Friday Open Thread | Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg won’t reveal details of company’s Russia probe

Posted on October 13, 2017 by SouthernGirl2

(CNN) Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg will not say whether her company has identified similarities in how Russian agents and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign used the social media platform ahead of the 2016 election.

In an interview with Axios on Thursday, Sandberg repeatedly refused to answer when asked whether Facebook had seen an overlap in how Russians and the Trump campaign targeted their ads toward users.
The question of overlap is of potential significance for special counsel Robert Mueller and congressional investigators as they look for evidence of collusion between the Russians and the Trump campaign. Facebook has shared its data about the ads with the special counsel.

Sandberg did say that Facebook and Congress would release data on the Russian ad targeting when they release the ads to the public next month.
“We know we have a responsibility to prevent everything we can from this happening on our platforms,” Sandberg said, “and so we told Congress and the intelligence committees that when they are ready to release the ads, we are ready to help them.”

Sandberg’s interview came a day after she held closed-door meetings with members of the House intelligence committee, which resulted in Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, announcing that the committee would make the ads public after a public hearing next month.

The Facebook COO dodged several questions during the Axios interview, including one on whether or not Facebook owed the American people an apology. Sandberg instead opted to say that whenever the platform was misused, “we’re angry, we’re upset.”

Sandberg also stood behind Facebook’s commitment to an open platform, and the right of people to say things or buy ads that supported controversial issues.

“When you allow free expression, you allow free expression,” she said.

About SouthernGirl2

A Native Texan who adores baby kittens, loves horses, rodeos, pomegranates, & collect Eagles. Enjoys politics, games shows, & dancing to all types of music. Loves discussing and learning about different cultures. A Phi Theta Kappa lifetime member with a passion for Social & Civil Justice.
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55 Responses to Friday Open Thread | Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg won’t reveal details of company’s Russia probe

  1. eliihass says:
    October 13, 2017 at 10:58 pm

    About the artist painting my FLOTUS..

    “..At one time, the Baltimore artist Amy Sherald intended to paint a portrait of herself as the Tin Man from “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”

    At age 39, Sherald, a person who stops to talk — really talk — to panhandlers and who recently raised $1,600 for a friend’s rent, found herself desperately in need of a heart.

    “I blacked out in a Rite Aid,” she said. “The doctor told me my heart function was at 5 percent. I spent two months in the hospital waiting to have a transplant. For me, that was the end of the world.”

    Now, on Sherald’s coffee table stands a photograph of the young heart donor who made the artist’s current success possible.

    Sherald chooses subjects who have a strong inner sense of themselves — perhaps because that’s a quality she herself possesses. She’s taken charge of her career from practically the moment she picked up a brush.

    She wanted to be a painter so much she supported herself by waiting tables until age 38, when she could finally afford to paint full time.

    And Sherald wanted to be a painter so much she talked the renowned figurative painter Odd Nerdrum into accepting her as a student in Norway.

    So it was all the more disturbing that, shortly after returning to America, Sherald found herself, like the Tin Man, severed from her truest self.

    Sherald’s family had been hit by a tsunami of loss. Her father had died in 2000 of Parkinson’s disease. An aunt developed a brain infection. Her great-aunt was in her 90s and fading.

    Her exhausted mother asked Sherald to come home and help out.

    At the same time, the artist herself was far from healthy. All her life, Sherald has had a recurring dream in which she drops dead at the end of a race.

    At the age of 30, she decided to train for a triathlon, but went for a checkup first. She was stunned when the doctor diagnosed her with congestive heart failure and told her the organ was functioning at 18 percent efficiency.

    “I had no symptoms at all,” Sherald said. “The day before I had run an eight-minute mile.”

    Nonetheless, she clearly was the best person to help her family. So the artist stepped away from her easel and moved back to Georgia.

    For the next three years, Sherald stopped painting entirely. She wondered if she really wanted to be an artist. She told herself, “You’re just another person with a master’s degree in fine arts.”

    But her long hiatus had important compensations.

    “I got to know my brother as a person,” she said. “We had great conversations about life and religion and philosophy.”

    Four years later, Sherald’s brother, Michael, succumbed to lung cancer.

    “I made his eyes sparkle,” she said. “That’s what gives me solace now.”

    After returning to Baltimore, she slowly resumed her art. In 2010, she was featured in the prestigious publication New American Painting. The National Museum of Women in the Arts was given some of her works.

    But Sherald’s disease was advancing. She lost 25 pounds. Breathing became difficult. It became increasingly obvious that medicine couldn’t control her condition. Nonetheless, she wasn’t considered sick enough to qualify for a transplant until the day in 2012 that she collapsed on the pharmacy floor.

    Even after the transplant, it took a year for Sherald to build up enough energy to resume painting.

    The experience changed her. Sherald taught art to prison inmates and began working on art projects with teens…”

    http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/bs-ae-amy-sherald-20161216-story.html

    Reply
  2. eliihass says:
    October 13, 2017 at 9:43 pm

    “…The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery announced today that it has commissioned the museum’s official portraits of former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama. Artist Kehinde Wiley—best known for his vibrant, large-scale paintings of African Americans—will create the portrait of President Obama. Amy Sherald, first-prize winner of the Portrait Gallery’s 2016 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, has been chosen to paint Mrs. Obama. The two portraits will be unveiled at the museum in early 2018 and will be added to the Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection.

    Over the course of his career, Wiley (b. Los Angeles, 1977), whom President Obama selected, has frequently portrayed young African American men wearing the latest in hip-hop street fashion. His rich, highly saturated color palette and his use of decorative patterns complement his realistic, yet expressive, likenesses. The theatrical poses and props Wiley assigns to his subjects make references to iconic portraits of powerful figures by Western artists.

    Sherald (b. Columbus, Ga., 1973), who is based in Baltimore, was selected by Mrs. Obama to paint her portrait. Sherald challenges stereotypes and probes notions of identity through her life-size paintings of African Americans. Out of more than 2,500 entries, Sherald’s oil painting “Miss Everything (Unsuppressed Deliverance)” won first place in the Portrait Gallery’s 2016 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Along with the exhibition that showcases all of the winning portraits, the first-place prize includes the opportunity to create a portrait of a living individual for the museum’s permanent collection.

    At the end of each presidency, the museum partners with the White House to commission one official portrait of the President and one of his spouse. There are two sets of official portraits: one for the White House and one for the National Portrait Gallery. The museum began to commission Presidents’ portraits with George H.W. Bush…”

    http://npg.si.edu/about-us/press-release/national-portrait-gallery-announces-artists-commissioned-paint-portraits

    Reply
  5. rikyrah says:
    October 13, 2017 at 8:59 pm

    they will never live this down…supporting this clown.

    https://twitter.com/RobertMaguire_/status/918868463304790016

    Reply
  8. rikyrah says:
    October 13, 2017 at 8:50 pm

    Uh huh
    Uh huh

    Trump-boosting Republicans just unleashed plan to obstruct Mueller’s Russia investigation

    Bob Brigham
    13 Oct 2017 at 17:35 ET

    Republican leaders of both the House and Senate Judiciary
    committees have signed on to an effort by a Texas Republican to directly go after special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation in Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and potential obstruction of justice by the Donald Trump administration.

    House Judiciary Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and
    Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) signed onto a letter by Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX), the Daily Caller reports.

    Reply
  9. eliihass says:
    October 13, 2017 at 8:45 pm

    Hey fam,

    Happy Friday the 13th..

    For the superstitious among us, remember, it’s been a long Friday the 13th …complete with a full red moon and howling wolves and hanging bats, for a year now..

    Most may despair, but something tells me that this too shall pass..

    There will be some destruction left in the aftermath, but in the end, eyes will be opened, and a slim majority will have learned the right lessons…And hopefully, will choose to begin to do better..

    Look at the buffoon – suddenly all omnipresent…prancing around, reveling in all the attention, flattery, unearned reverence, perks …and although vacant and ignorant, suddenly being touted and indulged as the ‘final’ word – including by those who oddly would never have easily or willingly conceded same – or protected said unquestioned power and rights of the office, for a darker shade being encasing a superior mind and intellect..

    ..Arrogantly desecrating formerly sacred spaces, egotistically, callously decimating hard-won, sacred protections and compacts…feeling all omnipotent, all omniscient..

    So carried away, so cocky, he forgets that even absent the extraordinary circumstances and potential premature halting of his treasonous, hostile foreign player-abetted illegitimate ‘ascendency’, there is a moderately short shelf-life for this awesome power…

    It all happens in a flash of an eye…and the trauma of that whiplash for narcissists…of one minute you have it all and you’re the ultimate ‘it’… and next, you don’t and aren’t any more..

    That sudden and often traumatic stripping of power and all its attendant flurries, perks, exclusivities, faux-importance and faux-relevance… that yanking away of it that few are happy for…and few are prepared for….and even fewer look forward to — the sudden loss of ultimate power and sense of importance and consequent captive, fawning audiences …the flock of sycophants, greedy opportunists, soulless complicits and enablers who quickly move on to the next power-occupier …and all that flurry of undeserved and unearned power and attention…no more Air Force One, no more pomp and pageantry …all manner of admirers bail – unless of course you’re still their absolute last resort for access to some semblance of relevance and money in their pocket afterwards….

    And worse, former ‘confidants’ and previously supposed ‘loyal’ and ‘dedicated’ crew and besties, begin to tell on you…or refuse to defend or absolve you ..once they no longer need or rely on your wagon of influence for access to gigs and beaucoup bucks..

    And just like that, it’s over…

    Unfettered access…or any access for that matter – to the People’s House – which will need a thorough spiritual and physical cleanse after this particular treasonous infestation —- gone forever..

    Access to Air Force One, Marine One and endless landings to salutes on the exclusive historic grounds, to applause and red carpet style photographers and cameras and people who pretend to care about your presence and ramblings…gone..forever..

    Diet Coke on order via dedicated red button and butler…Gourmet meatloaf and chocolate cake and double scoops of ice cream churned out on order by gourmet chefs at taxpayer expense …gone..forever..

    Extraordinary security measures complete with road closures so you get to glide along all by ones lonesome with 30 vehicles strong motorcade and entourage …that massively boosts the ego and reinforces an already overblown sense of self-importance and megalomania….Secret Service presence on water ways and security takeover and hovering of the skies above…that awesome security apparatus that further puffs up the ego of a braggadocios buffoon who mistakes for esteemed worth, deserved greatness and self, specifically, the automatic pomp, circumstance, extensive security operation that’s extended to any occupant so titled, whether earned, unearned, deserved, undeserved, legitimate, or illegitimately propelled into place courtesy of collusion with a hostile foreign entity..

    But soon it’s all over…

    And bang, it’s back to reality …

    Where it all immediately disappears…

    The awesome apparatus of the once greatest country and democracy in the world that’s been completely misused in overindulging and propping up a fool…

    Generals babysitting a buffoon, and massaging their own egos and asserting their own overblown sense of importance and place in the process….and also gourmet chocolate cake and meatloaf, and flower arrangements courtesy of the People’s House florist..

    Mealy-mouthed journalists and others turning a blind eye and offering beat sweeteners in exchange for access and more insidious and damning stuff and tidbits from ‘inside sources’ …stuff not offered up to the the American people, but all saved up for a book to self-enrich and aggrandize – after the fact..

    No more televised arrivals and departures…or audiences with institutionally-designed permanently ‘important’ figures…

    No more pretending that an ignorant narcissistic fool is not in fact an ignorant narcissistic fool…or that a hollow, self-absorbed, vapid, lazy, uneducated, lying, superficial, imported gold-digger who knowingly opted to insert self into the wallet of a sleazy crook and remains completely complicit, is ‘classy’…

    And if we are lucky, we just might actually get to all witness firsthand, a massive, publicly played-out unraveling, and the quick erasure and loss in one fell swoop, of any semblance of, and attendant privilege, perks, crew and swooning cheerleaders, that come with, what was once offered up and venerated as ‘success’, ‘wealth’, ‘power’ and that ever deceptive and intoxicating sense of ‘relevance’ and ‘invincibility’ ….à la Harvey Weinstein ..

    But in the case of the treasonous, callous buffoon and kkklan, here’s hoping it’s deservedly, so much worse..

    Reply
  10. eliihass says:
    October 13, 2017 at 8:19 pm

    Hey fam,

    Happy Friday the 13th..

    For the superstitious, remember, it’s been a long Friday the 13th …complete with a full red moon and howling wolves and hanging bats, for a year now..

    Most may despair, but something tells me that this too shall pass..

    There will be some destruction left in the aftermath, but in the end, eyes will be opened, and a slim majority will have learned the right lessons…And hopefully, will choose to begin to do better..

    Look at the buffoon – suddenly all omnipresent…prancing around, reveling in all the attention, flattery, unearned reverence, perks …and although vacant and ignorant, suddenly being touted and indulged as the ‘final’ word – including by those who oddly would never have easily or willingly conceded same – or protected said unquestioned power and rights of the office, for a darker shade being encasing a superior mind and intellect..

    ..Arrogantly desecrating formerly sacred spaces, egotistically, callously decimating hard-won, sacred protections and compacts…feeling all omnipotent, all omniscient..

    So carried away, so cocky, he forgets that even absent the extraordinary circumstances and potential premature halting of his treasonous, hostile foreign player-abetted illegitimate ‘ascendency’, there is a moderately short shelf-life for this awesome power…

    It all happens in a flash of an eye…and the trauma of that whiplash for narcissists…of one minute you have it all and you’re the ultimate ‘it’… and next, you don’t and aren’t any more..

    That sudden and often traumatic stripping of power and all its attendant flurries, perks, exclusivities, faux-importance and faux-relevance… that yanking away of it that few are happy for…and few are prepared for….and even fewer look forward to — the sudden loss of ultimate power and sense of importance and consequent captive, fawning audiences …the flock of sycophants, greedy opportunists, soulless complicits and enablers who quickly move on to the power-occupier …and all that flurry of undeserved and unearned power and attention…no more Air Force One, no more pomp an pageantry …all manner of admirers bail – unless you’re still their absolute last resort for access to some semblance of relevance and money in their pocket…And worse, former ‘confidants’ and previously supposed ‘loyal’ and ‘dedicated’ crew begin to tell on you..

    And just like that, it’s over…

    Unfettered access…or any access for that matter – to the People’s House – which will need a thorough spiritual and physical cleanse after this treasonous infestation —- gone forever..

    Access to Air Force One, Marine One and endless landings to salutes on the exclusive grounds, to applause and red carpet style photographers and cameras and people who pretend to care about your ramblings…gone..

    Diet Coke on order via red button and butler…Gourmet meatloaf and chocolate cake and double scoops of ice cream churned out on order by gourmet chefs …gone..

    Extraordinary security measures complete with road closures, that massively boost the ego and reinforce an already overblown sense of self-importance and megalomania….Secret Service presence on water ways and security takeover and hovering the skies above…that awesome security apparatus that further puffs up the ego of a braggadocious buffoon who mistakes the automatic pomp, circumstance, security operation that’s transferred to anyone so titled, whether earned, unearned, deserved, undeserved, legitimate, or illegitimately propelled into place courtesy of collusion with a hostile foreign entity..

    But soon it’s all over…

    And bang, it’s back to reality …

    Where it all disappears…

    The awesome apparatus of the once greatest country and democracy in the world that’s been completely misused in overindulging and propping up a fool…

    Generals babysitting a buffoon, and massaging their own egos and asserting their own overblown sense of importance and place in the process….and also gourmet chocolate cake and meatloaf, and flower arrangements courtesy of the People’s House florist..

    Mealy-mouthed journalists and others turning a blind eye and offering beat sweeteners in exchange for access and more insidious and damning stuff and tidbits from inside sources …not offered up to the the American people, but all saved up for a book to self-enrich and aggrandize – after the fact..

    No more audiences with institutionally-designed permanently ‘important’ figures…

    No more pretending that a fool is not in fact a fool…or that a vapid, lazy, uneducated, lying, imported gold-digger who opted to insert self into the wallet of a sleazy crook, is ‘classy’…

    And if we are lucky, we might actually get to all witness firsthand, a massive, publicly played out unraveling, and the quick erasure and loss in one fell swoop, of any semblance and attendant privilege, perks, crew and swooning cheerleaders, that come with, of what was once offered up as ‘success’…’wealth’…’power’ ..and that ever deceptive and intoxicating sense of ‘relevance’ and ‘invincibility’ ….à la Harvey Weinstein ..

    But in the case of the treasonous, callous buffoon and kkklan, here’s hoping it’s deservedly, so much worse..

    Reply
    • rikyrah says:
      October 13, 2017 at 8:48 pm

      BRAVO BRAVO

      Reply
    • Liza says:
      October 14, 2017 at 8:16 am

      Ha ha, this is great. Trump’s day is coming, to be sure.

      But I’ll always be sad for what has been squandered. As I say all the time, there was always enough to go around in this country. It didn’t have to come to this.

      And this: “No more pretending that a fool is not in fact a fool…or that a vapid, lazy, uneducated, lying, imported gold-digger who opted to insert self into the wallet of a sleazy crook, is ‘classy’…”

      It is truly amazing, isn’t it? Just the optics. The elderly, overweight con man with his thinning orange hair and the purchased former soft porn model made into a wife.

      This is the President and First Lady of the United States?

      Please tell me it doesn’t get worse than this.

      Reply
  12. yahtzeebutterfly says:
    October 13, 2017 at 3:59 pm

    Our political leaders need to oppose racism every minute, every day…ALL OF THE TIME!

    https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*EPFYcaHAPPRDXykDDBp1cQ.jpeg

    https://i2.wp.com/www.buddhistpeacefellowship.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/white-people.jpg

    Racism needs to fizzle out and lose its recent boldness —>Make Racism Wrong Again!!!

    Reply
  13. yahtzeebutterfly says:
    October 13, 2017 at 2:48 pm

    New documentary in the making:

    “In a time of divisiveness, the filmmakers choose to showcase stories recognizing the impact one individual can attain, as well as the power of diverse groups (people from different backgrounds, races, religions, experiences, and political affiliations) who find common ground and join together in respectful unity to implement change.

    “Currently in development, the first ‘Until Justice Rolls Down’ documentary focuses on the story of the Freedom Walkers and the 1963 murder of Southern, white, civil rights activist Bill Moore.”

    http://www.untiljusticerollsdownproject.com/about/

    https://youtu.be/LDrXSElHC_w&rel=0

    Reply
  14. rikyrah says:
    October 13, 2017 at 2:11 pm

    Trump loves to hate the Iran deal, despite not knowing what it is
    10/13/17 12:56 PM—UPDATED 10/13/17 01:04 PM
    By Steve Benen

    There’s never been any ambiguity about Donald Trump’s disgust for the international nuclear agreement with Iran – to my mind, perhaps the most impressive U.S. diplomatic achievement since the end of the Cold War. There’s quite a bit of uncertainty, however, as to whether he knows what the Iran deal actually is.

    The Republican has called the deal “terrible” and “horrible.” As a candidate, Trump declared, “My number one priority is to dismantle the disastrous deal with Iran.” Just one month into his candidacy, he said the Iran deal “poses a direct national security threat.” Two weeks later, Trump added that the international agreement “will go down as one of the dumbest [and] most dangerous misjudgments ever entered into in [the] history of our country.” After wrapping up the GOP nomination, he went so far as to say the deal is likely to “lead to nuclear holocaust.”

    As president, Trump has gone into “meltdown” mode when his own team has told him that the policy is actually working as intended, because the facts were simply inconceivable to him. He knows the policy is a disaster, so when reality points in a different direction, Trump finds it necessary to reject reality.

    Reply
  15. nedhamson says:
    October 13, 2017 at 2:11 pm

    ““When you allow free expression, you allow free expression,” she said.” Except when you don’t because it threatens your profit – ergo: censor speech in China – no problem – profit first, then pandering for profits… people – the basis of the business – last place!

    Reply
  16. rikyrah says:
    October 13, 2017 at 2:02 pm

    <a href="https://washingtonmonthly.com/2017/10/13/sean-hannity-feels-empowered-to-act-like-trump/Sean Hannity Feels Empowered to Act Like Trump
    by Martin Longman October 13, 2017

    I sure am glad it’s Friday. I know it has been a demoralizing week in politics when something like this fails to bring a smile to my face and winds up just making me more dispirited about the state of the nation:

    Fox News host Sean Hannity fanned the flames of his feud with Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) late Thursday, saying he has “done nothing” in Washington and to “call me when you repeal ObamaCare loser.”

    Hannity and Sasse have gone back and forth over President Trump’s criticism of news outlets and his recent tweets suggesting television news outlets’ licenses be evaluated and possibly revoked.

    The latest jab by Hannity was in response to Sasse suggesting he supports the Constitution and Hannity does not. Sasse’s comment was made after Hannity said he regretted supporting Sasse as a candidate because of his Trump criticism.

    Reply
  18. rikyrah says:
    October 13, 2017 at 12:39 pm

    About Dolt45’s Iran speech:

    That was one of the most dishonest speeches Trump has ever delivered, and the bar is high. Batting out @Slate column now.

    — Fred Kaplan (@fmkaplan) October 13, 2017

    Reply
  20. rikyrah says:
    October 13, 2017 at 10:39 am

    The sudden demise of the ‘Trump is an independent’ meme
    10/13/17 10:05 AM
    By Steve Benen

    In early September, Donald Trump surprised much of the political world by agreeing to a three-month fiscal deal with Democratic leaders, extending the debt ceiling, and irritating congressional Republicans. For many in the media, the long-awaited presidential “pivot” had finally arrived.

    The New York Times published an especially memorable piece with a striking headline: “Bound to No Party, Trump Upends 150 Years of Two-Party Rule.”

    Now in the White House, President Trump demonstrated this past week that he still imagines himself a solitary cowboy as he abandoned Republican congressional leaders to forge a short-term fiscal deal with Democrats. Although elected as a Republican last year, Mr. Trump has shown in the nearly eight months in office that he is, in many ways, the first independent to hold the presidency since the advent of the current two-party system around the time of the Civil War.

    …………………………..

    Even at the time, it was difficult to take the chatter seriously. A three-month delay in the fiscal status quo and a vague commitment on immigration did not a pivot make. For that matter, while Trump has repeatedly clashed with Republicans over process and personality disputes, this president has been pretty consistent since Inauguration Day about his partisan instincts on practically every issue under the sun.

    But a month later, the “Trump the independent” meme looks even more misguided.

    The president, for example, has already moved to kill the immigration deal he reached with Democratic leaders. He followed that up by taking unprecedented steps to gut the nation’s health care system, motivated almost entirely by spite and partisan rage.

    All the while, Trump has been pushing a partisan tax plan, written in secret exclusively by Republicans.

    Reply
  21. rikyrah says:
    October 13, 2017 at 10:20 am

    Trumpism Didn’t “Corrupt” White Conservative Evangelicals, They’ve Always Been Horrible People

    The only difference today is that Trump is particularly bad at pretending to love Jesus.
    JUSTIN ROSARIO

    There’s an entire cottage industry of conservative pundits who are shocked, shocked, I tell you!, that America’s right wing is full of racists, hypocrites and all around horrible people.

    One of these newly woke pundits is Jennifer Rubin of The Washington Post whose entire job these days seems to be to sound exactly like a liberal during the Bush administration. She’s an enjoyable read (now) but it’s hard not to wince when she marvels at just how awful her side of the political spectrum has become, particularly the 81% of white conservative Evangelicals that voted for Trump:

    “Brotherly love and Christian charity?” From the religious right? This is where it becomes important to remember that Rubin is, possibly for the first time in decades, seeing them from the outside. There hasn’t been an ounce of charity or love in conservative Christianity in a very long time. Whereas now they spew their hatred at Muslims and Latinos, before they spewed it at homosexuals and “slutty” women.

    The religious right was pleased as punch when AIDS was decimating drug addicts and the gay community. They enjoyed the suffering so much that Ronald Reagan and his holier-than-thou administration smugly sat back and let it turn into a worldwide epidemic in the name of Jesus. It was only when it worked its way into the donated blood supply and started killing children and non-drug using heterosexuals that they did anything. Millions died unnecessarily from all that “brotherly love and Christian charity.”

    Reply
  22. rikyrah says:
    October 13, 2017 at 9:21 am

    Trump’s move to kill subsidy payments would increase premiums by 20% next year, 25% by 2020 per CBO. https://t.co/CypIi1Oz0S
    — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 13, 2017

    Reply
  23. rikyrah says:
    October 13, 2017 at 9:20 am

    When you finally got health insurance: that was Obamacare.
    When your premiums shoot up this year and next: welcome to Trumpcare.
    — Ben Wikler (@benwikler) October 13, 2017

    Reply
  24. rikyrah says:
    October 13, 2017 at 9:09 am

    This is the best description of what’s gone wrong with the Republican Party https://t.co/TtNj7sCdMm pic.twitter.com/22JGn3oZzc
    — Matt O’Brien (@ObsoleteDogma) October 12, 2017

    Reply
    • majiir says:
      October 13, 2017 at 6:15 pm

      Establishment Republicans own the ugliness they’re witnessing from some members of their party because when this sh*t began, they did/said nothing to stop it. They were cowards who were afraid if they spoke against the ugliness they saw, they’d lose the votes of the deplorables. Their choice to ignore the ugliness seems to be backfiring on them bigly.

      Reply
  25. rikyrah says:
    October 13, 2017 at 9:08 am

    Most @RealDonaldTrump supporters say his policy of deliberately undermining Obamacare is wrong (via @aslavitt @KaiserFamFound) pic.twitter.com/SGiAn5eJBM
    — West Wing Reports (@WestWingReport) October 13, 2017

    Reply
  26. rikyrah says:
    October 13, 2017 at 9:06 am

    A new frontrunner in the ‘Trump’s Oddest Cabinet Member’ contest
    10/13/17 08:40 AM
    By Steve Benen

    Donald Trump has assembled quite a motley crew for his cabinet, and choosing its strangest member is challenging. But Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is clearly making a name for himself – and not necessarily in a good way.

    ………………………..

    At the Interior Department’s headquarters in downtown Washington, Secretary Ryan Zinke has revived an arcane military ritual that no one can remember ever happening in the federal government.

    A security staffer takes the elevator to the seventh floor, climbs the stairs to the roof and hoists a special secretarial flag whenever Zinke enters the building. When the secretary goes home for the day or travels, the flag – a blue banner emblazoned with the agency’s bison seal flanked by seven white stars representing the Interior bureaus – comes down.

    When a cabinet secretary and the Queen of England have a flag practice in common, that’s weird.

    The cabinet secretary’s press secretary told the Post in an email, “Ryan Zinke is proud and honored to lead the Department of the Interior, and is restoring honor and tradition to the department, whether it’s flying the flag when he is in garrison or restoring traditional access to public lands.”

    Reply
  27. rikyrah says:
    October 13, 2017 at 9:04 am

    Trump goes to war against his own country’s health care system
    10/13/17 08:00 AM—UPDATED 10/13/17 08:13 AM
    By Steve Benen

    Donald Trump’s executive order yesterday on health care policy threatens to do real harm to the individual marketplace, pushing costs higher on those who need care most. Last night, however, the second shoe dropped, and it’s vastly worse.

    The White House announced late Thursday that it would no longer reimburse insurers for lowering costs for customers under the Affordable Care Act, a decision Democrats condemned as “spiteful.”

    President Donald Trump had indicated he was considering cutting off the payments in order to increase pressure on lawmakers to repeal the ACA, also known as Obamacare.

    Note, for months, people involved in the health care debate have played a game of “will he or won’t he?” when it comes to the president and cost-sharing-reduction payments (CSRs). That question is no longer speculative: Trump is actually stopping the payments.

    Indeed, he said as much this morning on Twitter: “The Democrats [sic] ObamaCare is imploding. Massive subsidy payments to their pet insurance companies has stopped. Dems should call me to fix!”

    In other words, the president, who is effectively going to war against his own country’s health care system, is moving forward with a plan that’s likely to hurt many Americans in order to gain some kind of political leverage.

    Reply
  28. rikyrah says:
    October 13, 2017 at 9:01 am

    The Mayor said that three towns sent out an SOS yesterday….
    The incompetence + racism is killing American Citizens.

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/12/17
    Mold, waterborne illness pose new threat in Puerto Rico crisis
    Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz of San Juan, Puerto Rico, talks with Rachel Maddow about the status of her city’s recovery and new concerns about mold, waterborne illness, and bacterial infections threatening a health crisis the island is not equipped to handle.

    Reply
  29. rikyrah says:
    October 13, 2017 at 9:00 am

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/12/17
    Trump fails to implement Russia sanctions he signed into law
    Congressman Adam Schiff talks with Rachel Maddow about Donald Trump’s failure to implement sanctions against Russia for their interference in the 2016 election.

    Reply
  30. rikyrah says:
    October 13, 2017 at 8:58 am

    This story was outrageous.

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/12/17
    Doctor quits Puerto Rico medical relief team over ‘spa day’
    Rache Maddow reports on a doctor who has quit her disaster response team in Puerto Rico after seeing medical workers treat themselves to a ‘spa day’ in the medical triage tents.

    Reply
  31. rikyrah says:
    October 13, 2017 at 8:57 am

    This went under the radar.

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/12/17
    DoJ argues Trump doesn’t have to preserve presidential records
    Rachel Maddow looks at the idiosyncrasies of Donald Trump’s legal team, as well as an argument being made in court by the Justice Department that Trump is not bound by the Presidential Records Act to preserve materials from his time in the White House.

    Reply
  32. rikyrah says:
    October 13, 2017 at 8:56 am

    Watch our rates go sky high.
    Throwing a bomb into the insurance markets, Trump now owns broken health-care system https://t.co/y6b3Tf9MuF
    — Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) October 13, 2017

    Reply
  33. rikyrah says:
    October 13, 2017 at 8:53 am

    IMO, Real Disaster is HERE.

    His incompetence + His Racism = Dead American Citizens in Puerto Rico as we sit here.

    Real Disaster Cannot Be Put Off Much Longer
    by Martin Longman
    October 12, 2017

    Nancy has been on a justifiable warpath against President’s Trump’s fitness for office today, so it’s tempting to find something wholly unrelated to write about. Instead, I am just going to take a different angle on what is still basically the same topic. I am going to talk about risk and damage.

    So far, the damage done by Trump’s presidency has had a lot of intangible characteristics. It’s hard to quantify how our loss on international prestige negatively impacts our nation. Our beleaguered diplomatic corp might struggle to explain all the ways their jobs have become more difficult, even nightmarish at times. Our military commanders know that our working relationships with allies are under newfound stress, but maybe they can’t easily attribute any particular problem to a definite cause. How do we measure the downside of all the stress people feel because they’re worried about their access to health care or the possibility that the government might break a promise and deport a member of their family? What does it feel like to be a part of a vulnerable community that the president attacks as criminal in nature or as insufficiently patriotic? What kind of damage does it do to the character of our kids to have a president who lies, cheats, bullies, and defrauds people, and is seemingly rewarded for it? What happens to the character of people who support the president for the things on which they agree when this causes them to excuse things about him they would never overlook in their friends or children?

    This isn’t to say that the president’s policies haven’t yet done any real, tangible, measurable harm. But it’s true that his worst policy proposals have mostly been checked or watered down. Unfortunately, we’re reaching a new point in the life of this administration where the destruction is going to be more noticeable and easier to put on a straightforward cause/effect chart.

    Reply
  34. rikyrah says:
    October 13, 2017 at 8:50 am

    Trump Is an Agent of Voter Suppression
    by Martin Longman
    October 12, 2017

    Amy Walter makes a good point:

    By now we are all familiar with the GOP formula in competitive House races. Take the Democratic candidate. Put his or her picture next to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in a TV ad. Warn voters that the Democratic candidate shares Pelosi’s “San Francisco values” and will be a foot solider in Pelosi’s liberal army if he or she gets to Washington. Rinse. Repeat.

    What we didn’t expect earlier this year, however, was that Democrats would make Republican leaders in Congress their own political boogeymen—their own Pelosi if you will. Past Democratic attempts to turn Speaker Paul Ryan into a political pariah by attacking the “Ryan budget” fell flat. This year, however, Democrats have a new ally in their battle to turn the GOP leadership into a political liability for GOP candidates: President Donald J. Trump. The more Trump fights with his own party, the more unpopular these members become.

    Reply
  35. Liza says:
    October 13, 2017 at 8:12 am

    Most of Trump’s tweets from the last day. INSANITY!

    Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 50m50 minutes ago

    The wonderful people of Puerto Rico, with their unmatched spirit, know how bad things were before the H’s. I will always be with them!

    Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 59m59 minutes ago

    Hard to believe that the Democrats, who have gone so far LEFT that they are no longer recognizable, are fighting so hard for Sanctuary crime

    Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 2h2 hours ago

    ObamaCare is a broken mess. Piece by piece we will now begin the process of giving America the great HealthCare it deserves!

    Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 3h3 hours ago

    The Democrats ObamaCare is imploding. Massive subsidy payments to their pet insurance companies has stopped. Dems should call me to fix!

    Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 12h12 hours ago

    It is time to take care of OUR COUNTRY, to rebuild OUR COMMUNITIES, and to protect our GREAT AMERICAN WORKERS! #TaxReform

    Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 13h13 hours ago

    People are just now starting to find out how dishonest and disgusting (FakeNews) @NBCNews is. Viewers beware. May be worse than even @CNN!

    Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 19h19 hours ago

    We need a tax system that is FAIR to working FAMILIES & that encourages companies to STAY in AMERICA, GROW in AMERICA, and HIRE in AMERICA!

    Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 20h20 hours ago

    The time has come to take action to IMPROVE access, INCREASE choices, and LOWER COSTS for HEALTHCARE!

    “The time has come to give Americans the freedom to purchase health ins across state lines – creating a truly competitive national marketplace that will bring costs way down & provide far better care.”

    Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump Oct 12

    …We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!

    Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump Oct 12

    “Puerto Rico survived the Hurricanes, now a financial crisis looms largely of their own making.” says Sharyl Attkisson. A total lack of…..

    (continuation)
    Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump Oct 12
    …accountability say the Governor. Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes. Congress to decide how much to spend….

    Reply
  36. rikyrah says:
    October 13, 2017 at 7:57 am

    And the people cry out “Who will save us?” And no one answers.
    By Liberal Librarian

    As of the writing of this essay, Politico is reporting that Moron Hitler is sticking in the knife to the ACA, ending subsidy payments to insurers. We’ll see if that actually comes to pass, but it’s quite within the realm of possibility.

    Meanwhile, earlier on Thursday, Charlie Pierce had this article. It’s a plea for Barack Obama to join the anti-Trump resistance full time. Read it. I did. And my blood boiled.

    It’s nothing but an excoriation of Pres. Obama for hang gliding, vacationing, and giving inspirational, remunerated speeches. It’s as if Pierce blames Pres. Obama for the predicament we’re in, a catastrophe of our own making.

    Dear Charlie Pierce: Fuck you.

    Pres. Obama spent every day in the summer and autumn of 2016 warning of the dangers which lay ahead. He spent every day warning the voters of this country what type of man Moron Hitler was. He campaigned for Hillary Clinton, anointing her as the candidate to carry on his legacy. He did everything within his powers to avoid the calamity which has befallen us.

    And it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough because he was black, he sounded foreign, he made people feel as if they weren’t good enough, and they resented that. They were tired of that ni-clang, and didn’t want his successor, the ni-clang lover, to succeed him.

    And that’s just from the Right. The Left had its own issues with Pres. Obama. He was never radical enough. He was to content with fixing things rather than ushering in a utopia. He didn’t govern in the way that they wanted. That no-good ni-clang—oh, yeah, there was that on the Left as well.

    ……………………………………………………

    No, Charlie Pierce: Barack Obama owes you and your fair-weather friends nothing. (Oh, yes, I recall your bitingly critical articles on him.) He pulled the country out of a ditch with practically no help. Voters drove it back in, again and again, in 2010, 2014, and finally, and maybe fatally, in 2016. He’s not your Magic Negro. He’s not your savior. He’s just the greatest president to have served the nation in the past half-century, and faced nothing but backbiting and opposition for his troubles.

    Reply
  37. yahtzeebutterfly says:
    October 13, 2017 at 7:48 am

    Harlem Renaissance poet and novelist Arna Bontemps was born on this day, October 13, in 1902.
    https://youtu.be/noutuYqF2gA&rel=0

    https://youtu.be/pP5B5QX86DE&rel=0

    https://youtu.be/r3Uou_C1GoE&rel=0

    Reply
  38. rikyrah says:
    October 13, 2017 at 6:38 am

    They can try to run, but they can’t hide. It’s going to come out. They want to do it the hard way, fine. Then someone needs to have an arrest warrant slapped on them. No more patience for these muthaphuckas 😠

    Reply
  39. rikyrah says:
    October 13, 2017 at 4:32 am

    Good Morning, Everyone 😐😐😐

    Reply
  44. SouthernGirl2 says:
    October 13, 2017 at 12:39 am

    Good morning, everyone!

    Reply

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