Contemptor

After Decades of Investigation & Litigation, Will Stormy Daniels Finally Rid Us of Trump?

Becky SarwateLeave a comment

“Let’s be real though. Out of personal mendacity and sheer, repetitive volume, Donald Trump is obviously not afraid to go to court. A goodfella moves through the world with confident impunity. He has screwed over numerous contractors to the tune of millions of dollars while building his gold-plated real estate empire. Trump has defrauded investors and students, and deceived members of his own family. He has publicly disparaged Gold Star families, Senators currently dying of brain cancer and any number of real or imagined opponents. He has said, awful, barely repeatable things about women, famous and otherwise, demonstrating that the opposite sex is his preferred target for vulgarity and disrespect. Donald Trump – and the cheeseburger he reportedly takes to bed – lose sleep over none of this.

But there’s one woman, a singular litigant, who’s demonstrating a weird, unsettling power over Donald Trump that none of us fully understands yet. I speak of course of Stephanie Clifford, aka Stormy Daniels. She and her lawyer Michael Avenetti are giving Team Trump the full court media press over her alleged affair with POTUS 45 – and confirmed $130,000 payout. And what has Trump said of the unfolding scandal – and the lady who has him by the literal balls? Nada. Nary a tweetstorm or press conference tangent. Things that make you go hmmmm…”

Read the full post at Contemptor.

John Kelly Still Has a Job: Why Team Trump Will Never Get Right with Female Voters

Becky SarwateLeave a comment

“At other moments away from Contemptor, to be honest, the effort of putting my pained – and very female – American perspective out into the world hasn’t always felt worthwhile. I trust my voice and believe that our democracy faces unprecedented peril that requires committed resistance. But as a female writer, sometimes a break from Twitter trolls to come up for air is necessary self-care. One particularly dedicated jeerer, @lightbluecollar, last week blamed me and my work for an 18 month-old case of mother/daughter incest in Oklahoma. I’m no stranger to angry white men on the Internet, but it’s a source of personal exhaustion to engage them with the anger and ignorance on 11 that comes with Making America Great Again.

Anyway, here I am – older, wiser and ready to resume the rhetorical battle for our country, its solvency and soul on this platform. While we’re on the subject of being trolled, let’s talk for a moment about the Trump White House and its continually audacious personal and civic inability to respect women – the interest group that comprises more than half of the American electorate.

The Rob Porter scandal is nearly two weeks old, a veritable eternity for the Trump administration and its ability to generate controversy. Yet the story still occupies front page real estate on The New York Times website. Why? Because of Camp Runamuck’s puzzling, but by now expected impotence in publicly condemning domestic violence, and rooting its practitioners and acolytes out of the West Wing.”

Read the full post at Contemptor.

Jimmy Kimmel and Charles Pierce Humanize Media ‘Enemy’ with AHCA Rebukes

Becky Sarwate1 Comment

“While the House bill was rushed through without an immediate opportunity to assess its public popularity, budgetary impact or full coverage devastation, it’s worth remembering that the previous incarnation was supported by just 17 percent of Americans. That’s a unified, nonpartisan rebuke from a voting public coming to understand that health should not be a choice between food on the table and a doctor’s visit. A major illness shouldn’t bankrupt a family. We’re remembering that the Declaration of Independence, one of the founding documents of our imperfect union, declares our universal, inalienable right to life. Not just the lucky, well-funded few. All of us.

It’s our job as members of the media to pull the curtains away from yesterday’s decadent Washington fete and expose the real harm that will be done if this farce of a bill actually passes through the Senate. However unlikely that prospect seems to conventional wisdom now, let us recall that even top Republicans thought the “reform” issue was dead not 10 days ago. And a bombastic, buffoonish television reality star could never be elected President of the United States, right?

Yes it’s the media’s job to ignore all Trump administration claims of “winning.” We must continue shining a factual, human light on the losing his agenda inflicts on the middle and working classes. Some of us are doing better than others. A tip of the hat, and genuine thanks, to Kimmel and Pierce.”

Read the full post at Contemptor.

We’re Number 8! IL’s Governor Rauner Ranks Among Nation’s Worst

Becky Sarwate1 Comment

“Illinois has no budget. Our state has entered year three of Rauner’s fiscal chicken game with taxpayer funds. Allegedly, the tough love stance supports a “business-friendly” agenda that just happens to include a list of modern Republican Party favorites: deregulation, eviscerating worker protections and tax cuts. Yet the stubborn approach is a demonstrable failure that’s driven away corporations and residents alike. A January report from Chicago Business Journal woefully observes, “[In 2016] Illinois ranked third among all states in terms of the most outbound moves. Yes, that would be moves out of the state.”

More tellingly, “60 percent of moves in Illinois were among people headed out of a state wracked by billions in unpaid bills, no approved state budget, a sluggish employment environment and, in the case of Chicago, soaring crime rates.”

But what about those most valued people of all? You know, the corporations? I’ll let this Huffington Post headline do the talking: Is Governor Rauner Deliberately Trying to Turn Illinois Into a Third World Economy?”

Read the full post at Contemptor.

We Bombed Syria. What Now Trump?

Becky SarwateLeave a comment

“I was not a fan of President Obama’s ‘red line’ followed by a general approach of confusion and inaction toward a ravaged Syria. But neither am I in favor of unilateral violence ordered by a President cloaked in corruption, scandal and general, inhuman oddity.

The first two and a half of months of the Trump administration have been a break necking blur of stupidity and heartlessness. However, the third leg of this gang’s unholy stool is incompetence and while they’ve tried to illegally ban certain immigrants and wrench grateful Americans from their Obamacare, we can be grateful they’re too disorganized to succeed. But Syria has been bombed, officially. It has never taken genius or coordination to fire weapons and indiscriminately kill.”

Read the full post at Contemptor.