{"id":26085,"date":"2017-01-30T12:24:32","date_gmt":"2017-01-30T20:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=26085"},"modified":"2017-01-30T12:24:32","modified_gmt":"2017-01-30T20:24:32","slug":"open-thread-1302017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2017\/01\/30\/open-thread-1302017\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread – 1\/30\/2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since the unholy advent of the Republican Rectum Reich, the term OGIM!<\/em><\/strong> has taken on an unprecedented air of putrefaction.  Every week brings the question: to what new level of evil will the Nectarine Nincompoop Nazi take us this week?  Am I the only one shuddering at the thought?<\/font><\/p>\n

Jig Zone Puzzle<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

Today’s took me 6:01 (average 8:18).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

Short Takes<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

From Robert Reich<\/a>: <\/font>Donald Trump has reorganized the National Security Council \u2013 elevating his chief political strategist Steve Bannon, and demoting the Director of National Intelligence and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Bannon will join the NSC\u2019s principals committee, the top inter-agency group advising the President on national security. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Director of National Intelligence and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will now attend meetings only when \u201cissues pertaining to their responsibilities and expertise are to be discussed,\u201d according to the presidential memorandum issued Saturday. <\/p>\n

Political strategists have never before participated in National Security Council principals meetings because the NSC is supposed to give presidents nonpartisan, factual advice.<\/p>\n

But forget facts. Forget analysis. This is the Trump administration. <\/p>\n

And what does Bannon have to bring to the table? <\/p>\n

In case you forgot, before joining Donald Trump\u2019s inner circle Bannon headed Breitbart News, a far-right media outlet that has promoted conspiracy theories and is a platform for the alt-right movement, which espouses white nationalism.<\/p>\n

This is truly scary. <\/p>\n

Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice calls the move \u201cstone cold crazy.\u201d Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who also served under George W. Bush, says the demotions are a \u201cbig mistake.\u201d <\/p>\n

Republican Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, told CBS News, "I am worried about the National Security Council. \u2026 The appointment of Mr. Bannon is a radical departure from any National Security Council in history.\u201d McCain added that the \u201cone person who is indispensable would be the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in my view.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the big worry. Trump is unhinged and ignorant. Bannon is nuts and malicious. If not supervised by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, their decisions could endanger the world<\/strong>… [emphasis added<\/em>]<\/p>\n

The Reich on the left, Robert Reich, is right. The Reich on the Right, the Republican Reich, is insane. Unterfartenfuhrer Bannon is a Nazi.  RESIST<\/strong>!!<\/font><\/p>\n

From The New Yorker<\/a>: <\/font>Calling it a \u201cmedical mystery of the first order,\u201d scientists are baffled by the ability of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan to stand upright without the benefit of spines.<\/p>\n

Doctors at the University of Minnesota Medical School, who have been studying the skeletal structures of both Republicans for months, believe that their ability to stand, walk, and even break into a brisk trot when confronted by reporters\u2019 questions is \u201cvirtually inexplicable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that they can do these things without the aid of spines makes McConnell and Ryan anomalies in the animal kingdom,\u201d said Dr. Davis Logsdon. \u201cAccording to everything medical science teaches us, their bodies should be collapsing to the ground in two heaps.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spot-in, Andy!! In toilet trout fishing terms, Bought Bitch Mitch and Lyin’ Ryan are boneless browns!! RESIST<\/strong>!!<\/font><\/p>\n

From Think Progress<\/a>: <\/font>Donald Trump\u2019s executive order, which blocked all citizens of seven majority-Muslim nations and refugees from any nation from entering the United States, has drawn widespread criticism from the corporate world.<\/p>\n

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings called Trump\u2019s order \u201cunAmerican<\/a>\u201d and said it would \u201cmake America less safe (through hatred and loss of allies) rather than more safe.\u201d Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield called Trump\u2019s actions \u201cgratuitously evil<\/a>.\u201d EBay CEO Devin Wenig said the executive order \u201cfundamentally contradicts our company\u2019s values and America\u2019s values<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starbucks, however, is taking things a step further.<\/p>\n

In an open letter<\/a>, CEO Howard Schultz announced that, in response to Trump, Starbucks would hire 10,000 refugees.<\/p>\n

Kudos to all these, and especially to Schultz of Starbucks. Let us remind each other, in this time that encourages unthinking knee jerking, that not all corporations, as well as all billionaires, are evil.<\/font><\/p>\n

Cartoon<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

\"0130Cartoon\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since the unholy advent of the Republican Rectum Reich, the term OGIM! has taken on an unprecedented air of putrefaction.  Every week brings the question: to what new level of evil will the Nectarine Nincompoop Nazi take us this week?  Am I the only one shuddering at the thought? Jig Zone Puzzle: Today’s took me […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-open-thread","category-personal","category-politics","category-35-id","category-3-id","category-5-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26085\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}