Among all the other sad and ugly features of Donald Trump’s presidency is that virtually every day we are accosted by a number of nasty stories that trace back to him and his administration. Hardly a day goes by that there’s not a new story, or five, that makes us groan and go “Oh geez – REALLY?” Today, February 21st, 2019 is just another day in Trumplandia – about average in terms of news related to the President. Just to document the kind of world we live in, here are the day’s Trump-related stories from the front section of today’s San Diego Union Tribune:
FRONT PAGE: TALKS BREAK DOWN ON AUTO MILEAGE
Summary: The Trump administration has broken off talks with California over vehicle mileage standards. California uses the stricter requirements put in place by Obama. Trump rolled those back, to allow new cars that pollute more so that car makers earn even greater profits. (Note: Ford made $25 billion in the past 5 years.) California is fighting back, along with 19 other states, by suing the feds in order to combat climate change.
PAGE A-2: COHEN TO TESTIFY TO HOUSE PANEL ON FEB. 27
Summary: Trump’s personal attorney pled guilty to a number of charges, including lying to Congress to protect Trump. He also claimed that he broke finance laws at Trump’s direction. He’s been giving the feds lots of info on Trump’s crimes, especially regarding his collusion with Russia, for months, and now Congress gets to grill him.
PAGE A-4: U.S. CLIMATE CHANGE PANEL WEIGHED
Summary: President Trump is expected to name William Happer as the head of the “Presidential Committee on Climate Security.” Happer is a well-known critic of climate change. Rear Admiral David Titley, professor of meteorology, describes Happer as “a fringe figure even for climate skeptics.” Kim Cobb, of Georgia Tech, said Happer’s “false, unscientific notions about climate change represent a danger to the American people.” This is just the latest of Trump’s efforts to roll back virtually every kind of federal environmental protection and to avoid dealing with climate change.
PAGE A-4: MUELLER SEEMS TO BE WRAPPING UP INVESTIGATION
Summary: The Special Counsel’s nearly 2 year investigation into Russian election meddling and the Trump Administration’s involvement may end next week. Questions remain about how much Attorney General Barr, appointed because Trump believed Barr would protect him, will allow Congress or the American people to learn about Mueller’s findings. Mueller has already criminally charged 34 people. Six of them are Trump associates who have pleaded guilty.
PAGE A-6: TRUMP SEEKS TO DISCREDIT NEWS REPORT
Summary: The New York Times has again been labeled by the President as FAKE NEWS, and in his best Josef Stalin imitation “… a true ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE.” This is after the Times reported that Trump asked acting Attorney General Whitaker to put a Trump ally in charge of the investigation of him paying women during the 2016 campaign.
PAGE A-6: MEMBERS OF CONGRESS RALLY BEHIND INTELLIGENCE CHIEF
Summary: President Trump is believed to be considering firing Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats for disagreeing with him on several key issues, such as speaking one-on-one with Vladmir Putin with no other Americans present. Several Republicans and Democrats have backed Coats, and said it would be a big mistake for Trump to fire him. Republican Senator Susan Collins said “DNI Coats is a good friend, who has always served our country well.” Her colleague Sen. Angus King added that “When a President denigrates or ignores factual information presented by the intelligence community, he is sending a message: ‘Don’t tell me things I don’t want to hear’.”
PAGE A-12: DEMS TO FILE RESOLUTION AGAINST TRUMP EMERGENCY
Summary: House Democrats plan to file a resolution to block the President’s claim of a national emergency, a step he took after failing to convince Congress that a southern border wall must be built. The emergency declaration will allow him to take money from the military and other sources to spend on the wall, something that most believe is illegal under the Constitution’s separation of powers that gives Congress the sole right to allocate money for spending projects.
1 comment:
Yes, it is appalling that this is the news of, not just today, but every day now in America, no longer the land of freedom but certainly the capstone of capitalism ... although that is, like #45's brain cells, merely a mirage.
Thanks for the concise and factual, albeit fake, summation, Jon.
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