John Oliver on Putin

There is apparently very good money in being a Russian dictator.

TPSG Favorite Instagram Pages

Galina Dubenenko
Valentina Grishko
Yuliya Ekaterinburg
Helga Lovekaty
Svetlana Bilyalova
Viki Odintcova
Silvia Caruso
Izabel Goulart
Dilya Diaz
C.J. Miles
Daria Shy
Anastasia Skyline
Rachel Cook
Jen Selter
Alena Bogdana
Nina Serebrova
Christy May
Katerina Kristall
Leanna Bartlett
Tori Son
Amia Miley
Rosie Roff

2017 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover

Trump Sachs

Remember that time Ted Cruz debated Donald Trump supporters about Wall Street?



I wonder what those Donald Trump supporters are thinking now?

2017 All MN NCAA Basketball Team

Here's my All-Minnesota Basketball teams for 2017.  Last year was a bit of a down year but it's trending upwards once again. I think this would be a pretty formidable team.

FIRST TEAM:
C-Reggie Lynch-Minnesota-Edina, MN (JR)
PF-Reid Travis-Stanford-Minneapolis, MN (JR)
SF-Amir Coffey-Minnesota-Hopkins, MN (FR)
OG-Marcus Marshall-Nevada-St Paul, MN (SR)
PG-Siyani Chambers-Harvard-Golden Valley, MN (SR)

SECOND TEAM:
C-Reed Nikko-Missouri-Maple Grove, MN (FR)
PF-Kyle Washington-Cincinnati-Champlin, MN (JR)
SF-Michael Hurt-Minnesota-Rochester, MN (FR)
OG-J.P. Macura-Xavier-Lakeview, MN (JR)
PG-Marshawn Wilson-Northern Illinois-Oakdale, MN (SO)

Previous Years: 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011

SNL on Sean Spicer

In fairness to Sean Spicer, it cannot be an easy job being the face of Donald Trump policies.

Statue of Liberty

"Give me your tired, your poor, 
Your huddled masses yearning to breath free, 
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. 
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. 
I lift me lamp besides the golden door."

Susan Rice

I trust Susan Rice's opinion on this topic.

Trump loves and trusts the military so much he just kicked them out of the National Security Council and put in a Nazi in their place.

— Juan, P.E. 🇺🇸🇵🇷 (@jrivera64) January 29, 2017

This is stone cold crazy. After a week of crazy. Who needs military advice or intell to make policy on ISIL, Syria, Afghanistan, DPRK? https://t.co/Mmyc139w3M

— Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) January 29, 2017

Pence may chair NSC meetings in lieu of POTUS. Never happened under Obama. UN Ambassador sidelined from Cabinet and Sub cabinet level mtgs.

— Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) January 29, 2017

Chairman of Joint Chiefs and DNI treated as after thoughts in Cabinet level principals meetings. And where is CIA?? Cut out of everything?

— Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) January 29, 2017

Samantha Bee on Women's March

Perhaps Samantha Bee should be on nightly.

George Orwell

From 1984:

"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. "
"And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became truth."

2016 Voter Turnout

Voter Turnout in 2016 was 55.4%

Donald Trump won the Presidency with 46.0% of the vote (vs 48.1% for Hillary Clinton).

Thus, Donald Trump won with 26.3% support of the voting public.

Of that 26.3%, many were former Obama voters who simply did not like Hillary Clinton.  Many were simply voting for a change agent.  Many were moderates with no strong ideological leanings.

That means 73.7% of the public did not vote for Donald Trump and many of those who did were not doing so for ideological reasons.

Yet, Donald Trump has selected the most right wing cabinet in U.S. history and has been espousing many policies that come right out of the far right wing playbook.  There has been no outreach whatsoever to the middle or to the left.

And people are surprised that there are already protests on the streets?

Pick Up Lines

Being perpetually single, I have used my share of pick up lines over the years, mostly unsuccessfully, so I usually go with a simple "Hi".  Needless to say that doesn't always work.  Playboy has some good ones though, I may need to try some of these:

1. 'I almost wore that tonight,’ referring to her blouse or dress. It’s simple, it’s funny and it’s not too aggressive.“
2. "Coffee?”
3. “‘You look so familiar.’ Then I list the places I may know her from while including details about myself. For example, 'Did you go to the University of Michigan? I was pre-med, but I think we did a play together.’”
4. “One time I was at a restaurant and I really liked my waitress. I asked if I could have anything on the menu. When she said yes, I asked her to stand on the menu. I ended up getting her number and we went on a date.”
5. “I met my girlfriend on OkCupid. My first message was, 'Can you please return the records you borrowed?’”
6. “You’re way out of my league, but I had say to hello before I left.”
7. “I know a freak when I see one.”
8. “Hi. I’m looking for a date to my sister’s wedding.”
9. (at a bar) “Can I buy you a house?”
10. “My name is Alex, and I don’t belong here.”
11. “'That Stanley Kubrick is really a genius, isn’t he?’ (Don’t laugh. It worked!)”
12. “’Damn, girl, you look like a strong, independent woman with agency and self respect. How YOU doin’?’ This is my own and it’s actually worked really well.”
13. “I kept crossing paths with her. The second time we were introduced I just said 'Hey.’ But the third time I said, 'Are you following me?’ To which she responded, 'I don’t think so.’ Then I said, 'Oh, I guess I must be following you then.’ Recounting this, it just now occurs to me how stalkerish that line sounds!”
14. “When I share glances with someone, I simply go up to them and say something like 'Hello. I’m Josh. I’ve enjoyed sharing glances with you. You seem very nice. Can I get your number and give you a call sometime?’ It never fails because it’s a gentleman’s approach.”

2020 Democrat Presidential Candidates?

Here's my early list to take on Donald Trump in 2020.  I feel like Dems will want a fresh face, so I suspect that we won't see another Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders run, and I also think Joe Biden's window has closed.  So with that being said, here is the TPSG Top 10 Potential Democratic Presidential candidate names to watch:

• Elizabeth Warren - The populists populist, she would play well in the rust belt states. 
• Sherrod Brown - A rust belt state populist with a strong following. 
• Cory Booker - Popular, charismatic, a populist, strong minority appeal. 
• Amy Klobuchar - A well respected, pragmatic liberal with bipartisan appeal. 
• Kirsten Gillibrand - Women and the LGBT community love her.  
• John Hickenlooper - Middle American Governor who legalized marijuana. 
• Andrew Cuomo - Governor of a large liberal state that is doing quite well. 
• Kate Brown - Her state has become a liberal petri dish and is performing well doing so. 
• Al Franken - Name appeal, sharp as a whip, not afraid to take people on.  
• Tim Kaine - He won a lot of fans in the 2016 campaign.  

I really like most of the names on this list, I would easily vote for any of them over Donald Trump in 2020.  Of the names above, I suspect that Warren, Brown, Booker and Klobuchar would have the edge, but if Kate Brown keeps Oregon humming along like she has, I think she could become a solid sleeper bet.  Mark Cuban is another name to watch, although nobody is quite sure if he's even a Democrat.  

How Republics End

Great column by Paul Krugman on Thursday.

". . . I couldn’t help noticing the contemporary resonances of some Roman history — specifically, the tale of how the Roman Republic fell.

Here’s what I learned: Republican institutions don’t protect against tyranny when powerful people start defying political norms. And tyranny, when it comes, can flourish even while maintaining a republican facade.

On the first point: Roman politics involved fierce competition among ambitious men. But ... “However important it was for an individual to win fame and add to his and his family’s reputation, this should always be subordinated to the good of the Republic … no disappointed Roman politician sought the aid of a foreign power.”

America used to be like that, with prominent senators declaring that we must stop “partisan politics at the water’s edge.” But now we have a president-elect who openly asked Russia to help smear his opponent..., the good of the republic be damned.

And what happens to the republic as a result? Famously..., the transformation of Rome from republic to empire never happened. Officially, imperial Rome was still ruled by a Senate that just happened to defer to the emperor ... on everything that mattered. We may not go down exactly the same route..., but the process of destroying democratic substance while preserving forms is already underway. ...

Why is this happening? ... And let’s be clear: This is a Republican story, not a case of “both sides do it.” ..., what directly drives the attack on democracy, I’d argue, is simple careerism on the part of people who are apparatchiks within a system insulated from outside pressures by gerrymandered districts, unshakable partisan loyalty, and lots and lots of plutocratic financial support.

For such people, toeing the party line and defending the party’s rule are all that matters. ...

One thing all of this makes clear is that the sickness of American politics didn’t begin with Donald Trump, any more than the sickness of the Roman Republic began with Caesar. The erosion of democratic foundations has been underway for decades, and there’s no guarantee that we will ever be able to recover.

But if there is any hope of redemption, it will have to begin with a clear recognition of how bad things are. American democracy is very much on the edge."

Full column here.

Seth Meyers on Obamacare Repeal

Good stuff from Seth Meyers.