* When I read stories like this, I have to wonder if Trump supporters will ever figure out that they got played:

Trent Lott, the former Republican senator from Mississippi, had gleefully flown back from Florida, where he had been working for the campaign of Donald J. Trump. Now a powerful lobbyist, his phone had been buzzing nonstop and he was busy helping to organize a briefing Thursday morning for dozens of corporate clients. He was not alone. The stunning surprise of the election, and the political chaos it created, is a boon for Washington’s lobbying corridor known as K Street. Corporate America is both excited and anxious about the prospect of Mr. Trump’s presidency, seeing great opportunity to shape the agenda after an extended period of frustration over gridlock in Congress. With Republicans poised to control both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, Mr. Lott said he had not seen such a chance to help clients since he left the Senate in 2007…

It sounds more like feeding the swamp than draining it.

* A lot of people are writing about the role the media played in electing Donald Trump. There is a lot of ground to cover about how their constant embrace of Clinton scandals fed his “Crooked Hillary” meme. But there is another way they gave Trump an assist. For example, here is a story the Washington Post published the day AFTER the election:

What it would really mean if Trump pulls the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement https://t.co/wnnbVwzVbz pic.twitter.com/CfkWR7T9in — Post Green (@postgreen) November 9, 2016

The timing of that can be contrasted with the fact that there was not one question during the debates on the biggest issue facing the planet…climate change.

* These two tweets manage to sum up in less than 140 characters an issue that deserves a whole lot more attention:

The genius of the GOP: obstruct the president for eight years, then win the presidency because people think the government is broken. — Rob Tannenbaum (@tannenbaumr) November 9, 2016

Looking back, GOP massive resistance to Obama’s presidency was one of the most strategically successful moves in US political history. — Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) November 10, 2016

* Surprise, surprise:

Russian government officials had contacts with members of Donald Trump’s campaign team, a senior Russian diplomat said Thursday, in a disclosure that could reopen scrutiny over the Kremlin’s role in the president-elect’s bitter race against Hillary Clinton. Facing questions about his ties to Moscow because of statements interpreted as lauding Russian President Vladi­mir Putin, Trump repeatedly denied having any contact with the Russian government. After the latest statement by the Russian diplomat, Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks denied that there were interactions between Russia and the Trump team before Tuesday’s election… But Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said in an interview with the state-run Interfax news agency that “there were contacts” with the Trump team. “Obviously, we know most of the people from his entourage,” Ryabkov said. “Those people have always been in the limelight in the United States and have occupied high-ranking positions. I cannot say that all of them but quite a few have been staying in touch with Russian representatives.”

* Greg Sargent zeros in on one of the ways that governing will be harder for Trump than firing up the fears of his supporters at a campaign rally.

So here’s an immediate question: Will Trump make good on his promise to revoke protections for the hundreds of thousands of young people currently working and living in the United States who were brought here by their parents illegally as children?… This could have a disruptive impact on hundreds of thousands of people, as well as their families and communities — whether or not they end up getting deported in the future… Immigration advocates are already organizing to fight Trump, should he make good on this and other promises. “There’s no way these young people are going to walk quietly back into the shadows,” Leopold says. Many of the DREAMers are sympathetic figures. They are an organized and skillful political force.

On the other hand, if Trump doesn’t roll back Obama’s executive order on DREAMers, his base will be livid. This is exactly the same dilemma that has been plaguing Republicans for several years. Now it’s Trump’s turn.

* We’re hearing a lot of depressing news lately. But I’d put this one near the top of my list of “the worst ramifications of Donald Trump’s win:”

In the wake of Donald Trump’s upset presidential win, the small yet vocal cohort of white nationalists who supported his campaign are refocusing their efforts from trolling liberals online to running for elected office. Their reasoning: If a candidate who appealed to the tide of anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim sentiment surging on the country’s right could win over voters, why not one who is openly pro-white? “I have been very surprised that we have not seen attractive, well-spoken, racially aware candidates running for local office,” Jared Taylor, head of the white nationalist American Renaissance publication and annual conference, told TPM in a Wednesday phone call. “I think this will be inevitable, and I think that Trump will have encouraged this. That our people will run for school board, city council, mayor, all that I anticipate certainly.”

* Finally, I failed to post this video yesterday. But it is important for everyone to hear what Van Jones said about the impact of this presidential election.