If we push trans students out of public schools they will be stuck homeschooled by toxic liberal households. We will never reach them with gods education unless public schools are super accessible.
There are multiple angles that could explain this, but I am willing to wait and see the actual angles she is going for.
I'm willing to extend a benefit of the doubt & say she doesn't hate transgender students.
That makes her a worse person judging by her actions; she knows & feels it is wrong, but chooses to agree with it anyway.
This is a very fair point. If she gave a shit at all, rolling the dice on Trump firing her, after having to send in his VP to get her confirmed, sounds like a reasonable risk. That shit would be embarrassing as hell, and would embolden more dissent from the Senate if they're sticking their neck out for nothing on these asshole nominees.
A fight over a draft order that would rescind protections for transgender students in public schools has erupted inside the Trump administration, pitting Attorney General Jeff Sessions against the secretary of education, Betsy DeVos.
Ms. DeVos initially resisted signing off on the order and told President Trump that she was uncomfortable with it, according to three Republicans with direct knowledge of the internal discussions. The order would reverse the directives put in place last year by the Obama administration to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms of their choice.
Mr. Sessions, who strongly opposes expanding gay, lesbian and transgender rights, fought Ms. DeVos on the issue and pressed her to relent because he could not go forward without her consent. The order must come from the Justice and Education Departments.
Mr. Trump sided with his attorney general, these Republicans said. And Ms. DeVos, faced with the choice of resigning or defying the president, has agreed to go along. The Justice Department declined to comment on Wednesday.
[...]
The draft also contains language stating that schools must protect transgender students from bullying, a provision Ms. DeVos asked be included, one person with direct knowledge of the process said. “Schools must ensure that transgender students, like all students, are able to learn in a safe environment,” the letter says.
[...]
That the Department of Justice civil rights enforcement is going to be gutted was already obvious, but I didn't expect DeVos to have an issue with an executive order trying to throw trans students under the states' rights bus.
It's quite possible DeVos is quite a sympathetic person. The issue is making her aware that you are an individual whose problems exist beyond the abstract. (Which isn't to say she's aloof, just sheltered from the rest of the world due to her wealth and status.)
Everyone is the hero of their own story. I have no doubt that DeVos THINKS she's doing good with her efforts and truly believes the experiences for-profit schools and charters create are superior to public. I don't outright think she has it in for anyone specifically, as this is likely her pet effort of "help the children" and when faced with the ugliness of removing a protection from any child, there's a knee-jerk reaction of "that doesn't feel right".
Just another case of people tied to Trump learning that this is real life and there are consequences and hard decisions.
Except at every turn she's fought to prevent those charter and for-profit schools from being held to the same standards and scrutiny that public schools are. If she believed they were superior wouldn't she welcome performance analysis to prove her point? I think she's far more concerned with undermining secular education and protecting their publicly funded cash cows.
No because she's against government regulating and doing things.
If we push trans students out of public schools they will be stuck homeschooled by toxic liberal households. We will never reach them with gods education unless public schools are super accessible.
There are multiple angles that could explain this, but I am willing to wait and see the actual angles she is going for.
I'm willing to extend a benefit of the doubt & say she doesn't hate transgender students.
That makes her a worse person judging by her actions; she knows & feels it is wrong, but chooses to agree with it anyway.
This is a very fair point. If she gave a shit at all, rolling the dice on Trump firing her, after having to send in his VP to get her confirmed, sounds like a reasonable risk. That shit would be embarrassing as hell, and would embolden more dissent from the Senate if they're sticking their neck out for nothing on these asshole nominees.
Yep. On the other hand, as someone mentioned up thread, they're the party of party-before-country.
I'm of the opinion that DeVos pushing back against this anti-Trans stuff is more motivated by her desire not to be blamed for it then it is a defense of Trans rights.
She just doesn't want to give another reason for people to hate her guts.
If we push trans students out of public schools they will be stuck homeschooled by toxic liberal households. We will never reach them with gods education unless public schools are super accessible.
There are multiple angles that could explain this, but I am willing to wait and see the actual angles she is going for.
I'm willing to extend a benefit of the doubt & say she doesn't hate transgender students.
That makes her a worse person judging by her actions; she knows & feels it is wrong, but chooses to agree with it anyway.
This is a very fair point. If she gave a shit at all, rolling the dice on Trump firing her, after having to send in his VP to get her confirmed, sounds like a reasonable risk. That shit would be embarrassing as hell, and would embolden more dissent from the Senate if they're sticking their neck out for nothing on these asshole nominees.
Yep. On the other hand, as someone mentioned up thread, they're the party of party-before-country.
Yeah, and they're already struggling. Tie on Devos, (effective) Nay on Carl's Sr.
I'm of the opinion that DeVos pushing back against this anti-Trans stuff is more motivated by her desire not to be blamed for it then it is a defense of Trans rights.
She just doesn't want to give another reason for people to hate her guts.
If that is the case, good enough for me. Assuming she actually followed through with pushing back, which it doesn't sound like she held her ground (assuming this is true at all).
Doing the right thing, even if it is because you're a coward, can have the same results.
We're not Peter at the pearly gates, progress is more important than the motives behind it. Any republicans who want to get behind impeachment or obstructing Trump in any way, even if it is for the weakass reason of just wanting to protect their seat, are still welcome.
I'd much rather a coward who sides with rights and justice, even for their own self interest, than a loud blowhard who sounds good on paper but does nothing when push comes to shove.
Obviously you can't build a stable society on unsupported progressiveism that will shatter with even a modest breeze; but sometimes you need a few lightweights to get things done. You can already see movements falling apart all over the internet, with factions arising in minority rights, women's issues, etc, who would rather turn their backs on support they deem to be of not sufficient orthodoxy. Now is not the time for resistance against what is happening to collapse because of a childish "No true Scotsman" debate.
Even if someone is willing to participate in accidentally making the world a better place, that should be fine. Should you rely on them, or reward them? No. But there is no reason to turn away their help, no matter how unintentional, when it works for a greater good for everyone, particularly when there are enough people to support the change once it is in place.
As a Michigan resident, I can safely say that the DeVos family loathes LGBT people. That's a 100% PR story.
Then who is the PR for? The anti-lgbt crowd releases PR for the rest of the anti-lgbt crowd, why would she try to convince folks that actually she's against a bathroom ban?
People are complex, it's OK to not like almost anything DeVos stands for while simultaneously acknowledging that maybe she took the right side in a fight for once.
Besides she's all about reducing government influence and regulation in schools, she could simply be opposing it on libertarian grounds instead of gay rights grounds.
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
Gubmint shouldn't be dictating who uses what bathroom, the Free Market will provide alternative schools that enforce the bathroom policy of consumer choice. She don't like LGBT, but she won't stand in the way of a school setting up shop to make a buck off them; or, alternately, one setting up shop to exclude them.
She was standing up for the "authoritarian" pro-LGBT position, though. That's what standing up for the old Obama EO means. There's no overlap to her stated positions.
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I ZimbraWorst song, played on ugliest guitarRegistered Userregular
As a Michigan resident, I can safely say that the DeVos family loathes LGBT people. That's a 100% PR story.
Then who is the PR for? The anti-lgbt crowd releases PR for the rest of the anti-lgbt crowd, why would she try to convince folks that actually she's against a bathroom ban?
People are complex, it's OK to not like almost anything DeVos stands for while simultaneously acknowledging that maybe she took the right side in a fight for once.
Besides she's all about reducing government influence and regulation in schools, she could simply be opposing it on libertarian grounds instead of gay rights grounds.
She gets to look slightly less like a cartoon supervillain and Sessions gets to look like the authoritarian conservative hardcase.
There is absolutely nothing in DeVos past actions, writings, or speeches that indicates she would take this position.
I think it's more like, "Guys, I've been all over the news and people hate my guts. Let's just put this off for a few months to give everyone some time to forget that I exist."
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VariableMouth CongressStroke Me Lady FameRegistered Userregular
I'm of the opinion that DeVos pushing back against this anti-Trans stuff is more motivated by her desire not to be blamed for it then it is a defense of Trans rights.
She just doesn't want to give another reason for people to hate her guts.
I don't really care if a representative does something because they think it's right in their heart vs the majority of their constituents think it's right in their hearts and they wanna be liked. as long as the right thing gets done.
of course here the right thing didn't actually get done so it doesn't much matter why she almost did it
edit - as far as I know she hasn't done anything to give us reason to think this was disingenuous. I don't feel the need to try and read her mind just to undercut the possibility of someone thinking she isn't a 100% piece of shit.
I'm of the opinion that DeVos pushing back against this anti-Trans stuff is more motivated by her desire not to be blamed for it then it is a defense of Trans rights.
She just doesn't want to give another reason for people to hate her guts.
I don't really care if a representative does something because they think it's right in their heart vs the majority of their constituents think it's right in their hearts and they wanna be liked. as long as the right thing gets done.
of course here the right thing didn't actually get done so it doesn't much matter why she almost did it
edit - as far as I know she hasn't done anything to give us reason to think this was disingenuous. I don't feel the need to try and read her mind just to undercut the possibility of someone thinking she isn't a 100% piece of shit.
Agreed somewhat.
She's come across as a shit person every time she's spoken in public, that "Return on investment" line in particular, but doing the right thing for the wrong reasons is still doing the right thing. Granted, she didn't actually DO the right thing here, but one of my few vague hopes for Trump's time in office is that he is so self-absorbed that he does things solely to make people applaud him. If we can somehow get through to him that pushing for infrastructure or single-payer or any number of other actual good things will cause his approval to skyrocket and he comes out and uses his vile huckster superpowers to support those things, then I'll consider that a net positive.
I think it's more like, "Guys, I've been all over the news and people hate my guts. Let's just put this off for a few months to give everyone some time to forget that I exist."
We have a winner! This plus discriminating against LGBT not being her key evil goal is why she pushed back. She's so unpopular with teachers and people in schools that she can't even meet with a representative or go in a school for a meeting, even in the heartland. Since her whole school choice thing would be a disaster for rural areas, and children old enough to know who she is hate her. She wants to focus on defunding public schools and making it not matter what federal bathroom policy is.
Biological gender identity laws and rules are a disgrace. They effectively are a law saying transgendered people can't exist, and since some people are born without a clear biological gender they are effectively laws outlawing certain people from being in public.
"That is cool" - Abraham Lincoln
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HakkekageSpace Whore Academysumma cum laudeRegistered Userregular
I think it's more like, "Guys, I've been all over the news and people hate my guts. Let's just put this off for a few months to give everyone some time to forget that I exist."
We have a winner! This plus discriminating against LGBT not being her key evil goal is why she pushed back. She's so unpopular with teachers and people in schools that she can't even meet with a representative or go in a school for a meeting, even in the heartland. Since her whole school choice thing would be a disaster for rural areas, and children old enough to know who she is hate her. She wants to focus on defunding public schools and making it not matter what federal bathroom policy is.
Biological gender identity laws and rules are a disgrace. They effectively are a law saying transgendered people can't exist, and since some people are born without a clear biological gender they are effectively laws outlawing certain people from being in public.
I wonder if one could get enough protesters together to block her from having access to any restroom she goes near.
There's no plan, there's no race to be run
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
I think it's more like, "Guys, I've been all over the news and people hate my guts. Let's just put this off for a few months to give everyone some time to forget that I exist."
We have a winner! This plus discriminating against LGBT not being her key evil goal is why she pushed back. She's so unpopular with teachers and people in schools that she can't even meet with a representative or go in a school for a meeting, even in the heartland. Since her whole school choice thing would be a disaster for rural areas, and children old enough to know who she is hate her. She wants to focus on defunding public schools and making it not matter what federal bathroom policy is.
Biological gender identity laws and rules are a disgrace. They effectively are a law saying transgendered people can't exist, and since some people are born without a clear biological gender they are effectively laws outlawing certain people from being in public.
I wonder if one could get enough protesters together to block her from having access to any restroom she goes near.
Ha, do it legally too by just having people always ahead of her taking up every stall.
Still, she's rich enough that she probably just has a special helicopter with a golden toilet that drops from a rope wherever she wishes to go.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has asked his aides to find ways to improve his media profile, a request that comes as U.S. diplomats increasingly worry about the direction of the State Department and whether their new boss has enough influence with President Donald Trump.
A State Department official said Tillerson’s aides have asked staffers at the agency to draft a paper laying out ways he can engage with reporters, who have been given almost no access to the new Cabinet member. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to share the information. The State Department’s press office did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment.
That Tillerson is asking for media advice suggests he is concerned about the perception that he is out of the loop on major foreign policy decisions being made by the Trump administration. It’s a perception that extends to the State Department as a whole, in part because the agency has not held its traditional daily press briefing since Trump took office more than a month ago, though on Wednesday it said it was exploring ways to expand access to that gathering when it resumes.
Some State Department officials are even wondering if the lag in nominations is a purposeful way for the White House to sideline them on foreign policy. Already at the White House, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, are believed to have tremendous influence on foreign policy decisions. And Trump is known to have largely ignored the State Department’s offers to brief him ahead of important phone calls with world leaders, some of which have gone awry.
That is all kind of horrifying but strikes me as absolutely correct given Trump's personality and behavior.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has asked his aides to find ways to improve his media profile, a request that comes as U.S. diplomats increasingly worry about the direction of the State Department and whether their new boss has enough influence with President Donald Trump.
A State Department official said Tillerson’s aides have asked staffers at the agency to draft a paper laying out ways he can engage with reporters, who have been given almost no access to the new Cabinet member. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to share the information. The State Department’s press office did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment.
That Tillerson is asking for media advice suggests he is concerned about the perception that he is out of the loop on major foreign policy decisions being made by the Trump administration. It’s a perception that extends to the State Department as a whole, in part because the agency has not held its traditional daily press briefing since Trump took office more than a month ago, though on Wednesday it said it was exploring ways to expand access to that gathering when it resumes.
Some State Department officials are even wondering if the lag in nominations is a purposeful way for the White House to sideline them on foreign policy. Already at the White House, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, are believed to have tremendous influence on foreign policy decisions. And Trump is known to have largely ignored the State Department’s offers to brief him ahead of important phone calls with world leaders, some of which have gone awry.
That is all kind of horrifying but strikes me as absolutely correct given Trump's personality and behavior.
I read another article on politico earlier, about how this went down during the campaign, and now in the WH:
President Donald Trump’s former campaign staffers claim they cracked the code for tamping down his most inflammatory tweets, and they say the current West Wing staff would do well to take note.
The key to keeping Trump’s Twitter habit under control, according to six former campaign officials, is to ensure that his personal media consumption includes a steady stream of praise. And when no such praise was to be found, staff would turn to friendly outlets to drum some up — and make sure it made its way to Trump’s desk.
Staff members had one advantage as they aimed to manage candidate Trump’s media diet: He rarely reads anything online, instead preferring print newspapers — especially his go-to, The New York Times — and reading material his staff brought to his desk. Indeed, his media consumption habits were on full display during his roller-coaster news conference this past Thursday, when he continually remarked on what the media would write “tomorrow,” even as print outlets’ websites already had posted stories about his remarks.
The article goes on to note that he's a nearly constant consumer of cable news, and prone to going off on Twitter about whatever he sees there. Thus, they did whatever they could to make sure the channels he watches, things they printed out for him, etc were full of good stories about him, so that he wouldn't jump on Twitter and fire back at everyone saying bad things.
The in-person touch is also important to keeping Trump from running too hot. One Trump associate said it’s important to show Trump deference and offer him praise and respect, as that will lead him to more often listen. And if Trump becomes obsessed with a grudge, aides need to try and change the subject, friends say. Leaving him alone for several hours can prove damaging, because he consumes too much television and gripes to people outside the White House.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has asked his aides to find ways to improve his media profile, a request that comes as U.S. diplomats increasingly worry about the direction of the State Department and whether their new boss has enough influence with President Donald Trump.
A State Department official said Tillerson’s aides have asked staffers at the agency to draft a paper laying out ways he can engage with reporters, who have been given almost no access to the new Cabinet member. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to share the information. The State Department’s press office did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment.
That Tillerson is asking for media advice suggests he is concerned about the perception that he is out of the loop on major foreign policy decisions being made by the Trump administration. It’s a perception that extends to the State Department as a whole, in part because the agency has not held its traditional daily press briefing since Trump took office more than a month ago, though on Wednesday it said it was exploring ways to expand access to that gathering when it resumes.
Some State Department officials are even wondering if the lag in nominations is a purposeful way for the White House to sideline them on foreign policy. Already at the White House, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, are believed to have tremendous influence on foreign policy decisions. And Trump is known to have largely ignored the State Department’s offers to brief him ahead of important phone calls with world leaders, some of which have gone awry.
That is all kind of horrifying but strikes me as absolutely correct given Trump's personality and behavior.
I read another article on politico earlier, about how this went down during the campaign, and now in the WH:
President Donald Trump’s former campaign staffers claim they cracked the code for tamping down his most inflammatory tweets, and they say the current West Wing staff would do well to take note.
The key to keeping Trump’s Twitter habit under control, according to six former campaign officials, is to ensure that his personal media consumption includes a steady stream of praise. And when no such praise was to be found, staff would turn to friendly outlets to drum some up — and make sure it made its way to Trump’s desk.
Staff members had one advantage as they aimed to manage candidate Trump’s media diet: He rarely reads anything online, instead preferring print newspapers — especially his go-to, The New York Times — and reading material his staff brought to his desk. Indeed, his media consumption habits were on full display during his roller-coaster news conference this past Thursday, when he continually remarked on what the media would write “tomorrow,” even as print outlets’ websites already had posted stories about his remarks.
The article goes on to note that he's a nearly constant consumer of cable news, and prone to going off on Twitter about whatever he sees there. Thus, they did whatever they could to make sure the channels he watches, things they printed out for him, etc were full of good stories about him, so that he wouldn't jump on Twitter and fire back at everyone saying bad things.
The in-person touch is also important to keeping Trump from running too hot. One Trump associate said it’s important to show Trump deference and offer him praise and respect, as that will lead him to more often listen. And if Trump becomes obsessed with a grudge, aides need to try and change the subject, friends say. Leaving him alone for several hours can prove damaging, because he consumes too much television and gripes to people outside the White House.
giant-sized man-babyPresidential.
Jesus fucking christ,
Does he walk around wearing fucking pampers, too? Seriously the level of micromanaging to deal with him is mindboggling.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has asked his aides to find ways to improve his media profile, a request that comes as U.S. diplomats increasingly worry about the direction of the State Department and whether their new boss has enough influence with President Donald Trump.
A State Department official said Tillerson’s aides have asked staffers at the agency to draft a paper laying out ways he can engage with reporters, who have been given almost no access to the new Cabinet member. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to share the information. The State Department’s press office did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment.
That Tillerson is asking for media advice suggests he is concerned about the perception that he is out of the loop on major foreign policy decisions being made by the Trump administration. It’s a perception that extends to the State Department as a whole, in part because the agency has not held its traditional daily press briefing since Trump took office more than a month ago, though on Wednesday it said it was exploring ways to expand access to that gathering when it resumes.
Some State Department officials are even wondering if the lag in nominations is a purposeful way for the White House to sideline them on foreign policy. Already at the White House, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, are believed to have tremendous influence on foreign policy decisions. And Trump is known to have largely ignored the State Department’s offers to brief him ahead of important phone calls with world leaders, some of which have gone awry.
That is all kind of horrifying but strikes me as absolutely correct given Trump's personality and behavior.
I read another article on politico earlier, about how this went down during the campaign, and now in the WH:
President Donald Trump’s former campaign staffers claim they cracked the code for tamping down his most inflammatory tweets, and they say the current West Wing staff would do well to take note.
The key to keeping Trump’s Twitter habit under control, according to six former campaign officials, is to ensure that his personal media consumption includes a steady stream of praise. And when no such praise was to be found, staff would turn to friendly outlets to drum some up — and make sure it made its way to Trump’s desk.
Staff members had one advantage as they aimed to manage candidate Trump’s media diet: He rarely reads anything online, instead preferring print newspapers — especially his go-to, The New York Times — and reading material his staff brought to his desk. Indeed, his media consumption habits were on full display during his roller-coaster news conference this past Thursday, when he continually remarked on what the media would write “tomorrow,” even as print outlets’ websites already had posted stories about his remarks.
The article goes on to note that he's a nearly constant consumer of cable news, and prone to going off on Twitter about whatever he sees there. Thus, they did whatever they could to make sure the channels he watches, things they printed out for him, etc were full of good stories about him, so that he wouldn't jump on Twitter and fire back at everyone saying bad things.
The in-person touch is also important to keeping Trump from running too hot. One Trump associate said it’s important to show Trump deference and offer him praise and respect, as that will lead him to more often listen. And if Trump becomes obsessed with a grudge, aides need to try and change the subject, friends say. Leaving him alone for several hours can prove damaging, because he consumes too much television and gripes to people outside the White House.
giant-sized man-babyPresidential.
Jesus fucking christ,
Does he walk around wearing fucking pampers, too? Seriously the level of micromanaging to deal with him is mindboggling.
That'll be in a couple of years, probably, when the incontinence sets in. (Not the verbal kind that he already has.)
The very fortunate and very rich - who are often one and the same - can go from infancy to senility without ever having to do any actual growing up in the middle.
We are all getting a demonstration of this, right now.
buuuuut we should get back to his Cabinet. Who, apparently, will now be competing for air time as well as face time, lest he forget they exist.
The man who directs our military, who speaks with foreign leaders, who speaks for America.
Is such an oversensitive manbaby that his handlers have to literally feed him nothing but praise and compliments, and shelter him from anything thats remotely negative or else he has temper tantrum and starts verbal diarrheaing all over twitter and in front of hastily called press conferences.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has asked his aides to find ways to improve his media profile, a request that comes as U.S. diplomats increasingly worry about the direction of the State Department and whether their new boss has enough influence with President Donald Trump.
A State Department official said Tillerson’s aides have asked staffers at the agency to draft a paper laying out ways he can engage with reporters, who have been given almost no access to the new Cabinet member. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to share the information. The State Department’s press office did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment.
That Tillerson is asking for media advice suggests he is concerned about the perception that he is out of the loop on major foreign policy decisions being made by the Trump administration. It’s a perception that extends to the State Department as a whole, in part because the agency has not held its traditional daily press briefing since Trump took office more than a month ago, though on Wednesday it said it was exploring ways to expand access to that gathering when it resumes.
Some State Department officials are even wondering if the lag in nominations is a purposeful way for the White House to sideline them on foreign policy. Already at the White House, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, are believed to have tremendous influence on foreign policy decisions. And Trump is known to have largely ignored the State Department’s offers to brief him ahead of important phone calls with world leaders, some of which have gone awry.
That is all kind of horrifying but strikes me as absolutely correct given Trump's personality and behavior.
I read another article on politico earlier, about how this went down during the campaign, and now in the WH:
President Donald Trump’s former campaign staffers claim they cracked the code for tamping down his most inflammatory tweets, and they say the current West Wing staff would do well to take note.
The key to keeping Trump’s Twitter habit under control, according to six former campaign officials, is to ensure that his personal media consumption includes a steady stream of praise. And when no such praise was to be found, staff would turn to friendly outlets to drum some up — and make sure it made its way to Trump’s desk.
Staff members had one advantage as they aimed to manage candidate Trump’s media diet: He rarely reads anything online, instead preferring print newspapers — especially his go-to, The New York Times — and reading material his staff brought to his desk. Indeed, his media consumption habits were on full display during his roller-coaster news conference this past Thursday, when he continually remarked on what the media would write “tomorrow,” even as print outlets’ websites already had posted stories about his remarks.
The article goes on to note that he's a nearly constant consumer of cable news, and prone to going off on Twitter about whatever he sees there. Thus, they did whatever they could to make sure the channels he watches, things they printed out for him, etc were full of good stories about him, so that he wouldn't jump on Twitter and fire back at everyone saying bad things.
The in-person touch is also important to keeping Trump from running too hot. One Trump associate said it’s important to show Trump deference and offer him praise and respect, as that will lead him to more often listen. And if Trump becomes obsessed with a grudge, aides need to try and change the subject, friends say. Leaving him alone for several hours can prove damaging, because he consumes too much television and gripes to people outside the White House.
giant-sized man-babyPresidential.
Jesus fucking christ,
Does he walk around wearing fucking pampers, too? Seriously the level of micromanaging to deal with him is mindboggling.
A recent Pod Save America was talking about this with Katie Couric and mentioning that it's actually really weird for other reasons too. Namely, where is the President getting all this free time to just wander about aimlessly? A normal president is pretty rigidly scheduled and busy as fuck. Trump appears to just randomly wander the White House with nothing to do, talking to whoever he meets and watching cable news. It's seriously fucked up.
In a very real sense I think, he acts like a stereotype of a monarch more then a president. He is the guy handing down the decisions on a whim with a swarm of courtiers (his Cabinet and other staff) basically swirling about him fighting for his attention and approval while he just kinda goes about doing not much.
It's also interesting that on top of the above, he also appears to want to have a great deal on control over even low-level staffing. This essentially leaves his Cabinet members with little real power other then being able to talk to Trump and influence him directly. They have Trump above them ready to override them with an EO at any moment or just straight up ignore them, as we see with Tillerson. And below them they have staff ready to do what Trump says.
+29
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Giggles_FunsworthBlight on DiscourseBay Area SprawlRegistered Userregular
must admit i'm surprised by the idea that DeVos would go to bat for Trans students. pretty much the exact opposite of what i would have expected.
It's not "going to bat" if you decide to strike out on purpose
or something
i don't know sports metaphors
but the point is that she bitched about it but it seems like she fell back in line
It actually sounds like she spent the limited political capital she had to get a provision in there to try and mitigate some harm and if she was a Dem everybody'd be cheering her on and saying it was the least she could do.
I still hold her extremely suspect but I am surprised and interested if maybe she doesn't have some character hiding under all that sheltered privilege.
Also has me a little optimistic about her dissenting with the worst elements of the Evangelicals in the future which could be really important. .
must admit i'm surprised by the idea that DeVos would go to bat for Trans students. pretty much the exact opposite of what i would have expected.
It's not "going to bat" if you decide to strike out on purpose
or something
i don't know sports metaphors
but the point is that she bitched about it but it seems like she fell back in line
It actually sounds like she spent the limited political capital she had to get a provision in there to try and mitigate some harm and if she was a Dem everybody'd be cheering her on and saying it was the least she could do.
I still hold her extremely suspect but I am surprised and interested if maybe she doesn't have some character hiding under all that sheltered privilege.
Also has me a little optimistic about her dissenting with the worst elements of the Evangelicals in the future which could be really important. .
If she was a Dem she'd still get a lot of heat for who she is and her actions, she might get some leeway since she didn't voluntarily join the cult that is the GOP. But it would be slight, not a get out of jail free pass.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has asked his aides to find ways to improve his media profile, a request that comes as U.S. diplomats increasingly worry about the direction of the State Department and whether their new boss has enough influence with President Donald Trump.
A State Department official said Tillerson’s aides have asked staffers at the agency to draft a paper laying out ways he can engage with reporters, who have been given almost no access to the new Cabinet member. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to share the information. The State Department’s press office did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment.
That Tillerson is asking for media advice suggests he is concerned about the perception that he is out of the loop on major foreign policy decisions being made by the Trump administration. It’s a perception that extends to the State Department as a whole, in part because the agency has not held its traditional daily press briefing since Trump took office more than a month ago, though on Wednesday it said it was exploring ways to expand access to that gathering when it resumes.
Some State Department officials are even wondering if the lag in nominations is a purposeful way for the White House to sideline them on foreign policy. Already at the White House, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, are believed to have tremendous influence on foreign policy decisions. And Trump is known to have largely ignored the State Department’s offers to brief him ahead of important phone calls with world leaders, some of which have gone awry.
That is all kind of horrifying but strikes me as absolutely correct given Trump's personality and behavior.
Hang on a second - it was customary for the State Department to give daily press briefings, but so far they haven't done ANY? And Tillerson and the State Department are being kept pretty much out of the loop entirely, let alone being consulted on stuff?
Why the fuck does he even have a cabinet, if he is not gonna use it?
I don't think I've fully processed that SecState wants more media exposure and his first thought wasn't hey maybe I should hold a press briefing. Jesus Christ.
Hey Tillerson, you're SecState of the most powerful country in history, if you want to increase your media profile talk to the fucking press about anything even remotely on topic.
What I'm curious about is why the State hasn't been making those press conferences. Is it under Tillerson's orders (unlikely), or Trump's and why? Does Trump feel threatened when other agencies do press conferences?
What I'm curious about is why the State hasn't been making those press conferences. Is it under Tillerson's orders (unlikely), or Trump's and why? Does Trump feel threatened when other agencies do press conferences?
I would guess Trumps team wants to control the message and actually wants to run all foreign policy out of the white house.
What I'm curious about is why the State hasn't been making those press conferences. Is it under Tillerson's orders (unlikely), or Trump's and why? Does Trump feel threatened when other agencies do press conferences?
Probably just because none of the new staff even knows that was a thing.
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This is a very fair point. If she gave a shit at all, rolling the dice on Trump firing her, after having to send in his VP to get her confirmed, sounds like a reasonable risk. That shit would be embarrassing as hell, and would embolden more dissent from the Senate if they're sticking their neck out for nothing on these asshole nominees.
No because she's against government regulating and doing things.
Yep. On the other hand, as someone mentioned up thread, they're the party of party-before-country.
She just doesn't want to give another reason for people to hate her guts.
Yeah, and they're already struggling. Tie on Devos, (effective) Nay on Carl's Sr.
If that is the case, good enough for me. Assuming she actually followed through with pushing back, which it doesn't sound like she held her ground (assuming this is true at all).
Doing the right thing, even if it is because you're a coward, can have the same results.
We're not Peter at the pearly gates, progress is more important than the motives behind it. Any republicans who want to get behind impeachment or obstructing Trump in any way, even if it is for the weakass reason of just wanting to protect their seat, are still welcome.
I'd much rather a coward who sides with rights and justice, even for their own self interest, than a loud blowhard who sounds good on paper but does nothing when push comes to shove.
Obviously you can't build a stable society on unsupported progressiveism that will shatter with even a modest breeze; but sometimes you need a few lightweights to get things done. You can already see movements falling apart all over the internet, with factions arising in minority rights, women's issues, etc, who would rather turn their backs on support they deem to be of not sufficient orthodoxy. Now is not the time for resistance against what is happening to collapse because of a childish "No true Scotsman" debate.
Even if someone is willing to participate in accidentally making the world a better place, that should be fine. Should you rely on them, or reward them? No. But there is no reason to turn away their help, no matter how unintentional, when it works for a greater good for everyone, particularly when there are enough people to support the change once it is in place.
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Even evil people can realize when something is going to look bad and distract from the more important work of demolishing public schools in general.
Then who is the PR for? The anti-lgbt crowd releases PR for the rest of the anti-lgbt crowd, why would she try to convince folks that actually she's against a bathroom ban?
People are complex, it's OK to not like almost anything DeVos stands for while simultaneously acknowledging that maybe she took the right side in a fight for once.
Besides she's all about reducing government influence and regulation in schools, she could simply be opposing it on libertarian grounds instead of gay rights grounds.
Gubmint shouldn't be dictating who uses what bathroom, the Free Market will provide alternative schools that enforce the bathroom policy of consumer choice. She don't like LGBT, but she won't stand in the way of a school setting up shop to make a buck off them; or, alternately, one setting up shop to exclude them.
She gets to look slightly less like a cartoon supervillain and Sessions gets to look like the authoritarian conservative hardcase.
There is absolutely nothing in DeVos past actions, writings, or speeches that indicates she would take this position.
OR
She does care, but not enough to stand up for them in any way, and is perfectly content to let them get steamrolled if ordered to.
...
Neither of these seems like good PR to me.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
I don't really care if a representative does something because they think it's right in their heart vs the majority of their constituents think it's right in their hearts and they wanna be liked. as long as the right thing gets done.
of course here the right thing didn't actually get done so it doesn't much matter why she almost did it
edit - as far as I know she hasn't done anything to give us reason to think this was disingenuous. I don't feel the need to try and read her mind just to undercut the possibility of someone thinking she isn't a 100% piece of shit.
Agreed somewhat.
She's come across as a shit person every time she's spoken in public, that "Return on investment" line in particular, but doing the right thing for the wrong reasons is still doing the right thing. Granted, she didn't actually DO the right thing here, but one of my few vague hopes for Trump's time in office is that he is so self-absorbed that he does things solely to make people applaud him. If we can somehow get through to him that pushing for infrastructure or single-payer or any number of other actual good things will cause his approval to skyrocket and he comes out and uses his vile huckster superpowers to support those things, then I'll consider that a net positive.
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It's not meant to be good PR to you.
Yeah its meant for the DC press, the same group that calls Paul Ryan a policy wonk.
"Devos sticks to her principals!" Is the copy they want even if its literally the opposite of what she did.
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We have a winner! This plus discriminating against LGBT not being her key evil goal is why she pushed back. She's so unpopular with teachers and people in schools that she can't even meet with a representative or go in a school for a meeting, even in the heartland. Since her whole school choice thing would be a disaster for rural areas, and children old enough to know who she is hate her. She wants to focus on defunding public schools and making it not matter what federal bathroom policy is.
Biological gender identity laws and rules are a disgrace. They effectively are a law saying transgendered people can't exist, and since some people are born without a clear biological gender they are effectively laws outlawing certain people from being in public.
Trump administration rolls back protections for transgender students
Well, it's official.
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I wonder if one could get enough protesters together to block her from having access to any restroom she goes near.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
Ha, do it legally too by just having people always ahead of her taking up every stall.
Still, she's rich enough that she probably just has a special helicopter with a golden toilet that drops from a rope wherever she wishes to go.
Please hold off on discussing this here, it needs a separate thread.
How the fuck can you justify this without relying on bigoted fear mongering? Hint, you fucking cant.
I just.. fuck. I can barely form words or a coherent train of thought cause of all the rage and bile that my brain is swimming in at the moment.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/donald-trump-rex-tillerson-state-235279
That is all kind of horrifying but strikes me as absolutely correct given Trump's personality and behavior.
I read another article on politico earlier, about how this went down during the campaign, and now in the WH:
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/trump-twitter-staffer-235263
The article goes on to note that he's a nearly constant consumer of cable news, and prone to going off on Twitter about whatever he sees there. Thus, they did whatever they could to make sure the channels he watches, things they printed out for him, etc were full of good stories about him, so that he wouldn't jump on Twitter and fire back at everyone saying bad things.
giant-sized man-baby Presidential.
Jesus fucking christ,
Does he walk around wearing fucking pampers, too? Seriously the level of micromanaging to deal with him is mindboggling.
That'll be in a couple of years, probably, when the incontinence sets in. (Not the verbal kind that he already has.)
The very fortunate and very rich - who are often one and the same - can go from infancy to senility without ever having to do any actual growing up in the middle.
We are all getting a demonstration of this, right now.
buuuuut we should get back to his Cabinet. Who, apparently, will now be competing for air time as well as face time, lest he forget they exist.
The man who directs our military, who speaks with foreign leaders, who speaks for America.
Is such an oversensitive manbaby that his handlers have to literally feed him nothing but praise and compliments, and shelter him from anything thats remotely negative or else he has temper tantrum and starts verbal diarrheaing all over twitter and in front of hastily called press conferences.
A recent Pod Save America was talking about this with Katie Couric and mentioning that it's actually really weird for other reasons too. Namely, where is the President getting all this free time to just wander about aimlessly? A normal president is pretty rigidly scheduled and busy as fuck. Trump appears to just randomly wander the White House with nothing to do, talking to whoever he meets and watching cable news. It's seriously fucked up.
In a very real sense I think, he acts like a stereotype of a monarch more then a president. He is the guy handing down the decisions on a whim with a swarm of courtiers (his Cabinet and other staff) basically swirling about him fighting for his attention and approval while he just kinda goes about doing not much.
It's also interesting that on top of the above, he also appears to want to have a great deal on control over even low-level staffing. This essentially leaves his Cabinet members with little real power other then being able to talk to Trump and influence him directly. They have Trump above them ready to override them with an EO at any moment or just straight up ignore them, as we see with Tillerson. And below them they have staff ready to do what Trump says.
It actually sounds like she spent the limited political capital she had to get a provision in there to try and mitigate some harm and if she was a Dem everybody'd be cheering her on and saying it was the least she could do.
I still hold her extremely suspect but I am surprised and interested if maybe she doesn't have some character hiding under all that sheltered privilege.
Also has me a little optimistic about her dissenting with the worst elements of the Evangelicals in the future which could be really important. .
If she was a Dem she'd still get a lot of heat for who she is and her actions, she might get some leeway since she didn't voluntarily join the cult that is the GOP. But it would be slight, not a get out of jail free pass.
Hang on a second - it was customary for the State Department to give daily press briefings, but so far they haven't done ANY? And Tillerson and the State Department are being kept pretty much out of the loop entirely, let alone being consulted on stuff?
Why the fuck does he even have a cabinet, if he is not gonna use it?
I don't think I've fully processed that SecState wants more media exposure and his first thought wasn't hey maybe I should hold a press briefing. Jesus Christ.
Hey Tillerson, you're SecState of the most powerful country in history, if you want to increase your media profile talk to the fucking press about anything even remotely on topic.
I would guess Trumps team wants to control the message and actually wants to run all foreign policy out of the white house.
Probably just because none of the new staff even knows that was a thing.