Donald Trump

[Peter]

Domestic policy will be thrilling to watch in the next year but wow . . . on the foreign front what will happen.

Peter

Trump sets sights on ‘ultimate deal’ between Israel, Palestinians, President-elect says he’d like to bring peace ‘to war that never ends’ for ‘humanity’s sake’ By TIMES OF ISRAEL STAFF and AFP.

Days after winning the US presidential election, the Republican victor said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that “as a deal maker, I’d like to do… the deal that can’t be made. And do it for humanity’s sake.”

On Syria, Trump said he aims to shift away from the Obama administration’s policy of backing opposition fighters and calling for the ouster of President Bashar Assad, and instead focus on combatting the Islamic State. Trump’s Friday comments on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict came quick on the heels of a message published in Israel Hayom in which the president-elect hailed the Jewish state as a “beacon of hope to countless people.”

“Israel and America share so many of the same values, such as freedom of speech, freedom of worship and the importance of creating opportunities for all citizens to pursue their dreams,” Trump said in the message published by the Israel Hayom newspaper. “Israel is the one true democracy and defender of human rights in the Middle East and a beacon of hope to countless people.” He added that he hoped his administration would play a “significant role in helping the parties to achieve a just, lasting peace,” saying that any deal would have to be directly negotiated between the two sides.

France is currently pushing for an international conference to discuss peace in the Middle East, but Israel says any talks should be bilateral ones between the two sides. The Palestinians have called for international involvement, accusing Israel of reneging on past agreements. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was among the first leaders Trump spoke to after his election victory.

Israeli right-wingers have hailed Trump’s win as an opportunity to consolidate control over the West Bank. Meir Turgeman, chairman of the Jerusalem municipality planning committee, told Israel Radio that it provided a green light to revive suspended permits for Israeli construction in East Jerusalem. He said the municipality intended to authorize thousands of housing units that had been frozen. Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who heads the Jewish Home party, said on Wednesday that the US election result meant the idea of a Palestinian state was over.

[Peter]

Back to the domestic scene. After inauguration I will be watching for the first Republican opposition to President Trump’s intended policies, and for disagreement here on OL, which may come from me. But if post election, left wing violence is an indication of things to come what will happen at the House and Senate?

Peter

Interesting tactic to control the mob.

How Republicans Could Overcome Filibusters by Senate Democrats by Melissa Quinn / November 10, 2016: As Democrats strategize on how to stop conservative legislation from making its way to Donald Trump’s desk in the White House, Republicans have a little-known rule in their toolbox that would allow them to pass legislation, including a repeal of Obamacare, with a simple majority.

Democrats were able to keep 48 seats in the Senate after Tuesday’s election, giving the party the power to filibuster legislation and effectively prevent conservative policies from being enacted. But Republicans can turn to a seldom-used Senate rule that would allow them to pass legislation by a simple majority vote—legislation that has a greater chance of earning Trump’s signature after he assumes office Jan. 20. Called the two-speech rule, the tool limits senators to giving only two speeches in one legislative day on a question before the Senate. A legislative day, which differs from a calendar day, ends when the upper chamber adjourns.

Bottom of Form

Once a senator gives those two speeches, he or she is not allowed to speak again. The Senate then would vote on the bill up for debate when there aren’t any more senators who are permitted to speak. Senators don’t often use the two-speech rule, a December 2014 report from the Congressional Research Service states. However, the report acknowledged that senators may choose to invoke the rule “as a means of attempting to overcome a filibuster.”

Republican senators explored using the two-speech rule earlier this year, when both the House and the Senate were focused on passing 12 individual appropriations bills to fund the government for 2017. A memo early this year from a Republican Senate aide, James Wallner, urged conservative senators to enforce the two-speech rule to avoid filibusters by Democratic colleagues. At the time, Wallner was executive director of the Senate Steering Committee, the upper chamber’s conservative caucus. Wallner currently is group vice president for research at The Heritage Foundation.

His Jan. 11 memo says, in part: The strategy should increase the costs (both physical and political) on individual Democrats for obstructing the Senate’s appropriations work. Doing so forces them to bear the burden of blocking consideration of specific appropriations bills. It also makes the minority’s obstruction tangible to the American people, thereby increasing the public’s awareness of Democrats’ efforts. Senate Republicans need to secure 60 votes to advance legislation, but will fall short of that threshold in the 115th Congress, when they will hold 52 seats. Republicans currently occupy 54 Senate seats.

But invoking the two-speech rule would circumvent the chance for a filibuster, as senators instead would voice their opposition or support rather than vote on whether to advance legislation. Although the Wallner memo focused on how to move appropriations bills forward, the two-speech rule could be applied to future legislation addressing Obamacare—Republican leaders have said they are committed to repealing the health care law—as well as to Supreme Court nominations.

Since Justice Antonin Scalia died in February, one seat has remained vacant on the high court. President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland, a D.C. appeals court judge, but Senate Republicans refused to move the nomination and chose instead to wait for a new president to be sworn in.

Since Republicans took control of the Senate in 2014, GOP lawmakers have been stymied in their ability to pass legislation that has any Democratic opposition. Instead, Democrats have withheld votes on motions to proceed—which advance legislation for final passage—in an effort to “extract concessions” from Republican leaders, the Wallner memo stated. Democrats’ efforts have been especially noticeable during spending fights in recent years. In response to filibusters from the minority party, Republicans frequently have removed GOP-favored policy riders attached to legislation or raised spending levels once they return to the negotiating table, action that has angered conservative members. 

[Ellen Stuttle]

Thanks for this compilation of articles, Peter.

The horrifying thought to me is that those people believe what they're saying.  Talk about STUPID!

Ellen

[Peter]

16 minutes ago, Ellen Stuttle said:

Thanks for this compilation of articles, Peter.

The horrifying thought to me is that those people believe what they're saying.  Talk about STUPID!

Ellen

It is weird Ellen. Remember all those communist chants during the Viet Nam War protests? We now know the commies were funding some of that thanks to leaks from President Boris Yeltsen after the collapse of the Soviet Union. How can a person who was proselytized or indoctrinated, BUT THEN regains their senses live with themselves? Aren’t they ashamed? Shouldn’t that speak out against all forms of cultism and the initiation of violence?

Peter

Jimmy Fallon playing Donald Trump doing a commercial.

Hello. My name is President Trump. I love all things Jewish. Some of my famous family are Jewish. When I am on the Eastern Shore of Maryland I go to Rosenfeld’s Jewish Deli where they say, “Fill your belly at our Jewish deli.” They are a traditional, kosher-style, full service Jewish deli, open year round. Whether you want to eat-in, take-out, order a platter from them for pick-up, or have them cater an event on premises for you, Rosenfeld’s is the only Jewish delicatessen within a 2 hour drive of Ocean City, in any direction. I am thinking of putting one in Trump Tower. 

Remember that WWII slogan? Send that boy in the Army a Jewish Salami? I may send some Care Packages to the Israeli Army. From pickles and matzo ball soup before your meal, to babka or New York style cheesecake after your meal, they offer everything that you remember seeing, smelling and tasting in the traditional Jewish delicatessens of many years ago. The Secret Service loves it when we go there. You can take my picture standing next to you on Monday between noon and one. I will be seeing you at Rosenfeld’s.

[turkeyfoot]

Now that President elect Trump is going to take office Jan 21st lets see how his first 100 days stack up against reality.

On paper most of it sounds great. There has to be a lot of confusion over his thinking process and how he intends to accomplish his UGE agenda. Taken at face value delivering on his grandstanding plans depends not only on the best and brightest (up to 4000 faithful) but a significant effort followed by legislative changes first requiring 60 senatorial votes after bills leave Congress. Hows that going to go? Well, now that giddiness can be set aside it can only be followed by sustained work.

31 items on his 100 day proposal. Olympian hurdles. Atlas, another Titan, lost his battle, attempted trickery and was left holding the goods.

https://assets.donaldjtrump.com/_landings/contract/O-TRU-102316-Contractv02.pdf

David Stockman compares and contrasts the Reagan revolution with Trumpian views. 1:30

"News flash, Washington is out of business, the imperial city is in smoking ruins." Acrimony, brinksmanship, confrontation and the next recession with nothing to break the fall. Before one Trump plan is enacted theres a $10T of red ink coming from what already there."

"Trumps plan is Reagan fiscal follies on steroids, we could do it then, we only had a $1T national debt."

Washington has never moved as fast as Trump desires. 

Temper expectations, what you want to happen, what you hope for is only part of the story about to emerge. Forget the resume, getting hired is the first step towards proving ones value. Ive never heard of a real story on Trump where he succeeded against all odds.

http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/5207110767001/?#sp=show-clips

[Brant Gaede]

21 hours ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

I was going through Rush Limbaugh transcripts right now (this one) and he made a comment that made me stop and blink...

You see, I have lived outside the US. When I grok what he is saying here, I have different conceptual referents than most Americans. 

Ouch...

He's right. That's a big friggin' deal, and not just with one donor...

Maybe Hillary would do better to not take that pardon.

Depending on the potentate or rich crony, an American prison might be the safest place on earth for her...

Michael

She's no longer important. Done and finished. Go after all her criminal underlings. Go after vote fraud. I don't gut like prosecuting defeated political opponents, especially on the presidential level.

But hit the Clinton Foundation. Seize the assets if criminally obtained in exchange for political favors.

--Brant

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Brant,

Heh...

It's not the US government she should be worried about...

Some of those nasty characters who gave her money might want it back... or else...

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

2 hours ago, Peter said:

Or there's Lindsay Lohan, who tweeted "Retweet if you want a recount."

Peter,

Have you noticed there is no appetite for this tactic? Only a dorky actress here and there?

Instead, they want to storm the electoral college on voting day and try to convince the delegates to vote contrary to their mandate (legally possible, but almost never done). Good luck with that.

But imagine if there were a nationwide recount. In the face of the election loss, how would the Democrats mentally process the exposure of all those dead bodies, illegal aliens, duplicate voters, etc.?...

   

Michael

[BaalChatzaf]

11 minutes ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Peter,

Have you noticed there is no appetite for this tactic? Only a dorky actress here and there?

Instead, they want to storm the electoral college on voting day and try to convince the delegates to vote contrary to their mandate (legally possible, but almost never done). Good luck with that.

But imagine if there were a nationwide recount. In the face of the election loss, how would the Democrats mentally process the exposure of all those dead bodies, illegal aliens, duplicate voters, etc.?...

   

Michael

In most states it is illegal to vote "faithlessly".  

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

2 hours ago, Ellen Stuttle said:

The horrifying thought to me is that those people believe what they're saying.  Talk about STUPID!

Ellen,

Look at Chris Matthews explain the obvious to Rachel Maddow and see her deny reality with blank-out mental-door-slammed-shut stubbornness.

To get a human being as intelligent as Maddow to that state--and she doesn't look like she's acting--is proof of the efficacy of core story, indoctrination, propaganda, etc.

In O-Land, there is a huge emphasis on disciplining our reason. I submit that disciplining the underbelly of the mind is just as important, if not more. Epistemologically, anyone can turn into Maddow. 

(Hell, almost the entire scientific community turns into Maddow over climate change.  )

I'm not going to name names here to avoid bickering, but look at some of the featured people in O-Land over the years... 

Same mental process, different ideology. I think the core epistemological error is that they allow words to trump observation with nature, but allow observation to trump words with social issues. Peer pressure will make them blank out or rationalize a fact every time...

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

1 minute ago, BaalChatzaf said:

In most states it is illegal to vote "faithlessly".  

Bob,

Well, duh...

That's why if you do it, you don't want extra scrutiny. Like during a recount.

I think you would make a horrible thief.

I can just see you during a caper telling other thieves that stealing is illegal.

Michael

[Brant Gaede]

1 hour ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Brant,

Heh...

It's not the US government she should be worried about...

Some of those nasty characters who gave her money might want it back... or else...

Michael

Brazilians?

--Brant

gotcha!

[Peter]

In most states it is illegal to vote "faithlessly".  ??? Grasshopper? Say after me. I will not let the hooligans and evil ones dampen my joy over Donald Trump’s win. Take a deep, purifying breathe. Say, “Every time I think of it, I experience a “blessed feeling.” And so thou shalt.

Or as Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche expressed it: Losers. I vill not accept your master – slave Progressive excrement! Get off my path to civilization or I vill clunk you in der head mitt my cane. Vee are happy about the collapse of the American Soviet Union.

Peter

Taoism (also called Daoism) is a religious or philosophical tradition of Chinese origin that emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao (also Romanized as Dao). The term Tao means "way", "path", or "principle", and can also be found in Chinese philosophies and religions other than Taoism.

[Brant Gaede]

2 hours ago, turkeyfoot said:

Now that President elect Trump is going to take office Jan 21st lets see how his first 100 days stack up against reality.

On paper most of it sounds great. There has to be a lot of confusion over his thinking process and how he intends to accomplish his UGE agenda. Taken at face value delivering on his grandstanding plans depends not only on the best and brightest (up to 4000 faithful) but a significant effort followed by legislative changes first requiring 60 senatorial votes after bills leave Congress. Hows that going to go? Well, now that giddiness can be set aside it can only be followed by sustained work.

31 items on his 100 day proposal. Olympian hurdles. Atlas, another Titan, lost his battle, attempted trickery and was left holding the goods.

https://assets.donaldjtrump.com/_landings/contract/O-TRU-102316-Contractv02.pdf

David Stockman compares and contrasts the Reagan revolution with Trumpian views. 1:30

"News flash, Washington is out of business, the imperial city is in smoking ruins." Acrimony, brinksmanship, confrontation and the next recession with nothing to break the fall. Before one Trump plan is enacted theres a $10T of red ink coming from what already there."

"Trumps plan is Reagan fiscal follies on steroids, we could do it then, we only had a $1T national debt."

Washington has never moved as fast as Trump desires. 

Temper expectations, what you want to happen, what you hope for is only part of the story about to emerge. Forget the resume, getting hired is the first step towards proving ones value. Ive never heard of a real story on Trump where he succeeded against all odds.

http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/5207110767001/?#sp=show-clips

Oh for heaven's sake! Do the fasties first!

--Brant

[Peter]

On December 19^th this year, the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, the electoral college votes in their respective state capitals. So the traitorous left wing monsters cannot arrive in mass, to beat the electors into voting for Hillary Clingon Clinton. The electors are never in a group. So the electoral college voters cannot be nuked, and there will be no designated survivor.   

Speaking of the TV show, “Designated Survivor,” what the hell happened to it? During the last episode, after the umpteenth time they presented the drama as being about 300 Syrian refugees sitting on a tarmac on a plane and not being allowed to de-bark, I said the hell with you, Jack Bower, I cannot watch this crap. The entire congress and the President have been killed and the drama is about Muslim refugees? What leftwing crap. Did you assholes even hear about the election?

Peter 

[Peter]

Big question on MSN propaganda. “Will President Trump refuse to take a salary?” Personally, I say, Hell Yes Donald, take the damn money. You will be earning every penny of it. You will have an “allowance” to run the White House too. Give some of that to Melania.

For Pete’s sake.

[Brant Gaede]

Trump is a big government guy. He's not  an Objectivist much less a libertarian. Policy wise I'd call him a cross between Nelson Rockefeller and Ronald Reagan. His big virtue foreign policy wise I think will be disengagement from the eastern European assault on Russia via NATO, letting Russia implode from its reliance on oil and natural gas exports as continual fracking keeps the cost of oil down.

Our relations with China are going to be very interesting. Frankly, what is the cost to the United States of letting China have sway over the South China Sea? It's not that Trump is going to let that happen, but he essentially could. Regardless, because of the vulnerability of our aircraft carriers to modern weaponry, if we want to hold off Chinese expansionist endeavors in the area we might arm the bordering nations to the teeth with modern fighter aircraft and bases and training and all the necessary ancillary equipment and let each of those nations do what they will with such as we wave goodbye. (This does not address Taiwan, South Korea and Japan. If we keep engaging China in the South China Sea that might mitigate pressure from China against those countries.)

The Middle East is the biggie. Trump knows the invasion of Iraq effectively gave Iraq to Iran. One problem with having a big war with Iran is Russia's strategic interest in Iran. The other is La Bomba. La Bomba might mean war sooner than later.

Now that OUR man is going to be in we OBJECTIVISTS (and conservatives) can play masters of the universe--not minding the philosophy too much. Don't worry, Rand didn't either, especially when it came to Israel.

Libertarians, not into being masters of the universe, aren't getting anything out of politics, as usual. Collectively the American people want to be masters of the universe. The liberals too. They've been given the door, for now, and boy--are they pissed and upset! I LOVE IT!

Since I was born and bred into masters of the universe meme, I guess I'll die that way. I'll just be a little more rational than the deep state boys in Washington. It works for me because I live in today's fucked up world, not any Utopian future.

--Brant

bye bye Hillary, bye bye

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

See Nigel Farage's Facebook post here.

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

It's a little late, but here it is:

This reminds me of the song President-elect Trump used to cite in the early days of his campaign:

Quote

The Snake
Al Wilson

On her way to work one morning
Down the path alongside the lake
A tender hearted woman saw a poor half frozen snake
His pretty colored skin had been all frosted with the dew
"Poor thing, " she cried, "I'll take you in and I'll take care of you"

"Take me in tender woman
Take me in, for heaven's sake
Take me in, tender woman, " sighed the snake

She wrapped him up all cozy in a comforter of silk
And laid him by her fireside with some honey and some milk
She hurried home from work that night and soon as she arrived
She found that pretty snake she'd taken to had been revived

She clutched him to her bosom, "You're so beautiful, " she cried
"But if I hadn't brought you in by now you might have died"
She stroked his pretty skin again and kissed and held him tight
Instead of saying thanks, the snake gave her a vicious bite

"I saved you, " cried the woman
"And you've bitten me, but why?
You know your bite is poisonous and now I'm going to die"
"Oh shut up, silly woman, " said the reptile with a grin
"You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in

Songwriters: Milan Pilar
The Snake lyrics © EMI Music Publishing

I'm pretty sure Trump has his mongooses salivating and waiting...

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

That goes for these two tweets, also:

Governor John Kasich of the GREAT, GREAT, GREAT State of Ohio called to congratulate me on the win. The people of Ohio were incredible!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2016

and

Jeb Bush, George W and George H.W. all called to express their best wishes on the win. Very nice!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2016

Michael

[Peter]

I am sure there will be some authoritative articles about Trump living in and out of the White House but my initial thinking is that it would be extremely dangerous to live anywhere else. I have noticed during the last several administrations that the President’s itinerary is also kept a bit in the shadows, so the President helicoptering back and forth would be dangerous. I think Trump Towers could become a target which also makes it dangerous for the other people in that building.

The White House has a maze of passages and bunkers underneath it. It is electronically and physically walled off from the world in spite of the dumb ass stuff that has happened. Trump will need a staff available 24/7 so I think it will be necessary for him and his family to live there or for his kids and their families to live in secure places near the White House if they are going to be on his staff.    

I think Ted Cruz as a Supreme Court nominee is not a “better” idea. He is needed in the Senate.

Peter

Some excerpts from President Trump May Only Sort of Live at the White House By Chas Danner: It turns out that one of the Trump transition team’s many duties will be helping President-elect Trump decide just how many nights he’ll have to sleep at the White House each week. The New York Times reports that Trump has told his advisors that he would like to continue to spend as much time as he can at his beloved Trump Tower penthouse in New York, and may retreat there, or to one of his other estates in New Jersey or Florida, on the weekends. The sudden dilemma for Trump, who labored to sleep at his New York home as much as possible during his campaign, has emerged as he recovers from his apparent shock at actually winning and comes to terms with how being president is going to completely upend his preferred lifestyle. Trump advisors, however, are hoping that Trump will eventually warm up to White House living as “he grows less overwhelmed and more comfortable in the job.” As it turns out, one of Trump’s top advisors seems like he’s a little overwhelmed as well:

Meanwhile, Trump Tower is already being converted into a veritable fortress, complete with a no-fly zone above and dump trucks and Jersey barriers around. And while — when it comes to Trump Administration policy — New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has vowed to protect the city from the new president, Midtown Manhattan may not be so lucky when it comes to the physical space around Trump Tower. CNN reports that it’s not yet clear just how much the security around the building will impact the neighborhood and surrounding businesses. City zoning rules require that the space in front of Trump Tower be kept open, but the Secret Service has reportedly floated the idea of closing down some lanes of Fifth Avenue, or even shutting it down completely. Any plans will also need to take into account the likelihood of regular or continuous protests against Trump being held near or outside his part-time residence. In addition, presidential visits to anywhere — let alone a crowded city like New York — perpetually lead to traffic nightmares for residents, and such disruption may soon become a weekly fact of life for many New Yorkers.

An excerpt from Trump: 'I would rarely leave the White House' By Judy Kurtz - 06/23/15 04:48 PM EDT “I would rarely leave the White House because there’s so much work to be done,” Trump, 69, tells ITK. "I would not be a president who took vacations. I would not be a president that takes time off.” His name is splashed all over luxury properties around the world, but Trump says he’d be happy to call 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. home. “Yes, I would live in the White House because it’s the appropriate thing to do,” he says. “I would work. And I would make the country great again. That’s what you have to do.”

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

I just had a wonderful experience.

On Sunday afternoons, I generally go to Real Clear Politics Video because they give highlights from all the Sunday talk shows.

I just watched one where a panel in front of George Stephanopoulos bickered to death with each other over non-essentials belonging to the former administration's victimization narratives (especially Van Jones and Mary Matalin). Yuck.

I then looked at the Fox News panel. I saw George Will sitting there and thought to myself, do I really want to listen to what this man has to say? I had to be honest with myself. No, I didn't. Then I looked at the other offerings for all of the videos. I realized I didn't give a damn what any of them said--not even the pro-Trump people because, when you look, the interviews are always nothing but the interviewers baiting them.

So I realized I was on the page out of habit and saw that I didn't care. There was a zero in my heart. No emotion.

I left that page and went to a creative writing study I am working on. Man does that feel good.

It was such a liberating feeling, I had to come here and post this.

I still like to talk about Trump, but I don't want to pretend these talking heads are relevant. They used to be and might become so again, but right now they are boring.

Michael

[Peter]

He’s got the whole world, in his hands. He’s got the whole wide world, in his hands. Three coins in a fountain . . . somewhere in the heart of Rome. I like it that Britain distanced itself in the following article, “. . . from the European meeting, suggesting it intends to take a different approach to Trump.” And China has congratulated Trump and is hoping for a warm bond between the . . .  blah, blah, blah, kung flu shots, can you hear me now, etc.

One thing I have noticed is that every time I suggest something President Trump should do, it has already been thought about and considered, and I watch the internet and Fox regularly. But I am still behind the curve. I see Kellyanne Conway was on Fox earlier talking about the transition and I missed that too.

Peter

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union foreign ministers will gather Sunday to discuss the impact of Donald Trump's election on trans-Atlantic ties and whether it will complicate relations with an increasingly belligerent Russia. At informal dinner talks in Brussels, well away from the media, the ministers will debate how many of Trump's campaign announcements — like isolationist positions on security, his rejection of international trade pacts and refusal to criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin — might translate into real policy. Before the talks, NATO's secretary-general appealed for trans-Atlantic unity and warned that "going it alone" wasn't an option for either Europe or the U.S.

Before the dinner, EU diplomats were at a loss to explain Trump's stunning victory or understand yet what it might really mean. Giovanni Grevi, senior fellow at the European Policy Centre think tank, said that "cooperation between Europe and the U.S. will not become impossible, but it will become much more difficult."

"Donald Trump has been putting America first ... in defining his foreign policy and it seems he is taking a very transactional approach to international affairs. This is very likely to apply also to trans-Atlantic relations. He will value Europeans in so far as they can match his priorities," Grevi said.

Given Trump's clear opposition to major trade pacts, EU officials are all but certain that the massive Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP, will have to be renegotiated, if any life remains in the project at all.

"With the new president-elect we don't really know what will happen. There is strong reason to believe that there would be a pause in TTIP, that this might not be the biggest priority for the new administration," EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said Friday.

Perhaps the most pressing problem though is to understand how Trump wants to deal with Putin. The EU has imposed sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Crimea and destabilizing role elsewhere in Ukraine. Some of those measures, including asset freezes on individuals and organizations, come up for renewal in January. EU leaders are due to discuss them at a summit in Brussels on Dec. 15-16, but any signal from Trump about a softening of U.S. relations with Russia is likely to embolden already-reluctant countries like Germany, Italy and others to push for an end the sanctions regime, diplomats said.

The EU foreign ministers will meet again formally on Monday, to discuss strained ties with membership candidate country Turkey, the conflict in Syria and Libya, and defense cooperation with the NATO military alliance. Writing in Britain's Observer newspaper, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg insisted that Europe and the U.S. must work together in the face of security challenges. Stoltenberg appeared to be responding to Trump's criticism of NATO during his campaign. The president-elect has suggested that Washington could abandon its NATO commitments, which include mutual defense in case of attack.

"We face the greatest challenges to our security in a generation. This is no time to question the value of the partnership between Europe and the United States," Stoltenberg wrote.

Meanwhile, Britain distanced itself from the European meeting, suggesting it intends to take a different approach to Trump. Officials said Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson — who has told his EU counterparts to snap out of the "general doom and gloom" and "collective whinge-o-rama" following the U.S. election result — would skip Sunday's talks. "We do not see the need for an additional meeting on Sunday because the U.S. election timetable is long established," the Foreign Office said in a statement. "We will work with the current and future administrations to ensure the best outcomes for Britain."

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

60 Minutes.

The president-elect answers clearly some tough questions.

Michael

[Peter]

That was a pretty good interview with Donald and his family. He does support the Constitution which ensures individual rights like no other document and paradigm ever written, so WILL President Trump begin to use a particular political philosophy other than a mishmash of Constitutional utilitarianism as he drains the swamp?

George Smith wrote on Atlantis, Wed, 14 Nov 2001 15:25:10 -0800: This is not a "straw man fallacy," or indeed a fallacy of any kind. Rather, it simply points to the logical implications of an adversary's position and tests the limits of her assertion, in the sense that it challenges that person either to accept the logical consequences of her own principle, however unsavory, or to qualify or repudiate that principle. (This argumentative tool is also very effective against various forms of utilitarianism, and is commonly used by philosophers.) end quote

As Prez DJT starts to formulate his various *plans* I think he will begin to think in more comprehensive ways to avoid conflicts and confusion in his own mind and to “avoid his critics.” He despises criticism. In a way, as any human would, Trump will be shielded from his worst critics like the democratic leftists in the Congress by internalizing their insignificance, (what a bunch of morons!) but he will really seeth when he gets that first ‘Hell no!’ from people in his own party.

Peter

excerpt from:

Trump Didn't Split the GOP--He Strengthened It by Fred Barnes • Nov. 09, 2016. Donald Trump has done what Ronald Reagan did. He beat back a hostile press, smears by his opponent, outrage by foreign leaders, vast campaign spending by Wall Street and the wealthy one percent, and vows by actors and rock stars to leave the country if he was elected president. Trump falls short of Reagan in many ways. He's unlikely to be as consequential a president. But he has an opportunity in his first 100 days in the White House to put Washington on a new and entirely unexpected course. And harness an out-of- control federal bureaucracy-the so-called administrative state.

He has promised to repeal ObamaCare, nullify all of President Obama's executive orders and memoranda, begin a wall along the border with Mexico and begin deporting illegal immigrants convicted of crimes, cut individual and corporate tax rates, kill the Iran nuclear deal, deregulate energy production, and start negotiations to rewrite trade treaties. Trump's victory has many dimensions. Not the least of them is his election was part of a broad Republican triumph. Republicans kept control of the Senate, a feat that once had seemed impossible since they had 24 seats at stake and Democrats only ten. Trump didn't split the party. He strengthened it.

end quote