Trump 2020

President Trump: Openly Insulting Our Allies, Courting Our Enemy

After this G-7 meeting in Quebec, Canada this week, in the last few days, it seems clear President Trump is more truly showing himself for what and who he is. He's also actively courting Russia and Vladimir Putin and officially, publicly trashing our allies. All our allies.

The fallout from Trump’s international temper tantrum

Michael D. Shear and Catherine Porter of the New York Times describe the G-7 trainwreck this way:

The result was a slow-rolling collapse of the fragile alliances that officials at the summit — and even Mr. Thump’s own White House advisers — insisted throughout the day could be maintained in the face of fundamental disagreements. . . .

Mr. Trump confronted several of the leaders individually, giving examples of how, in his view, each of their countries had mistreated the United States, whether it be through trade barriers or security commitments, according to a European official.

After Trump’s G-7 summit fiasco, be afraid

After President Trump’s atrocious and irrational behavior leading up to and at the Group of Seven summit, the disintegration of the liberal world order in place since the end of World War II and the potential for a serious international crisis no longer seem hard to imagine. The president, unmoved by history, ignorant of facts and guided by sycophants, has not been forced to grapple with the real world nor to hear views that don’t coincide with his twisted worldview, in which allies are ripping us off and aggressive strongmen are to be admired and accommodated.

Trump is no joke

What they had to say about this President Trump and our current situation.

Laugh if you want but our Democracy is at stake

Some of President Trump’s detractors regard him as an object of ridicule to be laughed at and dismissed as a narcissistic, bombastic, uncouth showman, totally lacking in class.

Trump may be all that. But there is nothing amusing about him.

This president may well be the single greatest threat to our constitutional form of government and the rule of law to have ever occupied the White House. Considering our traumatic national experience with President Richard M. Nixon, that is saying something.

Trump is hell-bent on overriding long-standing constitutional controls over the arbitrary exercise of executive powers.

This just hit this morning, too. Just look at the associated picture. It's been making the rounds on the internet.

Actor Rob Reiner said it very well today.

"When an American President attacks our closest allies and embraces a hostile enemy power who is trying to destroy our Democracy and democracies around the world, we can only conclude that he has been compromised and is in a conspiracy to commit treason."

If this is not true and this President hasn't been compromised and isn't willfully committing treason, then he is, honestly, no exaggeration, more stupid than we thought.

One thing seems certain.

John Bolton must be loving this.

Not done there, not done putting the G-7 Summit into disarray, single-handedly, Trump had to go on to insult Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau.

Donald Trump rejects G7 summit statement, 

insults Justin Trudeau

Again, not done there, he went on, Mr. Trump did.

Globe editorial: 

Donald Trump insults Canada, 

and tests its patience 

Not done there, President Trump's aides had to go out of their way to also insult.

'Special place in hell': 

Trump aides hurl insults at Trudeau

And to, as I said, court our enemy, Mr. Trump fights for Russia and Vladimir Putin at the G-7 before it even took place

President Trump says Russia 

should be at G7 meeting

Meanwhile, across the planet, China and India and a few other nations just had a very successful and harmonious meeting, in sharp contrast to the G-7, thanks to Mr. Trump.

China-hosted SCO summit 'unity' 

contrasts with G7 disarray

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for the "pursuit of cooperation for mutual benefit" at the final day of a meeting by a Beijing and Moscow-led bloc, hours after the G7 meeting in Canadaended in disarray.

Xi made his remarks on Sunday on the second and final day of an annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the coastal city of Qingdao, China.

He also called on his regional partners to "boost harmony and unity by seeking common ground and setting aside differences".

The best headline on this G-& Summit and what Mr. Trump did comes in this headline.

Trump hits the world stage, Day 1: Come late, leave early, offend host, alienate allies

Now Mr. Trump is off to Singapore.

To wreak yet more international havoc?

God help him.

God help us.

What We're Getting With and From This President

Columnist Leonard Pitts puts it very well today.

So here we are, six months later. How time has trudged.

But the calendar does not lie. On Thursday, we will be half a year through the Trump Era. And, contrary to his signature promise, America seems less great by the day. Nor are his other promises faring particularly well.

There is no sign of progress on that border wall, much less any idea how he is going to make Mexico pay for the thing. His promise to preserve Medicaid and provide healthcare for everyone has dissolved into a GOP bill that would gut Medicaid and rob millions of their access to healthcare.

Meantime, the guy who once said he would be working so hard he would seldom leave the White House spends more time on golf courses than a groundskeeper.

But for all that Trump has not achieved, there is, I think, one thing he indisputably has. He has taught us to live in a state of perpetual chaos and continuous crisis. Six months later, the White House commands the same horrified attention as a car wreck or a house fire.

In that sense, last week’s revelation that the Trump campaign, in the person of Donald Trump Jr., did in fact collude with a hostile foreign power to influence the 2016 election was just another Tuesday. Sure, it might have been shocking from the Bush or Obama campaigns. But under Trump, we live in a state of routine calamity.

Besides which, a few days from now, there will be something else. With Trump, there inevitably is. Things can always get worse — and usually do.

And when they can do, we can count on the GOP, that inexhaustible fount of righteous outrage, to stand tall and courageously look the other way. For almost 20 years,the party has never seen a minor episode (“Travelgate”), a sheer nothing (Whitewater) or even an international tragedy (Benghazi) it could not turn into Watergate II. Yet, as credible accusations of treason, obstruction, collusion, and corruption swirl about this White House, the GOP has been conspicuous in its acquiescent silence. It seems the elephant has laryngitis.

But the rest of us can’t stop talking.

Indeed, from the studios of CNN to the bar stools of your neighborhood watering hole, amateur psychoanalysis has become America’s favorite pastime in the last six months. Dozens of theories have been floated, all aimed at answering one question:

What is wrong with him?

But I have come to believe that question misses the point. Sixty-three million people voted for this. And make no mistake, they knew what they were getting. It was always obvious that Trump was a not-ready-for-prime-time candidate, but they chose him anyway. And the rest of us need to finally come to grips with the reason why.

It wasn’t economic anxiety. As a study co-sponsored by the Public Religion Research Institute and The Atlantic reported in May, people who were worried for their jobs voted for Hillary Clinton. But people who dislike Mexicans and Muslims, people who oppose same-sex marriage, people mortally offended at a White House occupied by a black guy with a funny name, they voted for Trump.

That’s the reality, and it’s time we quit dancing around it.

This has been said a million times: Donald Trump is a lying, narcissistic, manifestly incompetent child man who is as dumb as a sack of mackerel. But he is the president of the United States because 63 million people preferred that to facing inevitable cultural change. So I am done asking — or caring — what’s wrong with him. Six months in, it’s time we grappled a far more important question.

What in the world is wrong with us?


Links to more of Mr. Pitts columns:

Republican Party has ‘flat out lost its mind’

Mr. President: ‘Just who the hell do you think you are?’

No, Donald Trump isn’t crazy, but he’s not very smart, either

President Trump is an 'F' student

What We've Come To

Where we are now, thanks to this Presidency.

And thanks fo the Republicans and those who voted for and supported this candidate. 

This petulant, unthinking, irrational, emotional, greedy dolt of a man-child.

Links:

Welcome to the "It's All About Me" Presidency

Republicans, The Next Four Years Are All On You

Crazy Things Donald Trump Has Actually Said

At first, months ago, when Donald Trump was said to be running for president in the upcoming 2016 election, I thought it was merely funny, an amusement, for me and a lot of us out here in the nation. But the longer this goes on and the longer period of time Mr. Trump is in first place in popularity for Republicans and the Right Wing, frankly, the scarier and more ominous the situation and he become.

Here, then, to clear the air, are actual statements and quotes from The Donald, things he has actually said and believes. Because people need to know this clown:

"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're sending people that have lots of problems...they're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime. They're rapists."

“Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are little short guys that wear yarmulkes every day.”

"He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured." –On Senator and Veteran John McCain

"When was the last time anybody saw us beating, let’s say, China in a trade deal? They kill us. I beat China all the time." –Donald Trump, on his diplomacy skills

"Free trade is terrible. Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people. But we have stupid people."

“All of the women on The Apprentice flirted with me—consciously or unconsciously. That’s to be expected.”

"We need a leader that wrote The Art of the Deal." –Plugging his book in his presidential campaign announcement

"I have people that have been studying [Obama's birth certificate] and they cannot believe what they're finding... I would like to have him show his birth certificate, and can I be honest with you, I hope he can. Because if he can't, if he can't, if he wasn't born in this country, which is a real possibility…then he has pulled one of the great cons in the history of politics." –Three weeks before Obama released his long-form birth certificate in 2011

"I have a great relationship with the blacks."

"When it comes time to default, they’re not going to remember any of the Republicans’ names. They are going to remember in history books one name, and that's Obama." –Urging Republicans to force a default on America's debt so that Obama wouldn't be reelected

"I don't like the crying." –On House Speaker John Boehner

"These are stupid people that say, `Oh didn't Trump declare bankruptcy? Didn't he go bankrupt?' I didn't go bankrupt." –On filing for bankruptcy on parts of his various businesses (And yes, yes he did: 

Donald Trump goes bankrupt. Four times)

"The man that wrote the second book ... didn't write the first book. The difference was like chicken salad and chicken s**t." -On President Obama's books

"I will build you ... one of the great ballrooms of the world." –On building a $100 million ballroom at the White House (because that's important)

“I think the only difference between me and the other candidates is that I’m more honest and my women are more beautiful.” –While teasing a presidential run in 2000

"In life you have to rely on the past, and that's called history." –On Celebrity Apprentice (I'm glad he cleared that up)

“You know, it doesn’t really matter what [the media] write as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass.”

"I don't think Ivanka would do that, although she does have a very nice figure. I've said if Ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her." –When asked how he would react if Ivanka posed for Playboy

"She really has become a monster ... I mean monster in the most positive way." –On his pregnant wife Melania

"You know the funny thing, I don't get along with rich people. I get along with the middle class and the poor people better than I get along with the rich people." 

“.@ariannahuff is unattractive both inside and out. I fully understand why her former husband left her for a man- he made a good decision.”

"My fingers are long and beautiful, as, it has been well been documented, are various other parts of my body."

"I'm not a schmuck. Even if the world goes to hell in a handbasket, I won't lose a penny." 

"You were born stupid."  --To very Right Wing columnist Michelle Malkin who, if she liked him could be a possible help to Mr. Trump and his campaign

"The beauty of me is that I'm very rich."

"Our leaders are stupid, our politicians are stupid, and the Mexican government is much sharper, much more cunning. [So] they send the bad ones over because they don’t want to pay for them, they don’t want to take care of them.” —GOP debate, August 2015

“Sorry losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest—and you all know it! Please don’t feel so stupid or insecure. It’s not your fault.” —Twitter, 2013

“It’s like in golf. A lot of people — I don’t want this to sound trivial — but a lot of people are switching to these really long putters, very unattractive. It’s weird. You see these great players with these really long putters, because they can’t sink three-footers anymore. And, I hate it. I am a traditionalist. I have so many fabulous friends who happen to be gay, but I am a traditionalist.” —explaining his stance on, of all things, gay marriage in a New York Times profile in May 2011

Finally, at least today, because I'm sure there will be more, my personal favorite:

"Let me tell you, I'm a really smart guy."

Quote of the day--on an open mind

Links:

Quote by Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn:

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - Wikipedia

Two conclusions about Arizona

It seems there are two things that can be said to be absolutely true of the state of Arizona. The first is that it is a state full of racists, given their track record from the last several years, publicly. (Not that there aren't plenty of states that are racist, heaven knows, but at least it doesn't flood into the statehouse of each state, too). And the second thing is that their governor, Jan Brewer, has little class or sophistication or manners, if any at all. If someone were to call her "white trash", I couldn't disagree with them or chide them for being ill-mannered. Link to story: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-jan-brewer-obama-welcome-20120125,0,5568347.story

Bush's Banned Interview from 2004

You've gotta see this article and accompanied video:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-cohen/bushs-banned-interview-an_b_111804.html

"The video shows Bush at the absolute peak of his arrogance -- convinced of his own rhetoric about Iraq, flooded with confidence from international subservience to American power, and high off a crushing military victory that reinforced his childish fantasies of American power and preeminence.

The problem was, Coleman was having none of it, and what transpired was a unique insight into the warped brain of the least respected and most hated president in the history of the United States."

The videos at the bottom are excellent, too.