The "Best" Trump Poll

Here's a week-long Twitter poll about Donald Trump's "best" words and "best" people that doesn't seem to have an obvious answer.

Vote:

Which is @realDonaldTrump's best and funniest joke?
'I have the best words'
or
'I surround myself with the best people'

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) November 2, 2017

A 'Total and Complete Vindication!' Poll

While yesterday's James Comey Senate testimony branding the current occupant of the White House a liar was seen by most as a bad day for Donald Trump, at least one person on Twitter took a contrarian view when he awoke at five this morning ... after almost two full days of social-media silence.

Which leads to this morning's @TrueBlueLiberal Twitter Poll question:

POLL: Which of these is the most likely primary source of @realDonaldTrump's "Total and Complete Vindication" tweet this morning?

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) June 9, 2017

The Final Match of The Untruthful Trump Tournament Has Been Set.

On March 16th we began with 16 Trump lies.  That was narrowed down by Twitter voters to 8 lies on March 20th, 4 on March 26th, and a few minutes ago Twitter funneled the Trump lies down to the final two.

The recent lie that President Obama had wiretapped Candidate Trump at his golden lair at the top of Trump Tower was beaten 57% to 43% by the original lie that brought Trump ridicule on the left and among people who respected facts, but political prominence among racists, nativists, and the illiterate, that President Obama wasn't born in the United States.

In the second semifinal match, his post-election lie that Hillary Clinton only beat him in the popular vote (65,844,610 to 62,979,636) because 3 to 5 million illegal aliens voted for her narrowly defeated (52% to 48%) his repeated denials of sexual assault and harassment from over a dozen women.

So here's your final match in The Untruthful Trump Tournament.

FINAL MATCH of The Untruthful Trump Tournament.
What's #LyingTrump's worst lie. His ur-lie about Obama, or lying about illegal alien voters?

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) April 1, 2017

You have a week to vote and share this question with your Twitter friends.

The Semifinals of The Untruthful Trump Tournament Have Been Set!

I could probably use the term F*nal F*ur if I wouldn't be in danger of being sued by the large corporation that makes billions off the actions of unpaid college athletes at this time of the year, so I'll just call this the semifinals of the tournament to identify Donald Trump's worst lie.

The quarterfinals saw four very lopsided wins.

In match one, his lie that Presient Obama wasn't born in the US got 81% while his lie that citizens of Jersey City danced on rooftops as the Twin Towers fell got 19%.
In quarterfinal match two, his recent lie that Obama personally wiretapped him in Trump Tower beat his claim that unemployment was as high as 42% under Obama by a margin of 79% to 21%.
Therefore, the first of two semifinal matches is:

Semifinal Match One of The Untruthful Trump Tournament.

Vote for One of #LyingTrump's Lies:

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) March 26, 2017

In quarterfinal match three, his lie about getting the most electoral votes since Saint Ronald Of Tampico was easily beaten by his lie that Hillary got votes from millions of illegal aliens by 68% to 32%.
Finally, in match four, his lie about thousands of Massachusetts Democrats being bussed across the border to New Hampshire to vote for Hillary was also eliminated by 68% to 32% by his repeated denials of sexual assault and harassment claims from dozens of women.
The second of two semifinal matches is:

Semifinal Match Two of The Untruthful Trump Tournament.

Vote for One of #LyingTrump's Lies:

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) March 26, 2017

Please vote in both contests to pick the finalists by next Saturday, April 1 (it's purely coincidental that these semifinals will be determined on the same day as the NCAA's F*nal F*ur).

Backup for @realDonaldTrump's wiretapping tweets

The FBI, Justice Department, and British intelligence may have all publicly denounced Donald Trump's early morning tweets about President Barack Obama personally wiretapping Candidate Trump at Trump Tower, but I discovered during a trip to the supermarket this afternoon that a major defiler of newsprint has joined Trump's friends at Fox & Friends in backing him up.

If it's in the National Enquirer -- the only publication the current resident of the White House allows next to his toilet -- it must be true.

Quarterfinals of The Untruthful Trump Tournament

In match one of the round of 16 that finished tonight, Donald Trump's lie about making Mexico pay for his idiotic border wall was beaten 52% to 48% by his lie that Barack Obama wasn't born in the USA.
In match two, his lie about New Jersey citizens celebrating the attacks on the Twin Towers on 9/11 beat his lie that Ted Cruz's father conspired in JFK's assassination by 66% to 34%.
So the first of four quarterfinal matches is this:

The Untruthful Trump Tournament, Quarterfinals, Match One.

Vote for One Lie:

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) March 21, 2017

In match three, his lie about crime rising under Obama was beaten 79% to 21% by his lie that true unemployment under Obama was actually as high as "42%" rather than under 5%.
In match four, his lie about Obama personally wiretapping Trump Tower beat his lie about having the largest inauguration ever by 72% to 28%.
The second of four quarterfinal matches is therefore:

The Untruthful Trump Tournament, Quarterfinals, Match Two.

Vote for One Lie:

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) March 21, 2017

Match five of the previous round saw his lie that he received the most electoral votes of any Republican since Ronald Reagan easily beating his lie about the media ignoring European terrorism by 75% to 25%.
In match six, Trump's untruth about millions of illegal votes for Hillary Clinton beat his whopper about America's low murder rate being the highest in 45 years 83% to 17%.
The third of four quarterfinal contests is:

Untruthful Trump Tournament, Quarterfinals, Match 3

He got the most electoral votes since Reagan or millions of illegals voted for Clinton?

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) March 21, 2017

In match seven of the round of 16, Trump's repeated denials of multiple credible sexual assault and harassment claims garnered 55% of the votes while his recurring tweet about the "failing NY Times" losing subscribers got 45%.
Finally, match eight saw his lie about busloads of Massachusetts voters flocking to New Hampshire to vote against him beat his untrue assertion that US taxpayers face the highest tax rates in the world by 60% to 40%.
So the final quarterfinal matchup is:

The Untruthful Trump Tournament, Quarterfinals, Match Four.

Vote for One Lie:

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) March 21, 2017

Please vote in all four contests before Saturday the 25th, when the two semifinal matches will be set.

The Untruthful Trump Tournament: A bracket without basketball

If the Rutgers Scarlet Knights don't make it to the NCAA tournament (which they generally don't), I don't pay any attention to March basketball. That's no reason to miss all the fun with brackets that much of America is engaging with today.

I just came up with sixteen of Trump's most famous and brazen lies and posted the following eight matches on Twitter. There are four days to vote in Round One. On Monday night I'll post Round Two (winner of Match One facing Match Two, Three facing Four, Five facing Six, and Seven facing Eight).

Untruthful Trump Tournament, Round One, Match One.

Pick One Lie:

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) March 17, 2017

Untruthful Trump Tournament, Round One, Match Two.

Vote for One Lie:

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) March 17, 2017

Untruthful Trump Tournament, Round One, Match Three.

Vote for One Lie:

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) March 17, 2017

Untruthful Trump Tournament, Round One, Match Four.

Vote for One Lie:

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) March 17, 2017

Untruthful Trump Tournament, Round One, Match Five.

Pick One Lie:
Most Electoral Votes Since Reagan? or Media Ignoring European Terrorism?

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) March 17, 2017

Untruthful Trump Tournament, Round One, Match Six.

Vote for One Lie:

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) March 17, 2017

Untruthful Trump Tournament, Round One, Match Seven.

Vote for One Lie:

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) March 17, 2017

Untruthful Trump Tournament, Round One, Match Eight.

Vote for One Lie:

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) March 17, 2017

Satori in the Supermarket

An awful epiphany rolled over me as I was on the checkout line with my lunchtime salad just now. If my local supermarket stocks Donald Trump's favorite newspaper every week, then some customers may be doing more than snickering over its ridiculous cover stories. Some people may actually be buying the National Enquirer and taking it home and opening it up. Even worse, some of those people may actually find its incredible stories credible.

Seen at a supermarket on September 8, 2016.

I have obviously been underestimating the level of stupidity surrounding us on a daily basis. I knew theoretically that many Americans claim to not believe in evolution or climate science or the need for using correct English spelling and grammar in conservative tweets; the Republican convention introduced me to a counterculture of reality-television duck hunters and other "celebrities" existing in a parallel cultural universe; I even half-believed that some people watch pro wrestling and NASCAR and the NFL as if they aren't fixed; but today it hit me on a gut level that there are even people who might look at this Photoshopped picture of Hillary Clinton* on today's checkout line and read (skim) the article about "Hillary's FULL MEDICAL FILE!" and believe its lies about her "3 Strokes, Alzheimer's, Liver damage from booze, and Violent rages," and one of those credulous readers might be Donald Trump. 

Millions of other gullible readers might be enthusiastic Trump voters ready to usher in the idiocracy on November 8.

_________

*Though today's Gaunt Hillary was last month's Fat Hillary.

Guess who the quote of the day is describing...

"His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him [or her] for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it."

Scroll

down

for

answer.








(Answer:
Surprisingly, this was not written about anyone currently running for President of the United States who is known for repeating big lies. It comes from the Office of Strategic Services Psychological Profile of Adolf Hitler written by Walter C. Langer during WWII. And no, it's no longer too early to raise the spectre of domestic fascism in the case of a candidate using nothing but lies, xenophobia, racism, and a cult of personality to build his campaign.)

A Modest Proposal for the Next Presidential Debate.

Despite the predictable Fine White Whine about liberal media bias from Reince Priebus and Ted Cruz and others, the real problem with the debate questions, whether on CNBC or CNN or Fox, is the lack of follow-up questions when questions are evaded or the answers are obviously lies. Even conservative commentator David Brooks pointed this out on PBS NewsHour on Friday:

"I think the questioners were not prepared for the brazenness of the lies. [...] there was a certain brazenness to it. And that’s been true of this year, that you — somehow, there is no political price."

So here's my proposal. If the network questioners can't keep up and do the research on the lies and follow up in real time, or are scared that they will be accused of being (gasp!) "Liberal" if they do so, the least we can ask for is instant on-screen commentary from Politifact.com or FactCheck.org:

Lies from a War Criminal. Eleven Years Ago Tonight.

President Bush Addresses the Nation  

The Oval Office 

March 19, 2003 10:16 P.M. EST

My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger. 

On my orders, coalition forces have begun striking selected targets of military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein's ability to wage war. These are opening stages of what will be a broad and concerted campaign. More than 35 countries are giving crucial support -- from the use of naval and air bases, to help with intelligence and logistics, to the deployment of combat units. Every nation in this coalition has chosen to bear the duty and share the honor of serving in our common defense. 

To all the men and women of the United States Armed Forces now in the Middle East, the peace of a troubled world and the hopes of an oppressed people now depend on you. That trust is well placed.

The enemies you confront will come to know your skill and bravery. The people you liberate will witness the honorable and decent spirit of the American military. In this conflict, America faces an enemy who has no regard for conventions of war or rules of morality. Saddam Hussein has placed Iraqi troops and equipment in civilian areas, attempting to use innocent men, women and children as shields for his own military -- a final atrocity against his people. 

I want Americans and all the world to know that coalition forces will make every effort to spare innocent civilians from harm. A campaign on the harsh terrain of a nation as large as California could be longer and more difficult than some predict. And helping Iraqis achieve a united, stable and free country will require our sustained commitment. 

We come to Iraq with respect for its citizens, for their great civilization and for the religious faiths they practice. We have no ambition in Iraq, except to remove a threat and restore control of that country to its own people. 

I know that the families of our military are praying that all those who serve will return safely and soon. Millions of Americans are praying with you for the safety of your loved ones and for the protection of the innocent. For your sacrifice, you have the gratitude and respect of the American people. And you can know that our forces will be coming home as soon as their work is done.

Our nation enters this conflict reluctantly -- yet, our purpose is sure. The people of the United States and our friends and allies will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of mass murder. We will meet that threat now, with our Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard and Marines, so that we do not have to meet it later with armies of fire fighters and police and doctors on the streets of our cities. 

Now that conflict has come, the only way to limit its duration is to apply decisive force. And I assure you, this will not be a campaign of half measures, and we will accept no outcome but victory. 

My fellow citizens, the dangers to our country and the world will be overcome. We will pass through this time of peril and carry on the work of peace. We will defend our freedom. We will bring freedom to others and we will prevail. 

May God bless our country and all who defend her. 

END 10:20 P.M. EST

Still shocking. 

Still awful.

Statistics Are Simple When You Simply Make Things Up

"Contrary to the President's constant disparagement of people in business, it's one of the noblest of human pursuits. The late Steve Jobs -- what a fitting name he had -- created more of them than all those stimulus dollars the President borrowed and blew."
--Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, 24 January 2012

Governor Mitch "Mr. Excitement" Daniels

In what was possibly the least charismatic appearance in a very long history of uncharismatic GOP speeches I've seen in my lifetime, Mitch Daniels droned the Republican rebuttal to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address last night.  The awkward reference to the meaning of Steve Jobs' name caught my attention momentarily because the Indiana Governor was obviously proud of his simplistic meaningless link between "Jobs" and "jobs".  But was there a grain of truth in what he said?  Of course not.

Click on the NPR Factchecking I heard on the radio this morning, or this New York Times blog entry from Paul Krugman, or this Truth Squad article from CNN.  The gist of all of them is this: Steve Jobs was a nice guy and Apple Computer is a successful corporation, but the statement doesn't even have a slight whiff of truthiness to it (though it will be accepted as the Fifth Gospel of the Bible by many GOPpers: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Mitch).  Apple has about 60 thousand employees (though it's not clear how many of them were added to the payroll since Barack Obama took office). The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the number of jobs added in the US due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 at between 1.4 million to 3.3 million.

If my simple math is correct -- dividing 1.4M and 3.3M by 60K -- we can see that the stimulus bill the GOP loves to condemn created the employment equivalent of 23 to 55 new Apples. Don't let Mitch Daniels' boring style lull you into thinking that he's more serious, or less of a liar, than the clowns who did decide to join the GOP Primary circus this year.

(Governor Daniels was previously the Director of the Office of Management and Budget under George W. Bush. How much did his obvious innumeracy add to the economic disaster of those eight years?)