Trump lies about his Mexico deal

The things Mexico will do were mostly agreed on months ago. Trump lied again. I noticed that the headlines last night were general “Trump said…” instead of saying there was a deal. The media knows Trump lies and didn’t want to say there was a deal until they saw proof. Sad!

The deal to avert tariffs that Trump announced with great fanfare consists largely of actions that Mexico had already promised to take in prior discussions over the past several months. ⁦@shearm ⁦@maggieNYT⁩ https://t.co/YYzJ0djnVP
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) June 8, 2019

Why are media outlets perpetuating the myth that Trump struck a meaningful “deal”?

The two components — Mexican border security and some people waiting in Mexico during the adjudication of their asylum claims — are already happening pic.twitter.com/M82zef6MpH
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) June 8, 2019

As far as I can tell the Mexican standoff has ended, for now, pretty much along the lines of NAFTA/USMCA: Trump huffed and puffed, US business managed to convey the message that a trade war would be a disaster, and he basically caved while pretending that he won
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) June 8, 2019

Even though Mexico is committing to doing all the new things that the U.S. is saying Mexico will do (even though we know they can't or won't.) In other words, it's non-agreement to produce non-change and to accept-the-status quo to avoid implementing the insane tariff threat.
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) June 8, 2019

One of the thing that the media has not adjusted to after more than two years of Trump: He is much more likely to lie than tell the truth

There is no evidence that Trump struck a meaningful “deal on migrants”

And yet here is the headline pic.twitter.com/BjmDH4ii9u
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) June 8, 2019

FACT: The joint US-Mexico declaration, which is less than 500 words long, requires Mexico to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING it isn't already doing.

It is not a "deal."

It is a fig leaf to cover up Trump's humiliating diplomatic defeat
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) June 8, 2019

Trump’s negotiating style with a host of adversaries, real or perceived, is becoming eerily familiar in Washingtonhttps://t.co/JBc61KU4uu
— POLITICO (@politico) June 8, 2019

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed how President Donald Trump handled his latest trade and immigration talks with Mexico https://t.co/97kgDJ6xFr
— CNN (@CNN) June 8, 2019

As usual Trump made a threat (tariffs on Mexico) that he couldn’t fulfill (Congress was going to block him) and so he had no leverage with Mexico.

Mexico knew this, so they just committed to do things they were already doing. No breakthrough. No way to judge if they make good.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) June 8, 2019

Climate change is a major cause of migration from Guatemala

People are leaving Guatemala because crops are dying. Trump denies climate change and cuts off aid to countries where the migrants come from. This is only going to make the situation worse.

Eventually, this could happen within the United States as some areas become difficult to farm and live in because of climate change. Sad!

Great @NickKristof piece about the root causes of migration from Guatemala – hunger and climate change: ‘Food Doesn’t Grow Here Anymore. That’s Why I Would Send My Son North.’ https://t.co/kr3BhDSr4d #InvestInNutrition #AidWorks
— Chris Ford (@chrisford3000) June 6, 2019

An excellent piece by my 2019 win-a-trip winner, @MiaAArmstrong, from rural Guatemala about the consequences of the lottery of birth. I wish this spirit informed our immigration policy. https://t.co/8TD6B9GjUR
— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) June 7, 2019

.@NickKristof traveled to Guatemala to find out why so many are risking their lives to go to the U.S. He tells @Lawrence that drought is leaving many with little choice to migrate or starve. https://t.co/iZQ0TTBzwa pic.twitter.com/tfHRp3A9Fw
— The Last Word (@TheLastWord) June 7, 2019

Trump lies about NATO

It appears that Trump made up a quote from the head of NATO saying there wouldn’t be NATO without Trump. Trump takes advantage of the situation. NATO would not want to antagonize him since the US is its biggest contributor. Thus, Trump knows he can lie and get away with it. Sad!

Stoltenberg has regularly credited Trump for his part in pressing NATO members to spend more on defense, but he’s never said anything to suggest NATO wouldn’t exist without Trump. Statement from NATO official: pic.twitter.com/nHTIkcYg6A
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 7, 2019

Trump said the head of NATO credited him with possibly saving NATO.

I know this will come as a shock, but this doesn't appear to have happened.https://t.co/X2k2QVZCXp
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) June 7, 2019

Why were Eric Trump and Don, Jr. on the trip to Europe?

Trump said they would run the businesses. They had no business being on a government trip. What a sleazy family.

NEW: "These boys were on a holiday": Trump family members promote themselves, and businesses, on European trip, my latest with @ToluseO & @amandafbelfast https://t.co/MzZ4mmI28E
— David Nakamura (@DavidNakamura) June 6, 2019

Grifters Eric and Don, Jr. work hard as bag men for their father — bagging emoluments all over the world.
Impeachment is the most obvious way to put a stop to this insanity.https://t.co/uudvH1UPBr # via @HuffPostPol
— Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) June 7, 2019

"But as royal families go, the Trumps aren’t the Windsors. Or the Bushes. Or the Kennedys. Or the Kardashians, even. The Trumps are more like the Habsburgs— " @MollyJongFast https://t.co/5dr0tDGen7 via @BulwarkOnline
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) June 7, 2019

Spokesperson for Donald Trump Jr. tells WaPo this morning: “Don paid for the trip out of pocket. Paid for his own hotels, meals and flew commercial to and from Europe.” WH declined our requests for comment two separate times yesterday. https://t.co/DOKtWbayMq
— David Nakamura (@DavidNakamura) June 7, 2019

Trump reportedly insisted on surveying his Doonbeg golf course in Marine One. Because it’s totally normal for the president to use taxpayer money to survey a golf course he still profits from while on a diplomatic visit.https://t.co/AjKYsQ8CCI
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) June 7, 2019

Trump’s adult children joined him on his trip to Buckingham Palace, his golf course in Ireland and at the D-Day ceremony in FR, where Don Jr. & Eric sat in the 2nd row while some senior White House staffers initially were asked to watch from the sidelineshttps://t.co/2WMU6Hs1U2 pic.twitter.com/XQCmlAOwkY
— Michael C. Bender (@MichaelCBender) June 7, 2019

The White House rented out four limousines from an Irish funeral home for Trump’s two-day visit to the country for nearly $1 million https://t.co/vyYDqO5nji
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) June 6, 2019

Hannity’s hypocrisy

Hannity’s upset that Pelosi said Trump belongs in jail (which I agree with). However, the Trump cult has been chanting “lock her up” about Hillary Clinton for years. He’s a hyprocrite for saying it’s despicable for suggesting that a political opponent should be locked up.

Hannity says calls to jail Trump make U.S. "a banana republic." Let’s review his tapes on Hillary Clinton. https://t.co/cpOvBR7c4i
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 7, 2019

Sean Hannity actually just said this about Pelosi thinking Trump should be locked up: "She wants a political opponent locked up, in prison? That happens in Banana Republics. Beyond despicable behavior" pic.twitter.com/b14ASWIB0i
— Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) June 7, 2019

Trump, who encouraged rallies that chanted “lock her up” about his prior Democratic adversary even into last year’s midterm campaign, complains that his current Democratic adversary says he should be locked up.
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) June 7, 2019

Actually speechless. This man (Hannity) has to be some kind of dead-eyed sociopath to be able to say these words without a hint of irony or self-awareness. https://t.co/VcxWcdj292
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 7, 2019

The Magnificent Ambersons is on TCM tonight

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) was directed by Orson Welles. It’s on TCM tonight at 10:00 ET. RKO made major changes to the film before it was released and tacked on a happy ending. It’s flawed but still a great film with some magnificent shots and a terrific performance by Agnes Moorehead.

The Criterion Collection recently released it on Blu-ray and DVD. I haven’t watched it yet but Criterion always does a great job.

Tonight!—starting at 8:00 pm ET: @tcm airs a one-two of ALICE ADAMS and THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, the two novels in our new Booth Tarkington volume. Get prepped w/ our Moviegoer appreciation of AMBERSONS: https://t.co/w0bWQPCpBI (1/2) pic.twitter.com/RocNMfa96i
— Library of America (@LibraryAmerica) June 7, 2019

Join our live tweet tomorrow night for THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS (1942) and find out of Georgie Minafer gets his comeuppance. Film airs on @tcm at 10pE.#TCMParty ^JW pic.twitter.com/QNU41ZJdtx
— TCM Party (@TCM_Party) June 6, 2019

Brief review by Pauline Kael

DVR Alert: tiny word on a colossal movie, The Magnificent Ambersons, @tcm 10 P.M. (ET) tonight: https://t.co/6uuKvib4CS
— Richard Brody (@tnyfrontrow) June 7, 2019

Betamax VCR introduced on this date in 1975

Sony introduced the Betamax on this date in 1975. I bought the first Beta Hi-FI VCR for my 30th birthday in 1983. It cost about $750 (which would be $1890.86 in 2018 dollars). Sony had retrofitted an old-style model and it weighed 32 pounds. It had a wireless remote control but you could only program one event. VHS did not introduce HI-FI until 1984. Blade Runner and Apocalypse Now were among the first Beta Hi-Fi tapes released. In 1986, my house was broken into and the burglars took the VCR from the third floor to the first floor and left it there. Beta was already on the way out.

On May 10, 1975, Sony introduced the Betamax video recorder pic.twitter.com/1gKsEDsekz
— RetroNewsNow (@RetroNewsNow) May 11, 2024

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2020 census update

Analysis | How liberal groups are fighting the census citizenship question https://t.co/oKoVfrmXL4
— Todd Gitlin (@toddgitlin) June 4, 2019

The Justice Department issued a withering rebuke on Monday to assertions that a Republican political operative helped draft the department’s request to place a citizenship question on the 2020 census. “There is no smoking gun here; only smoke and mirrors.” https://t.co/w6C8lH7GaS
— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) June 4, 2019

New evidence shows that the Trump administration added the census citizenship question to restrict the political power of Latino communities.

We’re headed into court to argue that the government should be sanctioned for the false testimony it presented. pic.twitter.com/prVqzuOwuk
— ACLU (@ACLU) June 5, 2019

1. Last week we learned that a political operative that specializes in racial gerrymandering concocted the Trump administration's scheme to rig the 2020 census.

Who was paying him?

I followed the money and found the answer: the RNChttps://t.co/97847BzuKK pic.twitter.com/V1vRWovG9z
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) June 5, 2019

Hollywood portrait photographs

There was a great exhibit of these photographs at the Museum of Modern Art in 1980-1981.

More pictures of the exhibit are here.

I also recommend the books by John Kobal.

With the help of the most ingenious photographers in Hollywood, screen goddesses like Greta Garbo & Jean Harlow made the still portrait part of their artistry. Imogen Sara Smith dives deep into the history of these portraits & the stars they immortalized. https://t.co/NdwHlP4FB7
— Criterion Collection (@Criterion) June 4, 2019

Anti-Semitism is on the rise

I blame Trump for a large part of this. His bigotry has inspired white supremacists. Jew understand what a bigot Trump is.

The number of reported murders, rapes and robberies in New York is lower now than it was a year ago, city officials announced. But amid the good news, there was an outlier: Reported hate crimes are up 64 percent. https://t.co/ec7R1Fc0cn
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 5, 2019

The number of hate crimes in New York City jumped by 64 percent this year, officials said Tuesday, fueled by a major spike in attacks on Jews. @Tom_Winter @richschapiro https://t.co/IuZaSMOf0q
— NBC Investigations (@NBCInvestigates) June 4, 2019

Take time to learn about it: https://t.co/ebO3LYVo1S
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 25, 2019

“American Jews aren’t motivated by Israel. They are, however, greatly offended by anti-Semitism, whether it comes from the right or left, and will expect both political parties to drum out anti-Semites.” https://t.co/Qq01I0DA0K
— Mimi Rocah (@Mimirocah1) May 26, 2019