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Trump's State of the Union

By Jeralyn, Section Trump Administration
Posted on Tue Feb 05, 2019 at 08:19:42 PM EST
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Has anyone thought of taking their blood pressure before and during Trump's State of the Union speech? Mine would rise so much I'm not going to risk it by watching.

If you are watching, please fill us in.

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    Trump's State of the Union | 56 comments (56 topical)

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    El Paso (5.00 / 3) (#1)
    by MKS on Tue Feb 05, 2019 at 08:50:54 PM EST
    has always had a very low crime rate.

    Trump's comments on El Paso having had a high crime rate are total b.s.   Astonishing, bald face lie.

    True.. (5.00 / 4) (#7)
    by desertswine on Tue Feb 05, 2019 at 09:58:03 PM EST
    New Mexico's Governor says Trump's border crisis does not exist, orders National Guard off border.

    "She's just not interested in being a part of Donald Trump's "charade of border fear-mongering by misusing our diligent National Guard troops."


    Parent
    Ridiculous partisan investigations (5.00 / 1) (#9)
    by Peter G on Tue Feb 05, 2019 at 11:13:59 PM EST
    I don't see why the Dems could not agree to this; they should. I think they should only continue with investigations that are neither ridiculous nor partisan. All of them.

    These divisive (5.00 / 5) (#16)
    by KeysDan on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 10:31:24 AM EST
    Investigations must end. Our country must move on from all this empty partisanship that divides us.

    I believe the time has come to bring that investigation and other investigatiions of the matter to an end.  One year of Watergate is enough.  

    President Richard Nixon, SOTU,  1974.

    Parent

    My impression (none / 0) (#19)
    by NoSides on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 01:12:10 PM EST
    was that the Democrats were running on a platform of Medicare for All in the midterm electon.

    I have heard virtually nothing about that since they took the house.

    Maybe this isn't fair, but it just seems to me that they primarily focused on endless investigations of Trump - still battling the election of 2016.


    Parent

    leaf impressions (5.00 / 2) (#20)
    by leap on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 01:25:25 PM EST
    Given enough time and pressure, leaf impressions in soft sediments can become imprint fossils when they are covered by fine clay and silt layers. The leaf tissue degrades, leaving an imprint or impression of where the leaf once was. Imprint fossils can give information about an organism's activity and the type of ecosystem that existed where the fossil was found.

    Parent
    Impressionism (none / 0) (#45)
    by Jack E Lope on Thu Feb 07, 2019 at 11:30:37 AM EST
    ...is so 19th-century, though.   It's enjoyable to see impressionist art, but nothing new and of-note is happening in the impressionist art world.

    In the 20th century, I thought that Yakov Smirnoff was a stupid and heavily-stereotyped impression of a Russian - but he was actually USSR-born.  (Ukrainian, but a Russian speaker.)

    In this century, Hillary Clinton did an impromptu impression of Putin during at least one of her campaign stops.  I suspect that Putin did not like that, and put some resources into (deniable) retaliation.

    Parent

    Being literal (5.00 / 1) (#17)
    by MKS on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 12:56:21 PM EST
    Are you a lawyer or something?

    Parent
    Trump's demagogic references to ... (5.00 / 3) (#14)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 09:00:11 AM EST
    ... the fictional orgy of sexual assault, sex slavery and forced prostitution along our southern frontier harkens back to the dark days of the early 1930s during the height of public frenzy over the infamous Massie Affair, when numerous Southern congressmen and U.S. Navy officials falsely asserted in the public record that white womanhood was imperiled in the Territory of Hawaii. They urged President Hoover to suspend local government in the islands and declare martial law, in order to protect the fairer white sex from (non-existent) lustful native depredations. The openly racist (but otherwise baseless) contentions offered by federal officials were disgusting and repulsive back then, and they're no less odious when resurrected 80+ years later.

    In the iconography of the history of racism (none / 0) (#15)
    by Peter G on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 09:15:55 AM EST
    this line of argument is also referred to as the "Black Beast" trope (or myth).

    Parent
    The SOU has become a farce (5.00 / 1) (#29)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 05:05:19 PM EST
    It really always has been but Trump is like the Ganache frosting.

    It should be dumped.  Submitted in writing and replaced with something like UK Question Time if they want a spectacle

    I would (none / 0) (#30)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 05:08:55 PM EST
    agree with that. The thought of Trump writing his SOTU and mailing it into congress gave me waves of relief. The pundits never focus on the substance only the delivery and other nonsense.

    Parent
    The worm turns (5.00 / 3) (#43)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 08:35:47 PM EST
    He said that the committee will investigate efforts to impede or obstruct the investigation, including conduct by "those in the Congress."

    This seems to be a direct signal that the committee will examine the behavior of Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), who ran the committee before Schiff took over and was widely seen as a Trump toady running interference in the investigation on the president's behalf.

    "This means the House Intel Committee will investigate how one of its own members, former Chair @DevinNunes, obstructed its investigation," said former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti.

    Alternet

    Sorry wrong thread (none / 0) (#44)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 08:44:04 PM EST
    PS

    SPAMMER HITTING MULTIPLE THREADS

    Earnest

    Parent

    I keep switching over (none / 0) (#2)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Feb 05, 2019 at 09:15:46 PM EST
    To see it it's over yet.  I want to see Abrams.

    How long can he keep this up?

    She is as good (5.00 / 1) (#6)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Feb 05, 2019 at 09:49:35 PM EST
    As I expected her to be.

    Parent
    Just switched again (none / 0) (#4)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Feb 05, 2019 at 09:27:19 PM EST
    And caught a crowd shot.  Faces were wonderful.

    Pure agony.  A few looked as if they may have gone mad.

    Parent

    Agreed, Stacey Abrams (none / 0) (#31)
    by KeysDan on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 05:09:36 PM EST
    was great.  Her speech was upbeat and constructive, showing a spirit and vision for the nation.  And, too, I liked the backdrop---looked like a really nice and diverse group.  

    Under-reported was the Spanish language version of the SOTU response by California AG, Xavier Becerra. While not as effective as a presentation as Ms. Abrams, he, too, did a good job.  His backdrop was at the high school from which he graduated.  The English language version has been posted on the AG website, I believe.  

    Parent

    The English (none / 0) (#35)
    by KeysDan on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 05:16:33 PM EST
    translation of Becerra's response to the SOTU.

    Parent
    AOC (none / 0) (#3)
    by MKS on Tue Feb 05, 2019 at 09:26:54 PM EST
    wearing pin of Jakelin Caal Maquin, the Guatemalan girl who died in U.S. custody last December.

    AOC sure cuts a large sawth.

    I opted to watch George Lopez' (none / 0) (#5)
    by Chuck0 on Tue Feb 05, 2019 at 09:39:05 PM EST
    2017 show The Wall at The Kennedy center. "Eff Trump today, eff Trump tomorrow, eff Trump 3 years grom now. And if you voted for him, eff you too!"

    I was still at work ... (none / 0) (#8)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Tue Feb 05, 2019 at 11:04:07 PM EST
    ... during STF-- er, excuse me, I mean "SOTU," because I had a lot of stuff to do today, as I'll be in Honolulu all day tomorrow at the state legislature. Afterward, I'm going to spend the night at Elder Daughter's place since I have another round of hearings Thursday. So I get to see the grandsons tomorrow. They're growing up fast; another couple of years, and the eldest will be Trump's approximate emotional age.

    The state of the union is catatonic.

    Trump hit one out of the park last night (none / 0) (#10)
    by itscookin on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 05:41:15 AM EST
    He had the women who represent the Deomcrats in congress high-fiving and cheering "USA! USA!" It was like being at MAGA rally. While their showing up dressed all in white might not have been the best optics given the recent controversy over the Governor of VA's yearbook photos, it did make it easy to watch what they did. The entire room singing "Happy Birthday" to the 81 year old Holocaust survivor was priceless. Whether you love or hate Trump, you have to admit the guy knows how to put on a show.

    I think (5.00 / 3) (#11)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 06:22:00 AM EST
    we all can agree that he is a very good carnival barker. It's just that Russian Carnival Barkers don't make good presidents.

    Parent
    You (5.00 / 2) (#12)
    by FlJoe on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 07:53:25 AM EST
    mean when the Democratic women got up and did a (well deserved)victory dance? On tRump's time no less.

    Parent
    Tr*mp is absolutely entitled to claim credit (5.00 / 5) (#13)
    by Peter G on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 08:30:56 AM EST
    for the greatly increased number of women in the House of Representatives ... nearly all of them Democrats. But no, 'cookin, these are not "women who represent the Deomcrats in congress." They are  members of Congress who represent all the people who live in their Districts, a great majority of whom voted for these women to express their revulsion at Tr*mp's agenda and actions.

    Parent
    You really should (5.00 / 2) (#23)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 04:28:12 PM EST
    Get out a bit more

    Parent
    I liked (none / 0) (#18)
    by NoSides on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 01:08:57 PM EST
    his reference to the endless wars to which we have subjected for decades.

    Personally, I would be pleased if we brought our troops home from Afghanistan.

    They should never have been sent there in the first place.

    Parent

    Horse feathers (5.00 / 2) (#24)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 04:31:10 PM EST
    Horsefeathers, which is said by J. E. Lighter's Historical Dictionary of American Slang to be a euphemism for horse-shit, is reported as being coined by the comic-strip artist and writer, William Morgan "Billy" de Beck. The authoritative journal 'American Speech' printed this in their December 1928 issue:

        "Mr. William De Beck, the comic-strip comedian responsible for 'Barney Google,' assumes credit for the first actual use of the word horsefeathers".


    Parent

    I had (none / 0) (#27)
    by NoSides on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 05:01:35 PM EST
    assumed, incorrectly, that people on the "left" were opposed to useless and senseless wars - especially those into which we were thrust by GW Bush.

    Parent
    Thats three (5.00 / 2) (#34)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 05:16:32 PM EST
    I believe

    Parent
    Hope Ivan (none / 0) (#37)
    by KeysDan on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 05:40:38 PM EST
    doesn't get credit for. or paid by, the number of responses he draws.  Obviously, they are not read.....just a source of rubles.

    Parent
    I like these responses (5.00 / 2) (#38)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 05:52:14 PM EST
    Ivan has become a unifier.  Not unlike Cheeto.

    Parent
    A thrust, (none / 0) (#33)
    by leap on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 05:12:23 PM EST
    in fencing, is a linear extension of the arm that brings the point of your blade toward the target.

    It is different from a cut or flick, which bring the point or edge toward the target in a nonlinear fashion--by swinging the weapon. Today, the word "thrust" is rather rare, in favor of the more general word, "attack", or simply, "extend" (your arm).

    Parent

    Ha ha... that reminds me (5.00 / 2) (#36)
    by desertswine on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 05:28:22 PM EST
    of my favorite Thurber cartoon.

    Parent
    I made (none / 0) (#42)
    by Zorba on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 07:33:10 PM EST
    Tiropita for dinner tonight.

    1 1/2-2 lb. feta, crumbled
    1 lb. whole milk ricotta or Greek soft anthotiro
    8 eggs
    salt and white pepper
    box of phyllo
    1 1/2 sticks of butter, melted
    Ground white pepper
    1 cup grated kefaloteri cheese (or use romano)

    Beat four whole eggs and add four egg yolks only. (Or use six whole eggs.) Beat until light and creamy. Fold into crumbled feta, ricoota cheese, and kefaloteri. Season to taste. Butter bottom of 9"x13" pan. Place eight phyllo leaves in pan, individually buttering each leaf. Pour in cheese mixture. Cover with additional eight leaves, individually buttered. Fold edges to retain mixture, and brush top with melted butter. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, until golden.

    Parent

    one of the very best (none / 0) (#28)
    by Peter G on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 05:04:10 PM EST
    of the Marx Brothers movies. Whatever it is, I'm against it.

    Parent
    84 years later, the stateroom scene ... (none / 0) (#40)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 07:05:30 PM EST
    "Do you have any stewed prunes? Well, give them some black coffee, that'll sober them up."

    ... in "A Night at the Opera" is still one of the funniest ever put to celluloid.

    Parent

    Endless War 7 (none / 0) (#21)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 04:17:47 PM EST
    is now available onlne

    Parent
    Has anybody else seen ... (none / 0) (#39)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 06:56:27 PM EST
    ... this adorable owl video?

    Parent
    That would not involve Drumpf. (none / 0) (#46)
    by Jack E Lope on Thu Feb 07, 2019 at 11:34:36 AM EST
    According to wikipedia, your troops came home in 1989.

    Parent
    I love (none / 0) (#22)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 04:22:25 PM EST
    this picture

    Joshua (none / 0) (#25)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 04:35:52 PM EST
    Joshua Trump, you are all of us.

    I hope they stop taking his lunch money now.

    Yes, little Joshua (none / 0) (#26)
    by KeysDan on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 05:00:27 PM EST
    was taking some well-deserved "executive time."  But, I still feel for the boy having to go through life with such an unpopular surname. Sort of like having an albatross such as Mussolini or another unfortunate historical surname of that era.  A legal name change would be the kind and responsbile thing to do.

    Of all the talking heads after-SOTU analysis, I think Nicole Wallace said it best; (to the effect):  don't fall into the trap of pouring over the words in Trump's SOTU address, for they are really meaningless.  Indeed, he doesn't know or understand them. Or, pronounce them (chemotherapy had to be set forth for him as "Kemo-therapy." He was having trouble reading them.

     The words to observe, she cautioned,  are those of his tweets, which she predicted would come in the morning. Trump did not dissapoint, from attacks on Schumer, and the "hack" Adam Schiff, whom he has never heard of before, according to him. So much for comity and unity. (pronounced, youn-it-tee.)

    Perhaps, the worst of the analysis was by the access journalist, Peter Baker (NYTimes) with his story of the "bickering" between leaders of the parties.  Both sides do it, you know. One wants wall, another sees a wall as immoral.  No difference, just the Bickersons.  (cf. Susan Saradon).

    Parent

    Baker really is the worst (none / 0) (#32)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 05:10:26 PM EST
    This was my favorite Josh observation


    Benjamin Siemon
    ✔
    @BenjaminJS
     Hi Joshua Trump. I'm sorry you get bullied at school for your last name. My name is Ben Joseph Siemon. "Semen" or "BJ Semen." I didn't visit a p0rn set to feel better. You don't need to go to the State of the Union.


    Parent
    I don't read ... (none / 0) (#41)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed Feb 06, 2019 at 07:30:22 PM EST
    ... the New York Times anymore. More often than not, its egotistical reporters are too wedded to their own narratives, which might otherwise be amusing were it not for the sometimes tragic consequences that followed. (See "Miller, Judith" and "Iraq War.")

    Their collective body of work from the 2016 presidential campaign stands as the penultimate example of journalistic malpractice, and any future book chapter recounting that perpetual exercise in recurrent faux pas can rightly be titled "But Her Emails."

    Aloha.

    Parent

    Trump's checkup today (none / 0) (#47)
    by ragebot on Fri Feb 08, 2019 at 04:14:30 PM EST
    No results yet but based on last years I don't expect much change.

    Docs will say his health is good for his age and give him a clean bill of health.

    I am not sure why the prez does this.  Obama was dinged a little for smoking and Bush got props for his running and bike ridding.

    Clinton had a similar problem to Trump about eating fast food.

    Does anyone know if the check up is required by law or tradition since often times it is much ado about nothing.

    I'm still holding out (5.00 / 1) (#52)
    by Chuck0 on Sat Feb 09, 2019 at 12:43:15 PM EST
    For a sudden brain aneurysm and he exits the WH in a body bag.

    Parent
    There's nothing about Trump's lifestyle (none / 0) (#48)
    by McBain on Fri Feb 08, 2019 at 04:54:45 PM EST
    that appears particularly healthy but some people are born lucky.  

    As I said during the 2016 election, if we want to have a decent idea of someone's health, let's give them a full VO2 max treadmill test.  

    Parent

    Little brag story... (5.00 / 1) (#49)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Fri Feb 08, 2019 at 05:32:41 PM EST
    I run a lot.

    Had a sharp pain in my chest, so doc says "treadmill test."

    When I got up to level 7 he shut the machine down.

    "We've never had anyone get to level 5 before, so I guess it's not your heart."

    Turned out to be overly acid stomach.

    Parent

    Good news. (none / 0) (#50)
    by KeysDan on Fri Feb 08, 2019 at 08:37:13 PM EST
    Sounds like acid reflux.  If it persists,be sure to have your doc  check it out. In any event, good to know no cardio-vascular event and that you are fit.

    Parent
    Yes, continual acid reflux (5.00 / 1) (#51)
    by fishcamp on Sat Feb 09, 2019 at 07:29:48 AM EST
    can lead to Barrett's disease, and that can lead to cancer.

    Parent
    Thanks guys, had an endoscopy as well. (5.00 / 1) (#55)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue Feb 12, 2019 at 11:25:18 AM EST
    According to the docs there's nothing to worry bout now, but should keep an eye on the whole situation.

    Parent
    You may not understand what (none / 0) (#53)
    by ragebot on Sat Feb 09, 2019 at 01:34:31 PM EST
    VO2 Max means.

    It is not really much of a measure of a person's health.  It is a reasonable measure of a person's ability to perform in endurance sports, but mostly unrelated to sports more commonly played in the US.

    Things like the Tour de France and Ironman Distance Triathlons are events where a high VO2 Max is important.  But in a game like American football it is not important.  Often times less than 5% of the time in a football game is real action and the rest of the time is waiting for something to happen.  It is seldom a play lasts 10 seconds.

    It is also very biased towards small light weight people.  Here is one definition

    VO2 max is measured in milliliters of oxygen used in one minute per kilogram of body weight (mL/kg/min). It is based on the premise that the more oxygen an athlete consumes during high-level exercise, the more the body will generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP) energy in cells. ATP is often referred to as the "molecular unit of currency" of intracellular energy,

    Lance Armstrong had a very high VO2 Max and was often described as a pair of lungs with legs.  Folks with minimum muscular development and big lungs would also have a very high VO2 Max while American football players with massive upper body development (combined with some who are over weight) would have a very low VO2 max.  

    As an aside I had my VO2 Max measured when I was still doing Ironman races at 58.2.  World class guys like Armstrong would be a little over 70.  One thing I did notice was that when I was SCUBA diving I was able to control my breathing by shallow breathing and use much less air than some of the other divers and stay under water longer.

    Another factor in VO2 Max measurement is what I will call personal factors.  Things like smoking (not just cigarettes, but anything) and living in an environment with lots of air pollution can degrade a person's VO2 max.  I have seen claims that a person who spends time outdoors, even if it is someone like Trump riding in a golf cart, will have an improved VO2 Max.  

    I have little doubt Trump's VO2 Max before the 2016 election would be significantly higher than Hillary's VO2 Max.  No question it is higher than RGB's VO2 Max.

    Parent

    It's actually one of the better meaurements (none / 0) (#54)
    by McBain on Sun Feb 10, 2019 at 04:56:46 PM EST
    of one's health and longevity. It gives an estimate of mitochondrial efficiency.  The mitochondria are basically the engines of the cells.  We have trillions of cells in our bodies and for good health, we want powerful engines.  Generally, the more powerful the engines are, the slower our aging process is.  We're constantly regenerating and our bodies tend to build better stuff when we have good mitochondria.    

    Pretty sure Lance Armtrong's VO2 Max was significantly higher than 70 when he was winning races. Does that mean he's super healthy? No.  Highly competitive athletes, even those with great exercise capacity, often accelerate their aging process with all the stress (and sometimes drugs) the put on their bodies.

    As for the bodyweight issue, you can look at a VO2 Max test and adjust for bodyweight a bit.  It's not perfect, nothing is, but it would give us a much better idea of Trump's health.

    Parent

    Sure Jerlyn (none / 0) (#56)
    by ragebot on Tue Feb 12, 2019 at 11:41:37 AM EST
    Jerlyn will have a thread on this but el Chapo guilty

    Trump's State of the Union | 56 comments (56 topical)

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