{"id":37639,"date":"2019-09-13T13:46:47","date_gmt":"2019-09-13T20:46:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=37639"},"modified":"2019-09-13T13:46:47","modified_gmt":"2019-09-13T20:46:47","slug":"open-thread-9-13-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2019\/09\/13\/open-thread-9-13-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread – 9\/13\/2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday the 13th is usually my lucky day.  But today, it was kick the cat in the ass day.  First my Ad-Guard updated and could not be turned on.  I had to do my research without it, and that slowed me down terribly.  Fortunately their customer support just got back to me with the fix.  Then Windows Update ran and fried Office.  I had to completely reinstall Office to get my email to work and reinstall OneNote to recover my access to all my research notes.  Maybe I’m lucky because I fixed everything, but ARGH!  I spoke too soon.  My email is screwed up. Would you believe I’m behind schedule?  TGIF Hugs to all!<\/font><\/p>\n

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

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Just not this time.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

From Alternet<\/a>: <\/font>In a new report for the Washington Post<\/a> on Thursday, reporters Ashley Parker and Philip Rucker outlined the grueling and \u201cKafkaesque\u201d standards President Donald Trump places demands of his aides \u2014 standards that now-former National Security Adviser John Bolton failed to live up to.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe tolerates a modicum of dissent, so long as it remains private; expects advisers to fall in line and defend his decisions; and demands absolute fealty at all times,\u201d they wrote. <\/p>\n

One anonymous source for the piece explained how his demanding nature is also, at times, excruciatingly paradoxical: <\/p>\n

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\u201cThere is no person that is part of the daily Trump decision-making process that can survive long term,\u201d said a former senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer a candid assessment. \u201cThe president doesn\u2019t like people to get good press. He doesn\u2019t like people to get bad press. Yet he expects everyone to be relevant and important and supportive at all times. Even if a person could do all those things, the president would grow tired of anyone in his immediate orbit.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Anthony Scaramucci described the role of Trump\u2019s staff in particularly degrading terms. In his view, Trump wants \u201ccatatonic loyalty\u201d and for his people to act as props. Others told the Post that Trump likes to stage disagreements between his aides and then \u201cplay emperor\u201d and decide the winner. <\/p>\n

The Fuhrer always wants to hear “Sieg Heil<\/font><\/strong>“!  RESIST<\/strong>!!<\/font> <\/p>\n

From YouTube<\/a> (MSNBC Channel<\/a>): <\/font>Dems New Message: We’re Sort Of Impeaching Trump<\/font> <\/p>\n