I can totally see Michelle setting up and running the Obama Family Foundation, focused mostly on domestic child welfare issues. Barack will pick up a faculty appointment somewhere (anywhere he chooses), which will give him an opportunity to write and run the occasional seminar. A faculty position in a law school would…

I think a lot of that normality comes from the fact that neither Barack nor Michelle grew up “with money,” and while they were both very successful before Barack became president, they were within the realm of “normal” wealth. That is, wealthy enough to decide to buy a play set and nice clothes, or to take a family…

And he only flew to HI once a year. Compare that to the cost of W’s regular flights to Crawford, and I suspect they’re close to even.

I have to clean out my closet.

I think the ultimate fuck you would be if Hillary and Bill attended, but all of the Dem members of Congress skipped it. Then you get the spotlight on Hillary against as she sits behind Trump, while the rest of the stands are largely empty.

Sadly, they are complaining that the Obamas donated at all. I made the mistake of reading comments on a Facebook post - it’s full of people insisting that the Obamas bought the swing set with public money* and therefore are not allowed to donate it.

Tickets are for seats at the swearing in ceremony, seats in the grad stands along the parade route, or to an inaugural ball. Each event is ticketed separately. Standing room on the Mall and along the parade route are free and open to the public (within constraints of security, of course).

Ha! I have the exact same “relationship” with a guy I met in Italy last summer. His wife is American, and her sister married his best friend/business partner. They run a fantastic restaurant, and we made polite small talk. He sent a friend request after I left a positive review on their Facebook page. His posts are…

I went to the circus once as a child. I was 11, and my mom and future step-dad decided it was time for me to meet him and his daughter (side note - much to my mother’s credit, I never met any of the men she dated before she met my step-dad, and I didn’t meet my step-dad until they were already talking about marriage).…

Self exams tend to find cancer that is already advanced and/or very aggressive, which means they don’t really save lives. They may move up a diagnosis by a few weeks/months, but the aggressiveness of the cancer usually means the slightly earlier diagnosis does change the outcome.

I agree, that’s actually the foundation of my point. There is a subset of voters who voted specifically for Trump - they are the ones who will be pissed off if/when he’s impeached, but they are not part of the regular R base, and Congressional Republicans don’t give a shit about them. The majority of R voters just…

I don’t doubt his inauguration. I fully expect him to take the oath of office. I also fully expect he will be out of a job within 12 months. He won without the Koch brothers, but he will not maintain the support of Congress without them (and others like them).

And for that matter, eggs are a by product of life for female birds. Chickens lay eggs like clock work, regardless of fertilization. I get the vegan stance on dairy - a cow left on her own will eventually stop producing milk, so there is an element of intervention/exploitation required to obtain milk for human…

His supporters don’t even represent a majority of Republicans. Many voted for him because it was a vote against Clinton, and they will happily support Pence/Ryan in 12 months.

For most Trump voters, and R is an R is an R. They are all interchangeable, and anyone is OK as long as they aren’t a D. I think the number of people who voted specifically to “drain the swamp” is far smaller than the media portrays. They are loud, but they are not deeply involved, and they aren’t really part of the…

I’m not watching. I’m going to clean out my closet.

There is a very large but quiet population of Republicans who voted for Trump but don’t actually like him that much. There were a lot of voters on the right who are not pro-Trump, but anti-Clinton. Those voters won’t be upset with an impeachment that leads to President Pence. A lot of the most ardent Trump supporters…

Yep, that’s exactly the kind of crap that will bring him down. He’s going to make the wrong tweet about the wrong company. A bunch of major donors (and probably members of Congress) will lose their shirts. Then the old-school Republicans will start maneuvering to get rid of him. The Tea Party wing likes Pence well…

I wonder if Comey said/did something that suggested he is compromised...

Trump will be sworn in as President, but I honestly do not think he will last long. The left hates him. The right only tolerates him at the moment because they still think he will rubber stamp anything they pass, but they see him as expendable, and will impeach him as soon as he becomes a greater liability than an…