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Donald Trump said the presidency has been “more work than in my previous life — I thought it would be easier,” which is a sentiment typically expressed by newly made Mafia capos or teenaged parents. John Kasich said we need to “eradicate” North Korea’s leadership but refused to say anything more on the matter, presumably because he needed to go slather mud on his face, bite a combat knife with his teeth and slowly submerge himself into a lagoon near the DMZ. And Milo Yiannopoulos is starting an “ugly for-profit troll circus,” though considering the New York Times sent out a push notification today advertising an essay by a climate change denier, we’re pretty sure Milo’s late to the party. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Friday, April 28th, 2017:
CAN FIRMLY KICKED - Sources close to the road say the can has relocated a modest distance. Matt Fuller: “Still lacking an agreement on an omnibus spending deal to keep the government open, Congress passed a one-week funding measure on Friday so that Republicans and Democrats could continue negotiations…. Republicans were also hoping that passing an omnibus deal this week would allow President Donald Trump to tout the agreement as an accomplishment in his first 100 days, even if there are hardly any wins in the deal for Republicans. The House easily passed the bill by a vote of 382-30, and then the Senate passed it by voice vote later Friday afternoon. Now the stopgap bill moves to Trump’s desk for his signature before midnight to avoid a government shutdown. With the extra time gained and barring any unexpected hiccups, lawmakers sound confident they can come to an agreement next week on legislation that will fund the government until October.” [HuffPost]
TRUMP MARKS APPROACHING 100-DAY MARK BY NOT CHANGING A SINGLE THING - Then again, if you’re going to behave in a wildly unpresidential manner, you might as well do so in a room full of overly enthused gun nuts that you voluntarily chose to enter. Amanda Terkel: “President Donald Trump warned attendees at the National Rifle Association’s annual convention on Friday that they probably won’t like the Democrats running for president in 2020. He used a derogatory nickname to specifically call out Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). ‘I have a feeling that in the next election, you’re going to be swamped with candidates, but you’re not going to be wasting your time,’ said Trump, the first sitting president to address the NRA’s convention since Ronald Reagan. ‘You’ll have plenty of those Democrats coming over and you’re going to say, ‘No, sir. No, thank you. No, ma’am.’ Perhaps “ma’am.” It may be Pocahontas, remember that. And she is not big for the NRA, that I can tell you. But you came through for me, and I am going to come through for you.’ The crowd booed when he mentioned Warren.” [HuffPost]
Our data team took a look at Trump’s first 100 days. And HuffPost’s J.M. Rieger made a video of what you see when you close your eyes at night in the Trump era.
At least we know Trump is capable of writing down his name. “On Day 89 of his presidency, Donald Trump set down his felt-tipped pen and did what he’s done most and best so far in his new job: held up a piece of paper he had just signed for news cameras to record for posterity. More than four dozen times since taking office, Trump has invited the media he regularly attacks to show off his distinctive cursive on a presidential document ― a document that, the vast majority of the time, has been completely unnecessary to accomplish the stated goal. Previous presidents have signed executive orders and memoranda. None appeared to be compelled to hold them up and show off their penmanship.” [HuffPost’s S.V. Date]
REPUBLICANS TRYING TO KEEP COAL COMPANIES FROM PAYING HEALTH CLAIMS - Hey, it looks like the GOP is finally down with government-sponsored health care! Laura Barrón-López: “Under a new measure being floated in the House, companies like Consol Energy would be able to shift their obligations to cover the health care costs of retired coal miners on to the federal government, which already pays for other retirees’ coverage. The measure, pushed by Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.), could jeopardize efforts to finalize a separate provision that would permanently fund health benefits for retired United Mine Workers. Those benefits, which pertain only to mine workers who worked for now-bankrupt companies, are set to expire in a matter of days. There remains a dispute over how to pay for a permanent fix. But the Murphy text, lawmakers warn, could complicate those already difficult negotiations as Congress tries to keep the government funded this week.” [HuffPost]
GORKA ON THE WAY OUT: REPORT - Just some news about that crypto-fascist who, you know, has been employed by the White House. Lachlan Markay and Asawin Suebsaeng: “The Trump administration is actively exploring options to remove controversial national security aide Sebastian Gorka from the White House and place him at another federal agency, multiple sources tell The Daily Beast. Two senior administration officials familiar with the situation say it is exploring a new role for Gorka elsewhere in the administration. Another said he has been entirely excluded from day-to-day policy-making at the National Security Council in the meantime. Gorka’s looming departure from the White House, which one of the sources described as imminent, comes amid mounting controversy over his involvement with a far-right Hungarian group notorious for its collaboration with the Nazi regime during the second world war.” [Daily Beast]
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PRESIDENT REALIZES HE’S PRESIDENT - It’s a shame the “*freeze frame*” meme is kind of old now, because this whole article is one big version of it. Stephen J. Adler, Jeff Mason and Steve Holland: “President Donald Trump on Thursday reflected on his first 100 days in office with a wistful look at his life before the White House. ‘I loved my previous life. I had so many things going,’ Trump told Reuters in an interview. ‘This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier.’ … More than five months after his victory and two days shy of the 100-day mark of his presidency, the election is still on Trump’s mind. Midway through a discussion about Chinese President Xi Jinping, the president paused to hand out copies of what he said were the latest figures from the 2016 electoral map. ‘Here, you can take that, that’s the final map of the numbers,’ the Republican president said from his desk in the Oval Office, handing out maps of the United States with areas he won marked in red. ‘It’s pretty good, right? The red is obviously us.’” [Reuters]
LEWANDOWSKI GRABBING WASHINGTON FIRMLY BY THE ARM - Kenneth Vogel and Josh Dawsey: “A firm co-founded by Donald Trump’s original campaign manager Corey Lewandowski appears to have been pitching clients around the world by offering not only policy and political advice, but also face time with President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and senior members of their administration, according to documents and interviews. A document provided to an Eastern European politician by an international consulting firm that Lewandowski co-founded this year promises to arrange ‘meetings with well-established figures,’ including Trump, Pence, ‘key members of the U.S. Administration’ and outside Trump allies.” [Politico]
BIPARTISAN GROUP WANTS TO TALK ABOUT WASHINGTON’S BEST ACRONYM: AUMF - Jennifer Bendery: “A bipartisan group of 46 lawmakers wrote to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Friday, urging him to schedule a debate on Congress’ role in authorizing wars ― and on the need for President Donald Trump to get their approval before he takes any further military action overseas. ‘It’s long past time for Congress to take responsibility for the war against ISIS by finally holding a debate and vote on whether to authorize any future military action,’ said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), a leading voice on the issue who signed Friday’s letter. ‘With his recent military strike against Syria, we are also declaring that President Trump must not undertake any new military operations without the approval of Congress,’ he said…. Today...Trump can use a 16-year-old war authorization to unilaterally take military action in Syria or anywhere else in the Middle East, if he can make the case that Islamic State or al Qaeda targets are there.” [HuffPost]
MEMBER OF CONGRESS DELIVERS 2017’S MOST INTENSE ‘NO HOMO’ - President Trump has had the effect of making us forget just how truly insane members of Congress can be. Curtis M. Wong: “A Texas congressman choked back tears at an event in Washington, D.C. this week as he begged God to forgive the U.S. for legalizing same-sex marriage. Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX) was one of 20 different members of Congress who spoke at the sixth annual ‘Washington ― A Man of Prayer’ event, held at the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall, on Wednesday night. He opened his remarks with a politically charged slant on the Lord’s Prayer, before pleading with God to forgive the country for the ‘sins’ of marriage equality and abortion, Right Wing Watch reports.” [HuffPost]
YIKES, JOHN KASICH - Philip Rucker: “In a discussion with reporters in Washington, Kasich evaluated the escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula and suggested that Trump devise a plan to swiftly eliminate North Korea’s leadership. ‘How do you deal with this? I think there might be a way, and that has to do with taking out the North Korean leadership,’ ‘Kasich said. He added, ‘I believe the best way to solve this problem is to eradicate the leadership. I’m talking about those who are closest to making the decisions that North Korea’s following now.’ Kasich stopped short of explicitly recommending that U.S. forces assassinate North Korea’s leaders, but what he described would be a military and intelligence exercise.” [WaPo]
DEMINT DEFIRED - Okay, not yet, but still. Nancy Cook, Kenneth P. Vogel and Eliana Johnson: “The controversial president of The Heritage Foundation, former Sen. Jim DeMint, may soon be out of a job, following a dispute with board members about the direction of conservative think tank, according to three people with knowledge of the situation.” [Politico]
THE NEW HAMPSHIRE LEGISLATURE IS THE REDDIT OF LEGISLATURES - This is almost too on the nose. Bonnie Bacarisse: “Last November, voters in New Hampshire’s Lakes Region re-elected to the state house of representatives a man who appears to be one of the secret architects of the internet’s misogynistic ‘Manosphere.’ The homegrown son of a preacher, 31-year-old Robert Fisher is a Republican who represents New Hampshire’s Belknap County District 9…. An investigation into Fisher’s online aliases found a trail of posts linking the lawmaker to the username Pk_atheist, the creator of The Red Pill — an online Reddit community of nearly 200,000 subscribers that promotes itself as a ‘discussion of sexual strategy in a culture increasingly lacking a positive identity for men.’” [Daily Beast]
BECAUSE YOU’VE READ THIS FAR - Here are a bunch of kittens.
MILO TO START FOR-PROFIT TROLL ENTERPRISE, THOUGH WE’RE PRETTY SURE THAT’S JUICERO - America’s foremost Alt-Right troll has a new business. Tina Nguyen: “Milo Inc., according to a press release, will be based in Miami, with a planned staff of 30. It will be in the business of what can be best described as corporatized trolling via live entertainment, with Yiannopoulos and his investors hosting events featuring right-wing talent. ‘The business of Madonna became touring,’ said Yiannopoulos in a phone interview, citing the artist’s deal with Live Nation. ‘I’m doing the same thing, but instead of signing up with Live Nation, I’m building one. I’m building it for libertarian and conservative comedians, writers, stand-up comics, intellectuals, you name it.’” [Vanity Fair]
COMFORT FOOD
- America’s 50 best independent bookstores.
- What it’s like to be the last player chosen in the NFL draft.
- Wow, this guy really wants to sell his ‘96 Suzuki Vitara.
TWITTERAMA
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