The first signs of slippage among the President’s most crucial voters suggest even they’ve got Trump fatigue.
We’re not there yet but keep this up and some Capitol Hill Republicans could break away. It’s not like they stick with Trump for love of his personality and leadership, but instead for fear of his voters. Reagan, he’s not.
An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll showed Trump’s approval rating dipping to 50 percent among 439 battleground counties in 16 states that fueled his victory last year. More importantly, he polls lower (44 percent) in the niche of counties that delivered slimmer (and therefore tenuous) election year margins for him — where Obama had previously won or where Trump outperformed Mitt Romney’s 2012 showing.
This is the first time we see hints that the Trump base, or at least it’s outer margins, are getting shaky. I doubt its due to concerns about the Russia probe. My guess is those voters realize he is too much of a mess to get done anything they wanted.
As Ann Coulter recently told the Daily Caller, his supporters knew he had a “grotesque personality” when they voted for him, but thought he was good for their issues. If they give up on that they give up on him.
bid,
you have a good idea there about calculating/comparing the insurance costs, co-pay fees and drugs for sen. McCain (who heroically once again helped save some americans…. this time by not being there for myrtle) versus those costs for joe and jill sixpack. a good study would be the variables in texas. yours, dv’s and other Texans’ with varying coverage or non-coverage would make a good thread topic. fearless leader tells us that folks with bigger, meggier megaphones read here so such a thread might get some attention in critterville.
speaking of the honorable senator, ny times via msn:
McCain’s Surgery May Be More Serious Than Thought, Experts Say
The condition for which Senator John McCain had surgery on Friday may be more serious than initial descriptions have implied, and it may delay his return to Washington by at least a week or two, medical experts said on Sunday.
The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, has already announced that votes on a bill to dismantle the Affordable Care Act will not begin until Mr. McCain’s return. A statement released by Mr. McCain’s office on Saturday had suggested that he would be in Arizona recovering for just this week, but neurosurgeons interviewed said the typical recovery period could be longer.
The statement from Mr. McCain’s office said a two-inch blood clot was removed from “above his left eye” during a “minimally invasive craniotomy with an eyebrow incision” at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix, “following a routine annual physical.” Surgeons there are not conducting interviews, and Mr. McCain’s communications director, Julie Tarallo, said no further information was available.
[….story continues….]
a little presidential history fun and games
Published on Jul 15, 2017
‘Last Week Tonight’ host John Oliver’s wax Warren G. Harding takes on Stephen Colbert’s Zachary Taylor in the fight of the (pre-21st) century!
A little more about VA health Care. The VA will provide health care for certain veterans. Service connected injuries or illnesses are covered, ie active duty troop tears up a knee in training, that will be covered by the VA medical care, but nothing else. Except if the veteran is VA disability rated at fifty percent or higher, then medical care is covered, but not optical or dental unless those are part of the service connected coverage. At one hundred percent disabled all care including optical and dental is covered. Depending on the need other issues are taken care of such as home changes for access.
Tri-Care is for active duty and retirees.
Tri-Care is now part of the VA Choice care for certain veterans when getting to a VA medical facility is not feasible. I am part of this for PT following surgery.
How big of a base does #45 really have? Always thought he was a last minute choice for the majority who voted for him, as a protest or none of the above vote. Then election night results came in & …. uh oh. Secretary Clinton’s victory was a done deal, right? His voters may be more oops than loyal.
A walk on the wild side that you might not want to take courtesy of Climate Change
I Would Walk 500 Miles, and I Would Walk 500 More, Just to Be the Man Who Walked 1,000 Miles Out on the Ocean Floor
Gore noted that he had a meeting with Trump late last year where he came away optimistic that the president wouldn’t hastily withdraw from the Paris deal, if for no other reason than it would hurt America’s standing as a world leader.
Now, however, he doesn’t have any optimism that we’ll see any kind of leadership from Trump on addressing climate change.
“We’ve never had a president who’s deliberately made decisions… to tear down America’s standing in the world,” Gore told Willie Geist. “The climate crisis is by far the most serious challenge we face. But he’s also undermined our alliances, such as NATO, and hurt our standing in the world in many ways.”
Gore also told Geist that he had “pleasant exchanges” with Trump last year that led him to believe he’d take a more reasonable stance on climate issues than his campaign rhetoric indicated.
“I hoped that he’d come to his senses on the Paris agreement,” Gore said. “I was wrong.”
What happens when a blind eye, blinks. Nothing. trump supporters are the minority and backed by the nra. Some basket of stupid and gullible. The rest of us, however, were played in the last election. With the arrest of the russian spam king in april? It sped-up the wheels on the russian investigation. Sources say comey was fired after junior and eric were interviewed by the fbi in May. In the public eye, however, everyone has lawyered-up. It will slow the process and we will be treated to mafia bots touting the boss’s innocence. The corruption probably goes to the top of the rnc, too — russia nationalist committee.
Delta takes a swipe at Ann Coulter. She the only person I know that will have people actually defending airlines.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/delta-ann-coulter-response_us_596c2515e4b03389bb18727b?2x&ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
al, don’t feel bad about misjudging the twit. looks like my French cupcake fell for it too.
During an interview Sunday in the Journal du Dimanche newspaper, Macron said Trump “listened” to him, according to the Associated Press.
“He understood the reason for my position, notably the link between climate change and terrorism,” Macron said.
He added: “He said he would try to find a solution in the coming months. We spoke in detail about what could allow him to return to the Paris deal.”
I’m with sj on the size of the trumpbase…and div, delta gave the woman her $30. she is so desperate to remain relevant. Her comeback will not be on delta’s back.
patd…trump in paree…looked like he was in a bob, carol, ted and alice fantasy moment while hand holding hands with mr. & mrs. macron in the middle of the street. Frolic in France. Nothing will come from the french visit and talks…merkel and macron are trying to wrestle trump ownership from putie.
Jamie, I’m so glad that you and Brian were able to reestablish your friendship; I’m sure that served to ease the inevitability of his imminent passing. When he visits Central Park, may all his friends and critters greet him with enthusiasm
Clinging to my humor here. If seated next to coulter? Most travelers would welcome being dragged-off of the plane like the doc on United. Imagine a two-hour flight seated next to that woman! Forget about her leg room, her adam’s apple had to book another seat.
Weak humor…and I hope we get smarter in this country. We do not have any laws on the books for subliminal advertising…unlike Britain and Australia. And today we are faced with a growing digital threat of bots with fake news that have impacted our election. Our laws are so lagging behind. And the IC interviewed the digital trump king of bots and fake news, parscale. Once the interview was finished? parscale was back to dissing the main news media as fake. We need laws to get rid of this fake news gang.
” What happens when a blind eye blinks”
Brilliantly funny, BW
I’m glad that Brian never came back to this blog after being asked to leave. However… I’m saddened by the news of his passing. RIP Brian.
Yup… me too… I think sj made an astute observation about the SFB and last minute deciding voters.
more clinging humor, this one is for bid –
repugs will pass Amabocare….no, it is not a Latin term, but Obama spelled backwards. repugs undoing every aspect of Obamacare. Expect insurance to run it all, no regulations and it will take the ‘ouch’ out of the government spawned vouchers!
It shouldn’t be an eye-opening revelation, but the eyeball is lubricated by the blink preventing pain and harm to the cornea especially in bright sunlight.
BW
On fire…as usual
let me add my RIP for Brian. Bygones and all.
9/11 and now Brian. May two of the originals RIP.
Jace, did you move out of Bullhead City for WA? Thx, too, for the music yesterday. It showed how four people working in concert (pun intended) could make beautiful music.
Fellow Arizonan, John McCain, is now home recuperating. I am hoping the Mayo Clinic quickly sends him their hospital and doctors bills so he can see just how much a “simple” operation can cost. It is a stimated that 480,000 Arizonans will lose their health care if Trumpcare becomes law. Vote no, John!
More information on vet suicide rate; it’s a worthwhile read as it puts things in perspective:
“…it’s not 22 a day”
Brian
I’ll add a me too. So young.
Pussy G has two bases – he is not losing the goopers they have decided to go down with the ship
The second group voted for change. Now they are seeing that the change is not good for them and they are starting to leak away
A third smaller group really a subset of the goopers are the racists and other haters and they also will stick with Pussy G
the candidate-in-thievery July 2015 —
McCain is not a war hero.
Today, McCain is a hero for stopping the repeal of Obamacare this week and perhaps the next few weeks…maybe that blood clot was from the many beatings he endured while captured. Yes, I know that today’s commander-in-thief still thinks ‘captured’ military are not heroes.
And comey writing a book…finally the truth. Now I am wondering about titles…The Stealth Blue Curtain? Where did you park the squad car, dick tracy? A tall man trying to hide in the WH curtains! More revelations from the crackerjack election investigations that left us so unprotected.
“Pussy G has two bases – he is not losing the goopers they have decided to go down with the ship”
As BW has so lucidly observed, they have no choice but to go down with the ship, because half of them were in on stealing the election by colluding with the Kremlin.
I’ll also add: whatever Brian’s offenses (he trolled, big whoop), they fucking pale in comparison to anybody who voted for Trump, or those who wasted their vote, or those who enabled the first two groups and made me a subject of a fascist oligarghy run by avaricious morons. THAT I take personally.
Bink… when I was in my 30s (which I’m assuming you still are), I thought exactly like you. Being a political junkie, I didn’t want anything to do with people who voted the opposite from me. Now that I’m older (early 60s… same as Brian, BTW), I think and feel differently. I now would never base my friendships on the way that people vote. I base friendship on how people treat others. I base friendship on does one make a difference in others’ lives and their community.
I do know Democrats that are assholes. They can vote 25 times for Hillary and they still wouldn’t be my friend. I do have Republican friends based on the above…. and they will remain my friends despite voting for Trump.
Tass bitching about spy properties again…empathy for the enemy from trumpence. Meanwhile, sunlight pouring through visitor logs. My fav lie from the trumpence campaign…manafort was little known to the trump campaign…he had an apartment in trumptower.
“Dad, every year you get smarter.” Maturing young person to father.
Mr. Cracker is 89 and he has a friend from his 20’s that he has stopped speaking to because this person voted for Trump. I have never seen him exclude people for their politics before
I live in a house. If you try to burn my house down, you are a threat to my well-being.
I live in the United States.
I am not as pissed at trump supporters as those who voted ‘other never make-it third party candidate’ or did not vote. I cannot seriously get involved with any humans that think voter suppression is legal, funny or needed in this country. To throw away a vote? Our country doesn’t vote in massive numbers. I wish we lived in Australia where voting was a responsibility, so no one could hide from voting. Then we would know exactly how the electorate votes…no regional crap, no suppression.
We will have to take care of the trump supporters, non-voters, foolish voters, etc. when the last shoe drops. That is what these people mean to me…they are my fellow Americans. I just don’t like to party with them.
The Conscience of a Valet, WSJ 17 Jul 17
By
Mike Kerrigan
July 16, 2017 3:17 p.m. ET
In the 1990s the 1789 Restaurant in Washington, which is still around today, hired Georgetown University athletes as valets. I was not a Georgetown athlete, but I covered for one over winter break and earned a permanent spot in the holiday rotation.
The job was fantastic. Parking cars wasn’t hard labor, and the chef had a soft spot for valets, so we always ate well. I think he enjoyed watching us knock back peanut soup while huddled in a stairwell below street level.
The maître d’ was a gentleman. When a valet dined in the restaurant—say, with his girlfriend—this courtly man made sure the couple was given a table by the fireplace and treated like royalty. Once, when dining with my now-wife, the chef asked if it was my first time having the venison. I told him it was my first time having the venison indoors, at a table with silverware and without gloves.
The two valets per shift pooled their tips because it would be unseemly to fight over the fanciest cars. Not that we could ever really tell who would tip well. The most bankable car for a “par” tip—Georgetown golfers had designed the scoring system—was the Chrysler LeBaron.
Everyone had a “best tip” story. Mine featured a guy who, when he handed over his keys, tore a $50 bill in my face, gave me half, and told me I would get the other half at the end of the night. I did, and some tape and one dimly lit convenience store later, I made change and went home happy.
Of all the tip stories I heard, Sean’s stands out. I didn’t work with Sean that night, but I trust Tom, the valet who did.
One night Sean retrieved a car while Tom chatted with its owner. Sean handed back the keys and received his tip. One thing valets do well is discreetly identify cash. As the car drove off, Sean realized he was holding a $100 bill.
“How’d we do?” Tom asked. “A hundred dollars,” Sean answered. “Unbelievable!” Tom exclaimed. But Sean disagreed. “It’s not right,” he said. “Look at that car. No way he meant to give us this.”
Sean sprinted after it. He caught the car three blocks away and explained the situation to the speechless driver, who hadn’t intended, and couldn’t afford, to tip so much. The driver took back the money, gave Sean a new tip and drove off.
Tom started in on Sean while he was still half a block away. “Well?” Sean affirmed that the $100 had been a mistake. “He tipped us, though,” Sean added, a faint smile on his face. “Three bucks.”
I’ve had many occasions over the years to think about that story. When the driver took back the $100, what should he have given in its place? What was the minimum to ensure Sean stayed on the high road the next time around? Every time I’ve considered it, $20 has always seemed right.
Only now do I realize the question is irrelevant. Only now do I know why Sean smiled. He wouldn’t even have minded getting stiffed. Sean had already made up his mind when he started running. His character wasn’t for sale.
The more I think about it, that’s the best tip I’ve ever received. Thanks, Sean.
Mr. Kerrigan is a partner at Hunton & Williams LLP.
KGC, Perhaps your husband is angry at himself for having misjudged the gentleman over a period of sixty years?
Mr. C is angry at his friend
lovely story Flatus. Thanks for sharing.
Begrudge someone who felt they actually had a candidate to vote FOR, at last, because they actually reflected their views? Wow. I thought liberals were supposed to be open-minded.
Dems need to buddy up to the fact that all of those Millenials who voted for Bernie aren’t dying off. They aren’t going away. They aren’t buying in to what the old guard is selling.
The Back Channel Blog that resulted from the rather ugly and infamous war here in 2008, has a page for Brian up that will be shared with his family should anyone care to visit. Several former friends still go there such as chef Sheila.
https://clistersbackchannel.wordpress.com/2017/07/17/brian-g-arens-1959-2017/
This is SC….were I to unfriend everyone who voted for Trump I’d have no friends……at least I get to watch as they twist in the wind of their vote……and occasionally laugh……
I wish we lived in Australia where voting was a responsibility, so no one could hide from voting. Then we would know exactly how the electorate votes…no regional crap, no suppression.
bw, amen to that. also am madder at those who didn’t vote than those who voted imo unwisely. they could have gotten off their lazy boys or down from their high hobby horses and written in someone if they didn’t like the ballot choices… somehow make an effort to keep this democracy alive.
meant to post this a couple of days ago… fascinating
wapo: These animals can survive until the end of the Earth, astrophysicists say
Tardigrades have a reputation as the toughest animals on the planet. Some of these microscopic invertebrates shrug off temperatures of minus 272 Celsius, one degree warmer than absolute zero. Other species can endure powerful radiation and the vacuum of space. In 2007, the European Space Agency sent 3,000 animals into low Earth orbit, where the tardigrades survived for 12 days on the outside of the capsule.
To a group of theoretical physicists, tardigrades were the perfect specimens to test life’s tenacity. “Life is pretty fragile if all your estimates are based on humans or dinosaurs,” said David Sloan, a theoretical cosmologist at Oxford University in Britain.
The tardigrade lineage is ancient. “Tardigrade microfossils are reported from the Early Cambrian to the Early Cretaceous, 520 million to 100 million years ago,” said Ralph O. Schill, an expert on tardigrades at the University of Stuttgart in Germany who was not involved with this research. “They have seen the dinosaurs come and go.”
[….article continues…]
It will be interesting to see the breakdown of Voter affiliations come 2018, as 2016 saw a rise in non-affiliateds. blueINdallas is correct: the Democrats should cultivate all fertile fields, especially if they are right there in front of them. Give the GOP props, they’ll use & exploit the “friendlies” if it is a means to an end.
🙁
Good article on vet suicides…….perspective
Article on Homeless Vets
What seems to work best?
The most effective programs for homeless and at-risk veterans are community-based, nonprofit, “veterans helping veterans” groups. Programs that seem to work best feature transitional housing with the camaraderie of living in structured, substance-free environments with fellow veterans who are succeeding at bettering themselves.
Government money, while important, is limited, and available services are often at capacity. It is critical, therefore, that community groups reach out to help provide the support, resources and opportunities that most Americans take for granted: housing, employment and health care. Veterans who participate in collaborative programs are afforded more services and have higher chances of becoming tax-paying, productive citizens again.
http://nchv.org/index.php/news/media/background_and_statistics/
I found a website when I searched for the cost of blood clot removal, but there are so many variables.
health.costhelper.com
Well – first day of PD at school. I have 2 days this week and 5 days next week. PD is an educational code word. It stands for personal development, but also means “works for free during summer break”.
At least it was good to get away from all of the Trump bullshit. It appears, as I was listening to the radio on the way home from my PD, that nothing – absolutely nothing – has changed.
Craig
Reminder: Will is on tonight. With luck no disemboweling but the swashing swords may buckle a bit.
We could do a Trailmix comparison. I’ve put most of mine out there but here’s the list
Approx $100 a month deducted from Social Security after decades of paying into Medicare
State of WA
$10 for primary care visit
$45 for specialist ( I have three but usually only one of them each month)
$75 ER Visit (Actual admission has a 20% copay up to a limited amount)
Medications extra support from state run about $30/mo for generics
Tests and diagnostics range from $0 to 20% again on a sliding scale
All in all darn good, but I can see for a younger family of four could be quite a burden but the state does support lower income enrollees and there is a chain of non profit clinics with sliding scales based on income.
https://www.insurance.wa.gov/region-two-individual-and-family-health-plans-2017
Jeffery Lord just uttered the most disgusting political analysis I have ever heard. He said all Democrats who might have taken campaign money from dreamers, the foreign born children who were brought to this country by their parents when they were very young, is the exact parallel to Trump taking money from Russians or any other foreign person or state. The panel on CNN and Anderson Cooper went crazy against Lord. Disgusting!
Trump base slipping? I really rather doubt it. After all these are the same pollsters who had Hillary with three hundred plus electoral votes. Humph!
eProf,
yes we made the move to WA. Am now very close to my son, his wife and grandson.All of us living in or near Gig Harbor.
Love the green, but miss the sunshine. Would add also that politically I am a better fit in Washington than I was in AZ.?
Jace, it is always good to be closer to family. Enjoy the ocean and sea food living in Gig Harbor. We lived in the the NW in Pullman, Yakima and Portland for 25 years. Love the areas but didn’t care for the weather. Had a lot of trouble living without much sunshine. No place is perfect think 119 in AZ. Close to family is best. Agree on the politics, too.
My portion of premium $152/mo (my employer pays much more of it than I do, but I can’t find the sheet at the moment)
Co-pay $40
ER $300
Rx $15 – $250 depending on the tier…if they will cover it.
So far, they have denied coverage on RX, so it doesn’t even apply to the deductible.
Therefore, “maximum out-of-pocket” doesn’t really exist.
Also, things that used to be covered with a co-pay, upfront, are now buried behind the deductible. If I hadn’t had access to physical therapy 5 years ago, I would not be walking now. Even then, they fought me on paying for it, but it was available without meeting the deductible…and I paid for many more sessions after my 20 max for each of the two-plus years in PT…and since they refused to acknowledge it beyond the maximum number of sessions, I paid more than my max out-of-pocket then, as well.
You just shouldn’t need the hassle of making sure your doc uses an in-network lab, etc. It’s ridiculous. My last doc had contract employees from an out-of-network lab drawing blood. So they would send it to the in-network lab, but charge me for the blood draw.
That’s a little thing, but when you hear about people having surgery and finding out the anesthesiologist wasn’t in-network, it’s a huge deal.
Why can’t they simplify all of this stuff?
Didn’t they require simplification of medical bills a few years ago?
It seems like they could do a lot for patients’ rights, if they cared.
BiD
My sympathies. A lot of those problems are unfortunately specific to TX. One of the nice things about Tacoma is that any doctor in your group has access to several different labs or imaging services so the patient can pick the one closest.
business insider ‘Hazardous tsunami waves are possible’ after 7.4 earthquake strikes off the coast of Alaska
Reuters) – A powerful quake of magnitude 7.4 struck in the northern Pacific Ocean between the tip of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands and Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, the U.S. Geological Survey said on Monday.
[….]
The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said “hazardous
tsunami waves are possible for coasts located within 300 km (186 miles) of the earthquake epicenter.”
Tsunami waves, however, were unlikely to reach Kamchatka’s eastern coast, some 500 km (310 miles) away.
The quake was followed by several aftershocks, including a couple above magnitude 5.0.