Dr. X's Free Associations

Reader Photos

Street art on a building next to Montmartre funicular (Paris) going up to Sacre Couer. Photo by Retriver.

The Twidiocy Continues

The U.S. Senate should switch to 51 votes, immediately, and get Healthcare and TAX CUTS approved, fast and easy. Dems would do it, no doubt!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2017

The rules aren't the problem. The problem is they haven't been able to line up 51 Republican senators to vote for passage.

A clarification on a presidential pardon

Some are saying that if General Flynn is guilty of a crime, and if he has knowledge that implicates Trump or Jared, all Trump has to do to stop Flynn from "flipping" is pardon him. Leaving all the "ifs" aside, the conclusion is incorrect.

If Flynn is guilty and poised to cut a deal that implicates Kushner or Trump, a pardon won't stop him from implicating them. If he's pardoned, he will lose his right to plead the Fifth. At that point, Flynn could be compelled to talk with investigators, participate in depositions and testify before congress or in court, if it comes to that.

And if Flynn were to lie after being pardoned, he'd be back to square one, in need of a deal again. Catching him in a lie would not be difficult because the FBI always holds back what they know, asking questions when they already know the answers so that they can charge a target with lying to investigators. Then they turn the screws real hard.

Surely pardons have been discussed with the president. There is no possibility that his lawyers have failed to explain this particular rock and hard place.

 

Pandhandler Sign

This afternoon,Kennedy Expressway Chicago, Armitage Ave exit:

Please help. I need money due to my own bad choices.

Our Liar-in-Chief

Trump complained to world leaders that difficulties opening golf courses in Europe influenced his EU views: report https://t.co/H13xIWLgHJ pic.twitter.com/afbzqi4CKx

— The Hill (@thehill) May 27, 2017

But he's highly critical of companies that invest abroad and countries that "steal" our money and jobs. One would think that making it difficult for American investors would make the EU a perfect international citizen.

Of course it's all baloney. Trump is a compulsive liar, a hypocrite and a man who thinks moment to moment without any larger, coherent worldview. The evidence is abundant: it's all about him and what serves him in the moment.

Recovering Drug Addict Assigned To Police Narcotics Unit With Predictable, Unfortunate Outcome

Fairfield, CT police detective, Stephen Rilling, was arrested for stealing heroin from the department evidence room.

Rilling, the son of Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling, was put on leave three years ago after he admitted to a drug problem and went to rehabilitation, according to the Connecticut Post. He was reassigned to narcotics unit after he returned.

Friday Night Music Drop

I posted the same piece played by Horowitz a couple of weeks ago. Martha Agerich's interpretation is also perfect, like everything she plays.

Cutest Video Of The Day

IMPORANT

There are 3 parts to @tabgeezy daughter's question series. She also wants to know who Barack Obama voted for 😭 pic.twitter.com/lX6s70KtBq

— Darian Symoné Harvin (@dariansymone) May 26, 2017

Fake But Funny

pic.twitter.com/mKGbplxZqq

— BrotherKolya (@ImperatorOfPuns) May 25, 2017

Carrier announces 632 jobs cuts at Indiana plant by the end of the year

Donald Trump on December 1, 2016 at a rally outside a Carrier plant in Indiana.

“So many people in that big, big beautiful plant behind us — which will be even more beautiful in about seven months from now — they’re so happy. They’re gonna have a great Christmas,” Trump said at his December 1 rally outside the Carrier plant. “That number’s going to go up very substantially as they expand in this area, this plant. So the 1,100’s [jobs] gonna be a minimum number.”

Reality:

Though Trump struck a deal with Carrier promising them $7 million in local business incentives if they kept their Indianapolis plant open, the heating and cooling company warned that it would still outsource a number of Indiana jobs to Mexico, regardless. But the Trump campaign still championed the deal as a win for American workers. This week, the Carrier announced it will cut 632 jobs from its Indiana plant by the end of the year.

This was expected at the time of the rally, but true to form, Trump presented a fiction to fans who seem unable to see through his transparent lies. He did not secure an agreement to save 1100 jobs, and he certainly didn't make an agreement that would lead to the plant's expansion. Carrier was clear at the time: hundreds of jobs would still be outsourced.