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Francisco 2.0

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But of course he did.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-takes-over-fourth-of-july-celebration-changing-its-location-and-inserting-himself-into-the-program/2019/05/10/40f428c0-733d-11e9-9eb4-0828f5389013_story.html?utm_term=.b2472d0ecac7

 

Quote

President Trump has effectively taken charge of the nation’s premier Fourth of July celebration in Washington, moving the gargantuan fireworks display from its usual spot on the Mall to be closer to the Potomac River and making tentative plans to address the nation from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, according to top administration officials.

 

 

Quote

The president’s starring role has the potential to turn what has long been a nonpartisan celebration of the nation’s founding into another version of a Trump campaign rally. Officials said it is unclear how much the changes may cost, but the plans have already raised alarms among city officials and some lawmakers about the potential impact of such major alterations to a time-honored and well-organized summer tradition.

 

Quote

Fireworks on the Mall, which the National Park Service has orchestrated for more than half a century, draw hundreds of thousands of Americans annually and mark one of the highlights of the city’s tourist season. The event has been broadcast live on television since 1947 and since 1981 has been accompanied by a free concert on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol featuring high-profile musicians and a performance by the National Symphony Orchestra.

 

Spoiler

The new event, to be called “A Salute to America,” will shift the fireworks launch to West Potomac Park, less than a mile southwest of its usual location near the Washington Monument. In addition to a possible address by Trump, the location may feature a second stage of entertainment apart from the performers at the Capitol, officials said.

The revised Independence Day celebration is the culmination of two years of attempts by Trump to create a major patriotic event centered on him and his supporters, including failed efforts to mount a military parade modeled on the Bastille Day celebration in France. The new event has become a top priority for new Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, who Trump tasked with the job three months ago, officials said.

The president has received regular briefings on the effort in the Oval Office and has gotten involved in the minutiae of the planning — and initially argued that the fireworks should be launched from a barge in the Potomac River, administration aides said. The president has shown interest in the event that he often does not exhibit for other administration priorities, the aides added.

“I think the president is excited about the idea, and we’re working hard on it, and I think it could be very, very meaningful,” Bernhardt said in an interview. “The president loves the idea, as probably all Americans do, of celebrating America on the Fourth of July, or thereabouts.”

Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), who chairs the House Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, said in an interview that she is concerned that Trump could polarize what is typically a unifying event for Americans.

“It’s not about any one president. It’s about how our nation came to be, because of a hardy band of brave men and women,” McCollum said. “It’s not about any one person, it’s about ‘We, the people.’ And if the president moves to make this about him, I think he will find the America public disappointed and angered by it.”

An official in the administration of D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said federal officials have informed the city government of potential changes to the Fourth of July celebration but that the logistics and cost of the altered format had not been finalized.

 The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly discuss preparations for the event, said the city was concerned about moving the fireworks and about the logistics of the president traveling to the Mall to address the crowds, which could cut off the flow of visitors to and from nearby Metro stations.

 “We have a lot of people come to the Fourth of July. Logistically, over the years, the kinks have been worked out,” the official said. “We don’t want to throw off what already works.”

The president’s idea for a Trump-influenced Fourth of July celebration began within hours of attending a lavish Bastille Day parade in Paris in 2017, former aides say. Before Air Force One took off to return from France, Trump came to the back of the staff cabin and laid out the particulars of a proposed military parade in Washington — down to the types of tanks that he wanted in the streets and the kind of aircraft he wanted to fly overhead.

The idea later shifted to become a Veterans Day-linked parade instead, before collapsing altogether last August as costs for the potential event ballooned. Trump blamed local officials in canceling the event.

Then, this past February, Trump announced on Twitter that Americans should “HOLD THE DATE!” on July 4 for a “Major fireworks display, entertainment and an address by your favorite President, me!”

There have been no public announcements since then, but federal officials are working furiously to adjust plans for an event that has been largely unchanged for at least two decades.

It is unclear whether the changes to the Mall celebration will increase costs for taxpayers. Launching the fireworks last year cost roughly $250,000, a figure that does not include the cost of security, portable toilets and fencing. The D.C. official said the city would expect the federal government to pay for any new costs incurred by changes to the celebration.

In justifying Trump’s changes, Interior officials argued that moving the fireworks launching site from the north and south sides of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool — where it has been located for at least 18 years — to West Potomac Park will allow for more visitors. 

National Park Service spokesman Mike Litterst said the agency typically has to close an area around the Reflecting Pool for about 10 days before the event, cutting off access to one of the Mall’s most popular sites.

Bernhardt said that, by altering the launch site, it would “be a significant expansion of space that’s available to watch the fireworks from the Mall.” 

“And we might even have some more surprises in store for the public, very very soon,” the secretary added.

Trump has sometimes featured fireworks at his political events, including at a campaign rally this week in Panama City, Fla. The Trump administration is also taking steps to expand fireworks celebrations elsewhere in the United States. 

On Tuesday, Bernhardt and South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem (R) announced they had reached an agreement allowing the Park Service to resume launching fireworks at Mount Rushmore in 2020. That practice, which began in 1998, stopped in 2009 after Park Service officials determined that a pine beetle infestation had heightened the risk of a forest fire igniting in the area.

“I am pleased to inform you that THE BIG FIREWORKS, after many years of not having any, are coming back to beautiful Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. Great work @GovKristiNoem and @SecBernhardt! #MAGA,” Trump tweeted on Tuesday.

Trump’s focus on Independence Day reflects a broader pattern of focusing on the details of projects important to him personally. He grew obsessed, for example, with the renovation of FBI headquarters in Washington, asking for building specs, floor plans and even furniture and carpet schemes, current and former aides said.

“He wanted to be the project manager,” said a former senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe Oval Office meetings. 

No president has participated in a Fourth of July celebration on the Mall in recent memory, usually celebrating instead at the White House. Ronald Reagan participated in a “Star Spangled Salute to America” at the Jefferson Memorial on July 3, 1987, which showcased an economic announcement, but the regular fireworks celebration happened the next day as usual. 

Reagan’s unveiling of an “Economic Bill of Rights” took place at 10 a.m., with the vice president, secretary of state and other members of the administration in attendance. The official White House diary estimated the crowd size at 10,000, though Reagan said it was half that. He later said that he “didn’t remember ever being hotter than I was on that platform in the sun.”

 

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“It’s a little bit of piling on when you have so many different things that you’re struggling against,” said Steve Nelson, the president of the Nebraska Farm Bureau. “Obviously, the trade issue is one of those. The weather is one of those.”

Lance Atwater, 29, who farms corn and soybeans near Ayr, Neb., escaped the worst of the flooding but said that he has seen prices for some of his crops plunge. Mr. Atwater, a Republican who voted for Mr. Trump, said he was eager for a trade deal but taking a wait-and-see approach on the president’s policies.

“He’s claimed that he’ll get these trade deals worked out and that it will be a better deal,” Mr. Atwater said on Friday as he hauled grain. “That’s what we’re wanting to see — see those results.”

Jerry Mohr, 66, a fourth-generation farmer who grows corn and soybeans near Eldridge, Iowa, said he was growing frustrated.

“I admire the president for wanting to make change,” said Mr. Mohr, a Republican who voted for Mr. Trump, “but now we need to perform.”

He said the president’s success in finalizing trade deals, as well as expanding ethanol production, would help determine what happens in next year’s election.

“If the president comes through on what he says he was going to do, it would be hard for him to lose,” Mr. Mohr said. “If he doesn’t, it’s going to be hard for him to win.”

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55 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

But of course he did.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-takes-over-fourth-of-july-celebration-changing-its-location-and-inserting-himself-into-the-program/2019/05/10/40f428c0-733d-11e9-9eb4-0828f5389013_story.html?utm_term=.b2472d0ecac7

 

 

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

The new event, to be called “A Salute to America,” will shift the fireworks launch to West Potomac Park, less than a mile southwest of its usual location near the Washington Monument. In addition to a possible address by Trump, the location may feature a second stage of entertainment apart from the performers at the Capitol, officials said.

The revised Independence Day celebration is the culmination of two years of attempts by Trump to create a major patriotic event centered on him and his supporters, including failed efforts to mount a military parade modeled on the Bastille Day celebration in France. The new event has become a top priority for new Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, who Trump tasked with the job three months ago, officials said.

The president has received regular briefings on the effort in the Oval Office and has gotten involved in the minutiae of the planning — and initially argued that the fireworks should be launched from a barge in the Potomac River, administration aides said. The president has shown interest in the event that he often does not exhibit for other administration priorities, the aides added.

“I think the president is excited about the idea, and we’re working hard on it, and I think it could be very, very meaningful,” Bernhardt said in an interview. “The president loves the idea, as probably all Americans do, of celebrating America on the Fourth of July, or thereabouts.”

Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), who chairs the House Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, said in an interview that she is concerned that Trump could polarize what is typically a unifying event for Americans.

“It’s not about any one president. It’s about how our nation came to be, because of a hardy band of brave men and women,” McCollum said. “It’s not about any one person, it’s about ‘We, the people.’ And if the president moves to make this about him, I think he will find the America public disappointed and angered by it.”

An official in the administration of D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said federal officials have informed the city government of potential changes to the Fourth of July celebration but that the logistics and cost of the altered format had not been finalized.

 The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly discuss preparations for the event, said the city was concerned about moving the fireworks and about the logistics of the president traveling to the Mall to address the crowds, which could cut off the flow of visitors to and from nearby Metro stations.

 “We have a lot of people come to the Fourth of July. Logistically, over the years, the kinks have been worked out,” the official said. “We don’t want to throw off what already works.”

The president’s idea for a Trump-influenced Fourth of July celebration began within hours of attending a lavish Bastille Day parade in Paris in 2017, former aides say. Before Air Force One took off to return from France, Trump came to the back of the staff cabin and laid out the particulars of a proposed military parade in Washington — down to the types of tanks that he wanted in the streets and the kind of aircraft he wanted to fly overhead.

The idea later shifted to become a Veterans Day-linked parade instead, before collapsing altogether last August as costs for the potential event ballooned. Trump blamed local officials in canceling the event.

Then, this past February, Trump announced on Twitter that Americans should “HOLD THE DATE!” on July 4 for a “Major fireworks display, entertainment and an address by your favorite President, me!”

There have been no public announcements since then, but federal officials are working furiously to adjust plans for an event that has been largely unchanged for at least two decades.

It is unclear whether the changes to the Mall celebration will increase costs for taxpayers. Launching the fireworks last year cost roughly $250,000, a figure that does not include the cost of security, portable toilets and fencing. The D.C. official said the city would expect the federal government to pay for any new costs incurred by changes to the celebration.

In justifying Trump’s changes, Interior officials argued that moving the fireworks launching site from the north and south sides of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool — where it has been located for at least 18 years — to West Potomac Park will allow for more visitors. 

National Park Service spokesman Mike Litterst said the agency typically has to close an area around the Reflecting Pool for about 10 days before the event, cutting off access to one of the Mall’s most popular sites.

Bernhardt said that, by altering the launch site, it would “be a significant expansion of space that’s available to watch the fireworks from the Mall.” 

“And we might even have some more surprises in store for the public, very very soon,” the secretary added.

Trump has sometimes featured fireworks at his political events, including at a campaign rally this week in Panama City, Fla. The Trump administration is also taking steps to expand fireworks celebrations elsewhere in the United States. 

On Tuesday, Bernhardt and South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem (R) announced they had reached an agreement allowing the Park Service to resume launching fireworks at Mount Rushmore in 2020. That practice, which began in 1998, stopped in 2009 after Park Service officials determined that a pine beetle infestation had heightened the risk of a forest fire igniting in the area.

“I am pleased to inform you that THE BIG FIREWORKS, after many years of not having any, are coming back to beautiful Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. Great work @GovKristiNoem and @SecBernhardt! #MAGA,” Trump tweeted on Tuesday.

Trump’s focus on Independence Day reflects a broader pattern of focusing on the details of projects important to him personally. He grew obsessed, for example, with the renovation of FBI headquarters in Washington, asking for building specs, floor plans and even furniture and carpet schemes, current and former aides said.

“He wanted to be the project manager,” said a former senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe Oval Office meetings. 

No president has participated in a Fourth of July celebration on the Mall in recent memory, usually celebrating instead at the White House. Ronald Reagan participated in a “Star Spangled Salute to America” at the Jefferson Memorial on July 3, 1987, which showcased an economic announcement, but the regular fireworks celebration happened the next day as usual. 

Reagan’s unveiling of an “Economic Bill of Rights” took place at 10 a.m., with the vice president, secretary of state and other members of the administration in attendance. The official White House diary estimated the crowd size at 10,000, though Reagan said it was half that. He later said that he “didn’t remember ever being hotter than I was on that platform in the sun.”

 

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12 hours ago, BrickHorn said:

If modern American Christians wrote the Bible, Jesus would save us from sin by slamming Judas in the face with a steel chair while Mary Magdalene was standing on the ring apron, distracting God.

You got me thinking...isn't it time we have a new millennium edition Bible?  I mean turn that fucker into a movie and people will forget about GoT real fast. 

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55 minutes ago, Bullneck said:

“If the president comes through on what he says he was going to do, it would be hard for him to lose,” Mr. Mohr said. “If he doesn’t, it’s going to be hard for him to win.”

LOL, this farmer is a legit dumbass.  When has Trump ever done what he said he was going to do?  It's his constant lying that landed him in the WH, because the dumbest of the dumb in this country bought in hook line and sinker.  Sorry losers, that's not going to change. 

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15 hours ago, Grade of D as in David said:

I find it incredibly hard to believe that he didn't know his ball was hit into the water. I play about a fifth as much golf as Trump and I know when I mishit a ball and have a pretty good idea if it is going to make it to the green or not. And that's me playing courses all over the place, not my home course that he's played literally thousands of times.

I suck at golf.  I used to play a lot, but I've always sucked.

One thing we always did, and I can't believe it's not universal practice, is make sure everyone in the group is playing a different ball, at least by number if not by brand.  

"What you got?  I'm playing a Titleist 4".

"I'm on Top-Flite 2".

"I'm playing Titleist too but mine are 1, so let's just make sure we don't get mixed up".

"My balls are bright orange, no problem there."  (Ahem.)

 

 

There is NO FUCKING WAY those guys were playing the same ball.  I guarantee Trump's had the White House seal if not Trump's face on it.  The caddie swapped the balls out and the kid got fucked.  His Dad had to explain on the way home that the President is a dirty cheating schmuck . . . "don't be like that, son, now you know what it feels like to be on the receiving end.  Just be honest, never cheat, and never act like President Donald Trump".

A "teachable moment" if you will.

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12 hours ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

this past February, Trump announced on Twitter that Americans should “HOLD THE DATE!” on July 4 for a “Major fireworks display, entertainment and an address by your favorite President, me!”

Odd that this story has shattered my complacence, but it has. Fascism and autocracy employ a lot of showbiz to claim legitimacy. 

You can't defy Pharaoh, he's a god! Look at the splendor! Look at the adoration of the mesmerized! 

This man must be humiliated by hands other than his own for once.

 

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1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

There is NO FUCKING WAY those guys were playing the same ball.  I guarantee Trump's had the White House seal if not Trump's face on it.  The caddie swapped the balls out and the kid got fucked.  His Dad had to explain on the way home that the President is a dirty cheating schmuck . . . "don't be like that, son, now you know what it feels like to be on the receiving end.  Just be honest, never cheat, and never act like President Donald Trump".

A "teachable moment" if you will.

yes, what you’re saying has already been confirmed in the article and on here. that wasn’t what our conversation was about. 

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13 hours ago, Bullneck said:

“It’s a little bit of piling on when you have so many different things that you’re struggling against,” said Steve Nelson, the president of the Nebraska Farm Bureau. “Obviously, the trade issue is one of those. The weather is one of those.”

Lance Atwater, 29, who farms corn and soybeans near Ayr, Neb., escaped the worst of the flooding but said that he has seen prices for some of his crops plunge. Mr. Atwater, a Republican who voted for Mr. Trump, said he was eager for a trade deal but taking a wait-and-see approach on the president’s policies.

“He’s claimed that he’ll get these trade deals worked out and that it will be a better deal,” Mr. Atwater said on Friday as he hauled grain. “That’s what we’re wanting to see — see those results.”

Jerry Mohr, 66, a fourth-generation farmer who grows corn and soybeans near Eldridge, Iowa, said he was growing frustrated.

“I admire the president for wanting to make change,” said Mr. Mohr, a Republican who voted for Mr. Trump, “but now we need to perform.”

He said the president’s success in finalizing trade deals, as well as expanding ethanol production, would help determine what happens in next year’s election.

“If the president comes through on what he says he was going to do, it would be hard for him to lose,” Mr. Mohr said. “If he doesn’t, it’s going to be hard for him to win.”

I’ve drank beer with 2/3rds of the people quoted in that article. If it’s from Reuters you there might be quotes from me elsewhere in the article.

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1 hour ago, RomaVicta said:

Odd that this story has shattered my complacence, but it has. Fascism and autocracy employ a lot of showbiz to claim legitimacy. 

You can't defy Pharaoh, he's a god! Look at the splendor! Look at the adoration of the mesmerized! 

This man must be humiliated by hands other than his own for once.

 

ISWTDT

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21 hours ago, henrygandorf said:

sad thing is - knowing how trump's employees are forced to act - there's a chance trump himself didn't even know the caddie switched the balls.  he has them all trained to be despicable monsters doing anything they can to prop him up, but he seriously may not know.  they have him convinced he's just good at something he isn't good at, because they're scared to death of how he gets when people tell him the truth.

from the ag down to the caddies.  it's all the same.  tell me i'm great or i'll find someone else.

It’s so sad that during the greatest economy in world history these people can’t find any other job than working for dotard.

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2 minutes ago, RPM said:

I predict a drop in his ratings after he sets Mount Rushmore on fire this July.

He would just blame it on South Dakota's lax regulations on not raking the forests surrounding Mount Rushmore, and the faithful will eat that shit up.

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44 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

It’s so sad that during the greatest economy in world history these people can’t find any other job than working for dotard.

so you know that scene in caddyshack where brian doyle murray is addressing all the caddies, prepping them for the day, and stuff - "i'm hearing a lot of complaints..blah blah, poor caddying, you guys wanna get replaced by golf carts?"  that whole thing?

saturday night live should do that exact same scene only for mar-a-lago, where all the caddies are getting ready for a day caddying for trump and all his goofball staff/administration/friends/putin.  in fact, i'm shocked they haven't already (maybe they have, i don't watch).  it would be hilarious.

i actually know a current writer (friend of a friend) maybe i'll email him.  i could write that sketch in 45 minutes.

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56 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

Unless the election doesn't matter after the fact.

At this point, nothing wouldn't surprise me.

I was thinking about that myself.  Democratic control of both houses would actually impeach him.

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27 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

He would just blame it on South Dakota's lax regulations on not raking the forests surrounding Mount Rushmore, and the faithful will eat that shit up.

Yeah, and they squandered all of their floodwaters by letting them run down the Mississippi.

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5 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

Well that makes no fucking sense

It makes a little sense. He’s admitting he won in part because he refused to reveal his tax returns to the voters which likely would have shown him to be a Russian compromised broke fraud. 

Trump lies constantly but he also inadvertently admits he’s a fraud and criminal all the time. This is just another example. 

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5 hours ago, TexEx15 said:

Stable genius is on a re-tweet warpath this morning.

I sincerely think that he is manipulating the prediction markets.  This is not the first time, he moved another market related to tweets by 90+ pts with another recent tweet storm.  I believe that there is more than enough volume to rake ~$20,000 on each weekly market prior to fees. And I think that you could potentially stack yes's and no's such that you could clear a 4-5x multiple on each weekly cycle in a single account.  There would be traceability and identities are not anonymous on predictit, but I think you could probably find a way around that if you had a million reasons.   

tweet1.jpg
tweet2.jpg

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You can’t say it’s time to move on and case closed while simultaneously constantly talking about the case that is supposedly closed. 

Because that’s the Olympic mental gymnastics the Trumpublicans are trying to pull off here... AGAIN.

They did it with the Dossier by calling irrelevant fake news but kept talking about it every day for years. 

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3 hours ago, RomaVicta said:

This man must be humiliated by hands other than his own for once.

 

It's impossible to humiliate smegma.  If you could humiliate this dipshit, his head would have exploded when Eric was born.  Or any number of Rudy G appearances in public, on his behalf of course, would have led to his sudden death. 

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7 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

One thing we always did, and I can't believe it's not universal practice, is make sure everyone in the group is playing a different ball, at least by number if not by brand. 

There is a much easier way to avoid any confusion on golf balls.  Just get a sharpie and make a couple marks. 

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5 hours ago, Anastasis said:

I sincerely think that he is manipulating the prediction markets. 

Jesus Christ, you and your "prediction markets".  Nobody gives a shit about those markets.  He can move the S&P 1% with a morning tweet which probably dominates the "prediction markets" by a factor of a million or more.  Come on, man.

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"Unprecedented help". He refused to testify and refused to answer questions about obstruction on his little take home test. He went off every day on twitter about the highly conflicted Mueller and the 18 angry democrats and the witch hunt. He also tried to fire Mueller multiple times. Hey thanks for the help dotard.

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