Congratulations to Donald Trump. Now, Let’s REIN Him In.
Congratulations to Donald Trump. I think he’s a terrible human being, but I’ll choose to be optimistic about what this means for the country. I was resigned to the idea that conservatives had lost the Court. Now we haven’t. Somewhere, Antonin Scalia is looking down on these results and smiling. I hope this means we can finally take measures to secure our border. I don’t think anyone believes Donald Trump will build a wall and make Mexico pay for it — but hopefully he will do more than Hillary Clinton would have.
When Trump seeks to do things that promote classical liberal principles — of liberty, the free market, and the Constitution — I’ll be with him. When he seeks to damage those principles, I’ll oppose him. I won’t let partisan bias stand in the way of offering you honest commentary. Hopefully readers have learned that.
Meanwhile, I’m going to enjoy watching the lefties show a Strange New Respect for the separation of powers and the need to resist executive overreach. I’m with them on that. Let’s pass some now. They’ll support them for partisan reasons, and I’ll support them for principled reasons, but no matter. Let’s restore Congress’s proper place in government and start chipping away at the imperial presidency. You don’t even have to wait until Donald Trump takes the oath of office to do it. In fact, you probably shouldn’t wait.
Here’s how we can start. Mitch McConnell, pass the REINS Act today. It subjects major bureaucratic regulations to Congressional approval. This means Congress would retake some of the power it has ceded to the executive.
Pass it, GOP. Obama has threatened to veto it in the past — but remember what I said about the Strange New Respect for Congressional power? Either Obama can make it part of his legacy to undo some of his own power grabs . . . or he can explain to lefties why he wants to make Trump an imperial president.
[Cross-posted at RedState.]
Ding.
Patterico (6ff3a1) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:06 amWage the dog
Oh my. This one does need paper trained.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:11 amTeh reverse gloat. Who knew?
Trump victory signals Americans want a Big Change from the fundamental transformation… David Brooks hardest hit.
Colonel Haiku (a7e08c) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:16 amPatterico, in the light of a new day: “Congratulations to Donald Trump. I think he’s a terrible human being, but I’ll choose to be optimistic about what this means for the country.”
Patterico, less than nine hours earlier: “Oh well. I can’t “congratulate” such an awful cretin. F-ck this guy. He’s a ridiculous ignorant clown. His election is a giant disgrace.”
Coffee works wonders.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:16 amYup. I did update that post almost 90 minutes ago.
Patterico (6ff3a1) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:20 amIt’s a weird feeling. A long national nightmare is now over; we may be beginning a new one, but at least it’s a different one. I’m sorry Trump won, but I’m glad Clinton lost, and I’m glad that all the smug Democrats around me are feeling the dismay and amazement that we felt eight and four years ago.
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:21 amDon’t let’s count our chickens yet. Let’s see what he does.
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:22 amActually I haven’t had my coffee yet but the shock (and the Macallan Gold) has worn off.
He’s still a terrible person, but I choose not to dwell on that today.
Patterico (6ff3a1) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:22 amI always had faith in his ability to do a good job on the Court. He does not care about it and will do what he is told.
Patterico (6ff3a1) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:24 amI’m sorry Trump won, but I’m glad Clinton lost, and I’m glad that all the smug Democrats around me are feeling the dismay and amazement that we felt eight and four years ago.
Well said, Milhouse.
JVW (6e49ce) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:24 amWhat’s a “reverse gloat”?
Patterico (6ff3a1) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:25 amJohn Podesta looks ashen. Good.
JVW (6e49ce) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:25 ami love it that food stamp’s going away
i love it we’re not getting pigged on
and today that’s more than enough
it’s a day for fancy donuts it’s a day for happy songs it’s a day for special cocktails it’s a day for ringing gongs it’s a day we dared not dream would come twas sent from God above
let’s take this day and laugh and play and shower Trump with love
happyfeet (a037ad) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:30 amKarl Rove says that Joe Manchin will leave the Democrats, become an independent, and caucus with the GOP in the Senate.
JVW (6e49ce) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:31 am@12– The dwelling on her loss is as if she’s abdicating a throne.
A genuine Drama Queen.
Her classless failure to address followers and the nation last night after that late night phone call conceding says it all. Let’s see if she takes full responsibility for losing this. Every surrogate carried their load. She did not. A truly lousy candidate.
The first thing President Trump has to do is appoint that special prosecutor and hound this b-tch into the proverbial dog house.
“Weep no more, My Lady….’- ‘My Old Kentucky Home’
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:32 amThis is how out-of-touch Clinton supporters are: Huma Abedin is being cheered at Hillary’s rally.
JVW (6e49ce) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:34 amTim Kaine isn’t wearing his Hillary lapel pin any longer.
JVW (6e49ce) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:35 amKaine gets a standing ovation for pointing out that Hillary won the popular vote.
JVW (6e49ce) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:36 amKaine is telling the parable of the vineyard owner from the gospel according to Matthew, where the owner keeps hiring people to work his vineyard but paying everyone a full day’s wage no matter at what point in the day they started work. I guess that was going to be the Hillary economic agenda had she been elected.
JVW (6e49ce) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:39 amSorry, Tim Kaine. You done been whupped.
Colonel Haiku (a7e08c) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:41 amThis scenario reminds me of the televised meeting Nixon had with his staff after he resigned.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:41 amSigned,
Teh Deplorables
Colonel Haiku (a7e08c) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:43 amThe fact Obama is a spent round with the Merde Touch was fully demonstrated by OFA’s failure to whip in Philadelphia, Detroit and Milwaukee. He has definitely moved to Carter territory in terms of probable future political impact. He will still have his phone and pen, he just won’t have anyone listening or reading.
Rick Ballard (bca473) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:43 am“This country was never about one person or one election.”
Yeah, that’s why your campaign slogan was “I’m with her.”
JVW (6e49ce) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:43 amI’m sorry “we” did not win. This was never about “Me”… ‘one person’…
You still don’t get it, Hillary.
Yes, it was.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:43 amIt’s a bear claw day!
papertiger (c8116c) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:45 amHe has definitely moved to Carter territory in terms of probable future political impact. He will still have his phone and pen, he just won’t have anyone listening or reading.
That may be, but at the same time couldn’t one argue that he remains the party leader by virtue of her humiliating defeat? I mean, who else can reasonably step into that vacuum? I’ll bet he ends up with one of his allies as the new head of DNC, considering all of the trouble that Hillary’s cronies brought to that position.
JVW (6e49ce) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:46 amTeh Empress Dowager has no pantsuit.
Colonel Haiku (a7e08c) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:46 amNo special shout-out to Roger Clinton? Bummer.
JVW (6e49ce) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:47 amThey will always be grateful for the
Colonel Haiku (a7e08c) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:50 ammoney launderi, er Clinton Foundation.“Our long national nightmare is over.”
The 1970’s.
No more pantsuits.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:50 amNo more feminism.
Hmmm, she just insinuated that lots of her supporters had to operate on secret Facebook sites. Because, I guess in her weird world, being an open supporter of hers was somehow perilous to one’s livelihood.
JVW (6e49ce) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:50 am“To all the women, especially the young women, who put their faith in this campaign and in me: suckers.”
JVW (6e49ce) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:51 amAh yes, there’s the sweet, sweet tears of the broken-hearted Clinton supporters.
JVW (6e49ce) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:52 amThere’s a Special Prosecutor in your future, dear.
Bake us some cookies.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:53 amTo do it up right, she should do all teh regional accents and dialects in one sentence. Is that too much to ask?
Colonel Haiku (a7e08c) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:53 amBill just kissed Hillary for the first time in fifteen years.
JVW (6e49ce) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:54 amIt’s dawning on Ken Salazar that he might have to get an actual job now.
JVW (6e49ce) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:55 amI can hear the gnashing of teeth, the rending of funny looking garments, and the lisping wails of the SF Bay Area as l write this.
Thor and Smithee hardest hit.
Colonel Haiku (a7e08c) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:57 amShe had $2 billion at her disposal to win.
And lost.
How much less did Trump spend to win this lean and mean?
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:00 am@39- The media is still grinding their dentures as well.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:01 amGood Lord, Hillary, you’ve managed to put three men in the White House, each one worse in his own way than the one before. Was it worth it?
nk (dbc370) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:01 amI prepare to count the number of “I”s in Obama’s public remarks. More coffee!
Colonel Haiku (a7e08c) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:01 amJVW,
He’s always been a bit too lazy to be entrusted with a position requiring actual work.I’m sure he will continue to make noise, just as Carter did. His failure with OFA illustrates his lack of management. I would encourage Democrats to retain him as the face of and spokesman for the party. It would give him more opportunities to exercise his Merde Touch to the benefit America in exactly the same way his support of BLM has done.
Rick Ballard (bca473) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:03 am@42- Yet never in bed. She told Congress she sleeps alone, you know.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:04 amGround control to Major Carl… Ground control to Major Carl… take your Metamucil and put your helmet on…
http://thehill.com/media/304982-carl-bernstein-trump-wins-if-alternate-universe-of-drudge-is-right
Colonel Haiku (a7e08c) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:06 amWill Trump ask Britain to return the bust of Winston Churchill? I feared that Obama’s early house cleaning was an indication that a Marxist, third-world ideology of victimization and retribution would be his guiding star, and I was right.
BobStewartatHome (a52abe) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:07 amThat would be AWESOME! Mr. Stewart.
Colonel Haiku (a7e08c) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:08 amMEMO TO: POTUS
Subject: LAST LETTER
Suggestion to President Obama on letter to leave in desk for president Trump on January 20, 2017:
A long form original of your birth certificate.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:14 am@Col Haiku:Thor and Smithee hardest hit.
They were never your enemies. Let’s class it up around here.
Gabriel Hanna (64d4e1) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:15 amIm talking about them having to put up with it real time, GH.
Colonel Haiku (a7e08c) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:21 amObama: “[Hillary] could not have been a better Secretary of State.”
The fact that you apparently believe this is largely why she lost, Mr. President. And if you were just mouthing a bad platitude, then that too is a symptom of the decline.
JVW (6e49ce) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:24 amIt’s at a comfortable distance here. Over there it would be frantic mincing, empty platitudes and group hug/wailing.
Colonel Haiku (a7e08c) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:24 amHe should. That last ;ie to the convention hall- “go home, we have nothing further to report now”- was stunning. Clinton couldn’t even face her supporters with the truth at the very end. I wonder if it will finally dawn on any of them they were sold a bill of goods.
Trump had damn well better deliver.
Bill H (971e5f) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:25 amDeliver Podesta’s head?
Order in!!!
Colonel Haiku (a7e08c) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:26 amOne thing I expected to see, but haven’t yet; maybe I haven’t been looking in the right places: Democrats crowing about Trump’s claims that the election would be rigged, and disingenuously asking whether Trump will accept the results now, and why he doesn’t reject them. Is it only because the supposedly rigged system gave him instead of Clinton the win? Either he’s a liar and there is no fraud, or he’s a hypocrite for accepting the result of that fraud.
Of course this is nonsense. Yes, there was massive Democrat fraud. There always is. Trump won despite it, not because of it, or because of its absence. The margin was simply too big to negate by the usual D methods. Had it been closer, the fraud machine would have turned it into a D win. And it still needs to be fixed. Congress needs to change the Voting Rights Act to allow states to do what’s needed to deter fraud.
If inking fingers is good enough for third world countries it’s good enough for the USA. Make everyone reregister, and require some sort of proof of eligibility on registration; at least a sworn witness statement from someone who personally knows the registrant to be eligible. Make federal databases available to state authorities, and have states make their databases available to each other, to verify their electoral rolls.
Early voting is not ideal, but it’s better than absentee voting; require a good reason for absentee voting, and an explanation for why the person can’t vote early instead. Also have mobile voting booths, complete with volunteer observers from each party, that will come to your home or hospital bedside to let you vote in person, thus eliminating illness and immobility as reasons for absent voting.
Something similar can be done with military votes as well. Have one voting booth at each base, that sends off for the correct ballot papers for each serviceman who applies by the deadline, and have the servicemen vote in person at this booth, which then sends the completed ballots off to the local electoral board to be counted; thus no nonsense with postmarks or disputed IDs, etc., since the vote is counted as having been cast when it was, not when it arrives.
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:27 amHe is still being her crutch.
He didn’t lose.
SHE did.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:29 amOf course this is nonsense. Yes, there was massive Democrat fraud. There always is. Trump won despite it, not because of it, or because of its absence.
Yeah, but if you go to lefty sites you will read no shortage of allegations of voter suppression, all of course posited without one bit of evidence.
JVW (6e49ce) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:30 amI thought Hillary’s speech was decent but did she concede and/or extend support to Trump? She may have. I honestly didn’t notice if she did. Maybe this was her time to mourn with her supporters.
DRJ (15874d) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:31 amI think she did acknowledge him by saying we owe him an open mind.
DRJ (15874d) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:32 amThe last man of business to occupy the White House was Herbert Hoover. He was an empiricist, who figured he could fix things. He couldn’t. In 1932, FDR ran against a number of the interventions imposed by Hoover. Once in office, FDR recognized that there were political opportunities buried in those interventions provided they were sold with the right spin. He was right, lefties now celebrate his first one hundred days, and America was straddled with a four term parasite who impoverished the country and immersed the world in a war like no other.
I’m hopeful that Mr. Trump will have the good sense to avoid Hoover’s mistakes. Trump will go down as a great president if all he does is reverse Obama’s executive decisions and reign in the EPA and the IRS. Instead of building a new wing in the Federal Colossus, he needs just a scalpel, a steady hand, and a team of good advisors. I was pleased to see that Ben Carson was at Trump’s celebration last night.
BobStewartatHome (a52abe) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:32 amLet’s not dwell on it today. If you remember 2008, now is not the time to preemptively congratulate or denigrate a President elect for their personal qualities. I disagreed with you in 2008, I would agree with you today, but now is not the time.
Let’s just bask in the glow.
I mean that. I said a lot of things about Trump and his supporters and I meant those, too. I won’t be taking anything back. What I was wrong about was the independents. I was horrified at the idea of a Hillary! presidency. And I was worried they might go Hillary! unless we gave them a more distinct choice. Thank God they saw through her.
This one is for you, John Philip Cromwell. Your country has not forgotten your sacrifice.
That is dedication to duty, what you must do, when you have been read into a program. Hillary! was read into similar programs and betrayed her country. I could not be mere pleased she is beginning to pay for her betrayal (and her various other crimes).
I’m sure Marina Santos is a fine woman whose only demerit is that she took employment with Hillary! Clinton. So I have no intention of hinting at the notion I am going to insult an honorable woman doing honest work. But the work she does are the mundane tasks a Hillary! thinks are beneath her. And that includes apparently keeping the nation’s secrets. Just another task Hillary! thought beneath her station; let the maid handle it. Better men than her thought the same thing was more important than their own lives.
This is a good start. She has begun to pay a price. Good. She needs to pay a higher price. I can wait for that until after January and Attorney General Giuliani’s confirmation formalities conclude.
I was so worried she’d get away with it, because Trump couldn’t pull it off, but now I can sleep well.
Steve57 (0b1dac) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:33 amFor a long while Podesta carried the global warming fraud on his own shoulders. Alone.
Climate progress.
So if he strokes out tomorrowDon’t go there Jim.
papertiger (c8116c) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:33 amUm, you know that story was bulldust, don’t you? The loan of the British copy of the bust was only while the White House copy was being restored; once that was done there was no reason not to return it. Isn’t that what you do when you borrow something and no longer need it? Or do you keep other people’s stuff until they get so annoyed that they demand its return?
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:33 am@59. She’s pissed.
All those drapes (and pantsuits w/t Presidential seal) she ordered last week are non-returnable.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:33 amBill just kissed Hillary for the first time in fifteen years.
JVW (6e49ce) — 11/9/2016 @ 8:54 am
I was wondering why the ashen face and shaken demeanor…
Colonel Haiku (a7e08c) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:34 amShe also urged everyone to respect the peaceful transfer of power in a democracy. That is big of her.
DRJ (15874d) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:34 amNo more White House furniture to purloin…
Colonel Haiku (a7e08c) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:36 amIf a Special Prosecutor doesn’t nail her, there’s a ‘Mrs. Clinton’s Cookies’ chain in her future.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:37 amAnd it would be nice if Trump appointed Giuliani as Attorney General, replaced Comey with an honest man or woman from the ranks, and then locked down and swept the DoJ top to bottom, prosecuting where possible, and firing when not.
BobStewartatHome (a52abe) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:41 amWe can blame a lot of crap on FRD, BobStewartatHome, but not “The Big One” I’m afraid. That honor goes to Adolph and Tojo.
Rev. Hoagie® (785e38) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:43 amIs that right about the Churchill bust?
https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/07/27/fact-check-bust-winston-churchill
Yup.
Never heard that side of the story before, Milhouse. Thanks for the clarification.
papertiger (c8116c) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:45 amAlthough the story never rose to conscious expression, it might have spoiled my attitude toward President
Mom JeansObama on a subconscious level.millhouse, @64, no I didn’t know that. Thank you for the correction! I must have gotten the report from Cavuto or Drudge. But my insight was correct, even if the data was garbage.
BobStewartatHome (a52abe) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:47 amI’m afraid if a clown invited Hillary into the woods right now, she would just go.
Colonel Haiku (a7e08c) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:51 amSo papertiger, you’re saying we can also trust what WH.gov has to say about Obamacare?
Colonel Haiku (a7e08c) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:55 amHoagie, a lot of “good men” diverted their eyes and pretended all was well from 1932 to 1939. Winston Churchill was the only man of stature who tried to mobilize a response to the growing evil, and he was cast into the political “wilderness” for his efforts. WWII was a result of the political elite’s poor judgement as much as it was the fault of Hilter, Stalin (remember Poland?), and Tojo. To say otherwise is to presume that peace is the default setting for human affairs. We face the same dilemma today. Given that there is evil in the world, it is necessary to combat it or face dire consequences.
BobStewartatHome (a52abe) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:56 am“prosecuting where possible, and firing when not”
Transfers to windowless offices with empty in-boxes in Tulsa and Omaha would work better. Actual change can only be effected through the hiring process over eight to sixteen years. Firing is too difficult, transfers involving locales deep in the hinterlands would be much more effective in forcing resignations, especially if competent people in the hinterlands can be induced to spend a few years in the hell of DC.
I support prosecution only when there is overwhelming evidence of guilt, bringing a case to trial in the DC cesspool is otherwise a waste of time.
Rick Ballard (bca473) — 11/9/2016 @ 9:56 amThank God SAN Francisco is on the road to dealing with its problems. They passed the Soda Tax!
Colonel Haiku (a7e08c) — 11/9/2016 @ 10:03 ampt’s link @72 says that Charles Krauthammer was one source for the false rumor about the bust. So now it’s Drudge, Cavuto and Krauthammer one my list of questionable sources. Oh my.
BobStewartatHome (a52abe) — 11/9/2016 @ 10:08 amyou’re saying we can also trust what WH.gov has to say
I still use Wikipedia even and in spite of their global warming horse manure.
papertiger (c8116c) — 11/9/2016 @ 10:10 amFor dates,, details, how many judges ruled this way or that.
RedState is not for free speech he wouldn’t let anyone post if they were not pro Hillary.
Kev (6faba3) — 11/9/2016 @ 10:11 amExcellent point. Just a few years ago FEMA had several thousand trailers that could also be repurposed for the task. And don’t forget North Dakota. The bubble has burst, and prices are affordable once again. A large paved lot with porta-potties could host several hundred GS-15s, including parking for their BMWs. And the public schools are probably a lot better than DC’s.
BobStewartatHome (a52abe) — 11/9/2016 @ 10:17 am77. if we can do that, we can probably do universal health care for all (citizens) instead of permanent paid vacation-style federal employment for a few.
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 11/9/2016 @ 10:17 amThe military already has a system, thank you.
https://www.fvap.gov/vao
I realize your suggestion is well intentioned but…
I
…do you realize how little time there is in a day? If you understood the administrative burden commands are already overloaded with, you certainly would see various problems with this idea. In isolation it’s not a bad idea. But the problem is it’s not in isolation. I have been at commands that spent so much time administrating themselves, over 50%. they could not train to perform the mission they supposedly existed to perform. They literally had no reason to exist.
This was not one of my commands. It’s not unrelated to one of my commands but I don’t want to identify my command as it was full of good, dedicated, intelligent people who were simply overwhelmed with so many “good ideas” they had never once been able to complete a single rehearsal of their assigned mission. So I’m going to pick on someone else. Do you recall the incident when those Sailors transiting the Gulf in two Riverine Command Boats getting captured by the Iranians, the bitter joke going around in the Navy was, “I’ll bet they’re up to speed on their SAPR training, though.”
SAPR stands for Sexual Assault Prevention and Reporting. Sounds noble, doesn’t it? So let’s take time out of the day for it. And we’ve got several hundred noble ideas we need time out of the day to spend on. You know what we don’t have time to spend on? Maintenance. Weapons training. Mission planning. Next thing you know you’re getting captured by the Iranians. Because you’re really full time Voting Assistance Officers or Equal Opportunity Command Managers or Urinalysis Officers or…
But only part time boat operators.
Steve57 (0b1dac) — 11/9/2016 @ 10:18 amWell all’s good. Hopefully the proceeds will go to compensate those people whose cars are crushed or are injured when urine-corroded lamp posts come crashing down.
No, I’m not kidding.
http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/saunders/article/San-Francisco-s-summer-of-urine-and-6430084.php
Steve57 (0b1dac) — 11/9/2016 @ 10:26 amI didn’t say it wasn’t, BobStewartatHome. You stated that FDR was “a four term parasite who impoverished the country and immersed the world in a war like no other.” I disagreed. So in this post (comment #76) you actually point out he didn’t, it was others who did. He did not act alone. Therefore, HE did not “immerse” the world into a World War.
Rev. Hoagie® (785e38) — 11/9/2016 @ 10:35 amCalifornia is now talking “separation”. yea!
Rev. Hoagie® (785e38) — 11/9/2016 @ 10:36 am“Congratulations to Donald Trump. Now, Let’s REIN Him In.”
Get over it, already.
Just A Guy (08458e) — 11/9/2016 @ 10:46 amIdiot.
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 11/9/2016 @ 10:51 amWe can do that now. We just shouldn’t. Permanent federal employment, though, is in their contract, which Congress has no power to abrogate.
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 11/9/2016 @ 10:52 amAgreed. Not entirely thrilled about this reality show orangutan at the helm of the free world (OK, congratulations), but Hillary’s shuffling an underling onto the stage to say the unsayable is really quite disgraceful.
Forget the 3 AM phone call. She couldn’t even do primetime.
JP (f1742c) — 11/9/2016 @ 10:55 amOn January 20, 2009, the Democrats had The White House, the Senate, the House, 29 governors, and 27 state legislatures.
On January 20, 2017, the Democrats will have 18 governors and 12 state legislatures. That’s it.
Way to go, Barack! 🙂
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 11/9/2016 @ 10:57 amMonths ago I proposed building a wall. Not along the US-Mexico border. But also along the US-Kali border. With machine-gun equipped watch towers and fortified entry and exit sally ports.
But now I need to modify the plan. We maintain one air base in Kali. So we can shuttle in our worst convicts and just let them go. So the planes don’t come back empty maybe we can fly in a few refugees who are more deserving than the Syrians. I know, I know. But there are lots of people in the central valley and Sierras who don’t deserve this, they just get outvoted by the libs in LA and SF.
Steve57 (0b1dac) — 11/9/2016 @ 10:59 amSteve, this would not be the command’s burden, this would be an actual voting booth, staffed by someone from the FEC, with volunteer observers from both parties. More importantly, the current system does not work, because the “voting assistance officer” merely helps servicemen cast absentee ballots. There’s no verification of the voter’s ID and eligibility, the ballot is not counted as cast until it’s postmarked, and is not counted unless it’s received by the deadline. What I’m proposing is that the FEC staff go out to the base, with the appropriate ballots in hand for each serviceman who has applied in advance, verify that serviceman’s eligiblity, and let him/her cast them right then and there. They can then be sent on to the appropriate local counting authorities as verified already-cast votes, which must be counted when they arrive, with no challenge.
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 11/9/2016 @ 10:59 amHoagie, I agree that he did not act alone, and I never said he did. He was in “good” company, including both Republicans and Democrats here in the U. S. and a lot or our military leaders, and a host of fools in Britain and France, military and civilian. The international focus was on disarming the democracies, presumably to ensure prosperity. Which is to say the rise of Nazi Germany required a lot of helpers, just as the rise of Iran and North Korea has required two decades of folly, primarily in Democrat administrations, but aided by a lot of libertarian isolationists. Just think how far we’ve fallen. The big argument over Iraq is based on the idea the Bush either lied or was fooled about the state of nuclear, biological and chemical warfare weapons in Sadam’s very secret empire. We have now decided that we have no interest in such things, and we’re assisting Iran in developing nuclear weapons, apparently preferring knowledge of Iran having such arms to uncertainty.
BobStewartatHome (a52abe) — 11/9/2016 @ 11:06 amIt’s a different Churchill bust (given to LBJ) in the Residence. Obama did send back the bust given by Tony Blair to Bush. What’s amazing is how many lies they’ve told about it over the years.
DRJ (15874d) — 11/9/2016 @ 11:15 amIt’s also interesting they left the blog post up at WhiteHouse.gov.
DRJ (15874d) — 11/9/2016 @ 11:17 amThe one Pfieffer had to apologize about.
DRJ (15874d) — 11/9/2016 @ 11:18 amDan Pfeiffer’s public apology to Charles Krauthammer.
DRJ (15874d) — 11/9/2016 @ 11:20 amLent, not given. Once the White House’s own copy was back it was no longer needed, so of course it was returned. What do you do when people lend you their stuff? Keep it until they’re reduced to chasing you for it?
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 11/9/2016 @ 11:25 amThe busts are different, Milhouse, and even Obama admitted he sent it back. At the time he said it was sent back because he wanted to replace it with a Lincoln bust, and this past April he said he replaced it with an MLK bust.
DRJ (15874d) — 11/9/2016 @ 11:28 amCaliforniaSome dude who struck rich investing in UBER, imported from Iran, named Shervin Pishevar, is making noise on his twitter about starting up a country called Californistan.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shervin_Pishevar
Good luck with that, Shervin.
papertiger (c8116c) — 11/9/2016 @ 11:29 amFurther, the UK never asked for it back. He was free to return it at any time. The point was never who ownedit, it was what motivated the return. Obama has admitted it was his decision to return it.
DRJ (15874d) — 11/9/2016 @ 11:31 amWrong, DRJ. They are two copies of the same bust, and the UK’s copy was automatically returned when it was no longer needed. 0bama had nothing to do with it. all the art borrowed for Bush’s Oval Office was returned, just as all the art borrowed for 0bama’s Oval Office will be returned before Trump moves in. That’s what decent people do with borrowed stuff; the moment they no longer need it they return it. Or do you keep it until they come looking for it? If so remind me never to lend you anything.
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 11/9/2016 @ 11:36 amit’s super fun to decorate a new place with busts and stuff
it’s a good way to imprint your own style and assert your believes and values
the only real limit is your imagination!
happyfeet (a037ad) — 11/9/2016 @ 11:39 amYour argument has been debunked by Pfeiffer. Repeatedly. Pfeiffer even had to apologize to Krauthammer as I linked above, and Obama admitted it this past April in Europe. Read the last link, Milhouse. There are two differentbusts, not a bust and a copy.
DRJ (15874d) — 11/9/2016 @ 11:43 amTrump release his tax returns yet?
Bwahahaha!
Pinandpuller (dd360c) — 11/9/2016 @ 11:45 amMr happyfeet, Melania’s got a nice bust!
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 11/9/2016 @ 11:45 amThe eighth paragraph of the last link in my comment 106.
DRJ (15874d) — 11/9/2016 @ 11:46 amNow I’m confused.
About the bust, not about California.
papertiger (c8116c) — 11/9/2016 @ 11:48 amWe ain’t breaking off to form our own Muslim Califate behind an overweaned Iranian (although Califate would be a good name if we did). California ain’t going no where without the assistance and approval of San Andreas.
It would help if you read the links instead of forcing me to repost them multiple times. Pfeiffer at WhiteHouse.gov:
DRJ (15874d) — 11/9/2016 @ 11:49 amBy the way, Pfeiffer repeats the claim that the curator sent the bust back when Bush left office, as if it was the curator’s job/decision. But as linked above, Obama admittedd in April 2016 that he sent it back because he wanted the MLK bust instead. I guess he forgot that one of the earlier excuses offered was that he wanted the Lincoln bust instead. It’s so hard to keep this story straight.
DRJ (15874d) — 11/9/2016 @ 11:53 amGW rubber rooms with no WiFi and only some Hillsdale College newsletters to read.
Pinandpuller (dd360c) — 11/9/2016 @ 11:53 amDan Pfieffer is known to be a smarmy guy, so for him to apologize is a big deal. He was even trying to appeal to Dr K’s love of baseball by the end of the letter.
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 11/9/2016 @ 11:56 amGood stuff, DRJ.
President
papertiger (c8116c) — 11/9/2016 @ 12:00 pmObamaMom Jeans it is.No, DRJ, they are two copies of the same bust. One is owned by the White House and one by the UK. Each president decorates the Oval Office according to his own tastes, and the curator borrows art as needed. When the president’s term is over all that art is automatically returned. 0bama did not decide to send the UK’s bust back; all he decided was what he wanted in his Oval Office.
Sure, if he’d said, “you know that Churchill bust that I saw when visiting Bush, I’d like to keep that”, then the curator would have called the UK embassy and asked for a renewal of the loan, and the UK would of course have agreed, just as when your library books are due back you can renew them unless someone else is waiting for them. But that would have taken a positive decision on 0bama’s part; returning it to its owner was the default action, not a positive decision.
The curator’s statement is the only authoritative one, since he’s the only one in an actual position to know the truth, and no agenda to pursue. 0bama’s own statement 7 years later is unreliable, as evidenced by the obvious fact that it’s false: the MLK bust only went in recently, replacing one of Lincoln, not in 2009 as 0bama misremembered.
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 11/9/2016 @ 12:02 pmhi first lady melania trump my name’s happyfeet i was one of your biggest supporters
nice to meet you happyfeet i was just thinking about decorating our new house
oh. Mr. Instapundit says you should for sure paint your garage floors it’s super easy and helps with resale value plus you can use speckles!
ooh great tip thanks so much happyfeet
you’re welcome first lady melania trump!
happyfeet (a037ad) — 11/9/2016 @ 12:05 pmTim Kaine’s wife didn’t take his name.
Joe Biden’s wife didn’t take his last name.
Bill’s wife held off for a while.
Trump had three women take his last name…so far.
Pinandpuller (dd360c) — 11/9/2016 @ 12:08 pmDidn’t read the post, huh?
Patterico (6ff3a1) — 11/9/2016 @ 12:08 pmWorldwide, Milhouse? Seriously? I’m not saying this is a bad idea. But the logistics. The military has a lot of things on its plate. Just one small item, of many I could mention. You propose these booths be staffed by the FEC with observers from both parties.
You do realize that space on transport aircraft is limited. I had to wait for a week for a flight out of Kadena after Cobra Gold because every single aircraft was bearing cargo that was more important than me. I didn’t really mind as it was basically a paid vacation. I called the tower by a certain time every A.M., was told there were no flights available in the foreseeable future, then hit the pool.
I’m not trying to insult you, nor am I denigrating your idea. I’m also not suggesting the way the military does it is in way the ideal.
In fact, what you are doing is if not the ideal at least is an improvement. The working condition is this; you throw out the ideas, I’ll identify the bottlenecks. They’re real. They exist. They’d need to be dealt with by an already overtaxed military. Something to always keep in mind.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/25/sailors-leaving-navy-over-stress-on-social-issues-/
I do not for a second doubt your ideas are well intentioned. But it has been drilled into me literally my entire life that a good officer takes care of his men. First by my sainted father, the Radioman Senior Chief, later by my DI, Gunnery Sergeant Holt…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=160&v=415HQ1t2ZNI
…who was a bit more uncompromising and less explanatory when there were no cameras around. Your ideas may be workable and I’m not against them. What I’m against, and you should be too, is an idea that adds to their load.
Steve57 (0b1dac) — 11/9/2016 @ 12:11 pmmilhouse, absentee ballots work. We sign an outer envelope that contains the ballot, and that signature is checked against a file copy. This is done by a human, and the process is (in principle) observed by judges from both parties. It is the same process that was used in our polling places before we went to an all absentee system. We never required photo ID, just a signature. But checking a signature is a valid way of verifying ID, and it is something that can be done on the spot by a human. The human connection is important because humans can be locked up if they break the law. And it would take a lot of humans to affect a large number of ballots, meaning it is less likely that there would be a conspiracy, or at least a successful conspiracy, since it would be hard to keep it secret.
Our process has broken down once the ballot is accepted and put in the ballot box, or an electronic machine, to be counted. In some jurisdictions, these bins have not been properly guarded or accounted for. Prior to going to absentee ballots, I know of reports of ballot boxes being left in the entry hall of the county office building unguarded, and reports that ballot boxes were delivered late in the evening to the registrar with no lock and seal. We have also had cases where ballot boxes are magically found weeks after the election.
Soros has invested in a company in Britain that sells electronic voting systems. This company has talked a number of local governments and even political parties into using their software. I am not convinced that the electronic system is capable of being cheat proof. Cheating would require a software program that kept two sets of records, one being the true vote which would be used to reassure the voter that the ballot was cast correctly, and another set that would be used to generate whatever result the controllers desired. Such a system would require nothing more than a programmer and customer, and as such it would be a lot easier to hide than the manual signature checking system followed by paper ballots stored in guarded ballot boxes. An examination of the software would reveal the cheat, but even that could be finessed and impossible to detect without control of the operating system and the computer(s) hosting the system. The Soros connection is perhaps the most troubling aspect of this innovation.
The biggest problem servicemen have had is receiving their ballots in time so that the post mark on their return ballot falls on or before election day. This is simply inexcusable. But it is the fault of the counties that prepare and mail the ballot, and that is where the focus should be.
BobStewartatHome (a52abe) — 11/9/2016 @ 12:13 pmWhy can’t the FEC arrange its own transport?
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 11/9/2016 @ 12:21 pmSteve57
How about a no fly zone and redline around Victor Davis Hansen’s farm?
Pinandpuller (dd360c) — 11/9/2016 @ 12:22 pmDL Hughly sayin’ hate won the election last night.
Of an ideology, maybe.
What did you have to lose, oh King of Comedy?
Pinandpuller (dd360c) — 11/9/2016 @ 12:39 pmCan you just stop.
“USS Gerald Ford. Inbound. One mile. FEC aircraft tail mumber…”
Please just make it stop.
Steve57 (0b1dac) — 11/9/2016 @ 12:40 pmBobStewart, if signature checking were really happening and reliable, then why is the GOP so gung ho about ID? It’s because the checking rarely if ever happens, and when it does it’s useless since signatures change over the years. I know my signature has never been checked when voting, and nor has that of anyone else I know. Nor has my signature ever been checked when using a credit card, for that matter. and yet the Democrats are correct when they say that in-person voting is the least likely place to find fraud. The big fraud area is absentee ballots, and has been for decades. We can’t get rid of them entirely, but we should try to eliminate as many reasons for them as we can, and certainly not make them available to everyone as a mere convenience.
Nor is the military problem confined to ballots not arriving on time. Often they come back with no postmark, because military mail doesn’t need one, and therefore have to be rejected by the local authorities. Or they come back after the deadline even if sent before the election, because military mail takes longer. My proposal eliminates that problem. Once a ballot is cast at the base it’s a vote, and its subseuent journey is all within the system, thus not affecting its validity. No postmarks needed, and the result can’t be finalised until it’s received and counted.
But the not-getting-them-on-time problem is also a result of relying on the mail system, and on each local authority sending them early enough, especially since they can’t be sent until the nominations are in. (NY had to move the federal congressional primaries back to June, which is a huge pain for people, because the traditional September date didn’t leave enough time to comply with the federal law.) My proposal would eliminate that problem by having the FEC provide the necessary ballots; they could get electronic copies, print them at the base, and officially verify them as genuine ballot papers to be used just like the originals back home.
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 11/9/2016 @ 12:43 pmHow about a no fly zone around my house?
So if it flies it dies. Courtesy of my ten gauge.
Steve57 (0b1dac) — 11/9/2016 @ 12:58 pmThe busts are both by the same sculptor but they are not necessarily the same, Milhouse. This is the one Bush had in the Oval Office that Blair sent, and this is the one sent to LBJ. Similar but not clearly the same. Look at how much smoother the LBJ-era bust seems, compared to the rough texture of the Bush-era bust.
In addition, there is a question when the LBJ bust appeared in the White House:
DRJ (15874d) — 11/9/2016 @ 12:59 pmThe REINS Act sounds better in theory than it would work in practice. If Congress returned to their Article I duties and regular order they wouldn’t need it. However, something tells me the dems will rediscover the nobility of budgetary “shutdowns” and filibusters.
Civil Service reform that would rollback all the featherbedding protections that evolved after JFK allowed the civil service to unionize would have the greatest impact. Return accountability to the bureaucracy and you don’t need Congressional meddling in Executive branch responsibilities.
The return of two words not heard in Washington in 50 years, “You’re Fired,” would do wonders.
crazy (d3b449) — 11/9/2016 @ 1:07 pmSo this is funny, if also completely predictable: A friend of mine who is a college professor put up a Facebook post saying that until last night he never quite realized how many Americans are comfortable with racism, sexism, anti-immigrant sentiment, basically the entire left-wing bogeyman roster. But he said that last night showed him that not only is all that acceptable, but normative. I replied that if progressives think the best path to a comeback is to pretty much demonize half the electorate then I wish them a lot of luck with that strategy. He almost immediately deleted my comment.
I guess we’re going to need to give them more time to work through the stages of grief.
JVW (6e49ce) — 11/9/2016 @ 1:16 pmAs I mentioned, the industrial scale fraud that I’m familiar with, through first hand reports that were never pursued by our go-along-to-get-along Washington State Republicans, occurred with the ballot boxes, and generally in transit from the polling place to the county office. In the Rossi-Gregoire trial I seem to recall hearing about accuracy rates for the different counties, where the number of registered voters known to have voted is divided by the number of votes counted. In most counties, the accuracy was 100.000% Every vote could be accounted for, although you couldn’t know which voter cast which ballot. In the large, Democrat-controlled counties, the rate was in the 99.8x% range, meaning they had more ballots than known voters. This was a decade or two ago. The Democrats were also very good at harvesting votes from senior care centers. They would descend like locusts on the day the absentee ballots were delivered and spend hours working with the seniors. I always felt that this was not an entirely bad thing, since most of these seniors get few visitors, and for one day every four years they got some attention. The father of one our state’s governors told a friend of mine that he’d gotten 150 votes for my friend with such visits.
BobStewartatHome (a52abe) — 11/9/2016 @ 1:26 pmMilhouse,
You are right that the LBJ bust is a copy of the Bush bust, but I believe I am right that the Obama White House has been duplicitous about this story. The British never asked for or expected the original to be returned when Obama took office, and the Obama White House was not consistent or candid about why the original was returned.
DRJ (15874d) — 11/9/2016 @ 1:28 pmNor is it clear how or when the LBJ bust went to the White House.
DRJ (15874d) — 11/9/2016 @ 1:29 pmHow is the REINS Act different from the one-house legislative veto, which the Supremes nixed in INS vs Chadha?
Kevin M (25bbee) — 11/9/2016 @ 1:41 pmAlways trust WhiteHouse.gov content.
Or not.
Colonel Haiku (a7e08c) — 11/9/2016 @ 1:44 pmWe could have a pool about which Dem Senator complains about the “Rule of Law, Not of Men” thing? I’m thinking Leahy.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 11/9/2016 @ 1:46 pmWhich state governor talks about seceding first? Brown?
Kevin M (25bbee) — 11/9/2016 @ 1:48 pmOh, snap. Here: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/11/09/california-secedes-trump-wins/93528334/
Kevin M (25bbee) — 11/9/2016 @ 1:49 pm#Calexit, it’s a thing.
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/the-conversation/sd-calexit-a-call-for-california-to-secede-20161109-htmlstory.html
Kevin M (25bbee) — 11/9/2016 @ 1:51 pmMonths ago I proposed building a wall. Not along the US-Mexico border. But also along the US-Kali border. With machine-gun equipped watch towers and fortified entry and exit sally ports.
You’ll have to deal with all the illegal computer parts smuggling.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 11/9/2016 @ 2:02 pmIt’s a pit they couldn’t both lose, but IF one had to win, I’m still glad she lost.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 11/9/2016 @ 2:05 pmCNN just ahd Van Jones on hyping a new series and replayed his cry last evening of a Trump victory as, among other fear-mongering comments, ‘White-lash!’
Do we really need this? Given the Brazille mess and other obvious biases surfacing at this media organization, CNN management needs to conduct some serious house cleaning amongst its on-air personalities as well as its standards and practices toshake the mantle of ‘Clinton News Network.’
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/9/2016 @ 2:08 pm127, that’s a thing. We are not far from drone-by shootings, which will be a simple transition from Grand Theft Auto.
urbanleftbehind (a9ef6b) — 11/9/2016 @ 2:10 pm@118- Trump had three women take his last name…so far.
They took him for a few bucks, too. But he pre-nupped the damage to a minimum. The ‘art of the deal.’ Harbor girls learn fast; Miss Liberty knows who she’s hooked up with now.
“Hey big spender! Spend a little time with me.”- ‘Sweet Charity’, 1969
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/9/2016 @ 2:16 pm38.It’s dawning on Ken Salazar that he might have to get an actual job now.
Bill Kristol, too.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/9/2016 @ 3:47 pmhuma slurpslurp too?
happyfeet (28a91b) — 11/9/2016 @ 4:07 pmIn all the hub-hub, I forgot to congratulate and gloat for the biggest third-party beneficiary of the election: Sarah Palin. She finally got her revenge!
nk (dbc370) — 11/9/2016 @ 4:52 pmafter she saved christmas revenge was #2 on her ttd list
happyfeet (28a91b) — 11/9/2016 @ 4:57 pmher first and second books outsold red queen’s memoirs at an 8/1 ratio,
narciso (d1f714) — 11/9/2016 @ 5:03 pmNot to be a troll, but
Personally,
I did not care if
Trump REINed in the bureaucracy, or
Whom he appointed to the Supreme Court, or
Repealed Obamacare,
On November 7,
And I still don’t care on November 9.
Those who were looking for the bones he was going to throw to them can have them. I won’t get in their way.
nk (dbc370) — 11/9/2016 @ 5:12 pmwell stephanie meyer of twilight fame, tries her hand at a spy thriller, although I think they would probably cast anna kendrick in it,
narciso (d1f714) — 11/9/2016 @ 5:14 pminteresting how president al sisi, being the second person to congratulate trump, slipped through most accounts,
narciso (d1f714) — 11/9/2016 @ 5:30 pmI toyed with the sound of thunder trope, but remnick seems to have run with it,
narciso (d1f714) — 11/9/2016 @ 5:33 pmin connection with the earlier link,
http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2016/11/09/egyptian-mp-welcomes-trump-elections-dark-days-muslim-brotherhood/
narciso (d1f714) — 11/9/2016 @ 5:45 pmExactly. Those are two of the big opportunities for organised fraud, far dwarfing those with in-person voting. Fraud in in-person voting is generally unorganised and decentralised, and therefore low-volume. Each individual fraudster usually only creates one bad vote. Ballot box stuffing, absentee votes, and manipulating the count are where the real fraud is. Which is not a reason not to prevent the petty fraud, since it’s so easy to do so, and the Ds’ resistance shows that it’s significant. But Rs often act as if that’s the major problem area. at least in your example they actually visited the old folks; often they don’t, and just forge their signatures, knowing that nobody ever checks those carefully, and if they do check they can always truthfully argue that one shouldn’t expect an old person’s signature to match one they made decades ago.
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 11/9/2016 @ 5:47 pmThey actually did expect that, as a matter of course, though of course they’d have been happy to extend the loan if asked. It’s exactly like a library book. The loan was originally just for Bush’s first term, and was then extended when he was reelected. It could have been extended again, but without a specific request to do so the expectation was that it would be returned, just like all the other art Bush borrowed, and just as all of 0bama’s borrowed artworks will soon be returned to their respective owners unless Trump specifically asks to keep them.
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 11/9/2016 @ 5:53 pmone lesson is never take eichenwald seriously, the same goes for david cay johnson, wayne barrett, michael d ‘antonio, michael kranish, and other rizotto tray carriers,
http://babalublog.com/2016/11/09/trump-wins-noooooooo/
narciso (d1f714) — 11/9/2016 @ 5:56 pm