Trump Damage Report – 7/30/2017
755 diplomats expelled from Russia, death of a f***ing salesman, denouncing brutality part 2, move on from repeal, mandate targeted, China threatened, administration of menace and incompetence, budget weasel reemerges, blocking Pruitt’s methane leak, Gore on reason, “freedom” of “religion”, and keeping the facts on Gard. All this and more in your daily Trump Damage Report for Sunday, July 30th, 2017.
- Trump’s friend Vladimir Putin, in response to sanctions, ordered the expulsion of 755 US diplomats, The New York Times reports. At the State Department, Rex Tillerson, Secretary of the Hollow State, just saw the entire senior staff of his office resign.
- The conservative stalwart, The National Review, unleashed a scathing op-ed on what it is that makes Trump and Scaramucci tick in today’s “The Death of a F***ing Salesman”. This is a must-read for everyone today, and comes from the heart of what used to be the Republican Party.
- US police chiefs around the nation have blasted Trump for endorsing “police brutality” in a speech the orange menace gave earlier, The Washington Post reports. Here’s hoping that they “aren’t so nice” when Trump himself is arrested for treason. You don’t have to cover his head when you duck him into the patrol car – he said it’s cool if you don’t.
- In a complete non-surprise, a majority of Americans want Congress to move on from healthcare reform, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll out today. Trumpists attempted to repeal Obamacare no fewer than 54 times.
- Trump’s Secretary of HHS who infamously profiteered off a biomedical company he passed legislation for is expected to try and weaken the individual mandate, Axios reports. Price has recently come under threat as Trump has publicly mentioned he’ll fire him.
- It took hackers mere minutes to break into US voting machines, The Register reports. One of them was hacked wirelessly – the guy didn’t need to do open the machine at all. How is this specific news item related to Trump, you may ask? The special counsel is continuing to investigate the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia.
- Trump says China does “nothing” to thwart North Korea’s nuclear quest, The Guardian reports. Trump is now targeting China in his twitter temper tantrums, running foreign policy via impulsive tweet. North Korea can now reach as far as Chicago with their nuclear warheads.
- Explore the menacing and impotent nature of Trump’s administration in today’s exposition on Lawfare, The Non-Unitary Executive. “The maelstrom that is his presidency seems like it could at any moment push the country off the rails—massive pardons to kill the Russia investigation, a Justice Department meltdown as a result of firings and resignations, a North Korean miscalculation, or who-knows-what-other-crazy-thing. Many people worry how the impulsive Trump will handle his first crisis. As for impotence, Trump has accomplished nothing beyond conservative judicial appointments.”
- Fox News anchor Chris Wallace struggles with the elemental aspect of falsehood (aka Kellyanne Conway) in an exchange that took place this weekend. He strove to slam the door on her unfounded assertions and keep the conversation on track, but she rambled and threw up chaff at every opportunity.
- Trump’s budget weasel has emerged again to say there will be no other votes in the Senate until the Senate votes again on health care, Politico reports. This is an interesting statement to make, as Trump has no power over the Senate, and the budget weasel is not empowered to tell the Senate what to do.
- Trump’s new “ambassador for religious freedom” Kansas Governor Sam Brownback isn’t a big fan of religious freedom, Prospect reports. Rather, he favors taxpayer-funded displays of one specific religion. Brownback famously annihilated the Kansas economy with trickle-down economics.
- The Anti-Trump, Al Gore, tells us that the rich have subverted all reason, The Guardian reports. Gore continues to ring the alarm about the climate crisis we face, pointing at the subversion of facts and reality within the halls of power by the Kochs, ExxonMobil, and other fossil fuel interests.
- This is how the Russians recruit you, in detail provided by a Daily Beast feature with the inside scoop from an FBI double-agent.
- An appeals court is blocking Trump’s attempt to unravel rules regulating methane, Public Radio International reports. Scott “Hexxus” Pruitt, Trump’s pro-pollution EPA administrator was hoping to suspend rules that control methane leaks and pollutants from new gas and oil wells.
- If you have Trumpist friends, you may be hearing about Charlie Gard, so you’ll want to bone up on your facts about the matter, which you can do over at this article on Reaction. The child did not die due to socialized healthcare – but rather an actual incurable disease.
- Republican with a spine and courage, Senator Susan Collins, recounts a heartwarming welcome back in Maine after he healthcare “no” vote, The Hill reports. Soldier on, Senator Collins.
