I wonder what this bodes for future presidencies? He will be gone one day, but what of the precedents he’s setting?
Ha ha! You're such a kidder, @Boogie! The precedents have been in place for years (decades!) before Trump took office and will continue afterward. Any president with an 'R' after his name will be granted almost dictatorial powers and anyone who objects will be labeled as hating America, apple pie, and baby Jesus. (See the Trump, Bush Jr., Bush Sr., and Reagan administrations.)
As soon as someone with a 'D' after their name gets sworn in as president Constitutional limits and Congressional oversight come roaring back faster than you can say "checks and balances". (Refer to the Clinton and Obama administrations for examples of how Republicans believe that any Democratic president is inherently illegitimate.)
I'm not saying that Trump isn't more dangerous than his Republican predecessors as president. He clearly is. But if he is it's because he's just building on the groundwork that they (and their enablers) established. To borrow from Isaac Newton, if Trump has seen more venues for corruption it is by standing on the shoulders of corrupt giants.
I am continually annoyed/astonished/aggrieved that even many Democrats solemnly with a straight face in public pay homage to Ronald "the Gipper" Reagan, who for eight years set the USA on its course right toward Trump-ism ...
"Guv'mint isn't the solution to our problem. Guv'mint IS the problem ..." (1-20-81) ... Are you listening, Militia guys ... ???
... and he enthusiastically courted the Religious Extreme Right Wing to come under the GOP tent, leading inexorably to Donald J. Trump being acclaimed "the Chosen One" ...
It will take at least a generation, more likely at least two generations, to BEGIN to reverse the cultural/political/economic damage ... if that is even possible now ...
It's so great that he's still capturing evangelical Christian support. Because of part in the sermon on the mount where Jesus says blessed are the pussy grabbers just before he makes fun of Downs Syndrome people.
It's so great that he's still capturing evangelical Christian support. Because of part in the sermon on the mount where Jesus says blessed are the pussy grabbers just before he makes fun of Downs Syndrome people.
A commentator said today - “America’s nightmare: the disintegration of a great society under the leadership of an orange monster, half-clown, half-tyrant.”
Every fucking time some Trumper does something stupid, I feel like it's...not tactically wise...to mock their tragedy in public because all it'll do is increase the butthurt of his supporters.
Mind. I'm not sure at this point it's humanly possible to add to the self-inflicted butthurt.
A commentator said today - “America’s nightmare: the disintegration of a great society under the leadership of an orange monster, half-clown, half-tyrant.”
Yep 😢
Agreed, though I'm not quite sure leadership is the right concept...
At around 2:50 p.m. the TCSO confirmed via tweet that they had responded to multiple calls made about boats being in distress at the parade. They also confirmed that several of those boats sank on the lake.
Travis County SO
TCSO responded to multiple calls involving boats in distress during the Trump parade on Lake Travis. Several boats did sink.
3:48 PM · Sep 5, 2020
As of Saturday night, the Travis County Sheriff‘s office said they were still sorting out just how many boats went under. A spokesperson explains it’s unclear how many calls came in, how many boats sank, how many were towed and how many people needed rescuing largely because others on the lake stepped up to help before some first responders got there.
I must confess to having quite a nice little chortle over this incident, at the same time giving thanks that no-one appears to have drowned...
All those boats (some of which looked as if they had powerful engines) causing waves when they set off! Who could possibly have envisaged such a thing?
I saw a picture of one of the boats with a big banner saying, "Trump 2020: Make the Liberals Cry Again".
Well, I hate to tell them, but this liberal has been laughing her head off! There were no deaths or injuries -- just lots of soggy Trumpistas! It added great pleasure to my weekend.
There was a good deal of hilarity and merriment over here, too!
I'm afraid that seeing one's enemies making complete assholes of themselves is most satisfying to we unregenerate sinners...which, clearly, we must be, if we are not True Trumpistas...
Matthew Yglesias
Trump in a nutshell: Boat Parade is supposed to be a good time for everyone, but actually the guys who own really big boats come out fine while the smaller boats — including the ones owned by die-hard Trump fans — sink in the wake.
Tony Plohetski
BREAKING: Travis sheriff's office releases official information about @realDonaldTrump boat parade:
- 5 boats sank, 2 towed, 3 still submerged.
- Most boats that took on water were towed before sinking.
- Weather was calm. Large boats generated waves.
- No evidence of foul play.
I wonder what Charles would have made of Trump, Johnson, et al? They would have taxed his powers of inventiveness (and subtle invective), but what a Great Novel he could have written, were he around today!
Ah - I notice such things, as Dickens lived in this area for much of his life. The local authority would, this summer, have been marking the 150th anniversary of his death, but Ye Plague put the mockers on that...
President Donald Trump admitted he knew weeks before the first confirmed US coronavirus death that the virus was dangerous, airborne, highly contagious and "more deadly than even your strenuous flus," and that he repeatedly played it down publicly, according to legendary journalist Bob Woodward in his new book "Rage."
"This is deadly stuff," Trump told Woodward on February 7.
In a series of interviews with Woodward, Trump revealed that he had a surprising level of detail about the threat of the virus earlier than previously known. "Pretty amazing," Trump told Woodward, adding that the coronavirus was maybe five times "more deadly" than the flu.
Trump's admissions are in stark contrast to his frequent public comments at the time insisting that the virus was "going to disappear" and "all work out fine."
The book, using Trump's own words, depicts a President who has betrayed the public trust and the most fundamental responsibilities of his office. In "Rage," Trump says the job of a president is "to keep our country safe." But in early February, Trump told Woodward he knew how deadly the virus was, and in March, admitted he kept that knowledge hidden from the public.
"I wanted to always play it down," Trump told Woodward on March 19, even as he had declared a national emergency over the virus days earlier. "I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic."
Trump will doubtless call this "fake news", but Woodward has audio tapes of 18 interviews Trump voluntarily chose to sit for. Select clips are available at the CNN link above. That's going to make it hard to deny, but Trump has denied saying things we have recordings of him saying before.
Heard about this. Good title--but whose rage is it supposed to be?
Woodward's previous book about Trump was called Fear, so I guess he's going with the theme. As for whose rage, it could be either Trump's rage, the public's rage when they realize Trump let a bunch of Americans die because he thought it would boost his electoral prospects, or the public's rage when they realize Woodward has been sitting on this for half a year in order to put it in a book rather than an article.
My guess is if he had published early most would forget about this then old news and by publishing it now just prior to election it will do more damage to Trumps run for president.
My guess is if he had published early most would forget about this then old news and by publishing it now just prior to election it will do more damage to Trumps run for president.
As a journalist, I'm still horrified that Woodward sat on that information (and those unforgiving recordings) for so long. Lives could have been saved. I just hope that you're right about damaging Trump in the election.
My guess is if he had published early most would forget about this then old news and by publishing it now just prior to election it will do more damage to Trumps run for president.
As a journalist, I'm still horrified that Woodward sat on that information (and those unforgiving recordings) for so long. Lives could have been saved. I just hope that you're right about damaging Trump in the election.
People who pay rapt attention to everything Trumpo says would not be swayed one way or other by any book or report ...
People who pay rapt attention to everything Trumpo says would not be swayed one way or other by any book or report ...
I’ve been having dinner every Friday night with my sister and brother-in-law. Staunch you-know-who supporters despite my sister’s genes. Somehow the talk last night turned to the current multiple crises facing us. My brother-in-law is like, “All these so-called leaders do [meaning Andrew Cuomo and Bill DeBlasio] is blame others. They never take responsibility themselves. What this country needs is someone to lead it, not someone who is always blaming others.” I kept my mouth shut but marveled silently at just how blind a supposedly intelligent person can be.
People who pay rapt attention to everything Trumpo says would not be swayed one way or other by any book or report ...
I’ve been having dinner every Friday night with my sister and brother-in-law. Staunch you-know-who supporters despite my sister’s genes. Somehow the talk last night turned to the current multiple crises facing us. My brother-in-law is like, “All these so-called leaders do [meaning Andrew Cuomo and Bill DeBlasio] is blame others. They never take responsibility themselves. What this country needs is someone to lead it, not someone who is always blaming others.” I kept my mouth shut but marveled silently at just how blind a supposedly intelligent person can be.
My brother-in-law is like, “All these so-called leaders do [meaning Andrew Cuomo and Bill DeBlasio] is blame others. They never take responsibility themselves. What this country needs is someone to lead it, not someone who is always blaming others.” I kept my mouth shut but marveled silently at just how blind a supposedly intelligent person can be.
All lies in jest,
Still a man hears what he want to hear
And disregards the rest.
Which, to be fair, poses the uncomfortable question of what I’m disregarding because it’s not what I want to hear.
Meanwhile, the axis of my world seems a bit off kilter, with Miss Amanda introducing what her brother-in-law said with the words “My brother-in-law is like, . . . .”
What astonishes me at age 75 is the sheer volume of deliberate (and often painfully obvious) misinformation, falsehood, lies, prevarication, misrepresentation, and misdirection issuing forth from those currently in power in the US.
What sickens me is the extent to which "my fellow Americans" appear to swallow this BS. The real victory which T and his ilk have engineered is to persuade vast chunks of the US public that what is happening to them is not in fact happening, that they are neither threatened nor suffering, and that everything is just peachy and will soon (or at least eventually) be Back to Normal in complete and utter denial of their own lived experience.
I understand the profound desire for a return to what we thought of as "normality" (or "normalcy" if you like that usage better). What I cannot fathom is people denying what is actually happening.
A friend of mine is a conspiracy addict. Nice guy, big heart, but not well educated, and scientifically illiterate. This past week he shared on FB yet another piece of disinformation (which he takes a s gospel), which normally I'd ignore but it was such a howler I couldn't let it pass. It was a video clip purporting to be of a massive anti-lockdown demonstration in London. Except that it wasn't London (the architecture and streetscape were wrong) which I've visited more times than I can count, and where I lived briefly. The second problem was that the only flags in the crowd were the red stripe on a white field, i.e., the old Belarusian flag which has been revived by the anti-Lukashenko movement. The city was most probably Minsk. My pointing this out has not received a response.
I traced back to the original FB post and it's some German who is on the right of the pro-Trump camp, and had on his page the Pepe the Frog meme that is associated with American far right. (Not it's origin, but appropriated by the alt-right.)
The second problem was that the only flags in the crowd were the red stripe on a white field, i.e., the old Belarusian flag
Maybe they just didn't like the SNP, or the Northern Irish, or... (I'm not sure how you explain the absence of the vertical part of the British union flag on the basis of it clearly being from the Minsk like districts of London)
What astonishes me at age 75 is the sheer volume of deliberate (and often painfully obvious) misinformation, falsehood, lies, prevarication, misrepresentation, and misdirection issuing forth from those currently in power in the US.
What sickens me is the extent to which "my fellow Americans" appear to swallow this BS. The real victory which T and his ilk have engineered is to persuade vast chunks of the US public that what is happening to them is not in fact happening, that they are neither threatened nor suffering, and that everything is just peachy and will soon (or at least eventually) be Back to Normal in complete and utter denial of their own lived experience.
I understand the profound desire for a return to what we thought of as "normality" (or "normalcy" if you like that usage better). What I cannot fathom is people denying what is actually happening.
Fr T., I think your response misses the question. The post asks why the phenomenon is happening, your response provides another description. The question is, Why are "my fellow Americans" denying what is actually happening (ie why are they experiencing cognitive dissonance about this at this time)?
It is happening elsewhere. We are experiencing anti-lockdown protests in Melbourne despite the fact that our daily new infection numbers have dropped from 700 to about 50. Some people here, especially those hardest impacted by the lockdown, are jumping at anything to bolster their wish for the restrictions to ease. I have some sympathy for young people. In my 20's and 30's, I would have found the lockdown very hard.
Similar things are happening here. A 19-year old 'man' (?) has just been fined £10000 (!) for hosting a party for 50 people in his house (which looked from the news pics to be an ordinary English semi).
Idiot - but perhaps to be pitied, too, if he's missed his mates that much...
Similar things are happening here. A 19-year old 'man' (?) has just been fined £10000 (!) for hosting a party for 50 people in his house (which looked from the news pics to be an ordinary English semi).
Idiot - but perhaps to be pitied, too, if he's missed his mates that much...
What 19 yr old owns, or rents even, a 'house' of any description in England these days?
Someone's going to be having a long talk with Mum and Dad. I wouldn't pay it for my kids.
Fr T., I think your response misses the question. The post asks why the phenomenon is happening, your response provides another description. The question is, Why are "my fellow Americans" denying what is actually happening (ie why are they experiencing cognitive dissonance about this at this time)?
It is happening elsewhere. We are experiencing anti-lockdown protests in Melbourne despite the fact that our daily new infection numbers have dropped from 700 to about 50. Some people here, especially those hardest impacted by the lockdown, are jumping at anything to bolster their wish for the restrictions to ease. I have some sympathy for young people. In my 20's and 30's, I would have found the lockdown very hard.
He's a student, apparently, so presumably the house is rented, and multi-occupied by other students.
That part of Nottingham is home to a lot of student rentals, as it's close to the university, and historically there has been much friction with the local families over behaviour, especially parties. According to the local rag, they had only invited 25 people, but the guests brought friends and it got out of hand.
“He’s done more for our country than the past ten presidents put together,” said an older builder, Jeff, skimming wet concrete on a new road. “He’s made—who is it, China or Japan?—pay our farmers billions of dollars. He got health care done, which the Democrats could never do. He built the wall.”
Comments
I am continually annoyed/astonished/aggrieved that even many Democrats solemnly with a straight face in public pay homage to Ronald "the Gipper" Reagan, who for eight years set the USA on its course right toward Trump-ism ...
"Guv'mint isn't the solution to our problem. Guv'mint IS the problem ..." (1-20-81) ... Are you listening, Militia guys ... ???
... and he enthusiastically courted the Religious Extreme Right Wing to come under the GOP tent, leading inexorably to Donald J. Trump being acclaimed "the Chosen One" ...
It will take at least a generation, more likely at least two generations, to BEGIN to reverse the cultural/political/economic damage ... if that is even possible now ...
.
Yep 😢
Mind. I'm not sure at this point it's humanly possible to add to the self-inflicted butthurt.
Agreed, though I'm not quite sure leadership is the right concept...
All those boats (some of which looked as if they had powerful engines) causing waves when they set off! Who could possibly have envisaged such a thing?
MAGA: "Our boat's sinking!"
Rest of world: "All boats matter!"
Well, I hate to tell them, but this liberal has been laughing her head off! There were no deaths or injuries -- just lots of soggy Trumpistas! It added great pleasure to my weekend.
I'm afraid that seeing one's enemies making complete assholes of themselves is most satisfying to we unregenerate sinners...which, clearly, we must be, if we are not True Trumpistas...
I wonder what Charles would have made of Trump, Johnson, et al? They would have taxed his powers of inventiveness (and subtle invective), but what a Great Novel he could have written, were he around today!
Trump will doubtless call this "fake news", but Woodward has audio tapes of 18 interviews Trump voluntarily chose to sit for. Select clips are available at the CNN link above. That's going to make it hard to deny, but Trump has denied saying things we have recordings of him saying before.
Woodward's previous book about Trump was called Fear, so I guess he's going with the theme. As for whose rage, it could be either Trump's rage, the public's rage when they realize Trump let a bunch of Americans die because he thought it would boost his electoral prospects, or the public's rage when they realize Woodward has been sitting on this for half a year in order to put it in a book rather than an article.
I haven't yet read any T-focused books, though I may read his niece's at some point.
People who pay rapt attention to everything Trumpo says would not be swayed one way or other by any book or report ...
I’ve been having dinner every Friday night with my sister and brother-in-law. Staunch you-know-who supporters despite my sister’s genes. Somehow the talk last night turned to the current multiple crises facing us. My brother-in-law is like, “All these so-called leaders do [meaning Andrew Cuomo and Bill DeBlasio] is blame others. They never take responsibility themselves. What this country needs is someone to lead it, not someone who is always blaming others.” I kept my mouth shut but marveled silently at just how blind a supposedly intelligent person can be.
Yes
Still a man hears what he want to hear
And disregards the rest.
Which, to be fair, poses the uncomfortable question of what I’m disregarding because it’s not what I want to hear.
Meanwhile, the axis of my world seems a bit off kilter, with Miss Amanda introducing what her brother-in-law said with the words “My brother-in-law is like, . . . .”
What sickens me is the extent to which "my fellow Americans" appear to swallow this BS. The real victory which T and his ilk have engineered is to persuade vast chunks of the US public that what is happening to them is not in fact happening, that they are neither threatened nor suffering, and that everything is just peachy and will soon (or at least eventually) be Back to Normal in complete and utter denial of their own lived experience.
I understand the profound desire for a return to what we thought of as "normality" (or "normalcy" if you like that usage better). What I cannot fathom is people denying what is actually happening.
I traced back to the original FB post and it's some German who is on the right of the pro-Trump camp, and had on his page the Pepe the Frog meme that is associated with American far right. (Not it's origin, but appropriated by the alt-right.)
Can you say "cognitive dissonance" ... ???
It is happening elsewhere. We are experiencing anti-lockdown protests in Melbourne despite the fact that our daily new infection numbers have dropped from 700 to about 50. Some people here, especially those hardest impacted by the lockdown, are jumping at anything to bolster their wish for the restrictions to ease. I have some sympathy for young people. In my 20's and 30's, I would have found the lockdown very hard.
Idiot - but perhaps to be pitied, too, if he's missed his mates that much...
Will it protect us from Trump? (A measles vaccine, for example, is supposed to protect us from measles...)
The mere thought of The Mad God-King does that to me...
Alas I think not. How ever a few good brandies and it won’t matter
What 19 yr old owns, or rents even, a 'house' of any description in England these days?
Someone's going to be having a long talk with Mum and Dad. I wouldn't pay it for my kids.
A footballer?
Call it "Zeitgeist" ...
That part of Nottingham is home to a lot of student rentals, as it's close to the university, and historically there has been much friction with the local families over behaviour, especially parties. According to the local rag, they had only invited 25 people, but the guests brought friends and it got out of hand.