#one season after his engagement blew up publicly

[talkingtea]

So based on your own opinions and speculations, when do you think GG & CP started and when they ended? And can you explain using seasons instead of year (just to compare their on-screen chemistry and/or weirdness).

We’re just going to cut to the chase because we’re pretty much over trying to find clever ways to beat around the bush. But let us preface this ‘theory’ by saying if Candice was white we 100% believe that her and Grant would have dated publicly at the very least if not become one of the very highly publicized ‘It’ couples on the CW.

We think things between Grant and Hannah ended because he wanted to be with someone else. That someone else being Candice. As we’ve mentioned before we’ll never believe for a second that Grant basically blew up his life for someone like LA. We’ve seen the way he is around her and how he’s treated her since the beginning of their so-called ‘romance’ and it doesn’t add up. Even if he got completely blindsided and dumped by Hannah and decided to rebound we STILL don’t buy it. With that being said given the way he is towards Candice and has somehow managed to be consistently for years leads us to believe that he would blow up his whole life for a chance to be with her.

The problem with that situation is Grant, at the time, was probably at the height of his popularity. He was the Golden Boy of the network on the highest rated *family* show with a mostly squeaky clean image. On the flip side there was Candice who was very popular with her fans but beyond that, at that point, she wasn’t being embraced by the (racist) fandom or the media. So how would it look if Grant left his pretty, blonde girlfriend (and we like Hannah so that isn’t an insult) to hook up with his black co-star? Not good, let’s be honest, but that didn’t stop the rumors and speculations from starting to speculate.

Enter LA.

Ambiguously single Grant went from appearing to still be ‘connected’ to Hannah (even though those he paid attention back then knew they hadn’t been around each other in months) until she made it Instagram ‘official’ by unfollowing him the morning after the Golden Globes which, in turn, begin to fuel rumors about him and Candice. A week later—literally—a deflection AKA LA dropped out of the sky. And we knew of her existence almost immediately because of the Instagram bread crumbs Grant so graciously left us that led us straight to her page. Not suspicious at all.

So, LA, the physical therapist from San Fran that Grant refused to get off his and go visit dutifully left evidence on social media for MONTHS that would drive home the point over and over that Grant had something going on with her. And if he was dating her he couldn’t possibly be seeing anyone else...right? We’re only supposed to pay attention and believe what’s put in our faces repeatedly...and most did. Long story short LA comes across like she’s a beard only we don’t think Grant is gay. Grant found a ‘companion’ he can parade on social media to manipulate people’s perception of his life. And for the duration of his time on the Flash we think she’ll be in the picture. After that? Not so much.

As far as Grant and Candice goes we think they were HIGHLY discouraged from publicly dating. Privately though they could do what they want. And we think they did until the last few months leading up to Grant’s wedding which was the beginning of season 5. They shot episode 5 at the end of August that year. But for those that remember that was around the time those bargin basement engagement photos were put out (even though they had been taken in late March/early April) and not long after LA actually started following her wedding planner (even though they supposedly had been working together for months 🙄) and their wedding ‘season’ officially began. If you watch the episodes from six on the chemistry, when they did actually have scenes together, was off. Not bad, per say, just off. That easy, natural, touchy-feely (maybe too touchy-feely) chemistry they had was absent. Grant pretty much stopped promoting the show, and since that was their big Westallen family season, it was a bad look because it came across like he didn’t want to promote his black family...but we digress. Their off-screen relationship seemed rocky, at best, to the point that people had their doubts she even went to that wedding. Yes, we know Candice said she was there, but she must have got the hell out of dodge at the first opportunity because there has managed to be not one shred of physical evidence that she was there. But, again, we digress.

So the short version of this long winded answer is that we defintely think something was going on to some degree since mid Season two until the beginning of season 5. But given how Grant’s overly triggered ass still reacts to her we wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t extend beyond that. But that’s just our theory...

[newstfionline]

Headlines

Public losing faith in govts, says survey, as virus cases surge (AFP) A survey released Saturday showed governments are fast losing support for their handling of the coronavirus pandemic, as health officials recorded a surge of more than 280,000 new cases globally two days in a row. As governments worldwide struggle to contain the virus despite long and economically crippling lockdowns imposed on millions of people, a new survey suggested that faith in authorities is dwindling in six rich nations. Populations in France, Germany, Britain, Japan, Sweden and the US widely believed death and infection figures to be higher than recorded, according to the study, which polled 1,000 people in each nation. “In most countries this month, support for national governments is falling,” said the report by the Kekst CNC communications consultancy. One world leader widely criticised over his handling of the pandemic is Brazil’s Bolsonaro, who was diagnosed with coronavirus on July 7. And in the streets of Jerusalem and other cities, thousands called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign, in part for his management of the coronavirus crisis.

Mnuchin: Virus aid package soon, $1,200 checks by August (AP) Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Saturday that Republicans were set to roll out the next COVID-19 aid package Monday and assured there was backing from the White House after he and President Donald Trump’s top aide met to salvage the $1 trillion proposal that had floundered just days before. Mnuchin told reporters at the Capitol that extending an expiring unemployment benefit—but reducing it substantially—was a top priority for Trump. The secretary called the $600 weekly aid “ridiculous” and a disincentive for people to go back to work. He also promised a fresh round of $1,200 stimulus checks would be coming in August. Mnuchin’s optimistic assessment came before Democrats weighed in publicly on the updated proposal, which remained only a starting point in negotiations with House and Senate leaders in the other party.

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind (Washington Post) The tear gas started early Friday night, interrupting a line of drums and dancing, chanting protesters, an artist painting in oils underneath a tree in the park and a man with a microphone speaking about the issues of racial justice and policing at the center of these nightly demonstrations. As if on cue, a brigade of orange-shirted men with leaf blowers descended on the cloud, revved their engines and blew the tear gas away. The crowd cheered. The loud, pressurized air machines typically used to clear grass, leaves and other lawn debris are surprisingly effective tools at clearing caustic chemicals from the air. They’re so effective that on Friday night, federal agents frustrated at being caught in up in a redirected cloud of tear gas, showed up to the demonstration with their own handheld blowers. The leaf-blower wars were on. Hardware stores in the Portland area said they hadn’t noticed a rush on leaf-blowers in recent weeks, but several managers noted that summer is typically a hot season for leaf-blower sales.

Tropical Storm Hanna drenches South Texas (AP) A day after roaring ashore as a hurricane, Hanna lashed the Texas Gulf Coast on Sunday with high winds and drenching rains that destroyed boats, flooded streets and knocked out power across a region already reeling from a surge in coronavirus cases. Downgraded to a tropical storm, Hanna hovered over the U.S.-Mexico border with winds near 50 mph (85 kph), the National Hurricane Center said. It was expected to unload as much as 18 inches of rain (45 centimetres) on parts of South Texas and northeastern Mexico. More than 155,000 customers were without power Sunday afternoon throughout South Texas, including Corpus Christi, Harlingen and Brownsville, according to AEP Texas.

Protests Swell in Russia’s Far East in a Stark New Challenge to Putin (NYT) KHABAROVSK, Russia—Watching the passing masses of protesters chanting “Freedom!” and “Putin resign!” while passing drivers honked, applauded and offered high-fives, a sidewalk vendor selling little cucumbers and plastic cups of forest raspberries said she would join in, too, if she did not have to work. The protests in Khabarovsk, a city 4,000 miles east of Moscow, drew tens of thousands of people for a three-mile march through central streets for the third straight week on Saturday. Residents were rallying in support of a popular governor arrested and spirited to Moscow this month—but their remarkable outpouring of anger, which has little precedent in post-Soviet Russia, has emerged as stark testimony to the discontent that President Vladimir V. Putin faces across the country. Across Russia, fear of being detained by the police and the seeming hopelessness of effecting change has largely kept people off the streets. Many Russians also say that whatever Mr. Putin’s faults, the alternative could be worse or lead to greater chaos. For the most part, anti-Kremlin protests have been limited to a few thousand people in Moscow and other big cities, where the authorities usually crack down harshly. But the events in Khabarovsk have shown that the well of discontent is such that minor events can ignite a firestorm. The weekend crowds have been so large that the police have not tried to control them—even though the protesters did not have a permit, let alone a clear leader or organizer.

Officials Push U.S.-China Relations Toward Point of No Return (NYT) Step by step, blow by blow, the United States and China are dismantling decades of political, economic and social engagement, setting the stage for a new era of confrontation shaped by the views of the most hawkish voices on both sides. With President Trump trailing badly in the polls as the election nears, his national security officials have intensified their attack on China in recent weeks, targeting its officials, diplomats and executives. While the strategy has reinforced a key campaign message, some American officials, worried Mr. Trump will lose, are also trying to engineer irreversible changes, according to people familiar with the thinking. China’s leader, Xi Jinping, has inflamed the fight, brushing aside international concern about the country’s rising authoritarianism to consolidate his own political power and to crack down on basic freedoms, from Xinjiang to Hong Kong. By doing so, he has hardened attitudes in Washington. The combined effect could prove to be Mr. Trump’s most consequential foreign policy legacy, even if it’s not one he has consistently pursued: the entrenchment of a fundamental strategic and ideological confrontation between the world’s two largest economies.

A different way to hang out the laundry (NYT) Chang Wan-ji, 83, and Hso Sho-er, 84, have become Instagram stars in quarantine. The Taiwanese couple pose at a place they know well—their laundromat—and their funky fashions are curated from customers’ forgotten garments. They are naturals in front of the camera. “I had no idea so many foreigners would take interest in my grandparents,” said their 31-year-old grandson and unofficial stylist, who came up with the idea for the Instagram account. Mr. Chang said he hoped his and his wife’s experience would inspire other seniors to be active. “It’s better than sitting around watching TV or napping,” Mr. Chang said.

Virus adds to deep despair felt by war-weary young Arabs (AP) At 24, Sama al-Diwani and her college sweetheart had big dreams. He was working on opening a bakery in Iraq. She was preparing to leave to England, where she would spend a year working on her masters’ degree in pharmacy. After that, they would reunite, get married and start a family. Those dreams came to a screeching halt with the outbreak of the coronavirus, as countries shut down, economies buckled and global chaos followed. Her university admission is now on hold, the bakery project has fallen behind schedule, her family’s income has gone down by 40% and she frets about losing her job at a local pharmacy. Al-Diwani and Athir Assem, 26, are among millions of young people in the Middle East region whose pursuit of jobs or plans for higher education and marriage have been upended by the pandemic, plunging them into the kind of deep uncertainty and despair they had hoped to leave behind. Such turmoil is universal in the wake of the pandemic, but the despair is particularly pronounced in the Middle East, where wave after wave of war, displacement and disease have left this generation feeling bitter and hopeless. While in the West, many who have become unemployed believe they will eventually get their jobs back or somehow recover from the recession, the pandemic in some Arab countries was the final blow to economies now on the cusp of complete collapse. “For many young people, seeing economies crumble the way that they are and seeing their prospects vanish before their eyes ... it’s undoubtedly going to be taking a huge toll on mental health and well-being,” said Tariq Haq, a Beirut-based senior employment specialist with the U.N. labor agency.

South Africa warns COVID-19 corruption puts ‘lives at risk’ (AP) South Africa’s COVID-19 response is marred by corruption allegations around its historic $26 billion economic relief package, as the country with the world’s fifth highest number of COVID-19 cases braces for more. President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a wide-ranging investigation into claims that unscrupulous officials and private companies are looting efforts to protect the country’s 57 million people. “More so than at any other time, corruption puts our lives at risk,” he said in a national address Thursday night. Food for the poor. Personal protective equipment for health workers. Grants for the newly laid off. All have been affected, he said. South Africa is seen as the best-prepared of any country in sub-Saharan Africa for COVID-19, but years of rampant corruption have weakened institutions, including the health system. In October, the head of the government’s Special Investigating Unit said fraud, waste and abuse in health care siphoned off $2.3 billion a year.

[fangzeronos]

Young Justice Outsiders finale

Ok, guys. Here’s the finale wrap up for Young Justice Outsiders! Massive spoilers under the cut, so read at your own risk.

 Episode 24: Into the Breach

 Ok, so this picks up just before M’gann’s teams infiltrate the Orphanage from Ep 23 Terminus. The Outsiders, minus Static (who’s been with Black Lightning), and Geo-Force, who was with M’gann’s team, infiltrate Building 16, a props department with no surveillance. Vic’s powers come in hand to get rid of the illusion and find the Apokoliptan tech, leading Granny to show up after putting the Outsiders in the X-Pit’s Ghost Dimension.

 Gar and Granny fight, and since when can Gar turn into a Ma’ale’fak? We haven’t seen one of those since M’comm tried to fight M’gann back early on in the season. I know he can turn into things from other planets, like that weird bird thing from Rann, but this was new. I really enjoyed the fight, even yelling “GAR GET YOUR ASS UP!” several times.

 Vic, while all this was going on and they were being tortured, worked his technomagic on Overlord and kicked it’s ass, breaking Granny’s hold on the Ghost Dimension and causing them to win the fight. After he and Beetle destroyed the tech he’d found earlier, he boom tubed to the Orphanage and found Violet and Granny, whose two selves (Granny Goodness and her “avatar” Gretchen Goode) fused back together. He blasted the control goggles off of Halo’s head, and y’all this is where it got good!

 MY GIRL WENT SUPER SAIYAN! All of her auras, lookin’ like motherfucking Rainbow Brite before laying a hurt on Granny’s candy ass. She cleansed the Anti-Life Equation, freeing her friends before she, Vic, Superman, and Captain Atom blew up the device on the Orphanage. The reunion with Brion was sweet and I’m glad they’re together again, even though I know something bad is about to happen later on.

 Connor and M’gann, however, aren’t so kosher. He’s still dealing with her hiding the Anti-Light from him, and who knows how they’re going to end up. I know a lot of people hate SuperMartian as a ship, but we already lost Spitfire and BluePulse isn’t going to happen, so can we please leave at least one ship intact?

 Vic officially joined the Outsiders too! Cyborg is now officially born!

 Episode 25: Overwhelmed

 Ho, boy. Let’s start with the easy and get to the emotional stuff, because that’s where the meat of the episode is.

 Connor and Forager go to Geranium City, a city created and inhabited by Genomorphs, the same ones that were under Cadmus’ control back in the early days. Forager’s trying to find his place on Earth since Mantis was arrested at the end of the last episode for helping Granny Goodness, and he’s torn between returning to his home world or staying on Earth. He and Connor have work to do regarding both of them coming to the light, so to speak.

 Metron returned long enough to basically kidnap Vic and Violet, and unfortunately little Lian since she was in Violet’s arms at the time. Turns out, since they’re both “children” of MotherBox and FatherBox technology, they’re technically Metron’s grandchildren, which is something I never thought I’d hear. He warns them that they may be the key to stopping Darkseid’s plans if they don’t die in the process.

 Gregor Markov is back. He’s with Brion and Tara in Beverly Hills, meeting his siblings in secret. The first time all of them have been together in years. Tara, however, has other plans and tells Deathstroke Gregor’s out of the country, allowing them to put their plan into action in Markovia, allowing their uncle, Baron Bedlam, to stage a coup and take over the country. It’s going to be interesting to see how they pull this off.

 And now the emotional stuff. Artemis. After coming home and seeing Will had made dinner and set up candles and shit, the two talk before kissing. She breaks the kiss and apologizes, running off to her room and grabbing the picture of her and Wally and apologizing to it. She called Zatanna and meets with her, M’gann, and Rocket under the willow tree they met Dr. Fate under early on in the season. Zatanna casts some magic (or so we think) and Artemis goes into Limbo, seeing Wally.

 She’s only got until sunrise, so she imagines their house, they’re engaged, she’s pregnant, and then ends up with a nameless baby. She knows it’s fake, because the tv in the mindscape has Zatanna saying she’s going to cast a spell to “raise the sun”, and then it turns to an episode of “Hello, Megan!” which should have been a clue as to what the hell was going on.

 Wally tells her its time to wake up, step through the door and find someone to love again, saying she deserved a chance. “I already had my chance” fucking hurt. She walks through the door (all that’s left of the house after everything faded from around them) and comes back under the willow, and she walks off with the girls.

Rocket questions what happened, and Zatanna admits she cast a spell, but it was all M’gann’s doing. She created a mindscape in Artemis’ head that let her get the closure she needed to be able to move on after two years. The day Artemis finds out that her best friends did that to her, I can very easily see it blowing up in M’gann and Zatanna’s faces and Artemis either threatening her friends or just outright cutting them out of her life.

 Violet got home with Lian who was sound asleep, and she tells Will it was “an average night” before going to lay Lian down. Artemis arrived a minute later, her and Will talking about the kiss and what happened, but they both agree it was wrong and felt wrong the moment it happened. They’re still in-laws, after all.

 Side note: Can you please bring Wally back already? The Goode Goggles hallucination for Garfield in ep 12, Dick’s fever dream in ep 23, and now a fake limbo by M’gann in ep 25, I am tired of being teased about my boy. Bring him back or stop fucking with our emotions, you bastards. Seriously!

 Episode 26: Nevermore

 Other than sharing its name with my favorite Teen Titans episode, let’s dive into the big finish!

Three teams lead the charge into Markovia to deal with Baron Bedlam. Tara, Garfield, Victor, and Brion are one squad, M’gann leading El Dorado, Blue Beetle, Traci 13, Static, Wonder Girl, and a couple of others are a second, and Connor, Artemis, Dick, Forager, and Violet are the last. Connor’s squad faces off with Bedlam who takes off running, Count Vertigo coming in to keep the squad down.

 Bedlam runs right into Gar’s team, and he’s confronted by his niece and nephew. Brion knocks him out of the window after Bedlam backhands Tara, and the two fight in the courtyard where it gets publicly broadcast. The fight goes either way, but Brion finally manages to get the upper hand on his uncle. Despite everyone telling him not to, Brion executes his uncle on international television! We find out later it’s the Ambassador using a low-level psychic ability to influence Brion’s actions, but the damage is done. Brion is now king of Markovia, estranged from his sister and broken up with Violet who is horrified at his actions. We see later the Ambassador is now a member of the Light, controlling Brion for a puppet government, along with Dr. Jace back in the picture looking happy to have her “Son” back. I honestly fear that Brion is going to be a season 4 antagonist.

I’m so glad to see that Tara’s not going to end up betraying everyone to Deathstroke and we’re not getting Judas Contract again. IT’s about time to do something new with her character, and where she is now is a good place to give her a new direction.

 Nice to see Luthor getting what he deserves. Connor outing himself as a clone created by Luthor was a nice touch, and it’s good that Troia might be getting the big chair.

 I’m glad SuperMartian is going to stay together. At least two of my ships continue to sail. I was so worried they were going to split for good at the end of Ep 24, and I’m happy to see them going to last.

 Dick outing everything they did to the Team and the League was a nice way to end it. Everyone coming back together, and Black Lightning getting the League chair was great. Dude has had a shit run the entire season and it’s good to see him get a win.

 A FUCKING LEGION OF SUPERHEROES RING IN THE END SHOT?! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!? Are we getting the Legion in season 4?! That would be so crash!! We almost got Slobo! And Lobo showing up and squashing his clone made from his severed finger was goddamn hilarious.

 Overall, this was a great season. There were some slow parts, a few things that could have been expanded on and shortened, but all in all I loved it from the word go. I’m glad we got to see a handful of “one-off” characters in Spoiler, Arrowette, and Orphan, and I hope to see them get more screentime in Season 4. Loved all the new characters, Cyborg was great, Halo was my all time favorite, loved Forager, and up until the end of Ep 26, I enjoyed Brion.

 Hats off the all of the voice actors this season, man. Stephanie Lemlin did so good as Artemis still struggling with Wally’s disappearance, and every time she talks about him, you feel the weight and emotion behind each word. Zehra Fazal, if you guys follow my twitter, you know how I feel about this woman. She voiced like a dozen characters, and she did such a damn good job in each scene she was in, and you felt the weight she was carrying trying to discover who and what she was. Zeno Robinson had some big shoes to fill as Cyborg, but MY GOD did the due kill it! From either of the spectrum, Zeno quickly rose up in the ranks of my favorite VA’s.

 I’m sad to see the season end, but let’s look forward to Season 4!!

[transboygenius]

Nick Dean is gay

Y'all remember reading my trans Jimmy Neutron headcanon post, right? While trans headcanons have 10 out of 10,000 chances of being official, here's another headcanon, with a character from the same series, that could possibly be true. Here are the reasons:

Nick is not really fond of girls. 

He would smile at them, wink, fingerguns, even flirt with them for just a second, but he always ends up ignoring the dames. He doesn't even indulge their presence. Cindy is the only girl he’s ever interacted with the most, but he still gives her the cold shoulder afterwards. Sure, he was about to accept a date with her, only because she was offering one free concert ticket to him. By the second and third season, he no longer speaks to her. He seems to prefer the company of guys, and takes more effort talking to them than the girls. He likes to brag about how pretty and awesome he is, but he’s never bragged about the girls he easily attracts, which is something a ladies’ man usually does. Nick doesn’t even talk about girls, either. It seems he doesn’t really care about them.

“Well, he seemed to be into Betty Quinlan in Out Darn Spotlight! uwu!” He. Was. Acting. Fucking acting. That rehearsal didn’t define any romantic chemistry between him and Betty, other than a fake one. Besides, the look on his face backstage where he shifts an eye to her, he looked like he was uncomfortable, even putting on a forced-looking smile. He’s brave enough to kiss girls, but that doesn’t mean he likes it. He kissed a girl, and he hated it!

The signs

Some of them may come off as stereotypical. He screams like a girl, he doesn’t sit in chairs properly, despite his bad boy image he actually likes participating in lighthearted musicals, he’s obsessed with how his hair looks, and he adores cutesy stuff. It is also implied that he is secretly insecure with himself and doesn’t like to show his softer side to anyone. It could very well be a closet case. Also, on Evil Jimmy’s earth, there dwells an “Evil Nick”, who is popular but as a bully’s victim. Butch, who’s supposedly his friend on Jimmy’s regular Earth, is still a bully in that world and now an enemy to Nick. This could reflect how gay kids experience more bullying than straight kids.

How he’s mistreated

Whatever the reason it might be to cut Nick out of the show and then turning him into a chew toy, maybe Nick was gay afterall. It can’t be another one of those tropes where the cool kid becomes the loser. Even when Nick was still popular, he still wasn’t handled equally like the other main characters, which he used to be considered one. Libby, not yet adapted into a main by then, had more screentime than him. Not having much lines and lack of character development has made him into an obscure character. 

Word of advice: Never trust cishets to hand you queer representation on a silver platter. Let’s take Netflix’s Voltron for example. Oh, Voltron, I hate you so much. The show has become infamous to the LGBTQ+ community for its queerbaiting, forced heterosexuality, and supporting the Bury Your Gays trope. Shiro, the token gay character who stays alive, has suffered some shit. He’s been tormented numerous times, put up with depression worst than any of the other characters faced, and lost his arm. He later gets a male fiancé at the end of the series, but we never get the chance to meet, or see, said fiancé.

How convenient that Nick is akin with all the signs that make him gay, and here he is now! Not treated like he’s any important as the other characters, the butt of bad luck, and breaks his leg all the time. This is a show that glorifies the hetero agenda, “if a little girl picks on a little boy, or vice versa, it means love!”

His character was inspired by a gay actor

According to the Words of Satan (cuz John Davis is no God to me), Nick Dean is based on and named after the legend James Dean, an actor best known for his many bad boy roles. He was also gay himself. Actually, we don’t really know whether James Dean was inherently gay or bi. He dated women publicly, but dated men privately, as well as confirmed to having sexual relationships with them. One day, he had plans to marry a woman, but some point later on, he blew off that engagement. He claimed himself he’s not gay, although, James could either mean “I’m not homosexual. But I’m not heterosexual either,” or maybe he was lying. All those women could’ve just been public decoys. 

Nick possibly has a crush on Jimmy

I said so before that Nick prefers the company of boys, but he seems to respect Jimmy more than anybody else. He openly appreciates him and doesn’t mind being his friend, despite how unlovable the boy genius may come off to most people. Nick doesn’t talk to Cindy anymore in the two last seasons, but would still speak to Jimmy. Sure, there’s the teasing, the dehumanization of addressing him by his surname only, and that one bit where he threw him into a dumpster. Hey, Nick didn’t treat him worse than Cindy did. Besides, his teasing is more friendlier in compare.

In the movie, Jimmy desperately wanted to go out to RetroLand, but is stuck on a school’s night. Nick rolls in and offers him a life hack. It’s not a very good life hack, but at least he actually cared to let Jimmy have some fun. Aliens abducting your parents is probably the most laughable assumption. The children were still skeptical over Jimmy’s hypothesis, due to how ridiculous it sounds, and Nick could’ve had the opportunity to make everyone laugh with him. Instead, he went with the plan, even telling Jimmy to lead on. He was especially still positive about Jimmy’s space trip plan even when he declared they had a 5% chance of blowing up. The only time he was negative towards Jimmy was in the dungeon scene. Cindy did make a point. Everyone was sad and scared. At the end of the film, he gave Jimmy his sucker as a token of gratitude. Something that was in his mouth, and he gave it to him. (Sounds like an in-direct kiss to me)

Think about it. If Nick really was in love with Betty, he would’ve have gotten in Jimmy’s face and threaten him to stay away from getting in between him and his girl, but he didn’t. He didn’t even threaten Jimmy after showering a rain cloud on him. Hell, he wasn’t even bummed out about loosing that kiss from Betty after breaking his leg.

Nick was the only one to call out Jimmy’s name, well, last name that is, during the Superman passage in Attack of the Twonkies. “It’s a bird!” “It’s a plane!” “It’s Neutron!” Although Nick picked Jimmy last in basketball, at least he picked him. The “last guy standing” challenge usually ends with one of the rivaling team picking someone else instead of that very last person. There’s a lot to say for Send In The Clothes. Nick wouldn’t care if other kids decided to pose just like him, but he was surprised when he saw “Jimmy” do it. He wasn’t hostile when “Jimmy” got up in his face and called him “skateboard boy.” He also let “Jimmy” touch his skateboard. Nick doesn’t seem like the type of guy to let anyone touch his board. Instead of envying “Jimmy” for having better moves than him, he was impressed. Of course he got mad after breaking his skateboard, but would you be mad at your crush for breaking one of your possessions? Later on in the episode, after Jimmy is cornered by an angry mod, Nick yells “I’ll hold him down!” One more thing I might add: This gaze he gives Jimmy in Jimmy For President.

It’s been said that Nick was suppose to have a larger role by the cancelled fourth season. They would have explored Nick’s character more, and he would grow a closer bond with Jimmy. Whatever those plans were, sure sound interesting. He could be the Courtney Gripling to Jimmy’s Ginger Foutley.

[samingtonwilson]

Designated Walker (Jim Kirk x Reader)

Prompt: I was wondering if I could request a JimxReader fic where they go to a party and Jim gets a bit tipsy and the reader has to drag him home and he later apologizes? - @imaginenterprise

Word count: 1,790

Warnings: alcohol; possibly language (since I can’t guarantee that I kept that PG ever)

A/N: that took me much longer to write than I thought and the apology is a very, very tiny part of it so maybe that’s not what was precisely wanted? i also feel like it’s a jim kirk piece that’s a little light on the jim kirk? i hope not! i really do hope that you like it!

It was an unspoken rule amongst the crew of the USS Enterprise to maintain distance between one another during shore leave. In part, this was probably due to the already copious amounts of time spent together hurtling through the dark depths of space— especially while on short leaves during which the Enterprise was receiving minor repairs and resupplementation. This short shore leave, however, happened to coincide with a certain Russian wizkid’s birthday— if there’s one thing Chekov birthday meant, it was an excuse for a lot of drinking. It was difficult to say no to that— after an exhausting year and a half into a five year mission, any excuse to drink was a good excuse to drink.

So, true to assumption, Chekov’s small, one-bedroom, Starfleet-issued living quarters was filled to the brim with crew members and his admirers, alike, all intending to engage in said drinking under the guise of celebration. All stood, sat, or awkwardly danced in whatever space they could find in the limitedly illuminated temporary living space while the smell of vodka in the air grew stronger by the second— which was likely a result of the room’s population.

Away from the larger clusters of people, you sat upon the kitchen island counter at the extreme right, swinging your legs as you clutched a cup filled with beer that you had no desire to drink. It was difficult to find a part of the counter that wasn’t sticky but you were determined to stay as far as possible from the louder, more intoxicated partygoers. It wasn’t that you didn’t enjoy a good Chekov party, you just had a drunk Jim to look out for.

“Life of the party, huh?”

You looked up from the aged cabinets the heels of your boots repeatedly struck and offered Uhura a small smile. You nodded towards a drunk Jim that leant his drunken balance-challenged body against a scowling Leonard that rolled his eyes periodically. “I’m designated walker tonight, Ny.”

Uhura followed your line of vision and bit down on her bottom lip, seemingly to control the budding grin that narrowed her deep brown eyes. “It’s a shame Spock refused to come because of that meeting in the morning. You could’ve gotten the night off Jim duty.”

“I’d be on Jim duty regardless.” You set the beer down and ran your palms against the lap of your jeans. “Societal rules about being a good partner, or whatever. He did it for me on the last starbase, so now it's my turn.”

You both watched as Chekov passed Jim only to receive excessive shouts and slaps on the back. You could only imagine the horrendous jokes about the young man’s apparently greying hair as Leonard’s scowl grew to an unbelievable oceanic depth and Chekov looked embarrassed for them all.

You sighed and straightened your slouched posture. “Besides, I can’t in good conscience take any more free booze from Chekov. Bones and I steal enough of it whenever we’re stuck catching up on patient charts.”

Once she’d brushed her long, dark hair over her slender shoulder, she motioned towards Leonard who had just polished off a glass of scotch and shook his head. “He clearly doesn’t have a problem with it.”

“He’s very good at putting his conscience on mute for a night— it’s what got us through that last bottle of whiskey we swiped from the kid’s quarters.”

“How’d you even get into his quarters?” Uhura asked with a snort.

You shrugged. “Bones can get into anyone’s quarters as CMO and I can get into anyone’s quarters by manipulation of the man I’m dating.”

You wet your lips and tilted your head as you watched Jim sling an arm over Leonard’s shoulders— overly-publicly-affectionate Jim was the last stage of drunkenness before it’s-time-to-break-out-the-stomach-pump Jim. “Speaking of whom, I should probably get him back before we need to call this planet’s paramedics. From what I can tell, they don’t get friendlier the more jokes you make and drunk Jim thinks he’s some sort of comic.”

She nodded with a frown of consideration and laughed when she met your eye for a moment. She tilted her head as well and stared as Jim invaded Leonard’s personal space with his lips mere centimeters from the doctor’s ear. “He’s got that meeting in the morning, too. Spock won’t be too happy if Kirk shows up with a massive hangover.”  

You felt a corner of your lips quirk up. “And we wouldn’t want that, now would we? Spock’s disappointed stare still haunts me in my sleep.”

As you said goodbye to Uhura, you already felt a weight on your shoulders. Your shoes stuck irritatingly to the tiled floors and you were forced to push several bodies out of the way enroute to Jim. He was reaching for the drink volunteer-bartender Scotty offered him and your steps picked up pace, taking the hand he held out and lacing your fingers through his.

You smiled at the Scotsman and shook your head with a wrinkled nose. “Thanks, Scotty, but he’s had enough.” You then leaned away from Jim as his nose brushed against your hair— you could hear the deep inhale as he smelled the untied strands. You narrowed your eyes at his almost sparkling blue irises. “We should go.”

He frowned, squeezing your hand in his. “But I’m still thirsty.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

You set the fingers of your free hand on his lips when he leaned forward, turning your face to look at a perpetually frowning Leonard. You had to stop yourself from laughing at his disgusted features. “I’ll see you at the base hospital tomorrow?”

“You sure you won’t be too exhausted from wrangling your toddler back to his room to choose and restock medical supplies bright and early?” He nodded towards Jim. “He’s smelling your hair.”

“I’m aware,” you said with a hum. You took a step in the direction of the door, pulling Jim’s almost flailing body along. You shouted to Leonard over your shoulder, “No matter how tired he makes me, I’ll be there. He’s got an early morning as is.”

“Good luck with that, darlin’.”

It wasn’t too difficult to get him out of the door— but that’s where the ease ended. Overly-affectionate Jim had a tendency to pull you to a stop every few seconds just to press his lips to yours and his hands stayed somewhere against your body the entire walk over. While you felt lucky the easily-distracted Jim stage had passed, his nose in your hair, his arms around your waist, and his feet so dangerously close to yours made the walk across the courtyard much more difficult.

The starbase on which you all were docked was in the middle of a season that resembled a San Francisco winter— cold, but not freezing. The wind blew your hair into Jim’s eyes and he passed oddly complimentary comments about the softness of your hands, the coolness of your cheeks, and the sound of your voice each time you said his name in annoyance.

While only the aforementioned courtyard separated the junior officers’ building from the senior officers’, the walk took an irritatingly long amount of time and you found yourself sighing out in relief the moment it was over.

You let go of Jim’s hand as you hailed an elevator and leaned against the adjacent wall. You wrinkled your nose as he briefly kissed your forehead. “So much for taking it easy?”

He entangled your fingers together once more and pulled you into the elevator as the metallic doors slid open. The cold air appeared to have had a sobering quality as Jim’s voice was more stable as he spoke. “I could’ve drank more.”

“Really?” you said with a laugh, biting down on your bottom lip as you pressed the button for his floor. You took your hand from his and faced the doors rather than lose yourself in his crystalline eyes. “I think your liver would disagree.”

His arm encircled your waist from behind and he set his chin upon your shoulder. You could smell the alcohol lacing his breath. “It’s not like I don’t have the best doctor in the galaxy on standby.”

“I’m sure Bones would really appreciate the compliment.”

He sighed when you stepped through the open doors and trailed behind you through the silent corridor. “You make it very difficult to flirt.”

“That’s something I pride myself on, Tiberius.”

He sucked a sharp inhale through his teeth, punching in the code required to unlock his door before walking inside. “Tiberius. That’s a no-sex-tonight name.”

“Wow. Very intuitive for a drunk man.”

“You’re not mad at me, are you?”  

Stepping past him into the bedroom, you shrugged as you tossed your oversized leather jacket aside, kicking your boots off next with no regard for where they landed.

Jim’s temporary apartment was a lot larger than yours and came with far more amenities— so it was an easy choice to sleep there for the eight days you were docked. Your clothes sat folded in the same drawers his clothes were balled up in and your shoes were strewn about over the floors just as his were— it became more amusing each morning he attempted to cram his much larger feet in your much smaller boots by mistake.

He appeared to still be expecting an answer when you fell onto the bed, one of your arms draped over your eyes as you felt the space beside you on the mattress dip. “I’m not mad at you, Jim.”

You heard the springs of the mattress groan as he adjusted his sitting position so his torso was propped up by one of his elbows. He pushed your arm from your eyes and returned your frown. His eyes that you thought were glazed over in intoxication held a pair of a pupils that dilated as you stared up at him. “You’re sure?”

It was difficult to maintain any level of annoyance and irritation targeted at Jim when he looked down at you with so much adoration in his eyes so you reached up to sweep back the hair that fell into the sky hued irises. You let your fingertips trail down to one of his cheekbones and smiled at him ever so slightly. “I’m sure.” Craning your neck, you brushed your nose against his. “Sleep. You have to be up early and I could do without Spock’s blank stare of disappointment.”

“I am sorry, you know,” he said as he pushed himself off the bed. “I promise that next time I won’t even complain when you’re all over me after a night of tequila shots.”

“You act like you’ve ever complained about that before.”

[torentialtribute]

Sarri’s Italian job would let Roman Abramovich save face… and cash 

For Chelsea if this is Maurizo Sarri's last position, the best case scenario would be to win the Europa League and losing to Juventus .

Or Roma. Or whoever in Series A . What would you say? That was a manager who brought the team back to the Champions League through domestic mediation, who reached the end of a big domestic cup, lost undeservedly due to fines and then won a big European trophy – all in his first season in English football , at a club in a transitional state – and it still wasn't enough?

It is hardly a secret that Roman Abramovich is a demanding employer – the £ 9 million settlement with Antonio Conte has taken his compensatory pledges to managers at £ 93m since 2004.

Roman Abramovich needs a logical separation from Maurizio Sarri to prevent reputational damage "

<img id =" i-1ca2574a30f58ab8 "src =" https://dailym.ai/2uS4u1n /1s/2019/05/27/22/14028672-7076099-Roman_Abramovich_needs_a_logical_parting_from_Maurizio_Sarri_to_-a-9_1558990920996.jpg "height =" 425 "width =" 634 "alt =" Sarri to prevent reputational damage "

[194512[19451111][1945] Roman Abramovich needs a logical separation from Maurizio Sarri to prevent reputational damage

Yet even by Chelsea's standards, Sarri was to win in Europe and then be fired, it would be an extremely harsh judgment Rafael Benite z also left after winning the Europa League, but he was only the interim manager.

If this is the first time we've seen Roberto Di Matteo, he will barely have six months after winning the Champions League, but at least he had a short chance to take advantage of that success.

Abramovich & # 39; s way with managers has already cost him some of & # 39; the world's best coaches – Pep Guardiola is the one who was put

Take Frank Lampard for example. [Bewerken] [voeg lijst toe] Take Frank Lampard for example. As a young manager, one season in his career, is it really worth risking his reputation at Stamford Bridge?

You would imagine that the European final, the domestic final and third place would be considered a brilliant first season for Lampard in the Premier League, after they almost missed the promotion with Derby.

<img id = "i-2949d252121470bb" src = "https://dailym.ai/2ECdFZj. jpg "height =" 447 "width =" 634 "alt =" <img id = "i-2949d252121470bb" src = "https://dailym.ai/2X8PR6r -0-image-a-3_1558990400285.jpg "height =" 447 "width =" 634 "alt =" Would Chelsea affiliate Frank Lampard consider risking his reputation with Stamford Bridge? risking his reputation at Stamford Bridge? "

Would Chelsea affiliate Frank Lampard consider risking his reputation at Stamford Bridge?

But if that same resume brought the previous manager the bag, where should you go? , or someone else, seriously expect Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp to outsmart the traps?

And almost certainly without Chelsea & # 39; s best player of recent times, Eden Hazard

Pick an owner, not a club, was always the advice of Sir Alex Ferguson to young managers and Abramovich has a friendly, logical need to say goodbye to Sarri if reputation damage will not occur.

[19459005WhateverunfoldsinBakuonWednesdayandThursdaygiventhelocal11o'clockkick-offtime-nooneSarri'sfirstseasonwasanunsuitablesuccess

The conversion of N & # 39 Golo Kante's best defense The screen in the world to an average midfielder is particularly enigmatic, but not the only decision that is baffled.

As soon as the novelty of his chain-smoking presence of the telephone line deteriorated, Sarri seemed cold, methodical in nature, dogmatic in his methods, with an unwavering conviction that his football brand is more valuable than gifts that an individual can possess

If this mindset had produced the type of football that his Napoli team played, there would have been less resistance.

But Chelsea is Napoli Lite – or Napoli, low powered. Too often they own the ball to no end.

Take Hazard away and this season could have turned out quite differently.

<img id = "i-98c2088960c5ccd8" src = "https://dailym.ai/2EERkue. jpg "height =" 426 "width =" 634 "alt =" Sarri is unloved, but regardless of his first season with the Blues, it was an unqualified success his first season with the Blues was an unqualified success "

Sarri is unloved but his first season with the Blues has been an unqualified success

Without a doubt, a timely offer from Juventus of Rome would solve a lot of problems.

Chelsea will have lost a manager instead of rejecting a manager, Sarri will have taken on more suitable work

If your last game shows you the first big trophy of his coaching career, des the better.

More troubling is what will happen if the opportunities in Italy don't come true. Chelsea then has to decide whether he will be with a manager who is not very popular for all his achievements, and who can only be weakened by the absence of Hazard next season.

Who can forget Abramovich & # 39; s face the night Chelsea won the Champions League?

Or they fire him and push the compensation payments closer to nine digits. Happy and thoroughly miserable, knowing that he has no choice but to offer Di Matteo the permanent position against his better judgment.

Could we see a repeat if the owner catches Baku and Chelsea? Is this not the impossible work?

There is a reason that Manchester United sees undercurrents of racism in the current way of depicting them as the worst of modern football.

The regeneration in the east of Manchester, the new academy, the left for the community, City was the other club confronted with punishment at that time, Paris St Germain.

It was as if they considered all Arabs, all Arab owners, all Arab countries, all Arab companies, the same. I tried to make a distinction between the clubs. It would be the same as viewing the Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United business models, worthy and possibly as interchangeable, on the grounds that their owners are all Americans.

Since when, as City's only rhetoric has best translated as & # 39; all towelheads are the same & # 39; it's duly noted, privately not publicly.

<img id = "i-87faade2417deb05" src = "https://dailym.ai/2X4fJAt image-a-4_1558990499777.jpg "height =" 423 "width =" 634 "alt =" <img id = "i-87faade2417deb05" src = "https://dailym.ai/2J2OwKp /27/21/14028744-0-image-a-4_1558990499777.jpg "height =" 423 "width =" 634 "alt =" Manchester City sees floods of racism because UEFA treated them the same as PSG "

Manchester City sees undercurrent of racism because UEFA treated them the same as PSG

With the recent joint attacks on the club, the city's president, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, no longer plays nicely and has made the decision to call the worst perpetrators.

This is why I have responded vigorously to Javier Tebas, president of The League and the last to negatively connect City and PSG on the basis of shared ethnicity.

To say that City is the trans fermarkt blew up as if they had spent Kylian Mbappe, similar to PSG's releases, and Neymar is clearly wrong.

PSG's bid for Neymar w as a game changer. City meanwhile has a record signing of £ 60million for Riyad Mahrez and do not have the highest priced goalkeeper, defender, midfielder or attacker in the Premier League – or something like that – let alone Europe.

Manchester City and PSG have football and ambition in common, but little different from the tendency to be afraid

After all, there didn't seem to be much wrong with extravagant spending when Barcelona and Real Madrid were the best and little wrong with oil money when it sponsored Atletico Madrid. ]

<img id = "i-d3375939317a9a4b" src = "https://dailym.ai/2X4fKEx .jpg "height =" 423 "width =" 634 "alt =" <img id = "i-d3375939317a9a4b" src = "https://dailym.ai/2EAh5vq 14028756-0-image-a-5_1558990572527.jpg "height =" 423 "width =" 634 "alt =" Javier Tebas, the federal president, said that Manchester City and PSG have blown up the transfer market "Manchester City and PSG have blown up the transfer market"

Federal President Javier Tebas said that Manchester City and PSG have blown up the transfer market

Woodward cannot win with the Fergie factor

The latest criticism of Ed Woodward is that he is Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United has been alienated by not consulting him on important policy decisions.

If, after David Moyes received a six-year contract and then fired him before the first year was over, Woodward announced that he would return to Ferguson for a second recommendation, it is unlikely that he would be praised for his business acumen.

What? After that last debacle? Does the man have no ideas of his own? It is not that United has garnered universal praise, also with the willingness to embrace the past.

One of the criticisms of the appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – and the proposed engagement of Mike Phelan and old boys such as Rio Ferdinand on transfer commissions – is that the club is too steep in history.

Similarly, Manchester United has not cooperated with a football director, even since Ferguson has stopped. The transfer policy is largely the responsibility of the manager.

If Ferguson was brought in on a sounding board during the biggest calls, it would make him a overseer.

And how would that turn out, given his inexorable relationship with some of the main characters? Ferguson, famous, did not agree with Mina Raiola, agent of several of the most important signatures of United.

So if Woodward went to Ferguson and Ferguson said he would not have Raiola at the club, what would he tell Jose Mourinho about the takeover of Paul Pogba or Romelu Lukaku?

It is not as simple as asking the opinion of a wise old sage. It would be an insult to ask and then ignore.

The holder of Ferguson is an ambassador and not an adviser. He is there at competitions and, someone thinks, offers his thoughts. It is clear that he has Solskjaer's ear.

But who would like to lead Manchester United with the thought that Ferguson marked his homework, rejected his signing skills, gave his employers a running commentary? the man speaks, as Ferguson would do with Sir Matt Busby – nobody deserved that – but Ferguson surrendered his right to direct policy to Manchester United when he stepped down six years ago

Sir Alex Ferguson's captain is a Ambassador and not an advisor to Man United "

Sir Alex Ferguson & # 39; s

Sir Alex Ferguson's keeper is not an adviser, but he is not adviser, at Man United

A man walks into a cafe. & # 39; Evening, Jones the Sheepshagger, & # 39; says the bartender cheerfully. & # 39; What will it be? & # 39;

The man orders a beer and sits down with a heavy sigh. & # 39; That is really a nickname you have there & # 39 ;, says a stranger. & # 39; I will say & # 39 ;, the man says.

He points to the window. & # 39; See that library & # 39 ;, he says, & # 39; I built that from the ground. financed. Paid for every book. Do they call me Jones the educator? They do not.

& # 39; And do you see the hospital nearby? This city had nothing to do with it until I came by. Every stone of it is mine. Do they call me Jones the Healer? They don't do that.

& # 39; You f *** a sheep … & # 39;

The favorite joke, that. I was reminded that I read Shkodran Mustafi who complained that Arsenal never gets credit for the 90 percent of games that the defense hasn't cost this season.

Just a gentle warning from the ashes …

The warm-up defeat of England by Australia served as a small warning about complacency this summer.

He joins Steve Smith, Nathan Lyon, David Warner, Shaun Marsh, Usman Khawaja, James Pattinson, Joe and the rest of the team. Burns, Travis Head, Peter Handscomb, Peter Siddle and Glenn Maxwell play for English provinces.

In contrast, Mason Crane is the only one playing a first-class game in Australian conditions. Only that spirit. What a generous fate we are. And a trifle dim.

<img id = "i-7ebb3c1fd4ddefbf" src = "https://dailym.ai/2X4fLbz image-a-7_1558990817471.jpg "height =" 467 "width =" 634 "alt =" <img id = "i-7ebb3c1fd4ddefbf" src = "https://dailym.ai/2J2OwKp /27/22/14028842-0-image-a-7_1558990817471.jpg "height =" 467 "width =" 634 "alt =" Cameron Bancroft has joined a strong Aussie quota adjustment to English terms "

Cameron Bancroft has not yet subscribed to a strong aussie contingent that adapts to English circumstances to prevent boxing the three best heavyweights in the world from finding ways to meet.

Deontay Wilder's newest title fight – if it could be called – against Dominic Breazeale took place a 20-minute walk from my hotel in Brooklyn last week.

The I It's been 13 years since the leveraged acquisition of Manchester United, but the club remains in debt of £ 496 million.

Over the past three years, £ 65 million has been paid in shareholders' dividends, mostly to the sixth Glazer brothers and sisters, including £ 22 million in the last year when another director – presumably Ed Woodward – £ Earned 4.152 million for

How fortunate that former directors of Manchester United, such as David Gill, could influence what UEFA was financially fair and

Because if a few rivals of United were to follow the rules you would think that the outcome would be quite different.

<img id = "i-bda037c403ae810d" src = "https://dailym.ai/2XbIWtc image-a-8_1558990864954.jpg "height =" 590 "width =" 634 "alt =" <img id = "i-bda037c403ae810d" src = "https://dailym.ai/2J2OwKp /27/22/14028846-0-image-a-8_1558990864954.jpg "height =" 590 "width =" 634 "alt =" The influence of David Gill at UEFA helps the owners of Manchester United to avoid more research "

Andy Murray has long maintained that "avoid more research"

The influence of David Gill at UEFA helps the owners of Manchester United to avoid more research one of the reasons why British tennis finds it difficult to produce champions that life is too easy.

Early on, Spanish players say what they can earn, while British players can remain part of a subsidized program for much of their career.

It is not the fault of the British tennis authorities that Katie Boulter could come to Paris last week, were injured and earned £ 20,000 in damages for not playing the French Open, but it hardly paints a picture of a system that works hard and nothing less.

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[thisdaynews]

Infrastructure Week dies — again

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/infrastructure-week-dies-again/

Infrastructure Week dies — again

A man works on Interstate 11 near Boulder City, Nevada, in May 2017. Hopes for new funding for roads, bridges, tunnels, airports and railroads have dried up. | John Locher/AP Photo

transportation

‘There wasn’t going to be a $2 trillion deal anyway,’ Republican Rep. Sam Graves said.

So much for Infrastructure Week.

Hopes for a grand $2 trillion infrastructure deal were rapidly vanishing even before Wednesday’s White House meeting between President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats blew up in a cloud of recriminations.

Story Continued Below

One big reason: Neither party has offered a serious way to pay for one.

Not Trump, who put out a $1.5 billion proposal 15 months ago that would have laid the burden on states, cities, private investors and politically unpalatable federal budget cuts. But also not the Democratic leaders, whose 35-page plan from a year ago would rely on reversing Trump’s 2017 tax cuts for the wealthy — a non-starter for the GOP.

Meanwhile, prospects House lawmakers would meet even their own target of getting an infrastructure bill onto the floor before the August recess — the unofficial deadline for achieving serious legislation before the 2020 election season consumes the Capitol — have been fading fast.

Wednesday was far from the first time one of Trump’s planned infrastructure milestones has veered off the rails. Infrastructure was, after all, the intended topic of the August 2017 news conference at which the president defended the “very fine people on both sides” of that weekend’s deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va.

But to infrastructure advocates, Wednesday’s aborted meeting was yet another letdown for hopes of a bigger federal investment in roads, bridges, tunnels, railroads and airports — not to mention schools, water supplies, broadband networks, veterans’ hospitals and all the other needs that lawmakers of both parties have mentioned among their priorities.

“Sadly, it appears political theatrics won the day,” Dave Bauer, CEO of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, said in a statement. He urged Congress to continue to work “on the big and bold transportation infrastructure investment package that the U.S. economy, motorists and business community deserve.”

Each side quickly cast blame Wednesday, with Democrats accusing Trump of blowing up the meeting because he had no real plan to discuss.

Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) opened a House Transportation Committee hearing later Wednesday by accusing Trump of showing “that apparently he’s not very serious” about infrastructure — “unless Congress ignores its constitutional responsibility to carry out oversight of the administration.”

“If the president wants to hold good-paying jobs hostage, that’s his choice, but it certainly isn’t mine,” she said.

Trump said Democrats have foiled infrastructure’s chances by pursuing what he has called an “illegal witch hunt” investigation into his business dealings and 2016 campaign. Missouri Rep. Sam Graves, the transportation committee’s top Republican, said Speaker Nancy Pelosi had instigated the confrontation when she accused Trump earlier in the day of engaging in a “cover-up.”

“I don’t really blame the president for what he did given what she said this morning,” Graves told POLITICO. “She’s throwing out outrageous allegations and then turns around and tries to play nice.”

The idea of a grand infrastructure bargain faced daunting odds anyway, even though infrastructure has repeatedly surfaced as a top Trump talking point since the eve of his presidential campaign.

“The only one to fix the infrastructure of our country is me — roads, airports, bridges,” Trump tweeted in May 2015, a month before launching his White House run. “I know how to build, pols only know how to talk!”

He proposed a $500 billion-plus cash infusion during his campaign, highlighted his infrastructure pledge during his victory speech in November 2016, and put out a $1.5 trillion blueprint in early 2018 that would have included $200 billion in new federal money, offset by cuts to existing spending.

But the White House plan never went anywhere in Congress, which then was controlled entirely by Republicans. Current and former Trump advisers have since spread the word that he never much liked the plan and might be open to a much bigger federal investment — the kind of plan Democrats could accept.

His late April meeting with Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer briefly raised hopes — at least in public — that the two sides could come together on a $2 trillion plan. But the White House quickly moved to reassure conservatives that the most obvious way of paying for an infrastructure boost was off the table: Trump was not planning to hike the federal gasoline tax, despite telling Bloomberg two years ago that “it’s something that I would certainly consider.”

Democratic leaders weren’t rushing to fill the void either, making it clear they expected Trump to offer a funding proposal before they would take the political risk of endorsing one. Instead, Pelosi said at a news conference Wednesday, “He just took a pass.”

Still, Democrats have had a long time to advance their own big-sky proposals and have little to show for it so far. Senate Democrats’ $1 trillion proposal from March 2018 has yet to receive even a committee markup in the Republican-controlled chamber, for example.

A few lawmakers have come out in favor of a gas tax hike, including House Transportation Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), while Senate Commerce Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) has said he’d be willing to consider one if Trump was publicly on board. But their parties’ leaders have yet to endorse the idea — and neither did former President Barack Obama, whose own infrastructure proposals included funding sources such as the savings from winding down wars and rhetoric about “working with Congress” on unspecified methods.

Congress is still free to pursue smaller-bore infrastructure packages, however — and Democrats said Wednesday that they plan to work with Republicans on pursuing those. For instance, DeFazio and Delaware Sen. Tom Carper, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said they will continue to work on a successor to the five-year, $305 billion highway and transit law that expires at the end of September 2020.

“While we go through this — I don’t know what to call it, this thing with the president and Nancy and Chuck — the serious work that needs to be done is being done,” Carper said.

Such a bill — the kind Congress passes every few years — wouldn’t match the rhetoric of Trump’s campaign proposals, which called for a “bold, visionary plan. … in the proud tradition of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.” But it would represent some progress.

Graves, the Missouri Republican, said he is on board with the traditional approach as well.

“That charade that Schumer and Pelosi are playing is one thing, but Peter [DeFazio] and I are going to continue to work on this,” Graves said. “There wasn’t going to be a $2 trillion deal anyway.”

Read More

[newstfionline]

How Trump Has Reshaped the Presidency, and How It’s Changed Him, Too

By Peter Baker, NY Times, April 29, 2017

WASHINGTON--In his first 100 days in power, President Trump has transformed the nation’s highest office in ways both profound and mundane, pushing traditional boundaries, ignoring longstanding protocol and discarding historical precedents as he reshapes the White House in his own image.

But just as Mr. Trump has changed the presidency, advisers and analysts say it has also changed him. Still a mercurial and easily offended provocateur capable of head-spinning gyrations in policy and politics, Mr. Trump nonetheless at times has adapted his approach to both the job and the momentous challenges it entails.

As Washington pauses to evaluate the opening phase of the Trump presidency, the one thing everyone seems to agree on is that, for better or worse, the capital has headed deep into uncharted territory. On almost every one of these first 100 days, Mr. Trump has done or said something that caused presidential historians and seasoned professionals inside the Beltway to use the phrase “never before.”

He has assumed even more power for the presidency, expanding President Barack Obama’s use of executive orders to offset the inability to pass major legislation and making it more independent of the Washington establishment. He has been more aggressive than any other president in using his authority to undo his predecessor’s legacy, particularly on trade, business regulation and the environment. And he has dominated the national conversation perhaps more thoroughly than any president in a generation.

At the same time, he has cast off conventions that constrained others in his office. He has retained his business interests, which he implicitly cultivates with regular visits to his properties. He has been both more and less transparent than other presidents, shielding his tax returns and White House visitor logs from public scrutiny while appearing to leave few thoughts unexpressed, no matter how incendiary or inaccurate. And he has turned the White House into a family-run enterprise featuring reality-show-style, “who will be thrown off the island?” intrigue.

“His first 100 days is a reflection of how much the presidency has changed,” said Janet Mullins Grissom, a top official in President George Bush’s White House and State Department. “The biggest difference between President Trump and his predecessors is that he is the first president in my political lifetime who comes to the office unbeholden to any special interest for his electoral success, thus immune to typical political pressures.”

In effect, she said, that compensates for a victory he secured in the Electoral College without winning the popular vote. “That gives him as much leverage as someone who won with landslide numbers--and the freedom to govern his way,” she said. “And his voters love him for it.”

Where Washington veterans fret about deviations from past norms, Mr. Trump’s supporters see a president willing to shake things up. Where Washington cares about decorum and process, they want a president fighting for them against entrenched powers.

Yet the crockery-breaking leader has shown signs of evolving. The president operating on Day 100 is not the same as the one who took office in January, when he was determined to make nice with Russia, make trouble for China and make war on elites.

By his own account, Mr. Trump has discovered how much more complicated issues like health care and North Korea are than he realized, and he has cast off some of his most radical campaign promises after learning more about the issues.

“I’m more inclined to say the presidency has changed Trump rather than Trump changed the presidency,” said H.W. Brands, a University of Texas professor who has written biographies of multiple presidents, including Ronald Reagan and both Roosevelts. “He has moderated or reversed himself on most of the positions he took as a candidate. Reality has set in, as it does with every new president.”

All the more so for the first president in American history who had never spent a day in government or the military, and surrounded himself with top advisers who had not either. Although Mr. Trump assumed that his experience in business and entertainment would translate to the White House, he has found out otherwise.

“I never realized how big it was,” he said of the presidency in an interview with The Associated Press. “Every decision,” he added, “is much harder than you’d normally make.”

In a separate interview with Reuters, he said: “This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier.”

Mr. Trump arrived at the White House unimpressed by conventions that governed the presidency. At first, he blew off the idea of receiving intelligence briefings every day because he was “a smart person” and did not need to hear “the same thing every day.” He telephoned foreign leaders during the transition without consulting or even informing government experts on those countries.

He badgered specific companies on Twitter about moving jobs overseas and called in the chief executive of Lockheed Martin to complain about the cost of the F-35 fighter jet, never mind that presidents typically do not involve themselves in the affairs of individual companies or directly negotiate federal contracts.

Mr. Trump likewise has gleefully taken credit on days that stocks have risen and publicly commented on the strength of the dollar, which presidents generally do not do either, both because it might be viewed as unseemly interference in the markets and because it invites blame when they have a bad day.

His Twitter account, of course, has been the vehicle for all sorts of outbursts that defy tradition, often fueled by the latest segment on Fox News. Presidents rarely taunt reality-show hosts about poor ratings, complain about late-night television comedy skits, berate judges or members of their own party who defy them, trash talk Hollywood stars and Sweden, declare the “fake news” media to be “the enemy of the American people” or accuse the last president of illegally wiretapping them without any proof.

Beyond that, Mr. Trump has been slow to create a structure like those in past administrations. Orders and memos have not always been reviewed by all relevant officials. Meetings are not always attended by key aides who are leery of leaving the president’s side. “The notion of a chain of command is gone,” said David F. Gordon, the State Department director of policy planning under President George W. Bush.

But if the presidency had grown somewhat stale under the old norms as its occupants increasingly stuck to carefully crafted talking points and avoided spontaneity, Mr. Trump has brought back a certain authenticity and willingness to engage. His frequent news conferences and interviews can be bracingly candid, uninhibited, even raw. He leaves little mystery about what is on his mind.

“The 2016 election wasn’t a delicate request to challenge existing traditions; it was a demand that our next president do things different,” said Jason Miller, a top adviser to Mr. Trump during the campaign. “And while the professional political class struggles to understand what has happened to their hold on power, supporters of President Trump--the forgotten men and women he referenced in his Inaugural Address--love the change they’re seeing.”

Presumably Mr. Trump will remain impulsive and even impetuous, but he has also been open to advice. He was talked out of lifting sanctions on Russia, moving the American embassy to Jerusalem, abandoning the “one China” policy, tearing up the Iran nuclear agreement, reversing the diplomatic opening to Cuba, closing the Export-Import Bank, declaring China a currency manipulator and, in recent days, terminating the North American Free Trade Agreement. He may still do some or all of these, but by waiting, he has the opportunity to lay the groundwork rather than act precipitously.

He now receives his intelligence briefings most days. And aides said they had noticed signs of growth in office. Even if Mr. Trump adapts, though, the larger question is whether the institution will ever be the same. Future presidents may feel freer to make unfounded statements, withhold tax returns or keep private business interests without fear of political penalty. Taboos once broken no longer seem inviolable.

Still, Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago, a senior adviser to President Bill Clinton and chief of staff for Mr. Obama, said there might be a backlash once Mr. Trump leaves office. “After Trump, there will be a collective desire to return to tradition,” he predicted. “Whoever comes next will be the anti-Trump in style and character. That’s how it works.”

Karl Rove, the senior adviser to the younger Mr. Bush, agreed. “President Trump will make it difficult for future presidents to step back from the use of social media,” he said, “but it’s very likely the next administration will be more restrained and less personal.” The next president, he added, will probably deploy social media as a premeditated strategy. “It will be part of a plan, not a method of catharsis.”

Meena Bose, the director of the Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency at Hofstra University, said Mr. Trump’s presidency so far seemed unlike almost any other, except perhaps Andrew Jackson’s. She noted that Jackson was seen as erratic at the time but was later evaluated by historians as a near-great president.

“Might the Trump presidency be viewed similarly someday?” she asked. “Difficult to see at the 100-day mark, but that is an artificial measurement, with so much of the presidency still to come.”