Shakespeare on Trump

 How could he have known?

Repairing the Damage

 Once again the rational adults in the Biden administration have undone the irresponsible damage done by the defeated former guy. 

Trump's Tan

Interesting tidbit from The Hill:

An official line from the White House on President Trump’s complexion is that his skin color is the result of “good genes,” a senior administration official told The New York Times. 

So does this make the President a "person of color?"

New Poll: Not Trumpophilic

Presidents have recovered from bad polling two years before a re-election campaign, but somehow I don't think this one has the skills to manage it.

Overall, 34 percent approve of President Donald Trump’s stewardship of the country, and 65 percent disapprove.  The public is least negative about how the president is dealing with the economy and most negative about his handling of climate change. 

We Knew Cory Booker Would Run

I don't know how well he'll do in the primaries, and sure as hell have no idea if he's even Presidential material (ask me in 15 months). But Senator Booker is almost the perfect antidote to Donald Trump's poisonous narcissism and vindictive responses to perceived threats.

"Before you speak to me about your religion, first show it to me in how you treat other people; before you tell me how much you love your God, show me in how much you love all His children; before you preach to me of your passion for your faith, teach me about it through your compassion for your neighbors. In the end, I'm not as interested in what you have to tell or sell as in how you choose to live and give." -Senator Cory Booker (New Jersey-D)

From a Bookstore in Oklahoma, of All Places

How Does Putin Do It?

I mean, we can't even see the strings he uses to control our President.

Following U.S., Putin suspends nuclear pact and promises new weapons https://wapo.st/2GiKX18

GOP GOTV Better Be On Hyperdrive in 2020

Demography is usually a dry discipline that few find attractive, let alone riveting. But the folks at Pew have done some work that should garner a fair amount of attention from electoral handicappers.

...this strong growth among minority populations means that a third of eligible voters will be nonwhite in 2020, up from about a quarter in 2000. This increase is at least partially linked to immigration and naturalization patterns: One-in-ten eligible voters in the 2020 election will have been born outside the U.S., the highest share since at least 1970.

Even with energetic GOTV efforts by Republicans in 2018, they lost 40 seats in the House. Add in a growing distaste for President Trump and the changing demographics of potential voters and I think RNC chair Ronna McDaniel must be losing sleep. 

(On the plus side, if Mr. Trump is deposed, Ms. McDaniel can go back to using her maiden name - Romney. Uncle Mitt will be pleased.)

But wait! I hear someone object. There's still a white majority of all potential voters. That's true, but keep in mind: more partisan voters are Democrats (35%) than Republican (25%).

Perhaps Ms. McDaniel isn't the only Republican who should have insomnia.

"It Never Happened" A Brief Guide to Trump:Russia Contacts

"It never happened," (Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks) said. "There was no communication between the campaign and any foreign entity during the campaign."

Working from "New York Times reporting, documents submitted to Congress, and court records and accusations related to the special counsel," The Times has assembled a handy graphic detailing which Trump campaign official had contacts with Russian assets during the campaign. It's a nice piece of  graphic design and stunning in its scope. 

More than 100 Trump:Russia Contacts

Why Arresting Roger Stone Was the Right Thing to Do

As Ben Wittes explains

Law enforcement simply does not hand a summons to someone who threatens to kill a witness and trust that person to act responsibly with it.  No conscientious prosecutor would think a summons appropriate there, or think that a threat to kill a witness is simply what targets of grand jury investigations routinely do.

If Mr. Stone does as he promised Tucker Carlson and fights the charges in open court,  we may learn things the Trump legal team would rather we didn't. In any event, we're off to a dramatic start.

I KNEW This Seemed Familiar

Something about the President holding federal employees hostage in order to get a few billion dollars has nagged  at me for a few days. Something about threatening a third party to influence a decision had a deja vu quality I couldn't shake.

And then I realized where I'd seen it before:

Mr. Trump Just Put Amnesty on the Table

President Coulter isn't going to like this.

Annie Don't Like It

Bad news for Mr. Trump's wall "deal." The President doesn't like it.

This.

I Don't Get the Buzzfeed Buzz

OK, I think I see the attraction to Buzzfeed's story about Michael Cohen claiming he committed perjury at the direction of President Trump.  By bringing the Special Counsel's Office into the mix Buzzfeed adds a layer of authenticity to previously known facts.

But so what? We already knew about Mr. Trump's involvement. Remember the SCO's December 2018 filing for Cohen's sentencing?

The defendant’s false statements obscured the fact that the Moscow Project was a lucrative business opportunity that sought, and likely required, the assistance of the Russian government. If the project was completed, the Company could have received hundreds of millions of dollars from Russian sources in licensing fees and other revenues. The fact that Cohen continued to work on
the project and discuss it with Individual 1 well into the campaign was material to the ongoing
congressional and SCO investigations, particularly because it occurred at a time of sustained
efforts by the Russian government to interfere with the U.S. presidential election.(emphasis added)

 So do I believe the facts in Buzzfeed's story. Of course. Those aren't new. Am I impressed that the SCO's role is highlighted? No, we've already seen it displayed in court documents. Do I understand the uproar over the Buzzfeed story? Not at all. 

2020 Primary Challenges

I expect Chris Christie to do the same.

Republican Gov. Larry Hogan is acting a lot like a guy who wants to run against Donald Trump in 2020 — and the president's reelection team is taking notice.

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/18/larry-hogan-donald-trump-2020-election-1110535

"All the Best People"

Hogan Gidley looks like the kid who failed the audition for Stranger Things.

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/01/white-house-spokesman-refuses-deny-buzzfeed-story-fox-news/

In Which David Limbaugh Helpfully Provides a List of Trumpish Talking Points

I repeat: It is border security they oppose, as evidenced by their opposition to Kate's Law, their reprehensible support for sanctuary cities, their callous disregard for criminal elements, in whatever percentages, illegally crossing our borders, their jaw-dropping opposition to the deportation of MS-13 gang members and other violent criminals, their demonization of ICE, their history of obstructing border enforcement, their secret affinity for open borders because increasing illegal immigration leads to an endless new supply of future Democratic voters, and their endless game-playing over a wall, including their gleeful eagerness to keep their precious federal government shut down just so they can demagogue the issue and humiliate Trump.

Most Un-Self Conscious Tweet of the Day

Almost nobody in the W. H. but me...

Well, of course, sir - except for your unpaid Secret Service detail, a lot of your staff is at home reading Help Wanted ads.

The #TrumpShutdown Speeches Failed

Neither the President's first Oval Office prime time address nor the curiously moribund Democratic response impressed the public. But this polling does make it clear Trump is getting the bulk of the blame for the shutdown.