90 Miles From Tyranny

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Saturday, September 15, 2018

Daily Beast: Trump doing too good a job preparing for hurricane because he fears criticism

You can’t win with these people, and I’m not even sure why you would want to try.

People of good will can disagree about the role the federal government should play in all kinds of things, but I think most of us would agree the federal government has to play an major role in preparing for – and recovering from – major natural disasters. (You libertarians who want me to know you’re dissenting . . . you don’t count as people.)

We received a briefing this morning from the White House on all the things that have already been done to prepare for the worst if Florence turns out as bad as some have feared. Those fears seem to have abated in the past several hours as the storm has been downgraded, but there is obviously still a lot of potential for damage and risk to people’s lives. You want the federal government prepared, and by all accounts President Trump is working overtime to make sure it is.

He’s deploying resources. He’s reaching out to state and local officials. He’s getting everyone clear on their roles. This sounds like good leadership, does it not? The sort of thing you’d applaud. Even if you don’t like the guy himself, you can’t have a problem with him working hard to do a good job at something important to the country.

Can you?

Ha! Of course you can, sillies. If you’re the media, you can easily find a reason to portray Trump’s hard work and earnestness in a negative light. Behold the latest meanderings from The Daily Beast:
But no president has taken image-obsession to the level of Trump. The famously cable news-addicted president closely followed how his administration’s response to the past storms was graded and he’s taken steps to make sure he scores high on the upcoming one.

As Florence bears down on the American Southeast, Trump has hit the phones, calling up senators and governors and mayors to assure them that the federal government will make all necessary resources available to deal with and recover from what is expected to be a devastating natural disaster.

The phone calls began early this week—a spokesperson for Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam told The Daily Beast that he spoke with Trump on Monday—and they are vintage Trump storm prep activity, the former White House official said.

“He’s gonna start by talking to the political leaders because when they’re asked if they’ve talked to him he wants them to be able to say yes,” the source explained. “It’s one of the times that he is really dialed into federal government interaction with state and local leaders.”

During similar disasters in the past, the official added, Trump has called for regular updates in the Oval Office on what the federal government is doing in affected areas.

To a certain degree, coordinating between agencies and touching base with state and local officials is the role that all presidents play when hurricanes hit. “They’re kind of like the conductor,” said Alyssa Mastromonaco, President Barack Obama’s former deputy chief of staff. “The thing everyone forgets is presidents shouldn’t know every single thing to do but the people who work for him should.”

But for Trump, sources say, the briefings are rooted in large measure in fear over public perception. “He always wants to be able to say FEMA’s doing this and that.”

Now let’s say for the sake of argument that Trump cares nothing about the Carolinas or the people in them, and cares only about avoiding criticism, because he is narcissistic and thin-skinned and everything to him is about optics and his own personal image.

I personally think Trump cares very much about other people, and also cares very much about his image. I think he is both compassionate and thin-skinned to his own detriment. I think he has little patience with criticism that’s just petty and pointless, especially when it comes from people who do nothing all day long but aim petty and...

Morning Mistress

The 90 Miles Mystery Box: Episode #380


You have come across a mystery box. But what is inside? 
It could be literally anything from the serene to the horrific, 
from the beautiful to the repugnant, 
from the mysterious to the familiar.

If you decide to open it, you could be disappointed, 
you could be inspired, you could be appalled. 

This is not for the faint of heart or the easily offended. 
You have been warned.

Hot Pick Of The Late Night

Democrats' recent accusation against Kavanaugh is EVIL.


Friday, September 14, 2018

Girls With Guns

The Empty Chair Is A Bitter Clinger...


Only You Can Prevent Socialist Liars...


I Hope That People Will Just Say I Was "Killed By Bears..."


When You Try To Make The Light But Fail Spectacularly...




More Animated Gifs:

Wrong Wire Faisel

That's Gotta Hurt...

Can You Say, Adrenaline Rush?

I Know There Is A Sun Tzu Quote In Here Somewhere..

It's A Drive Thru Now..

Roof Surfing Fail..


..and don't miss:

The Choice For Florida Governor Is An Easy Choice...



Prosperity vs. Destructive Identity Politics...

The Derangement Party...




Trump Campaign Manager Calls for Investigation into Google After Breitbart Video: ‘Threat to Republic’

Brad Parscale, the 2020 campaign manager for President Trump, recently called for an investigation into tech giant Google following a leaked video of an all-hands internal meeting posted by Breitbart News.

Brad Parscale, President Trump’s 2016 digital campaign manager and 2020 re-election campaign manager, called for an investigation into tech giant Google in a recent tweet following a leaked video published by Breitbart News showing a high level of dismay from Google executives and employees at the election of President Trump along with a number of statements such as “history is on our side” and the “moral arc of history bends towards progress.”

In his tweet, Parscale states that Google believes that they can shape users’ values via search results and online manipulation. Parscale ends his tweet by calling for Congressional hearings and a full investigation into Google and their actions surrounding elections.

Parscale added in a second tweet that Mark Zuckerberg should send Google a gift, as only Google could make Facebook “look like the good guys.”

The leaked video was reported by Breitbart News Wednesday and can be watched in full here. Breitbart News’ Allum Bokhari discusses some of the content of the video in his article, writing:

It was reported earlier this week that Google tried to boost turnout among the Latino population to help Hillary Clinton, only to be dismayed as the usually solid Democratic voting bloc switched to the GOP in record numbers. This video shows a similar level of dismay among Google’s most high-profile figures.
These individuals, who preside over a company with unrivaled influence over the flow of information, can be seen disparaging the motivations of Trump voters and plotting ways to use their vast resources to thwart the Trump agenda.
Co-founder Sergey Brin can be heard comparing Trump supporters to fascists and extremists. Brin argues that like other extremists, Trump voters were motivated by “boredom,” which he says in the past led to fascism and communism.
The Google co-founder then asks his company to consider what it can do to ensure a “better quality of governance and decision-making.”
VP for Global Affairs Kent Walker argues that supporters of populist causes like the Trump campaign are motivated by “fear, xenophobia, hatred, and a desire for answers that may or may not be there.”
Later, Walker says that Google should fight to ensure the populist movement – not just in the U.S. but around the world – is merely a “blip” and a “hiccup” in a historical arc that “bends toward progress.”

In a recent op-ed published in USA Today, Parscale discussed how the Silicon Valley tech firms could pose a real threat to democracy and online freedom. In the article, Parscale notes that as social media has become more popular, tech firms have worked to control what is considered acceptable discussion and discourse online. Parscale states that this is a direct threat to a free society and that the worst offender is...