In Wind Gap, lunch crowd hopes Trump can make good on promises

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When President Donald Trump said Friday in his inaugural address that his arrival in the White House signals a transfer of power not just from Democrats to Republicans, but from Washington, D.C., elites to average Americans, his words resonated with Robert Goffredo.

"For too long, a small group in our nation"s capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost," Trump said minutes into his speech.

Goffredo, eating lunch at Detzi"s Tavern in Wind Gap on Friday, said he thinks politicians have ruined the federal government, and he"s encouraged that the nation"s new president is a businessman rather than a politician. But can Trump deliver on his promise to put the little guy first?

"I"m as confident as anyone else is," Goffredo said. "I don"t think he"s going to go the political route. I think he"ll be a man of his word."

Trump won big in Wind Gap and across Northampton County"s Slate Belt on his way to taking Northampton County, which voted for President Obama in 2008 and 2012. It"s a region of rural townships and struggling boroughs still feeling the loss of the textile and slate quarrying industries.

The eatery"s co-owner John Detzi, a Trump supporter, put fox news" live inaugural coverage on televisions in every corner of the sports bar Friday, joking with one customer who asked him to turn the sound down that he was "teaching a history lesson today."

That suited Goffredo just fine. The owner of a construction management firm, Goffredo is a registered Republican and Trump voter. He said his company"s health care costs have skyrocketed under President Obama"s Affordable Care Act. He"d like the law to be repealed early in the Trump administration, something Trump his promised to do.

A Christian, he said he also liked that Trump sprinkled a few references to G*d in his speech.

Much as Trump"s speech spoke in sweeping generalities about his administration"s plans and goals for the country, most of Detzi"s patrons expressed their hopes for the Trump presidency in broad strokes, saying they"d like to see him put America first, boost the economy and protect the borders.

Tom Curcio, 72, who works as a bridge toll collector but plans to retire soon, said he liked Trump"s "America First" emphasis. Over a large spinach salad, Curcio, a Republican, said he thinks the U.S. has spent too much time focused on propping up other nations and in international entanglements.

"From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land," Trump said in his speech. "From this day forward, it"s going to be only America first, America first."

We should be spending money at home, helping seniors and the poor and fixing our infrastructure, Curcio said. "I"m hoping he does well," said Curcio, who ran an auto dealership before selling it in 1998. "Give the guy a chance."

Detzi, who owns the bar with his two brothers, said he thought Trump"s speech did a nice job trying to bring the country together. "We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny," Trump said at one point in his address.

"He had to try to unify the country with this past election," Detzi said, taking a break to fill a pint glass with Coors Light. "And I think he did that."

Sitting at the bar nearby, Tom Quear, 64, of Pen Argyl, was encouraged. A Democrat, he didn"t vote for Trump, but he appreciated the tone of the new president"s speech. "I liked it," he said. "I think he addressed some issues, and it was positive. I want to see what happens. Let"s give him 100 days."

Across the room, at a table in the dining room, Scott Deischer of Plainfield Township, harbors deep misgivings.

"I have mixed thoughts," said Deischer, 67, a Democrat. "I hope for the best for our country and hope President Trump does well. I also am in the same respect proud of what the country has been able to achieve over the last eight years."

Deischer worries that progress, on issues such as health care, the environment and human rights, will be lost under Trump.

scott.kraus@mcall.com

Twitter @skraus

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Source: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/elections/mc-trump-inauguration-wind-gap-bar-20170120-story.html

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Deadly Tornado Strikes Hattiesburg, Miss. Causing "Extensive Damage"

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Four people were reported dead and a rescue operation was underway Saturday after a tornado wrecked buildings and left people trapped in their homes in southern Mississippi, Forrest County Coroner Butch Benedict and Hattiesburg city officials told NBC News on Saturday.

Damage caused by tornadoes in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Jan. 21, 2017. WDAM

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said it had received reports of "extensive damage" in three counties Forrest, Lamar and Perry in the area of Hattiesburg, Miss.

Four people were confirmed dead and Hattiesburg city officials said that the mayor, Johnny DuPree, had signed an emergency declaration amid "significant injuries and structural damages." It did not immediately give further information.

Forrest County Emergency Management said it could confirm only three deaths. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear.

Some people remain trapped in their houses, said Forrest County Emergency Management Director Glen Moore. He said it was too soon to estimate the number of injured people.

In addition, a fire department in Hattiesburg was damaged, Moore said.

"Search and rescue teams are being deployed to assist Forest County emergency management in the Hattiesburg area," the agency said in a statement.

Interstate 59 north of the city was closed, the agency said, and severe weather was continuing to move through the southeastern part of the state.

"There are power lines and debris over a large area so the public is asked to avoid travelling," the agency said.

William Carey University in downtown Hattiesburg also reported damage.

Damage caused by tornadoes in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Jan. 21, 2017. WDAM

It came as a band of severe weather moved across the region, and the NWS issued a tornado watch for parts of Alabama and Florida until 10 a.m. ET.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather/deadly-tornado-strikes-hattiesburg-miss-causing-extensive-damage-n710211

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Donald Trump, Jimmy Carter and the definition of "populism"

Closing Conversation: President Bill Clinton and President Jimmy Carter - CGI America 2016

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Newly elected President Jimmy Carter and his family walk down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington in 1977. The face circled in red belongs to Frank Moore, a deputy campaign manager who was part of the Carter transition team. AP file

Forty years ago, Trump Tower was located on West Paces Ferry Road in Buckhead.

That is to say, the headquarters of the president-elect was the Governors Mansion a spacious house, but hardly a gilded one, despite its tony location.

Then-Gov. George Busbee ceded the entire first floor of his home to Jimmy Carter himself a former resident. Thats where, in the weeks following his November 1976 victory, Carter sorted out the major appointments of his new administration.

The Southern locale the peoples house, as Lester Maddox had christened the mansion a few years earlier was as much a statement as Donald Trumps own decision to use his signature chunk of New York City real estate as his launch pad.

It is tempting to compare Carter and Trump. Both ran as outsiders. Carter set himself against a Washington still shaken by the Vietnam War and the corruption, then resignation, of Richard Nixon. Trump tapped the lingering, post-recession angst of white voters, and vilified the D.C. gridlock that had pit the nations first black president against a hostile Republican Congress.

Carter brought very different people into Washingtons power grid, and Trump is poised to do the same. Carter the Outsider had a rocky relationship with fellow Democrats who ran an insider Congress in particular, U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.

Trump the Outsider has already been introduced to U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Both Trump and Carter have been described as populists, but here the comparison breaks down. Or demonstrates how a words definition can change over the course of two generations.

The peanut farmers populism had its roots in his Southern Baptist religion and the tiny town of Plains, Ga. The New York businessmans populism springs from reality TV, social media, and a fierce belief in himself as the ultimate dealmaker.

Two very different worlds.

Ill never tell a lie, Carter famously said during that bicentennial campaign. This week, the president-elects chief spokeswoman advised us to pay less attention to words that pass Trumps lips, and more attention to whats in his heart.

Forty years ago, Carters campaign was nearly derailed by an interview in Playboy magazine, in which he admitted to lustful thoughts. Ive committed adultery in my heart many times, he said. In 1976, that qualified as too much information. We were embarrassed by the confession.

Compare that with the Access Hollywood video in which Trump bragged of activity that, his nominee for attorney general admitted this week, would clearly amount to sexual assault. Trump supporters ignored their candidates confession. Bombast, even the most vulgar variety, is part of his populist charm.

The best visual measure of how populism has changed might be that famous image of a freshly sworn-in Jimmy Carter and his extended family walking down Pennsylvania Avenue. Grandson Jason Carter, a toddler and future Democratic candidate for governor of Georgia, is perched on his fathers shoulders. James Earl Carter IV, now a political researcher in Atlanta, was under his mothers coat a month away from being born.

The walk was close to revolutionary. The shadow of JFKs murder still lingered. Eighteen months hadnt passed since the attempt on President Gerald Fords life in Colorado. Yet Carter was unfazed.

He told the Secret Service, I want to do it, said Frank Moore, a deputy Carter campaign manager. Which is how Moore came to be in those Pennsylvania Avenue photographs often mistaken as a Secret Service agent.

Witnesses able and willing to detail the 1976 transition are dwindling. The Georgia Mafia, the name given to the loyal triumvirate behind Carter, has disappeared.

Hamilton Jordan, the strategist, died in 2008 at age 63. Jody Powell, the ever-present press secretary, died in 2009 at age 65. Bert Lance, the small-town banker from north Georgia, died in 2013 at age 82.

Carter, even at 92, is too invested in the present the guinea worm still lives, if barely to chance comparisons between his entry into Washington and Trumps.

But we have Moore, who at 81 now lives on St. Simons Island. He was at the Governors Mansion as Carter settled on his big four appointments: Defense, State, Treasury and Justice.

Moore was in Plains when CIA director (and future president) George H.W. Bush helicoptered in to fill the president-elect in on intelligence matters. There wasnt a question of whether he was going to have an intelligence briefing or not have it, Moore said.

As the transition progressed, Moore shifted to the bottom floor of the Richard Russell building in Washington, where Georgia Sens. Herman Talmadge and Sam Nunn had donated some office space and the use of their phones.

The thing youre working on, the things going on right now, are all the appointments people forget about. Im not talking about Secretary of Defense and so forth, Moore said. Hundreds of patronage jobs have to be filled. U.S. marshals and attorneys have to be appointed, as do leadership spots within the rather obscure Natural Resources Conservation Service. Each appointment must be vetted through various state campaign networks. Then there were the interviews.

I interviewed Eric Holder. Somebody in Boston said, Weve got this guy just out of Harvard, and hes a wonderful guy. [Holder] went over to Justice, Moore said.

And decades later became Barack Obamas attorney general.

But about that walk down Pennsylvania Avenue. At the last minute, carter had decided he would exit his bullet-proof limousine.

I didnt even know it was contemplated, Moore said. Secret Service laid down one condition. Agents demanded the presence of someone in the family parade who could tell friend from foe in the crowd.

[Carter] turned to me and said, Frank knows everybody I know, said Moore. It was his backdoor into the history books.

Trumps plans remain a secret. But heres betting that he wont duplicate Jimmy Carters walk. First, Carters populism was a ground game that required personal contact over a long period of time. The man virtually lived in Iowa for two years. His walk was a natural extension of that campaign.

Trumps brand of populism, through the Internet and reality TV, is a digital phenomenon. Physical human contact isnt necessary. Trump, in fact, has an aversion to hand-shaking and has had to force himself to do it as a politician. Imvery much of a germaphobe, by the way. Believe me, the president-elect said this week.

Further, the crowds at Trumps massive rallies were well vetted, and well policed. Outside his debates with his GOP rivals and Hillary Clinton, Fridays inauguration ceremony will be the first in which Trumps organization wont control the make-up of his audience. The same applies to D.C. parade crowds.

The second reason Trump wont do it: Barack Obama and his family did.

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Source: http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2017/01/14/donald-trump-jimmy-carter-and-the-definition-of-populism/

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Eric Trump defends father"s Cabinet, Twitter use, says he"s "ready" to ...

Eric Trump shares his Election Day message

In an interview for the CBS News special,Change and Challenge: The Inauguration of Donald Trump,airing Friday at 8/7c, CBS This Morning co-host Gayle King asked the third-oldest Trump child about his biggest fear as his father takes the oath of office.

I think having a lot of new people around him, Eric Trump told King Thursday at New Yorks Trump Tower. And, you know, as a family, weve always been a little bit insular -- you know, it was my father, it was Don, Ivanka, you know, myself... the company. And we were very, very close. And I think thats going to be an adjustment. But he has amazing people.

Hes taken some flack about his Cabinet choices. Not everybody thinks that theyre amazing. You understand that as well, King said.

Yeah I do. And youre -- listen, youre always going to have that. But hes picked incredibly, incredibly talented people. And my father -- his entire life, Ive seen this -- he can pick talented people, Trump said. Its whats attributed to so much of his success. And I think hes very much done that here.

Eric Trump also expressed confidence in his bigger role -- taking over his fathers business empire with his brother Donald Jr.

Are you feeling pressure about your new role too, Eric, because now you are going to be under a microscope that you have never seen before. Are you ready for that? Worried about that? King asked.

No I am ready for it. And were ready for it, Trump said. I take our role in the company incredibly seriously and we are going to do the right things.

In his first post-election press conference on January 11, President-elect Trump introduced Sherri Dillon, the lawyer who has been working on the plan for his business empire. She said that Mr. Trump would know about the Trump Organizations new business dealings only if he reads it in the paper or sees it on TV.

People thought, Donald Trump who is so hands-on -- this company is his DNA. Do you really believe hes not going to be involved and say, What are you doing? How are you doing? You really believe that? King asked Eric Trump.

Yeah, I do, he said. Listen, hes got the biggest task in the world ahead of him. He has the biggest tasks in the world. Theres nothing bigger than the presidency of the United States.

But the Trump organization is his baby though, Eric, King said. How does he just turn that off? And for you, not to be able to pick up the phone and call him about advice?

Sure. Well, listen, he turns it off in that he has to have trust in us and were going to do a great job, Trump said.

King also asked Eric trump about his fathers twitter activity, which he plans to continue as president.

I know that you feel comfortable saying anything to him. Have you just said anything about the tweets? King asked. Surely there has been times, Eric, where you go, Geez, dad, did you have to do that? Or why dont you just ignore that?

Yeah I think so. I dont think every family member always agrees with absolutely everything, Trump said. What I can tell you is my fathers Twitter is an incredible vehicle for him. Ive seen firsthand throughout this whole process how dishonest the media has been. I am the biggest proponent of him communicating directly with the people, as opposed to the third parties who want to do anything to undermine him.

No, thats certainly working for him. But Im thinking about tweets where he trashes Saturday Night Live or Alec Baldwin is this, or Meryl Streep is overrated or John Lewis -- you know, those kinds of things that some people say seem petty. You say? King asked.

Hes a fighter. This country needs a fighter. You want somebody with that mentality in this country, in this world. You want somebody who will push back and fight for themselves but also fight for the interests of this nation, Trump said. You know, my father is the first person in the office in the morning, hes the last person to leave. He works seven days a week, 365 days a year. Hes going to put Washington back to work and our governments going to start working for the people again.

So they did say hes going to take the weekend off and then start on Monday? King asked.

Is that acceptable, Gayle? Trump asked, laughing.

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/eric-trump-president-donald-cabinet-business-empire-twitter/

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Trump, Bane Speech

Trump Plagiarized Bane in the Inauguration speech!!!

Intentionally or not, President Donald J. Trumps inauguration speech echoed one made by a Batman villain. An observant Twitter user noticed Friday that Mr. Trumps speech included one line that sounded a lot like one uttered by Bane, the Caped Crusaders nemesis in 2012s The Dark Knight Rises. Today, we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another or from one party to another, but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the people, trump said on Friday. And heres what Tom Hardys Bane said after crippling Batman and seizing Gotham City in the Christopher Nolan-directed film: We take Gotham from the corrupt! The rich! The oppressors

Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNEP6zcxmZjmL644vojyHuV75r62bQ&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&cid=52779354283682&ei=2pSDWND2MYWt3gGCtIr4Aw&url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/b8d71523-fd7f-34bf-9ed0-ddd0d1cdd7b8/ss_trump,-bane-speech.html

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Army picks Sig P320 for MHS handgun

Sig Sauer P320: Perfection Improved (US Army MHS Modular Handgun System)

The Sig P320 pistol. (Photo: Sig Sauer)

The Army announced Thursday that its search for a new handgun is over, choosing Sig Sauers version of the Modular Handgun System.

Sig Sauers model P320 will replace the M9 Beretta, which has been the Armys service pistol since the mid-1980s, and should be issuedlater this year after operational testing.

Although the award does not specify details about the handgun, sig issued a statement Thursday night coloring in details.

The company said Army selected the Sig P320, a polymer, striker-fired pistol. The handgun featuresamodular design with interchangeable grip modules that can be adjusted in frame size and caliber by the operator.

Sig Sauer beat out Beretta, Smith & Wesson, and Glock for the contract, which is worth near $580 million. The competition was announced in 2011, but numerous delays pushed back the last solicitation deadline to February 2016.

Article updated at 10 am EST on Jan. 20, 2017

Source: http://www.guns.com/2017/01/20/armys-new-handgun-will-be-a-sig-sauer/

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Jimmy Carter"s 1977 inauguration

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The original design for the Jimmy Carter review stand for the 1977 inaugural, courtesy of Paul Muldawer

It was largely overshadowed by the Donald Trump-John Lewis brouhaha, but one couple in particular responded to Sundays column that compared Jimmy Carters presidential inauguration in 1977 with Donald Trumps upcoming swearing-in on Friday.

Carol Muldawer was a supporter of Andrew Young, then a congressman representing the (now horrible) Fifth District of Atlanta. She obtained a leave to become the first female advance person for the carter campaign. Her husband, Paul Muldawer, was already an architect of some note in Atlanta.

So this was going on in the late fall of 1976, according to Paul Muldawer:

When it looked like Carter was going to win, the inaugural committee contacted me about designing the inaugural facility, the inaugural pavilion, and media stand, and seating for three-quarters of a million people.

A small job, no doubt. But Muldawer said that he incorporated a few themes reflecting Jimmy Carters values. The first was frugality:

Muldawer wanted a reviewing stand that was cheaper than previous ones, which ran to $1 million or so, made out of wood, and was delivered to local landfills after the ceremony.

As he recalls, the reviewing stand cost $850,000. I made the structure steel, so it could be recycled. It was recycled, after the inaugural, and sent back to Atlanta as a band shell in Piedmont Park for free symphony concerts, Paul Muldawer said. It disappeared during the second Maynard Jackson administration. Hes not sure why. It was historic relic, the disappointed architect said.

Muldawer reoriented the inaugural reviewing stand so that it didnt block a view of the White House. The statement is that history is more important than the individual. I also turned it at a 45-degree angle, to create empathy between the president and the parade. Rather than marchers making a sharp eyes-left, they could develop a rapport as they approached, the architect said. CBS got very upset with that.

Another statement was energy efficiency. We tried to heat it with passive solar. We had solar collector plates brought in from Georgia Tech, Muldawer said. This was the era before photovoltaic cells, so the experiment was something of a bust. It was 15 degrees. We tried, okay? Muldawer chuckled.

The most successful aspect of the Carter inauguration, from an architectural point of view, might have been the introduction of handicapped-access not just in the space for VIPs, but along the whole of Pennsylvania Avenue. Sure enough, George Wallace was there in his wheelchair, Muldawer said. This was the first accessible inauguration in history. The architect said 20,000 handicapped people showed up for the parade.

Muldawer also designed a media stand that was elevated, but included no enclosures. They would sit there in the cold, he said. With the exception of Barbara Walters. She had a glass-enclosed, little cage, Muldawer said.

Four years later, the incoming Ronald Reagan administration asked for and paid for the plans for the media stand. But Muldawer was admonished not to let the press know that the Carter plan had been duplicated.

So now you know.

From the January 1977 inaugural of President Jimmy Carter, courtesy of Paul Muldawer

The inaugural review stand reconstituted as a band shell for Piedmont Park. Carol Muldawer, at far right, with friends. Courtesy of Paul Muldawer.

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Source: http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2017/01/18/the-architect-of-jimmy-carters-1977-inauguration/

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