I am not watching Donald Trump's speech tonight. I don't need to -- we are a nation in disarray. Every day he occupies a desk in the oval office, pretending to know what he is doing, our nation is in greater peril.

He has less credibility than anyone who has ever sat at a desk in the White House. So why would anyone believe a word of what he says tonight?

If you are watching, or just want to vent on the sad state of affairs and the damage he has done to our global standing in the world, here's a place.

(From Lillyhammer, with Steve Van Zandt)

With his comments on Haiti, El Salvador and Africa, Donald Trump exposed himself Thursday as the vulgar, insensitive man we all knew he was.

More reports on Trump's alleged sexcapades appeared today.

Trump says things just to push people's buttons. It's how he deflects attention from his failings and how he sneaks atrocious policies in the back door while everyone's too busy clucking about his latest outrageous comments to focus on his actions.

He has single-handedly ruined the image of America around the globe in the last year. How many generations will it take to recover, assuming America is still here?

Donald Trump held a meeting of some members of from Congress on immigration and DACA and allowed it to be televised. He played the role of deal maker. Of course, no deals were made.

Several media reports I've read on the meeting make it appear he actually conceded something. He didn't. He took every position under the sun, oblivious to inherent contradictions. And of course, promises from Donald Trump aren't worth the time spent typing them.

By the time the president finally kicked reporters out of the meeting, he had said yes to everyone while clarifying virtually nothing. And what was undeniably a victory for government transparency had turned into another frustrating experience for Republicans, who repeatedly implored Trump to tell them exactly what he would accept in a DACA bill.

As I was reading, the phrase that came to mind repeatedly was "Eloquent profanity, it rolls right off my tongue. Roll 'um easy" (Linda Ronstadt, video here.) His promises are nothing but dressed-up dirty lies,

There was something for everyone. Except those with their eyes open.

Donald Trump wants $18 billion for his border wall.

Guess Mexico told the truth when they said they wouldn't pay for it.

Trump supporters get snookered again. They will now have to pay for the wall if Republicans go along with this stupid wall. And maybe face a government shutdown if their infantile leader throws a tantrum when Dems say no.

I've also seen some moronic articles telling people not to waste their time hating Trump in 2018, he's been at his desk for a year and we're still here. As if that's the test. I will continue to bemoan this country's lack of a leader until the media stops making everything about him. Ignore him or criticize him, those are the only two choices. I go for days with the first option, but then there's one headline too many and I'm done with staying quiet. He's ruining our way of life, why should we not complain?

If your Congressperson even hints at voting to fund this wall using the government shutdown as an excuse, call them out on it. Better a shutdown than our money goes to a stupid wall.

More than a year after Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump in the popular vote for President, he still can't move past her. I think it's because he knows he didn't win the popular vote and his entire presence in the oval office is a fraud on the country. There's really no other explanation. Unless it's that he's turned his tweeting device over to Bannon or Scaramucci (yes, that one, who told some paper Donald and Princess Ivanka want him back.)

Welcome to 2018. It's going to be just as awful as 2017. Maybe instead of watching and taking advice from Fox News, Donald should listen to music more. Like the Rolling Stones, "You Better Move On."

Donald Trump wants to end "chain migration".

This strikes me as hypocritical. How did Melania's parents get here if not by relying on her immigration status?

Donald Trump's grandfather emigrated to the U.S. and then wanted to return to Bavaria. He was ordered deported and wrote a pleading letter to the Prince Regent on how devastating it would be to the family to deport him. [More...]

Matthew Peterson, who worked at the FEC for 10 years (5 of them with Trump aide Doug McGann), has withdrawn his name from consideration as a federal judge for the District of Colombia after a dismal performance at his confirmation hearing yesterday.

He's never tried a case, doesn't know what the Daubert standard or a motion in limine is, has never argued a motion, conducted a deposition by himself, and he last read the federal rules of evidence in law school.

He is the third Trump judicial pick to fall this this month [More...]

The FCC today voted to repeal net neutrality rules.

The agency scrapped the so-called net neutrality regulations that prohibited broadband providers from blocking websites or charging for higher-quality service or certain content. The federal government will also no longer regulate high-speed internet delivery as if it were a utility, like phone service.

FCC Chair Ajit Pai joined with the two Republican members of the FCC to make the vote a 3-2 decision.

His views read like trickle-down falsities to me: [More...]

USA Today has an amazing editorial blasting Donald Trump today.

“[A] president who would all but call Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand a whore is not fit to clean the toilets in the Barack Obama Presidential Library or to shine the shoes of George W. Bush.”

USA Today does not endorse political candidates and due to its national reach, usually tries to stay neutral. In 2016, it made an exception, and as to Donald Trump, told its readers:

“Resist the siren song of a dangerous demagogue. By all means vote, just not for Donald Trump.”

After noting that Obama and Bush had their own flaws, but at least they were decent men, it opines:

Donald Trump, the man, on the other hand, is uniquely awful. His sickening behavior is corrosive to the enterprise of a shared governance based on common values and the consent of the governed.”

It then addresses "Trump’s utter lack of morality, ethics and simple humanity" and lists supporting examples.

A new survey report on public perception of corruption in public institutions has been released by Transparency International, a leading non-profit organization that tracks such things.

The survey asked about the degree of corruption in nine influential groups. These included the national government (the president’s office, members of congress, government officials), public officials who work at the service level (tax officials, the police, judges, local officials), and those who are not part of government but who often wield strong influence (business executives, religious leaders). Of these categories, government institutions and officials in Washington are perceived to be the most corrupt in the country. The results show that 44 per cent of Americans now say that most or all of those in the Office of the President are corrupt, up from 36 per cent who said the same last year.

The Washington Post has some analysis: [More...]

Donald Trump's speech pattern changed during his Jerusalem speech, and at the end, he slurred the word "States" in "United States."

CNN has an article about it but I'm not linking due to an auto-play video with a animated short bald man announcing some "breaking news." The LA Times has an article reporting the White House says Trump had a "dry throat" (no link due to ads popping all over.) A European paper asks if he has dentures.

My thoughts: I listened to the speech in the car, so I could not see Trump, only hear him. Sometimes that's better. [More...]

Via the New York Times:

President Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, pleaded guilty on Friday to lying to the F.B.I. about conversations with the Russian ambassador last December during the presidential transition, bringing the special counsel’s investigation into the president’s inner circle.

Mr. Flynn, who appeared in federal court in Washington, acknowledged that he was cooperating with the investigation by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, into Russian interference in the 2016 election. His plea agreement suggests that Mr. Flynn provided information to prosecutors, which may help advance the inquiry.

(my emphasis)

Flynn was not indicted, he was charged by Information (available here). The Information charges three sets of false statements to the FBI: One set concerns communications with the Russian Ambassador and Trump Transition Team officials about sanctions, one set pertains to communications with Russia about the U.N. Resolution submitted by Egypt and the third set pertains to the Turkey communications, which also involve his company and reportedly his son. [More...]