trump is serious!!!!!

[Lord Jim]

[BoSoxGal]

[Econoline]

[Bicycle Bill]

"I, Donald John Trump, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.  So help me God."

Now here's a frightening thought.... maybe what we've been seeing IS the best of Trump's ability.

-"BB"-

[Econoline]

Okay, I just LOOOOVE Andy Borowitz's satire...but maybe this hits just a little too close to reality:

• WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Calling it “maybe the worst deal ever,” Donald J. Trump said on Wednesday that he is considering pulling the United States out of the United States Constitution.
  
  “I’ve seen a lot of bad deals in my life, but this Constitution is a total mess,” he said. “We need to tear it up and start over.”
  
  Trump was scathing in his remarks about the two-hundred-and-twenty-nine-year-old document, singling out for special scorn its insistence on three branches of government. “The branches thing is maybe the worst part of this deal,” he said. “The first thing we do when we pull out of the Constitution is get rid of two of those branches.”
  
  He also called the First Amendment “something that really has to go.”
  
  “No one in his right mind would put something like that in a Constitution,” he said. “Russia doesn’t have it. North Korea doesn’t have it. All the best countries don’t have it.”
  
  He stopped short of accusing his predecessor, Barack Obama, of writing the United States Constitution, but said, “He’s working hard behind the scenes trying to save it, because he knows that the Constitution is very, very bad for me.”
  
  Vowing to replace the Constitution with “a new, much, much better Constitution,” he acknowledged that there might be some elements of the original document worth salvaging. “We’re going to keep the Second Amendment,” he said, “and definitely the Fifth.”

[Joe Guy]

He's already working on that 1st amendment thing:

Trump threatens to remove news networks' press credentials over negative coverage

President Trump early Wednesday suggested taking away news networks' press credentials over "negative" coverage.

"The Fake News is working overtime. Just reported that, despite the tremendous success we are having with the economy & all things else, 91% of the Network News about me is negative (Fake)," Trump wrote on Twitter.

"Why do we work so hard in working with the media when it is corrupt? Take away credentials?"

Trump frequently criticizes major news outlets for so-called fake news and has threatened in the past to remove press credentials for a number of outlets.

During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump took away some news outlets' press credentials. Such outlets were able to cover his rallies but were cut off from his press conferences and any special access reporters with credentials normally receive.

Cutting off press credentials would not mean reporters can no longer cover the president.

Trump's latest threat to take away press credentials comes after The Washington Post and other outlets confirmed some of the claims made by adult-film star Stormy Daniels's attorney Michael Avenatti on Tuesday about Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen.

According to Avenatti, Cohen received $500,000 in the months after the 2016 election from a company run by a Russian oligarch with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Avenatti said the funding may have been used to reimburse the $130,000 payment Cohen made to Daniels to stay quiet about her alleged affair with Trump.

source

[RayThom]

Trump threatens to remove news networks' press credentials over negative coverage

"The Fake News is working overtime. Just reported that, despite the tremendous success we are having with the economy & all things else, 91% of the Network News about me is negative (Fake)," Trump wrote on Twitter.

91%? Hmm... just minutes after Fox & Friends told him. Imagine that?

Trump’s tweet is based on a right-wing “watchdog” study — via Fox News, of course
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics ... redentials

[Bicycle Bill]

Well, considering Trump faked a disability to dodge the draft, is the former host of a fake reality game show, was the founder/figurehead of a fake university, and faked his supporters into believing he was qualified to be president, you would think he would be able to recognize fake — as in 'fake news' — when (and if) it's there ... but apparently not.

-"BB"-

[Econoline]

[Gob]

[Bicycle Bill]

FOOD FOR THOUGHT —

The Benghazi Investigation
4 years = 0 indictments

Clinton e-mail investigation
2 years = 0 indictments

Russian collusion investigation
14 months = 23 indictments (and counting)

Yet Trump & Co. insist that “Clearly there’s nothing there.  Let’s wrap it up!”

-"BB"-

[Econoline]

"The Swamp"

[Scooter]

[ex-khobar Andy]

According to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, both he and Trump eat lots of US beef - this information nugget was offered to Chinese beef buyers who were worried about BSE - mad cow disease. "[T]here are no signs of mental instability as a result."

That should work.

Wilbur Ross anagrams to Slow rub, Sir. I don't know why I think that's funny.

[Scooter]

[Bicycle Bill]

Trump Has Now Broken Every One of His Economic Populist Promises

“Draining the swamp” has become a catchall-Republican slogan, like “lock her up,” that basically means doing anything to lash out at Trump’s opponents.  During the campaign, though, it had a different and more specific definition.  Trump promised to enact reforms to reduce the power of lobbyists and business.  He specifically endorsed:

• • A constitutional amendment imposing term limits on members of Congress
  • A ban on federal employees lobbying the government for five years
  • A ban on members of Congress lobbying for five years
  • Tighter rules about what constitutes a lobbyist, instead of letting people call themselves consultants
  • Campaign finance reform limiting what foreign companies can raise for American political candidates
  • A ban on senior government officials lobbying for foreign governments

Trump has not merely forgotten these promises, his administration has embraced Washington sleaze with unprecedented gusto.  Not only has he failed to prevent former administration officials from lobbying for foreign governments, he has had current administration officials lobbying for foreign governments.  There has never been an American presidency so easily manipulated by domestic and foreign business interests.  The most benign explanation for Michael Cohen’s secret payments to his hastily constructed Delaware shell company is that he was a conduit for business interests to buy their way into Trump’s good graces.
[Update] Trump also promised, over and over and over again, to raise taxes on the rich, including on himself.  “It’s going to cost me a fortune, which is actually true,” he said.  It was not actually true at all.

Trump promised to do a lot of un-Republican things to give resources and influence to blue-collar Americans, which would have threatened his party’s power brokers.  Many of these promises were feasible if Trump actually wanted to follow through on them.  Instead, the only promises he has kept are the ones that put money in the pockets of Trump and his cronies.

  — New York Magazine's 'Daily Intelligencer' column 5/11/2018

-"BB"-

[Econoline]

• 

OK, all together now:

• “I did Nazi that coming.”

[Econoline]

[BoSoxGal]

[Econoline]

A beautiful musical moment from the SNL season finale.

Best line, IMO (from the "Rex Tillerson" character): "Trump was the biggest mess I've ever dealt with — and I worked for EXXON MOBIL!!!"