Idiocracy

The Hill reports: President Trump will impose 25-percent tariffs on certain E.U. agricultural exports and 10-percent tariffs on European-brand aircraft on Oct. 18, the White House announced Wednesday. A senior administration official told reporters during Wednesday briefing that the full list of European goods subject to tariffs will be released as soon as this evening by the White House Office …

The Washington Post reports: In the hours after the release Wednesday of the rough transcript of President Trump’s July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the White House circulated an email with proposed talking points for Trump’s defenders. Unfortunately for the White House, the email was mistakenly sent to not only Republicans but also Democratic lawmakers and their staff. …

NBC News reports: The top echelon of the Trump administration has become a high-speed revolving door — with turnover in 78 percent of the positions, a new study has found. And 31 percent of those White House “A-Team” jobs have turned over more than once, the study by the Brookings Institution shows. “It’s historic, it’s unprecedented, it’s off the charts,” …

NBC News reports: A combined 69 percent of registered voters say they don’t like Trump personally, regardless of their feelings about his policy agenda. A record 50 percent say they dislike him personally and dislike his policies, while another 19 percent say that they dislike him but approve of his policies. Just 29 percent say they like Trump personally, with …

The military blog Task & Purpose reports: On Friday DVIDSHUB tweeted a picture of a B-2 bomber on the flight line with a formation of airmen in front of it along with the caption: “The last thing #Millenials will see if they attempt the #area51raid today.” If death is easy and comedy is hard, jokes about wiping out millennials with …

As every news outlet in the nation breathlessly reports on the still-unfolding whistleblower scandal, which may ultimately prove that Trump extorted a foreign power in order help his reelection campaign, your Glorious Leader devoted his first tweet of the day to his never-ending childish mission to insult and taunt his critics. Oh no, really big political news, perhaps the biggest …

Business Insider reports: Only 13 percent of Americans would support the US military joining Saudi Arabia in a conflict as part of a response to a recent attack on two major Saudi oil fields, a new Insider poll of US adults shows. The poll asked participants “what, if any, role do you think the US should take in a response …

First, a very related story: A former staffer in the George W. Bush administration wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post on Wednesday urging his “fellow Latinos” to vote President Trump out of office in 2020. “I am a Republican. I worked in the George W. Bush White House,” Abel Guerra wrote in the op-ed. “And I say to my …

Markets Insider reports: If you’re the president of the United States, Barack Obama has two important tips to help make good decisions. The former US president spoke about his decision-making process on Wednesday at an event in San Francisco organized by the data-analysis company Splunk. First, Obama said, you should “make sure you have a team with a diversity of …

CNBC reports: President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he has tapped Robert O’Brien to become his next national security advisor, replacing John Bolton. The post, which does not require Senate confirmation, comes with a staff of several hundred specialists from the Pentagon, State Department and U.S. intelligence agencies. O’Brien will become the fourth national security advisor to serve Trump, following …

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump, looking to put New Mexico in play in 2020, sought to win over Hispanic voters at a rally here Monday. The president’s pitch to Hispanic voters seemed to silo them off from the rest of the electorate, including the rally crowd (“We love our Hispanics.”) It featured an assertion that they had a greater …

Law & Crime reports: Conservative public figure Ben Shapiro is defending Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh against a recent sexual misconduct allegation by raising questions about the high court member’s penis. The internet predictably responded from the window to the walls with ridicule. “We’ve had a bevy of public figures in recent years who have had their genitalia described on …

The Daily Beast reports: The U.S. Secret Service has formally requested the purchase of two jet skis in order to better protect President Trump and his family during their frequent stays at their vacation homes. “President Trump and his family spend several weeks throughout the year in Mara Lago FL and Hamptons NY. The first family is very active in …

USA Today reports: American Pharoah has it all these days. By becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years in 2015, the horse secured a life of pampering and mating at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud Farm in Versailles, Kentucky. He also enjoys visits from figures such as Vice President Mike Pence, who visited the horse on the farm in March …

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: The California Senate was forced from its chamber and halted work for more than three hours on the final day of its session after an opponent of mandatory childhood vaccinations poured what appeared to be blood on lawmakers from the gallery Friday evening. Stunned lawmakers left the chamber and security officers cleared the gallery and …

The Christian Science Monitor reports: Sen. Ted Cruz sounds ready to run for president again – in 2024. Speaking to The Monitor after a breakfast session with reporters, the Texas Republican didn’t hesitate when asked if he would take another crack at the White House. “Look, I hope to run again,” said Senator Cruz, who was the runner-up last time …

The Blast reports: Bristol Palin’s son bagged his first black bear during a hunting trip with the reality star’s ex, Levi Johnston. 10-year-old Tripp just returned to civilization from a camping and hunting trip with his father and stepmom, Sunny Johnston. The former “Dancing With the Stars: Juniors” contestant could be seen posing with the dead black bear after the …

Mediaite reports: John Legend and Chrissy Teigen mockingly fired back after President Donald Trump attacked them both in a tweetstorm about criminal justice reform. The singer and his model wife were slammed on Sunday night when Trump grumbled that celebrities and the media don’t give him enough credit for signing the Criminal Justice Reform Bill into law. Trump was apparently …

Talking Points Memo reports: Arizona GOP chairwoman Kelli Ward promised to stop Mark Kelly — husband of gunshot victim former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ) and Senate candidate – “dead in his tracks.” “Support the Republican Party of Arizona today and, together, we’ll stop gun-grabber Mark Kelly dead in his tracks,” Ward wrote in a fundraising email. Neither the Arizona Republican …

CNBC reports: If President Donald Trump wants to keep his strong stock market gains, he may want to stay off Twitter. Days when Trump tweets a lot are associated with negative stock market returns, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said Tuesday in a report. The brokerage’s chief equity strategist, Savita Subramanian, wrote in a note that “since 2016, days with …