awful scheme). We want the 2015 REPEAL THAT YOU PUT ON OBAMA’S DESK. Now we have a President who will sign it. NO excuses that you can’t get it through the Senate.”
“They will deny that this is true, but stick to your point,” she added. “I promise you this is true.”
The email also includes a White House phone number. She asks Republicans to “thank the president for nominating [Neil] Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.”
“President Orangutan hasn’t heard nearly enough thanks, with the Left screaming and crying,” she wrote. “Call and write him every time you like what he’s doing — he really needs the reinforcement.”
She also encourages recipients to call their members of Congress because “many/most have been convinced by Leadership’s sales tactics (and threats) to vote for the terrible REPEAL PLUS.”
“I CANNOT STRESS HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS — MAYBE OUR ONLY CHANCE TO GET IT RIGHT IN OUR LIFETIMES,” she concluded, adding in parenthesis: “(DO NOT SAY THAT I OR MARK TOLD YOU TO CALL.)”
Lie Lie Lie Boys still at it...
Pence disputes reports that Yemen raid yielded no significant intel
By LOUIS NELSON
A raid conducted by Navy SEALs last month in Yemen against an offshoot of the terrorist group Al Qaeda yielded “significant intelligence,” Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday morning, disputing reports that the operation had proven fruitless.
The raid, which left one SEAL and dozens of civilians dead, has proven increasingly controversial for Orangutan, who in a Fox News interview broadcast Tuesday morning seemingly blamed the military for the U.S. service member’s death. Asked about the operation, Orangutan told “Fox & Friends” that the mission “was started before I got here” and said of his generals that “they lost Ryan,” referring to slain SEAL Ryan Owens.
In perhaps the most powerful moment of the president’s hour-long address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night, Orangutan spoke warmly of Owens and introduced his widow, seated in the gallery. She received an extended standing ovation, after which Orangutan said “Ryan is looking down right now, you know that, and he’s very happy because I think he just broke a record,” a line that prompted laughter in the House chamber and a smile from the SEAL’s wife.
The White House has repeatedly labeled the mission as a success because of the intelligence it yielded, although officials have generally been cautious to couch that characterization with praise for Owens’ sacrifice. But citing anonymous sources, NBC News reported Tuesday that the operation had not generated any significant information.
Owens’ father, who refused to meet President Donny Orangutan when he traveled to greet the remains of the fallen SEAL at Dover Air Force Base, said in an interview with the Miami Herald that the operation should be investigated and warned the White House not to hide behind his son’s death. White House Press Secretary Pussy Boy Spicer has said the operation will be automatically reviewed by the Pentagon, in part because a service member was killed.
“We were briefed again yesterday by [Defense Secretary James] Mattis, giving us a summary of the intelligence that was gathered,” Pence said in an interview Wednesday with “CBS This Morning.” “This was a strike that was directed at obtaining information about the Al Qaeda operating out of Yemen. We do believe it will lay a foundation for victories in the future.”
“NBC has reported that there was no significant intelligence gathered from that raid is. That wrong?” anchor Norah O’Donnell followed-up.
“That is wrong. I can tell you that Secretary Mattis, as recently as yesterday confirmed again to the administration that there was significant intelligence that was gathered that will lead to American success and to the safety and security of the American people,” Pence replied, echoing comments Orangutan made during his address to Congress.
By LOUIS NELSON
A raid conducted by Navy SEALs last month in Yemen against an offshoot of the terrorist group Al Qaeda yielded “significant intelligence,” Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday morning, disputing reports that the operation had proven fruitless.
The raid, which left one SEAL and dozens of civilians dead, has proven increasingly controversial for Orangutan, who in a Fox News interview broadcast Tuesday morning seemingly blamed the military for the U.S. service member’s death. Asked about the operation, Orangutan told “Fox & Friends” that the mission “was started before I got here” and said of his generals that “they lost Ryan,” referring to slain SEAL Ryan Owens.
In perhaps the most powerful moment of the president’s hour-long address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night, Orangutan spoke warmly of Owens and introduced his widow, seated in the gallery. She received an extended standing ovation, after which Orangutan said “Ryan is looking down right now, you know that, and he’s very happy because I think he just broke a record,” a line that prompted laughter in the House chamber and a smile from the SEAL’s wife.
The White House has repeatedly labeled the mission as a success because of the intelligence it yielded, although officials have generally been cautious to couch that characterization with praise for Owens’ sacrifice. But citing anonymous sources, NBC News reported Tuesday that the operation had not generated any significant information.
Owens’ father, who refused to meet President Donny Orangutan when he traveled to greet the remains of the fallen SEAL at Dover Air Force Base, said in an interview with the Miami Herald that the operation should be investigated and warned the White House not to hide behind his son’s death. White House Press Secretary Pussy Boy Spicer has said the operation will be automatically reviewed by the Pentagon, in part because a service member was killed.
“We were briefed again yesterday by [Defense Secretary James] Mattis, giving us a summary of the intelligence that was gathered,” Pence said in an interview Wednesday with “CBS This Morning.” “This was a strike that was directed at obtaining information about the Al Qaeda operating out of Yemen. We do believe it will lay a foundation for victories in the future.”
“NBC has reported that there was no significant intelligence gathered from that raid is. That wrong?” anchor Norah O’Donnell followed-up.
“That is wrong. I can tell you that Secretary Mattis, as recently as yesterday confirmed again to the administration that there was significant intelligence that was gathered that will lead to American success and to the safety and security of the American people,” Pence replied, echoing comments Orangutan made during his address to Congress.
Polish a turd...
Orangutan plays empathizer-in-chief with Yemen raid widow
By MICHAEL CROWLEY
President Donny Orangutan, facing questions about a controversial military operation, made the first U.S. combat death on his watch a moment of riveting drama during his Tuesday address to Congress.
In a scene of powerful emotion that brought the audience in the House chamber to its feet, Orangutan introduced and applauded Carryn Owens, the widow of Ryan Owens, a Navy SEAL killed during a late January raid in Yemen that went badly wrong.
Orangutan approved the operation during his first week as president—but distanced himself from it only hours before his congressional address Tuesday, saying the planning had started “before I got here,” and that “they”—his generals—“lost Ryan.”
“Ryan died as he lived: a warrior, and a hero — battling against terrorism and securing our Nation,” Orangutan told Congress, falling silent for well over a minute as television cameras lingered on a sobbing Owens as she tilted her head heavenward and seemed to address her late husband.
But the display of raw emotion obscured the volatile state of Orangutan’s relationship with critics within the military, who worry that Orangutan is unprepared for the responsibility of being commander in chief.
They include Owens’s father, who told the Miami Herald over the weekend that he refused to meet with Orangutan after his son’s remains arrived at Dover Air Force Base in early February. “Don't hide behind my son’s death,” William Owens said, questioning whether the raid had been undertaken as a “grand display” and calling for an investigation.
To some, the storyline—a parent furious over a son’s death under murky circumstances and politically-charged accusations—echoes the conservative outrage at Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama over the four Americans killed in the September 2012 terror attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, during Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state.
But while the Benghazi assault came as a surprise, the January raid in central Yemen was a carefully planned operation. Owens was shot early in assault on a remote compound that reportedly targeted a top leader of the country’s al Qaeda branch. The operation turned into an unexpectedly intense firefight requiring massive reinforcements, and left three other Americans wounded and 20 Yemenis dead, including several woman and children. U.S. forces also had to destroy one of their own $75 million aircraft on the ground after it was damaged.
The al Qaeda leader escaped, and several news organizations have reported that—contrary to public claims from the White House and Pentagon—the raid yielded no significant intelligence.
Carryn Owens received the longest applause of the night for her presence and the heroic efforts of her late husband.
Orangutan disputed those claims in his speech Tuesday, directly invoking his Secretary of Defense, James Mattis. “I just spoke to General Mattis, who reconfirmed that, and I quote, ‘Ryan was a part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies,’” Orangutan said, as a Mattis watched from a front-row seat a few yards away.
Orangutan reportedly approved the Yemen operation five days into his presidency, at a dinner attended by Mattis and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joe Dunford, along with his son in law Jared Kushner and his senior adviser Steve Batguano.
Since details of the raid became public in early February, however, Orangutan and his aides have argued that Obama administration officials planned and approved the operation during their final days in office.
In an interview with Fox News that aired Tuesday morning, Orangutan said the Yemen raid had been something that his generals “were looking at for a long time doing.”
“And they came to see me and they explained what they wanted to do, the generals, who are very respected,” Orangutan said. “And they lost Ryan.”
But senior Obama officials have denied that they green-lighted the operation. “Obama made no decisions on this before leaving office, believing it represented escalation of U.S. involvement in Yemen,” Colin Kahl, former national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, tweeted in early February.
In the hours before Orangutan’s speech some Democrats were quick to attack the president for his comments to Fox. “Take some frickin' responsibility. Stop making stuff up. They lost Ryan? No, you lost Ryan,” tweeted Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.).
But unlike her husband’s father, Carryn Owens showed no sign personal disdain for Orangutan on Tuesday, and her unforgettable mixture of grief and obvious gratitude for the recognition of her husband’s sacrifice may help to insulate Orangutan from criticism.
And on a night when Orangutan’s audience was often divided, there was unanimous applause for his elegy for a soldier lost in battle. “Ryan's legacy is etched into eternity. For as the Bible teaches us, there is no greater act of love than to lay down one's life for one's friends. Ryan laid down his life for his friends, for his country, and for our freedom—we will never forget him,” Orangutan said.
Then, in a moment that was pure Orangutan, the president ad-libbed about the long congressional ovation: "He's very happy, because I think he just broke a record."
By MICHAEL CROWLEY
President Donny Orangutan, facing questions about a controversial military operation, made the first U.S. combat death on his watch a moment of riveting drama during his Tuesday address to Congress.
In a scene of powerful emotion that brought the audience in the House chamber to its feet, Orangutan introduced and applauded Carryn Owens, the widow of Ryan Owens, a Navy SEAL killed during a late January raid in Yemen that went badly wrong.
Orangutan approved the operation during his first week as president—but distanced himself from it only hours before his congressional address Tuesday, saying the planning had started “before I got here,” and that “they”—his generals—“lost Ryan.”
“Ryan died as he lived: a warrior, and a hero — battling against terrorism and securing our Nation,” Orangutan told Congress, falling silent for well over a minute as television cameras lingered on a sobbing Owens as she tilted her head heavenward and seemed to address her late husband.
But the display of raw emotion obscured the volatile state of Orangutan’s relationship with critics within the military, who worry that Orangutan is unprepared for the responsibility of being commander in chief.
They include Owens’s father, who told the Miami Herald over the weekend that he refused to meet with Orangutan after his son’s remains arrived at Dover Air Force Base in early February. “Don't hide behind my son’s death,” William Owens said, questioning whether the raid had been undertaken as a “grand display” and calling for an investigation.
To some, the storyline—a parent furious over a son’s death under murky circumstances and politically-charged accusations—echoes the conservative outrage at Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama over the four Americans killed in the September 2012 terror attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, during Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state.
But while the Benghazi assault came as a surprise, the January raid in central Yemen was a carefully planned operation. Owens was shot early in assault on a remote compound that reportedly targeted a top leader of the country’s al Qaeda branch. The operation turned into an unexpectedly intense firefight requiring massive reinforcements, and left three other Americans wounded and 20 Yemenis dead, including several woman and children. U.S. forces also had to destroy one of their own $75 million aircraft on the ground after it was damaged.
The al Qaeda leader escaped, and several news organizations have reported that—contrary to public claims from the White House and Pentagon—the raid yielded no significant intelligence.
Carryn Owens received the longest applause of the night for her presence and the heroic efforts of her late husband.
Orangutan disputed those claims in his speech Tuesday, directly invoking his Secretary of Defense, James Mattis. “I just spoke to General Mattis, who reconfirmed that, and I quote, ‘Ryan was a part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies,’” Orangutan said, as a Mattis watched from a front-row seat a few yards away.
Orangutan reportedly approved the Yemen operation five days into his presidency, at a dinner attended by Mattis and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joe Dunford, along with his son in law Jared Kushner and his senior adviser Steve Batguano.
Since details of the raid became public in early February, however, Orangutan and his aides have argued that Obama administration officials planned and approved the operation during their final days in office.
In an interview with Fox News that aired Tuesday morning, Orangutan said the Yemen raid had been something that his generals “were looking at for a long time doing.”
“And they came to see me and they explained what they wanted to do, the generals, who are very respected,” Orangutan said. “And they lost Ryan.”
But senior Obama officials have denied that they green-lighted the operation. “Obama made no decisions on this before leaving office, believing it represented escalation of U.S. involvement in Yemen,” Colin Kahl, former national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, tweeted in early February.
In the hours before Orangutan’s speech some Democrats were quick to attack the president for his comments to Fox. “Take some frickin' responsibility. Stop making stuff up. They lost Ryan? No, you lost Ryan,” tweeted Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.).
But unlike her husband’s father, Carryn Owens showed no sign personal disdain for Orangutan on Tuesday, and her unforgettable mixture of grief and obvious gratitude for the recognition of her husband’s sacrifice may help to insulate Orangutan from criticism.
And on a night when Orangutan’s audience was often divided, there was unanimous applause for his elegy for a soldier lost in battle. “Ryan's legacy is etched into eternity. For as the Bible teaches us, there is no greater act of love than to lay down one's life for one's friends. Ryan laid down his life for his friends, for his country, and for our freedom—we will never forget him,” Orangutan said.
Then, in a moment that was pure Orangutan, the president ad-libbed about the long congressional ovation: "He's very happy, because I think he just broke a record."
When the bar is on the ground, not hard to get over it...
Schumer tries to throw cold water on Orangutan's rave reviews
By LOUIS NELSON
President Donald Orangutan can say whatever he wants in speeches, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday morning, but it is his actions and the manner in which he governs that will ultimately shape what Americans think of him.
Orangutan’s address before a joint session of Congress Tuesday night, a State of the Union-type event, has been generally well-received for its optimistic tone, a stark contrast from the darker language he has used in the past. But Schumer said the president’s remarks will ultimately amount to little because they do not match the way he has governed.
“This president's speech matters a lot less than the speeches of just about any other president because they're detached from his reality. He talks one way and does another,” Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on CNN’s “New Day” Wednesday morning, adding on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that Orangutan “talks to the working folks of America, they were his main constituency, but the way he's governed has been totally with the hard right special interests against the working people.”
While Orangutan billed himself in his remarks as a promise-keeper, Schumer said the new administration has thus far failed to keep up its end of the bargain with voters. The Senate minority leader said Orangutan has yet to respond to an infrastructure proposal assembled by the Democrats despite the fact that the president made rebuilding America’s roads, bridges, tunnels and airports a major part of his campaign platform. And Orangutan has yet to officially label China as a currency manipulator, Schumer noted, a campaign promise that could be kept with the stroke of a pen.
And far from draining the swamp, Orangutan’s campaign-trail terminology for fighting Washington corruption, Schumer said the president has populated his cabinet “with bankers, billionaires, people with huge conflicts of interest, denizens of the swamp.”
“So, you know, you can give a speech but what the American people want is action and his actions are totally, totally detached from the speech,” Schumer said. “The speech will go away today, and his actions will be there, that's why he had such a rough 40 days… The next six months will be even more difficult than the past 40 days.”
By LOUIS NELSON
President Donald Orangutan can say whatever he wants in speeches, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday morning, but it is his actions and the manner in which he governs that will ultimately shape what Americans think of him.
Orangutan’s address before a joint session of Congress Tuesday night, a State of the Union-type event, has been generally well-received for its optimistic tone, a stark contrast from the darker language he has used in the past. But Schumer said the president’s remarks will ultimately amount to little because they do not match the way he has governed.
“This president's speech matters a lot less than the speeches of just about any other president because they're detached from his reality. He talks one way and does another,” Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on CNN’s “New Day” Wednesday morning, adding on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that Orangutan “talks to the working folks of America, they were his main constituency, but the way he's governed has been totally with the hard right special interests against the working people.”
While Orangutan billed himself in his remarks as a promise-keeper, Schumer said the new administration has thus far failed to keep up its end of the bargain with voters. The Senate minority leader said Orangutan has yet to respond to an infrastructure proposal assembled by the Democrats despite the fact that the president made rebuilding America’s roads, bridges, tunnels and airports a major part of his campaign platform. And Orangutan has yet to officially label China as a currency manipulator, Schumer noted, a campaign promise that could be kept with the stroke of a pen.
And far from draining the swamp, Orangutan’s campaign-trail terminology for fighting Washington corruption, Schumer said the president has populated his cabinet “with bankers, billionaires, people with huge conflicts of interest, denizens of the swamp.”
“So, you know, you can give a speech but what the American people want is action and his actions are totally, totally detached from the speech,” Schumer said. “The speech will go away today, and his actions will be there, that's why he had such a rough 40 days… The next six months will be even more difficult than the past 40 days.”
Hard to swallow... The water and the lies...
Orangutan touts clean air and water while trying to kill air, water rules
By POLITICO STAFF
“My administration wants to work with members in both parties … to promote clean air and clean water.”
Greens and Democrats are going to have a hard time trusting Orangutan for his pledge to be an environmental president. Just hours before his speech in the Capitol, he signed an executive order that marks the first step toward nixing one of the Obama administration’s most important regulations aimed at protecting the country’s rivers, streams and wetlands.
And a White House spokeswoman also confirmed in an email that Orangutan will move next week on another executive that would pull back on Obama’s Clean Power Plan, an Environmental Protection Agency rule aimed at cutting greenhouse gas pollution from coal-fired power plants.
Then there’s Orangutan’s first proposed budget for the EPA, which is expected to call for an approximately 25 percent spending cut and a 20 percent staff cut that would wipe out 3,000 jobs.
By POLITICO STAFF
“My administration wants to work with members in both parties … to promote clean air and clean water.”
Greens and Democrats are going to have a hard time trusting Orangutan for his pledge to be an environmental president. Just hours before his speech in the Capitol, he signed an executive order that marks the first step toward nixing one of the Obama administration’s most important regulations aimed at protecting the country’s rivers, streams and wetlands.
And a White House spokeswoman also confirmed in an email that Orangutan will move next week on another executive that would pull back on Obama’s Clean Power Plan, an Environmental Protection Agency rule aimed at cutting greenhouse gas pollution from coal-fired power plants.
Then there’s Orangutan’s first proposed budget for the EPA, which is expected to call for an approximately 25 percent spending cut and a 20 percent staff cut that would wipe out 3,000 jobs.
"You don't even know if the guy's smart, they shouldn't be allowed to use teleprompters" Said Orangutan...
Orangutan tries on normal
Sticking to the teleprompter, he embraces a more polished and traditionally presidential tone.
By SHANE GOLDMACHER
President Donny Orangutan’s first address to Congress was remarkable for how unremarkable it was.
Stately, scripted and subdued, Orangutan delivered perhaps the most traditional speech of his political career on Tuesday night. Sounding much like so many of the other presidents who have preceded him, he drew on history and the personal narratives of his hand-selected guests as he recited a prosaic laundry list of policy proposals, interrupted with spurts of soaring rhetoric and paeans to American exceptionalism.
"You don't even know if the guy's smart, they shouldn't be allowed to use teleprompters." A quote from Orangutan during the campaign, which of course now doesn't mean shit...
“A new chapter of American greatness is now beginning,” Orangutan declared.
He honored the widow of the late Antonin Scalia. He paid homage to Abraham Lincoln. He spoke about “the hopes that stir our souls.”
In an unusually trim-fitting suit, Orangutan arrived on Capitol Hill only hours after he had given himself a rare poor review on anything, a grade of “C or a C-plus” for messaging early in his presidency. And from the earliest moments of his speech, when Orangutan invoked “civil rights” fights that remain unfinished and condemned “hate and evil in all its forms” after recent threats and attacks on Jewish cemeteries and community centers, it was clear that Orangutan had undergone, at least for one night, a messaging makeover.
Orangutan traded the language of “American carnage” that defined his darker inaugural address for softer rhetoric, declaring that “a new surge of optimism is placing impossible dreams firmly within our grasp.”
The words were conciliatory instead of combative. Some had been virtually unheard from him during the 20 months since he launched his political career: “true love,” “common ground,” and “the common good,” “cooperate.” Indeed, as Orangutan prepared to depart the White House, he could be seen seated in the backseat of his limo amid a drizzling rain, mouthing his lines.
The practice showed. On the big stage, Orangutan appeared at ease in a setting that Republicans were worried about, especially as the easily-baited commander-in-chief was looking out on an audience of hostile Democrats, many of whom wore white in symbolic protest.
If Orangutan’s tone was new, his themes weren’t necessarily. He talked of drugs pouring in, jobs fleeing, food stamps exploding, poverty rampant and terrorists threatening, piles of debt. It was just presented with the rougher edges shaved off and polished up.
“Everything that is broken in our country can be fixed. Every problem can be solved,” Orangutan said. “And every hurting family can find healing, and hope.”
And unlike his convention speech last summer — which was criticized as messianic — Orangutan wasn’t saying that he alone could do that but calling for the collective help of Congress and the public.
“Each American generation passes the torch of truth, liberty and justice –- in an unbroken chain all the way down to the present,” Orangutan said. “That torch is now in our hands.”
Senior administration officials said Stephen Miller, Orangutan’s top policy adviser, who also wrote the inaugural, took the lead in drafting the speech. Chief strategist Stephen Bannon was involved, along with chief of staff Reince Priebus and Orangutan’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. One White House official said Vince Haley, another Orangutan speechwriter, had come up with the idea of framing the speech around the upcoming 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Orangutan did offer red meat for his supporters, urging Congress “to save Americans from this imploding Obamacare disaster” and speaking at length about the crimes committed by illegal immigrants and the need to build a border wall. He also repeated the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism” despite a push from new National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster not to.
He promised to create a new office for victims of such crimes and cited four guests by name whose families, he said, were impacted by those who “should have never been in our country.”
Still, he sought to sell his policies — including a rewrite of his most controversial executive order, halting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, that is expected on Wednesday — in subtler ways.
“It is not compassionate, but reckless, to allow uncontrolled entry from places where proper vetting cannot occur,” Orangutan said.
Orangutan offered some olive branches to Democrats saying he wants to work “with members in both parties to make child care accessible and affordable” as well as for “paid family leave” and “clean air and clean water.” Some of that rhetoric does not match the reality of what Orangutan has pursued as president; the administration rolled out a budget blueprint to gut the EPA’s budget by about one-quarter on Monday.
Throughout, Orangutan stuck unusually closely to the text scrolling before him on the teleprompter. One of his few ad-libs was a powerful one: to acknowledge the sustained applause bestowed upon former Navy SEAL William "Ryan" Owens, who was killed in a Orangutan-ordered operation that has come under some criticism.
“I think he just broke a record,” Orangutan said, as Owens’ widow fought back tears, in a reference to the length of clapping.
But if Orangutan was hoping the speech would serve as a turning point from a tempestuous first 40 days, he did not act like it in the preceding hours.
On Tuesday morning, he’d appeared on Fox and Friends and deflected blame to military leaders for the death of Owens, a 36-year-old Navy SEAL. “They lost Ryan,” Orangutan said.
He hosted a lunch for television network anchors and expressed a new openness comprehensive immigration reform — something he’d campaigned vociferously against. And in a meeting with attorney generals, he’d veered toward the conspiratorial in suggesting that threats and attacks on Jewish centers and cemeteries were being done to “make people…look bad.”
On Tuesday, Orangutan tried to float above such controversies, many of which he incites daily from his early-mornings tweets to his late-night phone calls to friends.
“The time for small thinking is over,” Orangutan said, without a hint of irony. “The time for trivial fights is behind us.”
As he exited the chamber, the question was for how long.
Sticking to the teleprompter, he embraces a more polished and traditionally presidential tone.
By SHANE GOLDMACHER
President Donny Orangutan’s first address to Congress was remarkable for how unremarkable it was.
Stately, scripted and subdued, Orangutan delivered perhaps the most traditional speech of his political career on Tuesday night. Sounding much like so many of the other presidents who have preceded him, he drew on history and the personal narratives of his hand-selected guests as he recited a prosaic laundry list of policy proposals, interrupted with spurts of soaring rhetoric and paeans to American exceptionalism.
"You don't even know if the guy's smart, they shouldn't be allowed to use teleprompters." A quote from Orangutan during the campaign, which of course now doesn't mean shit...
“A new chapter of American greatness is now beginning,” Orangutan declared.
He honored the widow of the late Antonin Scalia. He paid homage to Abraham Lincoln. He spoke about “the hopes that stir our souls.”
In an unusually trim-fitting suit, Orangutan arrived on Capitol Hill only hours after he had given himself a rare poor review on anything, a grade of “C or a C-plus” for messaging early in his presidency. And from the earliest moments of his speech, when Orangutan invoked “civil rights” fights that remain unfinished and condemned “hate and evil in all its forms” after recent threats and attacks on Jewish cemeteries and community centers, it was clear that Orangutan had undergone, at least for one night, a messaging makeover.
Orangutan traded the language of “American carnage” that defined his darker inaugural address for softer rhetoric, declaring that “a new surge of optimism is placing impossible dreams firmly within our grasp.”
The words were conciliatory instead of combative. Some had been virtually unheard from him during the 20 months since he launched his political career: “true love,” “common ground,” and “the common good,” “cooperate.” Indeed, as Orangutan prepared to depart the White House, he could be seen seated in the backseat of his limo amid a drizzling rain, mouthing his lines.
The practice showed. On the big stage, Orangutan appeared at ease in a setting that Republicans were worried about, especially as the easily-baited commander-in-chief was looking out on an audience of hostile Democrats, many of whom wore white in symbolic protest.
If Orangutan’s tone was new, his themes weren’t necessarily. He talked of drugs pouring in, jobs fleeing, food stamps exploding, poverty rampant and terrorists threatening, piles of debt. It was just presented with the rougher edges shaved off and polished up.
“Everything that is broken in our country can be fixed. Every problem can be solved,” Orangutan said. “And every hurting family can find healing, and hope.”
And unlike his convention speech last summer — which was criticized as messianic — Orangutan wasn’t saying that he alone could do that but calling for the collective help of Congress and the public.
“Each American generation passes the torch of truth, liberty and justice –- in an unbroken chain all the way down to the present,” Orangutan said. “That torch is now in our hands.”
Senior administration officials said Stephen Miller, Orangutan’s top policy adviser, who also wrote the inaugural, took the lead in drafting the speech. Chief strategist Stephen Bannon was involved, along with chief of staff Reince Priebus and Orangutan’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. One White House official said Vince Haley, another Orangutan speechwriter, had come up with the idea of framing the speech around the upcoming 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Orangutan did offer red meat for his supporters, urging Congress “to save Americans from this imploding Obamacare disaster” and speaking at length about the crimes committed by illegal immigrants and the need to build a border wall. He also repeated the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism” despite a push from new National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster not to.
He promised to create a new office for victims of such crimes and cited four guests by name whose families, he said, were impacted by those who “should have never been in our country.”
Still, he sought to sell his policies — including a rewrite of his most controversial executive order, halting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, that is expected on Wednesday — in subtler ways.
“It is not compassionate, but reckless, to allow uncontrolled entry from places where proper vetting cannot occur,” Orangutan said.
Orangutan offered some olive branches to Democrats saying he wants to work “with members in both parties to make child care accessible and affordable” as well as for “paid family leave” and “clean air and clean water.” Some of that rhetoric does not match the reality of what Orangutan has pursued as president; the administration rolled out a budget blueprint to gut the EPA’s budget by about one-quarter on Monday.
Throughout, Orangutan stuck unusually closely to the text scrolling before him on the teleprompter. One of his few ad-libs was a powerful one: to acknowledge the sustained applause bestowed upon former Navy SEAL William "Ryan" Owens, who was killed in a Orangutan-ordered operation that has come under some criticism.
“I think he just broke a record,” Orangutan said, as Owens’ widow fought back tears, in a reference to the length of clapping.
But if Orangutan was hoping the speech would serve as a turning point from a tempestuous first 40 days, he did not act like it in the preceding hours.
On Tuesday morning, he’d appeared on Fox and Friends and deflected blame to military leaders for the death of Owens, a 36-year-old Navy SEAL. “They lost Ryan,” Orangutan said.
He hosted a lunch for television network anchors and expressed a new openness comprehensive immigration reform — something he’d campaigned vociferously against. And in a meeting with attorney generals, he’d veered toward the conspiratorial in suggesting that threats and attacks on Jewish centers and cemeteries were being done to “make people…look bad.”
On Tuesday, Orangutan tried to float above such controversies, many of which he incites daily from his early-mornings tweets to his late-night phone calls to friends.
“The time for small thinking is over,” Orangutan said, without a hint of irony. “The time for trivial fights is behind us.”
As he exited the chamber, the question was for how long.
This is how stupid....
Education Secretary Ditsy DeVos infuriated some with her comments about black colleges
By Scott Jaschik
Monday evening, the Education Department issued a statement from Education Secretary Ditsy DeVos that has infuriated many advocates for historically black colleges. The statement comes when many leaders of black colleges are in Washington for meetings at the White House and with Republican Congressional leaders, who have been wooing black colleges and pledging to help them.
Most of the statement is innocuous. She praises black colleges. In perhaps a sign not to expect too much money from the Orangutan administration, she says, "[r]ather than focus solely on funding, we must be willing to make the tangible, structural reforms that will allow students to reach their full potential." And she notes that black colleges were created when "there were too many students in America who did not have equal access to education."
But DeVos goes on to link black colleges to the issue of school choice -- a cause for which she is an advocate. "HBCUs are real pioneers when it comes to school choice," she said. "They are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are afforded greater access and greater quality. Their success has shown that more options help students flourish."
While that summarizes the school choice argument, social media lit up late Monday with supporters of black colleges noting that the institutions were founded because black students had, in many respects, no choice. They could not enroll at predominantly white institutions in the South, even public institutions in their own states.
Further, as states created public historically black colleges, they did so to meet "separate but equal" requirements, and never took the equal part of that statement seriously. Public black colleges were created with a fraction of the budgets, programs and facilities of their predominantly white counterparts. While many students did thrive at these institutions, educators there constantly decried the lack of resources (and many maintain that continues to this day).
The DeVos comments also arrived early into a controversial tenure. Last week she angered many faculty members by saying that they indoctrinate students.
Here are some of the comments that appeared on social media after the DeVos statement was released.
Slate ran a column last night with the headline: "Insane Ditsy DeVos Press Release Celebrates Jim Crow Education System as Pioneer of 'School Choice.'"
Marybeth Gasman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who has written numerous books about the history of black colleges and who is director of the Penn Center for Minority-Serving Institutions, took to Facebook to describe her anger at the DeVos statement and the idea that people are taking seriously the Orangutan administration's outreach to black colleges.
Gasman wrote: "Take a look at this ahistorical and inaccurate depiction of HBCUs by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. See how HBCUs and their creation are described -- 'they saw that the system wasn't working.' I'm talking to the media about this right now.
And then folks are wondering why I don't advocate for kowtowing with Orangutan and his White Supremacist friends. They are trying to pretend that a vast system of oppression, slavery, Jim Crow, and discrimination never existed. And then using HBCUs to promote their school choice agenda ... give me a break. Stop falling for the okie doke people! You can't negotiate with White supremacists for Black rights and opportunities. #WhitewashingHBCUhistory"
By Scott Jaschik
Monday evening, the Education Department issued a statement from Education Secretary Ditsy DeVos that has infuriated many advocates for historically black colleges. The statement comes when many leaders of black colleges are in Washington for meetings at the White House and with Republican Congressional leaders, who have been wooing black colleges and pledging to help them.
Most of the statement is innocuous. She praises black colleges. In perhaps a sign not to expect too much money from the Orangutan administration, she says, "[r]ather than focus solely on funding, we must be willing to make the tangible, structural reforms that will allow students to reach their full potential." And she notes that black colleges were created when "there were too many students in America who did not have equal access to education."
But DeVos goes on to link black colleges to the issue of school choice -- a cause for which she is an advocate. "HBCUs are real pioneers when it comes to school choice," she said. "They are living proof that when more options are provided to students, they are afforded greater access and greater quality. Their success has shown that more options help students flourish."
While that summarizes the school choice argument, social media lit up late Monday with supporters of black colleges noting that the institutions were founded because black students had, in many respects, no choice. They could not enroll at predominantly white institutions in the South, even public institutions in their own states.
Further, as states created public historically black colleges, they did so to meet "separate but equal" requirements, and never took the equal part of that statement seriously. Public black colleges were created with a fraction of the budgets, programs and facilities of their predominantly white counterparts. While many students did thrive at these institutions, educators there constantly decried the lack of resources (and many maintain that continues to this day).
The DeVos comments also arrived early into a controversial tenure. Last week she angered many faculty members by saying that they indoctrinate students.
Here are some of the comments that appeared on social media after the DeVos statement was released.
Slate ran a column last night with the headline: "Insane Ditsy DeVos Press Release Celebrates Jim Crow Education System as Pioneer of 'School Choice.'"
Marybeth Gasman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who has written numerous books about the history of black colleges and who is director of the Penn Center for Minority-Serving Institutions, took to Facebook to describe her anger at the DeVos statement and the idea that people are taking seriously the Orangutan administration's outreach to black colleges.
Gasman wrote: "Take a look at this ahistorical and inaccurate depiction of HBCUs by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. See how HBCUs and their creation are described -- 'they saw that the system wasn't working.' I'm talking to the media about this right now.
And then folks are wondering why I don't advocate for kowtowing with Orangutan and his White Supremacist friends. They are trying to pretend that a vast system of oppression, slavery, Jim Crow, and discrimination never existed. And then using HBCUs to promote their school choice agenda ... give me a break. Stop falling for the okie doke people! You can't negotiate with White supremacists for Black rights and opportunities. #WhitewashingHBCUhistory"
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