Trump sent his top envoys to to Senate and they strained to broker a last-minute compromise with Democrats and some of their own Republican Party’s lawmakers.

But Vice President Mike Pence, incoming White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and senior adviser Jared Kushner departed after hours spent dashing back and forth, with no outward signs of an agreement. Back at the White House, Trump said the government was “totally prepared for a very long shutdown,” though hardly anyone thought a lengthy shutdown was likely.

But the president was doing his best to avoid a shutdown. He had a new proposal.

Looking for a way to claim victory, Trump said he would accept money for a “Steel Slat Barrier” with spikes on the top, which he said would be just as effective as a “wall” and “at the same time beautiful.”

While the were no comments from legislators about the president’s latest monumental idea, twitterzens did not spare the opportunity to voice their opinion.

Below, some of the most twittered-about and the most-liked replies to the president’s idea. But before you continue reading –and maybe laughing– remember that at issue with a #shutdown is funding for nine of 15 Cabinet-level departments and dozens of agencies, including the departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, Interior, Agriculture, State and Justice, as well as national parks and forests and an impasse that threatens hundreds of thousands of federal workers at the end-of-the-year holidays.

President Trump tweeted amid shutdown negotiations:

A design of our Steel Slat Barrier which is totally effective while at the same time beautiful! pic.twitter.com/sGltXh0cu9

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2018

These are some of the replies to his idea:

Cool. Here’s an even bigger picture so people can see how well it would work. pic.twitter.com/aMsn7BtRWi

— David Slack (@slack2thefuture) December 22, 2018

pic.twitter.com/t3BrhQlTkw

— becks (@wildflxrence) December 22, 2018

Life, uh, finds a way. pic.twitter.com/9zhtLRQbgd

— Jon Painter (@JonPainterPhoto) December 22, 2018

2000 miles of snow fence from Walmart ~$8 million. Cost savings. You’re welcome. pic.twitter.com/w40KZJVt6u

— Crap_Locker (@Crap_Locker) December 22, 2018

*When you wait until the night before to finish your presentation*

— Matt Ballard (@M_R_Ballard) December 22, 2018

pic.twitter.com/ReX1smO6eM

— LisaMarie (@indianaoldsoul) December 22, 2018

Sometimes I think this is a parody account.

— Julian Huguet *Blue Check Mark* (@jhug00) December 22, 2018

Some big gaps there… pic.twitter.com/oxj4UzGizA

— Ethan Reid (@Fromezilla) December 22, 2018

—

A “Steel Slat Barrier” with spikes on the top was Trump’s idea to accept instead of his wall and Twitterzens responded.

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Because all of the words are by President Donald Trump, who is billed as the author “by accident.” The picture book’s title and contents were inspired by Trump’s disjointed response last September to Hurricane Florence, which struck North Carolina and South Carolina, where Colbert grew up.

“If you love Trump, you’ll love this book because every word in it is exactly what he said,” Colbert, for whom the president has been prime comic material, said during a recent interview with The Associated Press. “And if you’re anti-Trump you’ll love this book because every word in it is exactly what he said.”

“Whose Boat Is This Boat? Comments That Don’t Help in the Aftermath of a Hurricane” has sold hundreds of thousands of copies and raised more than $1.25 million for such charities as Foundation for the Carolinas and World Central Kitchen. The contributions come from author proceeds and from the publisher, Simon & Schuster.

Books can take years from conception to publication, but “Whose Boat Is This Boat?” was essentially written in 24 hours and within six weeks was already on shelves, physical and virtual. It began after Trump visited New Bern, North Carolina, and was preoccupied with a yacht that had landed in a resident’s backyard.

“To see what we’re seeing — this boat. I don’t know what happened, but this boat just came here,” he said. Other comments included “At least you got a nice boat out of the deal” and “Have a good time!”

“Late Show” staff writer Emmy Blotnick heard Trump’s remarks and said, “That sounds like a children’s book.”

With illustrations by Audro Buneta and John Henry, “Whose Boat Is This Boat?” looks like a bedtime story, albeit one that ends with the message “There is no moral.” Defining it has proved challenging: On The New York Times best-seller charts, it appears under “Advice, How-to & Miscellaneous.”

“We should be on the nonfiction list,” Colbert said. “I smell a rat.”

According to a Times spokesperson, “The book was placed on the advice, how-to and miscellaneous list where many books that defy easy categorization have ranked. It’s a great achievement being on this highly competitive list for six weeks, including a week at No. 1, and we wish Stephen were happier about it.”

Colbert said the book is for “children of all ages,” one that appeals to kids because it’s “pretty to look at, no nudity, no violence” and one that shows adults how “our president responds” to natural disasters. The book is billed as “an excellent teaching tool” that lets readers learn “about empathy by process of elimination.”

“Whose Boat Is This Boat?” isn’t the first picture story to mock the Trump administration. “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Presents a Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo” is a best-selling parody of “Marlon Bundo’s Day in the Life of a Vice President,” a tribute to the family’s pet bunny written by Mike Pence’s daughter, Charlotte Pence, and illustrated by his wife, Karen Pence. The vice president is known for his conservative social views; in Oliver’s book, Marlon Bundo has fallen for a fellow male bunny.

Charlotte Pence herself bought a copy of the Oliver edition, noting that proceeds went to charity. Colbert senses he may have similar luck with Trump and his family.

“What I’m hearing, from the voices inside my head, is that he enjoys it,” Colbert said, mimicking the president’s own fact-checking style. “Everybody is saying he likes it.”

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Trump Spoof Book: “Whose Boat Is This Boat?

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Giuliani wrote Tuesday, December 4th, that the social network had “allowed someone to invade my text with a disgusting anti-President message.”

Here’s the tweet:

Mueller filed an indictment just as the President left for https://t.co/8ZNrQ6X29a July he indicted the Russians who will never come here just before he left for Helsinki.Either could have been done earlier or later. Out of control!Supervision please?

— Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) November 30, 2018

No, Giuliani. No one did.

A Twitter spokesman says the company can’t edit users’ tweets and “the accusation that we’re artificially injecting something into a tweet is completely false.” The problem is Giuliani had inadvertently created a hyperlink when he failed to put a space after a period in the Nov. 30 tweet.

Web firm designer Jason Velazquez tells The New York Times he saw the link, paid $5 to buy the domain and created a page in about 15 minutes. Those who clicked on the link saw: “Donald J. Trump is a traitor to our country.”

The saddest thought about this controversy is that Giuliani was advising President Trump on cyber security.

Really?

Politics in this country have gone wrong, and besides other factors, perhaps the digital technology also is to blame, specifically because in the age of Trump and a majority-old body of politicians, we shout at each other on social media across a gulf of misunderstanding.

The use of social media in politics including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube has dramatically changed the way campaigns are run and how Americans interact with their elected officials.

That also means that people in public office—or advisors for that matter—should be well read in matters they legislate or advise.

Right, Rudy?

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G-20.In: Rudy Giuliani’s Latest Spectacular Typo Fail

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Maybe he was clear all alone that his “drain the swamp” means ‘anyone’ or ‘anything’ he objects to instead of anything ethically and morally incorrect.

The truth is that he and most people around him are draining this phrase out of its meaning day by day. Congressman Christopher Collins ads his name to a long list of personalities around the Trump circle that have lost their jobs, been forced to resign, or been charged in Mueller’s Russia probe, setting an unprecedented lack of moral leadership in the Republican party.

Paul Manafort, former chairman of the Trump campaign, is appearing in court now as part of the first trial in the special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. He surrendered to federal authorities on October 30, 2017, after he was indicted, along with his business associate Rick Gates, on 12 counts, including conspiracy against the US and money laundering.

Though Manafort has pleaded not guilty, he was forced to step down as Trump’s campaign chairman in May 2016 after coming under fire for his connections to Russian oligarchs and his past lobbying efforts abroad. He is a key figure in Mueller’s investigation who has charged him with 18 counts related to tax fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, failure to register as a foreign agent, and obstruction of justice.

Rick Gates, Paul Manafort’s former business partner whose duties for the Trump campaign included wrangling GOP convention delegates and arranging the inaugural ceremony, was charged with 23 counts of the total 32 counts in the February 2018 superseding indictment, including five counts of assisting in the preparation of false U.S. income tax returns from 2010 to 2014, five counts of subscribing to false U.S. income tax returns from 2010 to 2014, one count of subscribing to false amended U.S. income tax returns in 2013, three counts of failing to file reports of foreign accounts from 2011 to 2013, five counts of bank fraud conspiracy, and four counts of bank fraud.

George Papadopoulos was the foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign during 11 months and was charged with one count of making false statements and omissions to the FBI, allegedly for making untruthful claims about a time he met with an unnamed overseas professor with substantial ties to the Russian government.

Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, was charged by Special counsel Robert Mueller with one count of making false statements for “willfully and knowingly” making “false, fictitious and fraudulent statements” to the FBI regarding conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

Scandal-plagued EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, who was the subject of several ethics investigations into his conduct while he ran the agency resigned in early July.

White House communications director Hope Hicks, one of Trump’s closest confidants who’s been with him since the beginning had to resign a day after she testified before the House Intelligence Committee, where she reportedly said that she told white lies for the president.

Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, resigned on January after Politico reported that Fitzgerald purchased stock in Japan Tobacco while serving as CDC director. She had also bought shares of the pharmaceutical companies Merck and Bayer and of the health insurer Humana.

Tom Price, the secretary of health and human services had elicited bipartisan condemnation over the cost of his air travel that cost taxpayers more than $1 million between his use of private planes for domestic travel and military jets for recent trips to Africa, Europe, and Asia. He offered his resignation on September, 2017.

The administration has been rocked by high-profile departures since Trump took office in January 2017. Since he tweeted for the first time: “I will Make Our Government Honest Again — believe me. But first, I’m going to have to #DrainTheSwamp” the phrase has caused curiosity among people, voters and political commentators around the world. Though Trump and his supporters have been punctuated tweet after tweet with the hashtag, the long list of problems above mentioned, plus the substantially false statements President Trump himself makes almost every day, the “Drain the Swamp” metaphor to describe his plan to fix problems in the federal government is totally undervalued now.

But the scariest thing is that “Drain the Swamp” is a phrase first popularized by the fascist leader Benito Mussolini who in 1925 dropped the pretense of democracy in Italy and established a dictatorship.

We may have a good laugh now at the end of the day, but let’s reflect on what’s going on with our politics today for the better of our nation.

We’re not OK.

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Facing an onslaught of bipartisan fury over his glowing remarks about Vladimir Putin, President Trump said more than 24 hours afterward that he had misspoken during his news conference with the autocratic Russian leader.

In one of the only times of his presidency he’s admitted to a mistake, Trump said that when he returned Monday from the summit with Putin in Helsinki, Finland, he “realized there is some need for clarification” about his remarks on Russian interference in the 2016 US election. His comments were so different as to make it seem like they came from two different people.

Contradicting his prior comments, Trump said he accepts, with caveats, the American conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. He also claimed that he intended to say he saw no reason why Russia wouldn’t be the culprit.

Sincere excuse? Accepted apology?

No.

Even reading mainly from a prepared statement, Trump veered from his script to hedge on who was responsible for the election interference: “It could be other people also. There’s a lot of people out there.”

His backtracking failed to quell the controversy. Democrats dismissed Trump’s statement as political damage control, an effort to clean up the mess he made in Helsinki. Most rational person would dismiss his statement now as well.

A sign?

As the president said he has “full faith” in the intelligence agencies, the lights in the conference room briefly went out.

The truth is the condemnation for his performance at the Helsinki news conference — including from many fellow Republicans — matched or eclipsed previous controversies in Trump’s turbulent 18 months in office.

Trump has damaged U.S. foreign policy and we only hope that moving forward, his administration would repel any effort to interfere in the upcoming midterm elections and certainly not hold Russia accountable for what they’re doing.

I hope you had a good laugh, but also, think this presidency is not OK.

—

In Trump’s America, Lie your Way out of Trouble

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Trump’s lead lawyer, John Dowd, a veteran advocate for white collar defendants, left his post in April and was replaced by former New York mayor and governor Rudy Giuliani, who in just a week foreshadowed the downfall of an administration that can’t keep a line between law and order.

Giuliani also represents an apparent shadow government of former Trump aides, Fox News conspiracy theorists and conservative millionaire donors; many of whom have the president’s ear and speak to him on phone calls about developing his agenda regularly.

During an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” the former New York City mayor and U.S. attorney said the money to repay Michael Cohen had been “funneled … through the law firm and the president repaid it.” Giuliani made the statements to Fox host Sean Hannity, who has his own connection to the case. His comments contradicted statements made by Trump several weeks ago, when he said he didn’t know about the payment to Daniels as part of a nondisclosure agreement she signed days before the presidential election.

Since then, an exposed web of lies of the Trump Administration has vindicated Trump’s critics, and has left his surrogates, staff, and aids speechless as the White House had always said Trump denies having a relationship with Daniels.

Probably, this sketch from Saturday Night Live’s latest episode where Ben Stiller, reprising his role as Michael D. Cohen, the personal lawyer to Trump, places a pay phone call to the president is the best example of the nonstop pattern of lies the media has tried to uncover since the campaign trail.

Watch: Michael Cohen Wiretap Cold Open – SNL

Picking up the best line from this sketch…

“Mr. President, I have lost all credibility,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, played by Aidy Bryant, told Alec Baldwin who plays the incarnation of Trump. “Did you lie to me about the Stormy Daniels affair?”

Baldwin said, “Yeah, that sounds like something I would do.”

Such is the case of Giuliani who is embracing his client’s preferred approach to challenges as he mounts Trump’s defense through the media. But it’s proving to be a bewildering display. He is delivering confounding and at times contradictory statements as he tries to lessen the legal burdens on his client from an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and a $130,000 hush payment to a porn actress.

In an interview Sunday with ABC’s “This Week,” Giuliani dismissed as rumor his own statements about Trump’s payment to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, said he can’t speak to whether the president lied to the American people when he denied knowledge of the silencing agreement and wouldn’t rule out the president asserting his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in the Russia investigation. Giuliani also couldn’t say whether Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, had made similar payments to other women on the president’s behalf.

Giuliani said despite Trump’s openness to sit down with special counsel Robert Mueller in the Russia investigation, he would strongly advise Trump against it.

“I’m going to walk him into a prosecution for perjury like Martha Stewart?” Giuliani asked, referring to the lifestyle maven convicted in 2004 of lying to investigators and obstruction in an insider trading case.

Giuliani couldn’t guarantee that Trump wouldn’t end up asserting his constitutional right to refuse to answer any questions that might incriminate him.

“How could I ever be confident of that?” Giuliani said.

There will be consequences.

In an April 26-May 1 survey of 1,991 registered voters, 62 percent say the administration is running somewhat or very chaotically, a rise of 4 percentage points from a March 15-19 poll and 8 points from a March 1-5 poll. Those who say they think the administration is running very well or somewhat well fell to 32 percent from 36 percent in the mid-March poll.

I find it hard for the Trump administration to steer this ship out of troubled waters. So, like Stormy Daniels to Baldwin’s Trump: ‘Storm’s coming, baby’.

—

The Exposed Web of Lies of the Trump Administration

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And the only reason is that while Americans are understandably focused on what’s happening at home, the rest of the world is moving fast to make gains on the distracted superpower.

Unfortunately, it’s not only that Americans are fascinated with politics, but we are in a political quagmire with an administration embattled in so many scandals that we need to get to the bottom of the truth.

The world is laughing at us because morally wrong actions from the Trump administration are causing general public outrage. That only leads to a continually displacement of America as leader of the free world. And it is a fact, we don’t even see the U.S. as leader of the free world anymore.

Across the majority of the G20 nations, people prefer Merkel to Trump on world affairs, according to the survey, which examines attitudes in 37 nations, including in 17 of the 19 members of the G20 (the organization also includes a representative of the European Union). In only two of the G20 countries surveyed – India and Russia – do residents have substantially more confidence in Trump than in Merkel when it comes to world affairs.

The world is laughing at us because the “America First” policy is not just a statement of nationalist priority but a willful ignorance of the rest of the world.

Every action undertaken to make ‘America Fist” has caused a chain of side effects due to inept policies that impede the way our government normally functions.

China’s official news agency recently blamed “chronic flaws” in our politics and mocked President Trump for having the anniversary of his first year in office damaged by his alleged inability to negotiate a deal. “The Western democratic system is hailed by the developed world as near perfect and the most superior political system to run a country. . . . However, what’s happening in the United States today will make more people worldwide reflect on the viability and legitimacy of such a chaotic political system,” China’s news agency wrote, according to Reuters. That was in regard to the past government shutdown we experienced, illustrating a lack of leadership of this administration.

In any other country — no matter how submerged in partisan squabbles — the government keeps on ticking. Government shutdowns are uniquely an American reality, which we might have again soon.

The entire world is laughing at the US because elsewhere in the planet, constitutions or political systems prevent scenarios that would be comparable to the political impasse in our government.

We need to reach a consensus with results for a more permanent solution. Twitter storms blaming others is not the right approach to leadership. Not knowing where the President stands on immigration issues by the majority of leaders in the Senate and Congress is not helping.

As America works hard during the day and takes a good laugh at itself before the night ends, may this segment of A Closer Look with Seth Meyers shed light on why the world is laughing at our administration.

—

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The GOP has spent the last four decades trying to sell the same trickle-down economics idea to the American People. Now they have gone beyond the broken thinking of the past with a president that, like the rest of the GOP in Senate and Congress, are picking large corporations and wealthy Americans over small businesses and middle-class American homeowners.

But if it goes into law —as it will— in the coming days, beyond getting a good laugh as always with Seth Meyers’s a Closer Look segment, we have to ponder upon the impact this legislation will have on our future. Two-thirds of us Americans believe the proposed tax reform bill would benefit the wealthy more than it would the middle class.

And it is true.

Big banks and multinational corporations will reap a bonanza of tax cuts totaling hundreds of billions of dollars. The bill favors higher-income inners and businesses more than it does the middle class. The largest cuts proposed in the bill would benefit Americans earning in the 95th to 99th percentile.

Middle-income households will get $61 billion in tax cuts in 2019 under the Republican tax plan, but benefits mostly peter out after a decade.

“The wealthy are not getting a tax cut under our plan,” Gary Cohn, Trump’s top economic advisor, said on Good Morning America. Even President Trump said in a speech in Indiana: “Our framework includes our explicit commitment that tax reform will protect low-income and middle-income households, not the wealthy and well-connected.”

Well, those two statements are false. Just read the entire bill—when available.

—

A Brazen Heist of the Country with the Approval of the Entire GOP. Seth Meyers takes a closer look at the Republicans’ sweeping overhaul of the tax code.

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Jost then noted that the photo was taken before Franken ran for public office, but was taken after he was “a sophomore in high school.”

“Pretty hard to be like, ‘Oh, c’mon he didn’t know any better, he was only 55,'” Jost added.

Che and Colin are just so good at this!

After Senator Al Franken became the latest of a series of high-profile Americans to face allegations of sexual misconduct, President Donald Trump lashed out at Franken’s actions while ignoring his own misconduct and that of would-be Senator Roy Moore.

And this is what goes so wrong in politics nowadays, and guess what, this is exactly what Americans voters screamed out loud when they voted for Trump—draining Washington of all corrupt politicians, hypocrisy, and double standards.

In past episodes, ‘Saturday Night Live’ has addressed the topic belatedly. Harvey Weinstein, Roy S. Moore and Louis C.K. have been a few of them. Franken, who is a former “SNL” writer and performer, was accused by Tweeden, a female radio news anchor, on Thursday. This led the Minnesota senator to issue an apology.

And in the recent S.N.L installment., it was Senator Al Franken’s turn.

The problem of sexual harassment sits at the intersection of pop culture and politics, and the latest accusations of sexual misconduct by a prominent, powerful men like Senator Franken is a proof that there’s much to do to resolve the issue.

At least, the Senator issue an apology and did not deny what happened. Louis C.K. was brave enough to simply admit it. He released a statement in response to a report published Thursday in The New York Times about several women who stepped forward to discuss experiences with him in which he committed acts of sexual misconduct. In his statement, Louis C.K. said, “These stories are true.”

On the other hand, Republicans being accused have not admitted any wrong doing, on the contrary, they have snapped back to their accusers, pinning them as liars.

But so many women can’t be wrong, right?

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‘Saturday Night Live’ Addresses Sexual Misconduct. The problem of sexual harassment sits at the intersection of pop culture and politic. Laugh but reflect.

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Imagine if Bill Nye makes such jokes to kids like, “I cannot believe the media produced such beautiful children!” Or, “How the media did this, I don’t know.”

Or maybe this one [even smiling to the kid] “Ooh, are you gonna grow up to be like your parents?”

If Bill Nye or you, or me said that, then hell would break loose the likes of the fury of Cronus and Uranus combined.

The ‘A Closer Look’ from Set Meyers had a perfect description to tag these infamous jokes: “You are the reason my daddy drinks.” Only someone exceedingly drunk might be joking to that extent.

Bottom line, getting on a more serious notes, once we are adults we must stick to values 24/7, mimicking what Jesus said: ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’ Or is that only a cliche for Sunday mornings or political speeches in front of an evangelical crowd?

Oh yeah, those were crappy things to say to kid Trick-Or-Treaters of members of the White House press corps and ghoulish remarks that should not be repeated nor defended.

As they say, there’s seldom a second chance to make a good first impression but we can learn from our mistakes. Professional players watch videos to reenact the situations where they screwed it up or to make better plays against the opponent on a second encounter.

So here’s a film to watch.

And remember, we joke now, but take things seriously after a quick laugh.

—

At a Halloween event for the press corp, Trump told kid Trick-Or-Treaters many things. A Closer Look best description: “You Are the Reason My Daddy Drinks”

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