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From The Reporter’s Notebook
White House press secretary Sean Spicer downplayed on Monday the massive women’s rights marches attended by thousands that took place Saturday in Washington, D.C. and across the United States, TPM’s Esme Cribb reported. In his first formal press briefing from the White House, Spicer told reporters that protestors were actually “not against anything,” let alone Donald Trump. In fact the ubiquitous symbol of the women’s marches, the “pussyhat,” directly referenced the infamous “grab ’em by the pussy” remark the President made on the hot mic “Access Hollywood” tape, and many marchers carried anti-Trump signs.
Say What?!
“Running out of your favorite flavor can feel like a national emergency! We’ve seen your tweets and would like to be friends rather than foes.”
– In an open letter posted on the company’s site, Dippin’ Dots CEO Scott Fischer offered “to treat the White House and press corps to an ice cream social” after some of press secretary Sean Spicer’s old tweets about the treat were unearthed.
BUZZING: Today in the Hive
From a TPM Prime member: “Being a senator, representative, governor, district attorney, county commissioner, judge, or any public office holder is a job. Unlike most jobs, where you get dressed up and are interviewed by an HR person, you have to win votes from the public at large. Most people in the public have no clue what the job entails and even a lesser clue about who can perform the job functions. Like a candidate at a job interview, the candidate for public office will say whatever they think it will take to get the job. Like many job candidates, they will lie about their qualifications, experience and ability to do the job. After they get the job, they are thinking about their next job. which may be another public office or as a lobbyist. This means they do not want to alienate a future possible employer. They do what the donor class wants, not only because of campaign contributions, but because they are being promised a nice cushy job after they leave office. This is as true for Democrats as it is for Republicans. For example, in health care, the problem is high prices arising from monopoly rents. We spend 18% of GDP on healthcare, while the rest of the industrialized world pays 12%. If we reduced our expenditures on healthcare to 12%, most of our problems would vanish. However, doing so would anger some very powerful donors. Most legislation is special interest legislation. The people elected to public office are largely carrying the water for the donors who want that special interest legislation.”
Related: Democratic Senators To Propose $1 Trillion Infrastructure Plan
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What We’re Reading
Wolf-Sized Otters Prowled the World Six Million Years Ago (Gizmodo)
Melania Trump’s ‘America First’ Inaugural Wardrobe (The New York Times)
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