President* Trump

[Vrede too]

I'm not biased, I get drunk on English beer and Scotch on St. Patrick’s Day.

[JTA]

I got pickled up on some wine

[k9nanny]

I got pickled up on some wine

Sicilian wine for me.
I've got a lot of Irish blood, even scattered me mother's ashes on the hill at Tara.

However, big however, I've got problems with St. Paddy and his minions. He was a bigot, an intolerant Christian who did his best to wipe out the native culture.

[rstrong]

However, big however, I've got problems with St. Paddy and his minions. He was a bigot, an intolerant Christian who did his best to wipe out the native culture.

In his defense, the natives had kidnapped and enslaved him for a decade. I'd be intolerant too.

When he escaped and made his way back to England, he found his own culture in a state of collapse and siege. The Romans had just pulled out leaving the locals at the mercy of the Angle and Saxon invaders with their own religions. He went back to Ireland as a missionary. Christianity disappeared in Britain for a few centuries.

Plus he didn't go in with an army. He went in as a lone missionary, and had to convince and convert *kings.*

There's an old saying, one I was guilty of repeating, "There's a glorious period of several centuries when the Church ruled society. Today we call it ... The Dark Ages."

As it turns out, this is pretty much the opposite of the truth. The Romans left behind written records and a great many stone and metal artifacts in Britain. Foundations, mosaics, tools, waterworks and more are still constantly being found. For the last couple centuries of their time in Britain they were a largely Christian society.

The Dark Ages begin when the Romans leave and the Angle and Saxons take over. Christianity disappears. More to the point, written history, stonework and most everything else that leaves a permanent mark disappears. Even the bronze age folks before the Romans arrived left more earthworks, coins, pottery and whatnot. It's called the Dark Ages because the historical record - more than just writing - goes dark.

Meanwhile St. Patrick's Christianity took hold in Ireland. They kept writing, and kept building with stone. Eventually they spread to northern Scotland and then south. The Dark Ages end when Christianity returns, bringing writing and stone construction and all the tools and trinkets that archeologists love.

[Vrede too]

... Trump reads poem written by Muslim Nigerian poet Albasheer Adam Alhassan, & ignorantly calls it "an Irish proverb." http://www.avclub.com/article/donald-tr ... n-p-252250 …

And at the same luncheon, Ryan makes a "golf" and "royalty" joke - apparently not knowing or forgetting that golf has a Scottish origin and the Irish aren't very fond of "royalty."
Idiots.

Fallon: Pence tried to ban the word "Gaelic".

[k9nanny]

I suppose one's personal leanings color one's views of St. Patrick. As a pagan myself, I cling to the "history" that fits my view.
At least the Romans, before they hightailed home, slowed the locals to practice their own religions. It was the Christians who destroyed or usurped the sacred sites all over Europe.

And there is this.

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/saint- ... -237436141

"The traditional story that Patrick was kidnapped from Britain, forced to work as a slave, but managed to escape and reclaim his status, is likely to be fiction.

"The traditional legend was instigated by Patrick himself in the letters he wrote, because this is how he wanted to be remembered.

"Escaped slaves had no legal status and could be killed or recaptured by anyone. The probability Patrick managed to cross from his alleged place of captivity in western Ireland back to Britain undetected, is small. “

In his own writings, Patrick claimed to have been abducted and brought to Ireland.

But Flechner says St Patrick likely became a slave trader to set himself up in Ireland as there was no monetary economy there and slave trading was the main basis for the economy.

Flechner believes Patrick very likely bought slaves in England and then used them to trade when he moved to Ireland. The new version of Saint Patrick’s life is certainly controversial, but Flechner says it is far more likely to be true than the legend.

[Vrede too]

Scarborough: Trump leaked his own tax returns as distraction
Don't know if he's correct, but it is a reasonable theory. Why would someone with access to the returns limit her/himself to 2 pages from a single remote year?

The white house reaction was so incredibly fast too, they released the numbers before the media could. Amazing how the audit excuse went out the window in a hurry.

It does feel staged, but I don't want to get all conspiracy.

YUUUGE coincidence . . . or not?

Exclusive: How 'The Apprentice' boosted Trump's 2005 income—and tax bill

... But that huge 2005 tax payment may have been an anomaly, with his tax bill inflated by earnings from “The Apprentice.” That income might have been taxed at the maximum rate—35% at the time—whereas Trump’s income from real-estate investments would have qualified for many deductions and offsets available to all commercial real-estate developers. In prior years, Trump used those generous real-estate tax breaks to lower his tax bill to 0.

So despite Trump’s big income-tax payment in 2005, it’s quite possible he paid much less in other years, as his income from “The Apprentice” dropped off. And if Trump’s large tax payment that year was an aberration, it would support speculation that Trump himself leaked the two-page summary of his 2005 tax return, to make it look like he paid more taxes in the past than he actually did....

[Vrede too]

Twitter is slamming Donald Trump after awkward press conference with Angela Merkel

Here comes today's least surprising news. *Insert long, exasperated sigh.*

President Trump is getting destroyed on Twitter after his extremely awkward press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

After refusing to shake the Chancellor's hand (help) and suggesting that they were both wiretapped by President Obama (please help), people had their Twitter fingers ready for Trump - and let's just say, they did not hold back.

Some men are threatened by powerful women. Some aren't.

The best part of this is Merkel looking at the audience like: "Can you believe this schmuck?"

Today we have a smart, level-headed and decisive leader in Washington, D.C.. Too bad she has to go back to Germany.

Merkel at WH press conference: "I've always said it's much, much better to talk to one another, not about one another."

Merkel's reaction sums up everyone's reaction to Trump's Tweets.

In summary, reporters ask Merkel important questions about trade and ask Trump if he regrets his ridiculous tweets. Yup, everything is fine.

Merkel and the German press just walked straight into Trump's house and BURNED IT DOWN.

The treatment of Angela Merkel by Trump illustrates why any head of state, whether an ally or not, will hesitate to meet with this WH.

... I'm sorry, Germany.

Merkel: A tale of three Presidents

Leader of the Free World #Merkel will head back to Germany&confer w/#NATO allies. #ComradeTrump heads to #MaraLago

Donald Trump will always be one of the most embarrassing things the United States has ever done.

@realDonaldTrump met with Merkel today, denied her a handshake. Very small of him.

More tweets and accompanying video and gifs at the link.

[rstrong]

"Donald Trump doesn't really care about domestic policy, he mostly cares about testosterone. He wants to increase funding for every program that seems manly, hard, muscular and ripped, like the military and armed antiterrorism programs. Indeed, the Trump budget looks less like a political philosophy and more like a sexual fantasy."
- David Brooks, in NYT column

[Vrede too]

Or compensation.

[JTA]

https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comme ... nt/df4awit

Republican voters meet to prepare Trump excuses

(AP) - Republican voters nationwide met Tuesday in a emergency effort to get their stories straight before the impending explosion of the Trump administration.

"Honestly, we thought we'd have more time," said Don McCrary, 67, Iowa Republican. "We've got to come up with something quick."

Republicans are scrambling to figure out a way to pass the buck on the disastrous Trump presidency but no consensus has been reached.

"Most of us want to blame it on Obama," said Kentucky Republican Gladys LeFurge. "But people might not buy it. We've blamed so much on him. Plus, blaming it on the black guy is such a cliche. George Soros is kind of old hat, too."

Other leading candidates for blame include Hillary Clinton, Planned Parenthood, "the Mexicans," and witchcraft. Calls to blame the complete destruction of the American way of life on rap music were met with derision.

"Nobody is going to believe Jay-C [sic] sold the government to the Russians," said one frustrated attendee. "It's almost like we don't have any good excuses at all."

[Vrede too]

The discussion below it is pretty funny and a little disturbing, too.

In reality, though, Trumpettes have agreed on a target for their blame:

What Trump and his supporters call ‘the deep state’

[Mr.B]

[Vrede too]

"It's @DonaldJTrumpJr trying to look like an outdoorsy, every man. Then you look at those brand new boots that have never been worn before"

[Mr.B]

"It's @DonaldJTrumpJr trying to look like an outdoorsy, every man. Then you look at those brand new boots that have never been worn before"

I bet he's worn them in his office.

[Boatrocker]

Or compensation.

Agreed the trumphole is tailor-made for his dumbshit base.

[rstrong]

Anne Frank Center Calls For Resignation of Trump Adviser Sebastian Gorka

Gorka is one of the Brietbarters that Trump took with him to the White House, where he serves as "counter-terrorism adviser." He's also a non-metaphorical Nazi.

[JTA]

You can always tell something important and possibly detrimental to Trump is about to go down based on the frequency of his tweets and finger pointing.

[Vrede too]

You can always tell something important and possibly detrimental to Trump is about to go down based on the frequency of his tweets and finger pointing.

Latest Trump Tweet:

What about all of the contact with the Clinton campaign and the Russians?

The contacts by either side are meaningless absent the Russians' illegal support for one side, Trump's, which was known about in July or earlier.

Also, is it true that the DNC would not let the FBI in to look?

Ask the FBI, moron, not Twitter.

Just heard Fake News CNN is doing polls again despite the fact that their election polls were a WAY OFF disaster. Much higher ratings at Fox

The polls predicted that Hillary would have a 2-4% national margin. She had a 2.1%, nearly 3 million vote margin and Trump only won with a total lead of 80K votes, within the polls' margin of error, in a handful of key states.

Also, much higher news ratings at ABC, NBC and CBS than at Faux Noise, and Faux Noise polls show that President* Trump's approval rating is as dismal as CNN's do.

President* Trump is a dishonest, deflecting pansy when reality doesn't go his way.

[JTA]

Lol. Comey officially confirms investigation into Trump campaign - Russia ties. Denies Trump's wiretapping claim as false.