Knowing Your Audience

As we move through Month Three of the Trump Tantrum the NY Times continues the fun by dissociating from reality, or something. This self-help piece by Lesley Alderman seems timely yet unfocused:

The Year of Conquering Negative Thinking

Here’s a New Year’s challenge for the mind: Make this the year that you quiet all those negative thoughts swirling around your brain.

All humans have a tendency to be a bit more like Eeyore than Tigger, to ruminate more on bad experiences than positive ones. It’s an evolutionary adaptation that helps us avoid danger and react quickly in a crisis.

But constant negativity can also get in the way of happiness, add to our stress and worry level and ultimately damage our health. And some people are more prone to negative thinking than others. Thinking styles can be genetic or the result of childhood experiences, said Judith Beck, a psychologist and the president of the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy in Bala Cynwyd, Pa. Children may develop negative thinking habits if they have been teased or bullied, or experienced blatant trauma or abuse. Women, overall, are also more likely to ruminate than men, according to a 2013 study.

On the other hand, in social and/or political circles where status is elevated by victimhood, negative thinking may be the way to go. In any case, the reader revolt in the comments confirms that plenty of progressives have no intention of finding anything positive about the current environment.

Yet in a different story we actually find unexpected positivity and imagination from - please sit down - NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio. He is making the same point about Trump's son-in-law and key adviser that many others have made yet few progs seem able to embrace:

Jared Kushner Named Senior White House Adviser to Donald Trump

...

The scion of a prominent Democratic family active in New Jersey politics, Mr. Kushner showed few early signs that he would become a national political power player. A Harvard graduate, he is a lifelong Democrat, liberal on social issues. Like his ideologically limber father-in-law, he has donated to Democratic candidates.

Mr. Kushner’s appointment was greeted with relief by some liberals, including Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York, who views him as moderating influence in a Trump West Wing dominated by hard-line conservatives. “I respect him a lot,” Mr. de Blasio said when asked about Mr. Kushner on Monday. “I’ve known him for years and find him to be a very reasonable person.”

My goodness. Like Trump himself, or Mike Bloomberg, Kushner is almost surely a "cut taxes, cut regulation" Northeastern Republican who has no interest in the social conservative agenda. In the rest of the country, he would be considered a staunch liberal. Yet progressives will freak out by this appointment anyway, because Trump.

So negative.

Comments

[lurkersusie]

Appalled,

I know McCain isn't the leaker.
Who did he get the information from?

[Threadkiller]

Is this story more or less unsubstantiated than the Larry Sinclair limo story?

[henry]

it has less grounding in fact than sinclair... who actually was in a limo at one time.

[Appalled]

Daily Mail (per Deb) says some old Brit MI-5 guy who is now the business of doing oppo research. In other words, a political hack posing as a spy.

[Threadkiller]

Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump

Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to "leak" into the public. One last shot at me.Are we living in Nazi Germany?

[Beasts of England]

Exactly right, clarice. Lotsa skulls to be collected following this disgraceful series of events.

[the generallyistic deplorable rich]

Posted by: lurkersusie | January 11, 2017 at 10:07 AM-

McMuffin or Rick Wilson?

one of them gave him the document and McCain could then use his contacts to "verify" what was reported. then the hacks McCain passed the info to could then pass the docs to the media saying we received this information and are working on it ...

[Threadkiller]

Sinclair was run out of town by Biden's now dead kid. And, inexplicably, Biden was picked for VP after Sinclair was shut upped.

[Buckeye]

Ben Cardin proving beyond a doubt that the Democrat party is a party who not only believes government is your master but questions how any successful international businessman could ever understand how to apply their boot to the neck of their citizens.

I watched his theatrics. Everything but the kitchen sink.

Talk about dance, monkey, dance.

[lurkersusie]

McCain needs to go on the record and state
who gave him the document.

[Appalled]

This story (despite it being Politico) should interest this group:

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/ukraine-sabotage-trump-backfire-233446

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Thanks, Appalled.

So the Ukrainian mess spilled over to supporting Clinton.

[jimmyk]

I can't keep up, so maybe this is already old, but apparently CNN even fell for a fake "Trump sex video" that was actually from some Kanye West production that included a fake wax model of Trump:

Blue
‏@Tokidok

Now CNN supposedly has the #GoldenShowerGate video... except... the picture they tweeted was from Kanye West's "Famous" music video..

https://twitter.com/Tokidok/status/819138127696564225

This ought to be the end of CNN, but it won't be.

[the generallyistic deplorable rich]

looking at the memorandum feeds it doesn't look like the thing being fake is at the top yet ...

[Jim Eagle]

Appalled,

So your 10:17 Politico story is the reason that Tillerson just told Cardin that if had been SoS he would have used a military response to protect the Ukraine's southern border after the Russian annexation of Crimea?

Politico deals in more fake news than Buzzfeed.

[henry]

any news from the Tillerson follies?

[Dave (in MA)]

.

[DebinNC]

Conway on late night tv last night ... leaked memos
"Conway said late Tuesday that Trump was "not aware" of the two-page synopsis [that McCain received and passed on] that was presented as an appendix to the main intelligence report." ... Hopefully, we'll learn today what that means.

[henry]

OK Politico documents Ukraine helping Hillary, but claims without documentation that Vlad helped Trump more, all in one article.

Is that supposed to be balanced or something?

[Buckeye]

Beasts

If your still around, just wanted you to know I feel your pain.

FWIW, all the guys in Columbus that have any shot in the NFL are jumping ship.

Unfortunately, JT has no shot.

Urban needs to do more than simply reload.

[RattlerGator]

Julie Ponzi

Posted by: Clarice Feldman | January 11, 2017 at 09:59 AM

Brainiac, have I told you how much I love that woman?

[Beasts of England]

Thanks, Buckeye. I'm sure I'll be able to talk about it in a few weeks... :)

[the generallyistic deplorable rich]

what the hell is McCain trying to do-start World War 3?

good grief. maybe he could climb out of Soros' vest pocket for a while and get some fresh air.

[Willy]

I will wait and see if Trump has that skeleton in his closet. Many in power are fetishists. It's not, in itself a disqualifier. But some may find colluding with putin a mite treasonous.

I love Priebus..."it's garbage and not eveN true'

Lol

[Willy]

BoE. While you were away GUS was on fire. He was looking for your support.

[Beasts of England]

McCain is merely trying to eclipse Kasich as the biggest loser of this election cycle.

[the generallyistic deplorable rich]

I'll steal from buc-

>>>This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it.<<<

[Captain Hate]

I love it that McRINO and Blowhard Bernstein are attacking each other. Mutually assured marginalization.

And for all the whiners who miss Princess Maybee, she trusted that asswipe Tapper. Excellent judge of character imo.

[Old Lurker]

McCain was inserted into the smear pipeline because they knew he would love to be included in the first place and mostly so that, like the debate tactic of "appeal to authority", it would use what's left of McCain's creditably to bootstrap some into this comedy.

The old coot fell for it in an exquisite display of of the jujitsu use of the targets own momentum to destroy himself.

Let it be so.

[Clarice Feldman]

Wasn't that a fine summ up, AG?

So know we know what happened to Lucy Ramirez--she became an ex MI 6 agent working in the UK

[RattlerGator]

Iggy, I loved this comment by kingschitz that you responded to over at Wretchard's Belmont Club:

I'm shocked that no one has spilled much ink on what a real estate developer actually does and what lessons about power might be drawn from looking at the tick-tock of how, say, a Trump Tower gets built first and managed afterwards.

Too long for much discussion, but think of it as someone trying to navigate a world with more polarities than an asteroid belt: landowner, financiers of the land, zoning board, local, state and federal pols, especially if government subsidies are sought, contractors, unions, construction and permanent financing from banks, insurance companies, or the public markets, tenants, management companies---and none of these include the X-factor polarities: lawsuits, surprise environmental headaches, payoffs and bribes, a previously unknown Indian cemetery...and on and on and on.

Balance of power games? That's breakfast. The other 23 hours are spent preparing to ask and answer the same question:"What else ya' got?"

Exactly right, IMHO. The incredibly narrow take on intelligence so many have is remarkable. Example: my sister, the Penn grad; her best friend is a former classmate and now an M.D.

When we recently discussed the President-elect, this M.D. thought it somehow important to note that Trump transferred into Wharton. This was meant to dismiss his real intelligence. Really, I thought to myself? I then asked the natural follow-up and discovered she was completely unaware her hero Barack Obama transferred into Columbia.

It is often a tremendous advantage to have real candlepower when all around you, peers and non-peers alike, deem you deficient. Trump has consistently taken TREMENDOUS advantage of this truth since becoming a candidate for President.

May he continue to successfully do so as President.

[Captain Hate]

Btw Beasts, fuck that goofball Dabo; I still consider the Tide #1.

[Dave (in MA)]

Over at Ace, one of the headlines: "You Can't Spell Journalism Without J-I-S-M".

[Buckeye]

Soros needs to meet his maker. Soon.

[Willy]

'A world with more polarities than an asteroid belt..'

Now that's some funny stuff.

[Beasts of England]

Thank you, Captain. :)

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Donald Trump press conference live feed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV4DsSKkl7Q

Starts at 11:00 AM.

[Truthbetold5]

James Alefantis, is now reportedly under F.B.I. investigation for threatening a researcher in Texas.

http://bacaracka.com/bacablog/2017/01/james-alefantis-is-now-reportedly-under-f-b-i-investigation-for-threatening-a-researcher-in-texas/

[Captain Hate]

FWIW, all the guys in Columbus that have any shot in the NFL are jumping ship.

Unfortunately, JT has no shot.

Urban needs to do more than simply reload.

I don't get this; he was much more successful in Gatorland at getting guys to stick around. Football players are pretty much worshipped in Cowlumbus so that shouldn't be an issue.

[Buckeye]

Menendez tries to get the best of Tillerson.

Gets made looking like the lackey he is.

I doubt anyone on the committee will get over on Tillerson, cool as a cucumber.

[Captain Hate]

Beasts, this time Kiffin better be successful as a head coach if he expects to stay gainfully employed. If he fails there will always be a bigger fool to hire him as an O coordinator, but it won't be an A list program and he'll be kept on a very short leash.

[matt, deplore me if you must]

McCain is a senile old fool which has been evident since 2008. His ego is out of control and Trump offends him.

The talk of Russian influence is the worst sort of disinformatziya. Putin must be laughing his butt off at the sheer audacity and incompetence of these droogs trying to pervert democracy.

Obama has been doing his best to undermine Trump and tie his hands while the media is building to a crescendo of hysteria. Booker and Franken look like complete fools, and this is only hearing #1. We can expect the clown show to continue for a while.

I expect Trump will name his Supreme Court nominee the day after the Inauguration, which will cause further heads to explode in outrage.

One thing that we cannot doubt in his selections so far is their competence. Every one of them knows how to formulate a plan and execute.

And so the media loses more prestige and credibility; the Leftists are exposed further for the loons and statists that they are, and the rest of us sit back with a big tub of popcorn.

[Buckeye]

I don't get this; he was much more successful in Gatorland at getting guys to stick around. Football players are pretty much worshipped in Cowlumbus so that shouldn't be an issue.

CH, seems that the lack of stability in his coaching staff has had a lot to do with it.

[dublindave]

"I will wait and see if Trump has that skeleton in his closet. Many in power are fetishists. It's not, in itself a disqualifier"

Yeah, a Fetish is an object that solicits a sexual response.....I'm not sure hiring 2 young girls to piss in each others mouths qualifies as a "fetish". That's a perversion, albeit a truly abnormal and disgusting one.

The Queen of England now knows about this....how will he ever meet her or any of the other world dignitaries without this being at the forefront of their meeting....they're gonna have to wear gloves or something. Whatever hotel rooms he stays in will have to be bleached after he leaves.

And then there's the Whitehouse. Is he going to be 'Golden showering' the White house on a nightly basis? The Lincoln bedroom...etc

This is what happens when UR A RINE O

[Captain Hate]

Dance, monkey, dance.

[Dave (in MA)]

I see somebody's been hitting the poitín even earlier than usual today.

[henry]

duda, I wouldn't know what Sheldon will be up to.. he is a weirdo that RI sends to DC to get away from themselves.

[Beasts of England]

There were lots of rumors of Lane's indiscretions in T-Town, Captain. He was mentioned with everyone from coeds (likely) to wives of boosters (likely) to Saban's daughter (yikes), so football was not his primary passion.

The FAU job is an odd choice, but it may have been one of the few options he had. While I supported him at the Capstone, no one is shedding any tears now that he's gone...

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/trump-cites-nazi-germany-rejects-dossier-alleged-russia-dealings-n705586

Key parts of this story:

1.Russia says it is a complete hoax
2. Trump was NOT briefed on this or shown any documents.

Point#2 indicates to me that they wanted to ambush him with this. All senior management in the CIA should be arrested, except for whoever turns states evidence.

[Willy]

Lol matt.

I'm relaxing quite nicely, thx.

I bear no responsibility for the Red tide of angry frogs littering the DC landscape, so it's like a Saturday matinee. Popcorn and ICEES for me.

[Willy]

Duda: it's only perversion when not common practice. Many enjoy a salty dog on occasion, and Trump just likes to watch.

[henry]

Stock up on popcorn.

(not sure if this is a parody account, but don't care)

[Jim Eagle]

Tillerson now has to be an expert on reproductive rights worldwide. Wonder what ever happened to Islamic Terrorism and its impact on women's health or lack of it.

The Dems keep reminding everyone what their policy positions are and why they were rejected in November.

[Willy]

Dave: try to relax. your strength here is based on a light touch.

[Janet the expert]

This brouhaha shows how our politicians & "news" media spend their time.

McCain doesn't even know what allahu akbar means & he is shuffling around nasty rumors.

The MFM refused to dig into Obamacare & tell AMericans what was in the unread law...but they've got time to spread slanderous rumors & do TV segments on unverified gossip.

[henry]

Oh yeah, Trump killed Harambe, with FSB help, per the 35 pager.

[Beasts of England]

Does caviar give your pee a strong odor? Asking for a friend...

[Willy]

Is it Trump or pence presser? 20 minutes late and we get the stand in?

[Truthbetold5]

Smelling your friends pee, BOE?

[PD]

Given the way this press conferences started with a spokesman taking the media to task right off the bat, we're not going to see from a Trump administration the same kind of appalling silence we saw from W in the face of media lies.

[Stephanie despicable me]

Washington, D.C. ­– U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) released the following statement on recent news reports:

“Late last year, I received sensitive information that has since been made public. Upon examination of the contents, and unable to make a judgment about their accuracy, I [GIDDILY] delivered the information to the Director of the FBI. That has been the extent of my contact with the FBI or any other government agency regarding this issue.”

FTFHim

[dublindave]

Spicer looked really, really nervous....like he was going to pee himself.

Hope the Donald can contain his excitement.

[Dave (in MA)]

Didn't watch a nanosecond of Obama's speech, but the speech from his "hometown" didn't contain the words "murder" or "crime", according to a ctrl-F of the transcript.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Trump compliments the media who did NOT go with the fake story, and also hints the leak of the story might have come from intelligence agency, which he says would be disgraceful.

Now detailing the efforts with jobs and cutting cost overruns with F-35 and talks about drugs being not bid on and will change that.

[Threadkiller]

Peter Thiel – ‏@Thiel3X

#BuzzFeed, you saw what I did to Gawker. You are next.

[jimmyk]

This gives a whole new meaning to yellow journalism.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

TK,

That's a spook Thiel account.

Thiel would just go ahead and do it and not give warning. (I bet he is busy on the task right now, though.)

[Janet the expert]

I love that he uses the word "crap" to describe the phony story.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

spoof account

[Captain Hate]

So McRINO is trying to say he's not a "Maverick"? Just keeps getting better and better.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

HAHA! Going into what was IN the Podesta emails.

[Threadkiller]

A spoof account?

Ugh.. Sorry.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

TK,

I only know because several people pointed it out on another site.

Like I said, I bet Thiel is working on it, anyway.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Trump detailing how careful he is with the fact that you can be on camera, not just in Russia.

Also, points out he is a germaphobe. LOL!

[PD]

How would Trump's tax returns indicate anything about deals with Russia?

[Captain Hate]

Even TBT made me laugh; is this making America great already?

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Trump turned down a $2 billion deal with a guy in Dubai over the weekend.

Says legally he could have done it but it wouldn't look good.

[Porchlight]

I'm sure this was already linked, but here's the 35 page "dossier" (using this term makes MSM betas feel butch, much like "proxy war"):

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3259984-Trump-Intelligence-Allegations.html

No page numbers. Multiple fonts. Barely literate. Sloppy highlighting on the super-duper-important parts.

Truly, narciso is right - it's the TANG memos all over again, except Lucy Ramirez = Rick Wilson, and /pol/ started the whole thing.

[Porchlight]

PD, don't you know, tax returns tell you everything.

[Willy]

Audit? He's heard that before

Tax returns..heard that too.

But he thinks the conflict is over how valuable his time is (minutiae? )

He didn't like that question...gone now.

Best 10 minute presser EVAH!

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

This episode perhaps even more than Trump should scare the piss out of the idiot progs.
There's a new game in town and it's not one they can win.
They will actually have to start checking sources and not using the "oh, we were just publishing calumnies but it's ok because we disclaimed them as unsubstantiated."
With one blow the goofball Russian hacking to-do is detonated along with the fake news flippertygibbets.
When you can't trust your lying anonymous sources to not be lying on behalf of the guy you're trying to smear, who can you trust?

Oh, and of course it puts egg, again, on the face of the incompetent, politicized intelligence clowns.
Derek Flint and Matt Helm are deadand their mantle was picked up by Jerry Lewis and Fearless Fosdick.

[Beasts of England]

Wilson and McCain, so far - I guess McMuffin's fingerprints will surface shortly. What a bunch of maroons.

[Captain Hate]

I don't think I've ever had so much fun watching a bunch of simpleton gasbags destroy themselves.

[matt, deplore me if you must]

Are we dealing with another Howard Hughes, MM? Methinks not. Most of those Trump properties are sparkly, spotless clean. I wonder if that reflects his tastes?

When I traveled in the east Bloc and China I never, ever carried anything or did anything that could be construed against me. One doesn't do that in police states. I would imagine that Trump's security people were very paranoid when he visited Russia for that very reason.

He may get caught on someone's cell phone talking locker room trash, but I doubt he would go to the heart of the surveillance culture and do something stoopid.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

matt,

Stephen Molynieux said the idea that he would have 2 Russian hookers, putting himself at risk for blackmail from THEM (or public embarrassment by them selling their stories which would be quite likely) is just ridiculous.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

This is an impressive presentation by Trump's lawyer for the transfer of the business assets to Don and Eric.

By the way, the attorney is a WOMAN.

[Willy]

OUT! DAMNED SPOT!

LOL

[PD]

This is an impressive presentation by Trump's lawyer for the transfer of the business assets to Don and Eric.

Let's see how satisfactory it is to the Democrats. I will go out on a limb and conjecture that they'll move the goalposts and require of Trump things expected of no previous president.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

It takes a certain genius to produce a story that somehow manages to discredit even trolls who had not a scintilla of credibility to begin with.

Watching these shitbirds [hat tip DoT] twisting in the wind, not yet knowing what hit them is a kind of joy I thought had passed from the earth.
America is already great again.

[Porchlight]

Time for McCain to retire. It might actually happen.

[anonamom]

Agree. Must read from Ig last night:

https://pjmedia.com/spengler/2017/01/09/america-should-speak-softly-and-carry-a-big-stick-but-we-need-a-bigger-stick/

[Porchlight]

Watching these shitbirds [hat tip DoT] twisting in the wind, not yet knowing what hit them is a kind of joy I thought had passed from the earth.
America is already great again.

Just wanted to see that again.

:)

[henry]

PD, the Dems would only be satisfied if the assets were transfered to a couple charities. e.g. Clintoon Foundation and Jugears Library.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Attorney finished with her presentation and now Trump is back. I am glad he put the attorney in the middle of the press conference so that the reporters had to LISTEN.

[PD]

Trump not giving an inch on any question so far.

[DebinNC]

BOzo when asked by Lester Holt about the "intel" re Trump: "I don't comment on classified information" ... giving his presidential seal of approval re the authenticity to the bogus "documents".

[Willy]

SINGLE PAYER...

Only Nixon could have gone to China.

[Jim Eagle]

MM,

Not as ridiculous as Tim Kaine's grandstanding on climate science and global warming by citing the Columbia Journalism Review.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Repeal and replace Obamacare simultaneously.

Will be submitted as soon as his secretary is confirmed.

[Old Lurker]

What a breath of fresh air.