I am still on a high from the big win on Friday, having managed to hold on to the feeling of victory throughout the weekend.
Cold hard reality may descend when the house gavels in to session on Monday, but for now emotions are still riding high from a lot of positive indicators we are carrying into the final month of the First 100 Days.
The Art of the Deal? Hardly. DJT has been exposed as a terrible deal maker. Basically he can only make a deal when he holds all the cards.
That isn’t “deal making” at all, just throwing your weight and privilege around, and being a financial bully.
DJT has also learned the hard way that the presidency doesn’t have the level of power and privilege he imagined it did. There are too many people to work with who can exercise their independence if they want. It’s not a dictatorship. Far from it.
He has NEVER been in a position where he had to work with organized groups of people who have nothing at all to lose by opposing him.
The week started with Travel Ban II being struck down. Can’t control those judges! And by all accounts the Administration brief was poorly thought out and poorly written.
Then when it comes to the Obamacare repeal, he laughingly assumed House Rs would vote his way just because he asked them to LOL, even though he did not offer them anything to sweeten the deal except his “support” and gratitude in return. Can;t even control those congresscritters!
It is easy to see now that he has never made a deal based on his own intrinsic effort.
Unless he has the overwhelming advantage of a financial sledgehammer in his tiny hands, he has nothing to bargain with.
He certainly does not have a winning personality (this would probably come as news to him), and he has shown no evidence of possessing the power of persuasion.
He is also not as popular as the election result allowed him to imagine, so he could not offer a carrot or a stick. He can’t threaten that “his voters” will turn against elected officials just because he asks them to. “His voters” did not even manage to pick up the phone and call in the same numbers that the red team did.
We already know Art of the Deal was ghostwritten. DJT may not even know what is in it.
“President Bannon” is not the master manipulator Time magazine imagined him to be. The assumption that Bannon was the real Chief of Staff is at least temporarily put to rest by this latest fiasco. He knows no more about how Congress works than DJT. He tried to “order” people to change their votes, and apparently they just laughed at him.
RNC PR BS didn’t get much done either. He seemed almost invisible during the Obamacare repeal fight.
Is anyone in charge in that White House? No? Good. Their infighting is good news for the Blue Team.
The hamhanded attempt at bribing the Koch Brothers with the pipeline approval just showed that no one in this White House knows how to play hardball. DJT's admin ignored one of the basic truisms of politics: "If you can't eat their food, drink their booze, screw their women, take their money and then vote against them you've got no business being up here.” So the Kochs ignored the ham handed influence attempt and “repeal and replace” went down to defeat. Hell, even I could have told him that! Since this was the first big bill, it was important for everyone to test DJT. To see if he has the stamina for the fight.
He doesn’t.
Republican circular firing squad is in full swing. Scary Spice was forced to say that there was no Plan B and that the bill would definitely be voted on and would definitely pass.
Then after the defeat Spicey was forced to tell the press that DJT has confidence in Speaker ZEGS while DJT tweets for everyone to watch a Fakes News show where the host called for Ryan’s resignation as Speaker.
Ryan might be happy to go. He does not want the job. But then, neither does anyone else. The idea of being challenged from the right and from the left is not a pleasant prospect for anyone with enough stature in the party to have a shoat at being elected.
It is clear that the competing factions are incompatible, factions DJT didn’t know about or didn’t take into consideration.
Spicer is already discredited, so his reputation can hardly suffer any more.
Pence has been Mr. Cellophane, keeping a low profile and keeping his power dry, so we need to watch out for him.
Priebus may not be a strong individual personality but his West Wing faction seems to be hold its own.
Bannon’s invincibility balloon is burst but he still has lots of staffers loyal to him.
The DJT administration thinks Rs are going to turn smoothly now to budget bills, tax reform, and infrastructure? Um, I thought you figured out that there are competing factions?
The face of Obamacare is white. Been wondering how a bill that was so despised while Obama was in office can now have a 54% approval rating so soon after he left office? A CNN commentary by John Blake laid this out well:
The face of Obamacare is now white.
More Americans now realize Obamacare helps millions of working class whites and that it's not -- as once portrayed by conservatives -- a form of welfare pushed by the first black president to help people of color, historians and scholars say. The media landscape is filled with images of the furrowed brows of anxious white residents at congressional town halls who fear they will suffer if they lose Obamacare, says Judy Lubin, a sociologist and adjunct professor at Howard University in Washington.
"When you see white working-class Americans saying that I'm benefiting and my family is getting help from the Affordable Care Act, you start to hear 'repair' not 'repeal,'" Lubin says. "Whites standing up in support of a policy changes the dynamics of the conversation."
The face of Obamacare was always white, of course, but GOPropaganda had been very successful at hiding that from hateradio listeners and the Fakes News watching masses. Then the Indivisible-inspired demonstrations and public actions began, and there were very few black people at those heartland town halls.
Finally, FINALLY, something happened in their direct experience that was so undeniable that whole groups of WWC finally realized THEY were the ones benefiting from Obamacare: their spouses and children, their parents, their disabled neighbors.
If there is one thing we know about Rcons, it is that they will finally respond to an urgent social need once it touches their lives directly.
So Dems and disaffected Rs literally changed the face of Obamacare at the town halls. Once dawn broke over Marblehead and WWC realized that they and theirs would be hurt by repeal, it made it much harder to yank the program away than when deplorables thought only black folks and/or Democrats were being helped by Ocare. The newly raised awareness of that group combined with the Democratic determination to save the program combined with the libertarian desire for repeal WITHOUT replace meant that the DJT’s campaign promise was doomed and the 60 show votes for repeal were exposed for the empty theatre they were.
The bigger they are… I watched A Face in the Crowd against over the weekend and it was very gratifying. It reminded me of the days when we used to watch the West Wing and revel in the fantasy of what a strong Democratic president and D administration would be like.
I got a similar feeling from the ending of A Face in the Crowd. Watching Lonesome Rhodes fall apart, ranting and raving, realizing his meteoric rise could reverse itself on a dime and then watching that dime throw itself across his path…
The only thing that makes watching the rise of Lonesome Rhodes bearable is knowing in advance he is going to have a hard fall.
I found myself longing for that film to be a preview of DJT’s political end. Ranting and raving to no one. Begging people to like him. If you’ve only seen Griffith as Matlock, you especially deserve to see this movie.
Feel free to tell me I am being unrealistic. I don’t care. The past few days have been a welcome reprieve, and now we can go back to the unrelenting preparation for the battles ahead. We had quite a run, and we left the cue ball in difficult position for the Rs when they get back in the game on Monday.
If things go in the tank for Ds I may look back on this in short order wondering how I could ever have been so optimistic. But please let me have these few days and hours now of thinking maybe the tide is turning. Just as a mental break for my worried mind.
TRUE BLUE REPORT diaries
Mar 25: Sheldon Whitehouse, Al Franken, Bobby Brooks, Betsy Anderson, ACA phone callers
Mar 24: HaHaHa-Ha-Ha You’re gonna need Congressional approval and you don’t have the votes
Mar 23: Rcons hate Obamacare for selfish, greedy, racist reasons, but not enough to fix it.
Mar 22: Neil Gorsuch’s attempt to seem wide-eyed and innocent makes him look even worse
Mar 21: Using Trump as a bad example—no Trump Sleep, Trump Food or other Trump habits
Mar 20: Is DJT a compulsive liar, or out of touch with reality? Five scenarios...
Mar 19: A budget is a moral document—a statement of public compassion
Mar 18: Ribbons: CBO scorers, Senate Intelligence Committee, Judge Derrick Watson
Mar 17: They know DJT is lying. Here’s one sad reason they follow him anyway.
Mar 16: Mick Mulvaney's ignorant, callous, evil, Republicon definition of compassion
Mar 15: Message Discipline 101—Pushback against Rcon talking points re DJT 2005 tax return
Mar 14: Message Discipline 101—Pushback against Rcon talking points about Obamacare repeal
Mar 13: Culture, Civilization, Rural America, Working Families—the missing word is a “tell”
Mar 12: The Rcon definition of Christians is as wrong as the Rcon definition of Democrats.
Mar 11: Ribbons: A Day Without a Woman, Native Nations Rise, Voting Rights Act still lives
Mar 10: How to talk to people who have trouble understanding actions have consequences
Mar 9: Where’s the fire? The real reason Rs are trying to rush TrumpCare through Congress
Mar 8: Message Discipline 101: TrumpCare, RyanCare, GOPCare, DonTCare—what’s in a name?
Mar 7: How very hard it is for a woman to go a day without paid (or unpaid) work
Mar 6: Can DJT really be stumbling into the exact investigation we want?
Mar 5: How is it even possible that deplorables see a man of faith when they look at DJT?
Mar 4: Blue Ribbon Winners—Chris Hayes, Malcolm Nance, Cierra Fields
Mar 3: I’m glad Bannon, Conway, Carson, Sessions, Miller, et al. are in the DJT Administration
Mar 2: “In every major fire it always starts with smoke. And smoke is what kills you.”
Mar 1: Am I the only one whose skin crawled at the Carryn Owens BIRGing moment?
FEBRUARY
Feb 28: Spinspotting 101: Special Prosecutor for what? It’s so easy to answer that question
Feb 27: Spinspotting 101: I’ve seen no evidence because I haven’t looked for any evidence!
Feb 26: If Neil Gorsuch were a man of integrity, he would decline the S.Ct. appointment
Feb 25: True Blue Ribbons: Russia Flag trolling, Dixie Swastika grabbing, District Days demonstrating
Feb 24: There is no such thing as a compassionate conservative
Feb 23: Chief of Staff, Nat’l Security Advisor, GOP Head, President Bannon—too many hats!
Feb 22: DJT has a few questions for you—SMURF THIS POLL!
Feb 21: The end of “access journalism” means it’s time to #sendtheinterns
Feb 20: KAC lying low for now… can we banish her (and all her ilk) from the airwaves completely?
Feb 19: DeVos cartoon, Ruby Bridges, unearned unhappiness and childlike faith
Feb 18: Blue Ribbon Winners—Vice Adm. Harward, Melissa McCarthy, and intel whistleblowers
Feb 17: And Ain’t I an American?
Feb 16: Please tell your family and friends—If you regret your DJT vote, speak up NOW
Feb 15: R-supported forced childbirth laws deny the autonomy of women
Feb 14: What did the president know? Everything. When did he know it? From the beginning.
Feb 13: Coping with The Madness of King Donald by hoping political comedy will save us
Feb 12: The Poverty and Justice Bible
Feb 11: Blue Ribbon Winners—Swastika removers, Ninth Circuit Panel, and the Persisterhood!
Feb 10: The first three words of the Constitution are “We, the People” not “I, the President”
Feb 9: Who first inspired your political activism? Who inspires you now?
Feb 8: We cannot and will not be silenced—Here’s what to do if they try to silence you
Feb 7: Plain Talk Tuesday: Tell people the Affordable Care Act is the same as OBAMACARE
Feb 6: Interview Skills 101—Internalized oppression and what Ryan Lizza did right. BRAVO!
Feb 5: These protest signs with Bible cites will confuse and befuddle RWNJs
Feb 4: Blue Ribbon Winners—Temple B’Nai Israel, Judge Robart, CNN, Senate Phone Callers
Feb 3: Not rich, not smart, not a good businessman, not a winner—DJT is NOTHING he claims to be
Feb 2: Thursday action—Encouragement, thanks, and apologies (pick one or more)
Feb 1: July 7, 2009 to August 25, 2009 and September 25, 2009 to February 4, 2010
JANUARY
Jan 31: If you’re on overload that’s part of their plan—there’s more than one way to #resist
Jan 30: Interview Skills 101 for reporters attempting to interview KAC and other Rcons
Jan 29: Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness
Jan 28: Blue Ribbon Winners—Women's March participants and #NoMuslimBan demonstrators and...
Jan 27: I wish Steve Bannon would tell me to keep my mouth shut
Jan 26: Thursday Action—Have you ever written a letter to the editor? Here’s how to start
Jan 25: The Asch Conformity Study, inauguration crowds, and the importance of speaking out
Jan 24: #ResistTrumpTuesday—good news day or another paying dues day?
Jan 23: Spy the Lie 101: How to enjoy watching Rcon spokesbot interviews, even KAC!
Jan 22: Why I prayed for the President* today
Jan 21: The only silver lining in the midst of these clouds
Inaugural (!) diary: Stop expecting Republicons to make sense