;)
Saturday
Jun092018
The Commentariat -- June 10, 2018
Afternoon Update:
To our allies: bipartisan majorities of Americans remain pro-free trade, pro-globalization & supportive of alliances based on 70 years of shared values. Americans stand with you, even if our president doesn't. -- Sen. John McCain, in a tweet ...
... Griff Witte & James McAuley of the Washington Post: "On the day after the Group of Seven summit blew up in spectacular fashion, with Trump using idle time on an airport runway to insult his host and repudiate an agreement he had made with allied leaders only hours earlier, emotions were far easier to divine. Allies were indignant. They were defiant. Yet they were hardly shocked by the outcome of a critical global gathering that had gone worse than any that longtime foreign policy players had seen. 'It was not a surprise,' said Norbert Röttgen, chair of the foreign affairs committee in Germany's parliament, the Bundestag. 'The president acted and reacted in the childish way he could be expected to.' To the U.S.'s closest partners, the pattern has become disturbingly familiar. Trump's abandonment of the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear agreement and his decision to impose protectionist tariffs on European steel and aluminum products have established a level of animosity between the United States and Europe that, by many measures, surpasses even the rift over the Iraq War. The depth of exasperation showed in a Sunday afternoon statement from French President Emmanuel Macron's office. 'International cooperation cannot be dictated by fits of anger and throwaway remarks,' the statement said." ...
... Damian Paletta & Joel Achenbach of the Washington Post: "President Trump left America's closest allies in a state of shock and outrage Sunday after a verbal barrage against Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who had just hosted Trump and other leaders from the Group of Seven industrial nations. Trump's rhetorical assault on Trudeau, characteristically delivered on Twitter, was echoed by two top White House advisers who took to the Sunday talk shows to go after [Trudeau].... The bizarre aftermath of the G-7 summit in Quebec was a political calculation, meant to show muscularity in advance of the historic summit in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, one of those advisers acknowledged Sunday. There has rarely been such a coordinated and acerbic series of attacks by White House advisers aimed at a U.S. ally, revealing the extent to which Trump possibly felt slighted by Trudeau as he left for his North Korea talks. 'POTUS is not gonna let a Canadian prime minister push him around,' Trump's chief economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said on CNN's 'state of the Union.'... Another of Trump's top advisers, Peter Navarro, intensified the attack on Trudeau in an interview on 'Fox News Sunday.' 'There's a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door,' Navarro said." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: I don't think the Twittertantrum was as much about North Korea as it was that Trudeau hurt Trump's feelings by telling the truth -- in a measured way. (As Trudeau himself said at his presser, "Canadians, we're polite, we're reasonable, but we also will not be pushed around.") Trump, as we all know, can't handle the truth. ...
Maia de la Baume of Politico: "France pledged on Sunday to stand by the G7 summit statement disowned by Donald Trump and took a swipe at the U.S. president by declaring that international cooperation could not depend on 'fits of anger' or 'little words.' Apparently incensed by remarks about U.S. tariffs at the closing press conference on Saturday by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trump -- who had already left the gathering in Quebec -- tweeted that he had instructed U.S. officials not to endorse the final communiqué, which had already been agreed and published. In a statement on Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron's office said all of Europe would continue to stand behind the communiqué...."
... David Frum of the Atlantic: "Whether or not the president's demands made any sense even from the most parochial American point of view, his demands were to a considerable extent accommodated. Trump had issued orders, sent his people out to war, and won victories for his idiosyncratic approach to foreign affairs. As late as 3:30 on Saturday afternoon, all the conferees thought that the facade of Western unity had survived another day, another summit.... Vexed by the criticism [of his ZTE pay-for-play deal], Trump struck back at the readiest targets: America's closest friends and allies. Rule-of-law democracies cannot deliver the emoluments Trump collects from more authoritarian regimes. They cannot expedite Ivanka Trump's trademarks to gain favor. They don't book their national-day celebrations in Washington's Trump International Hotel.... Trump's attacks on Trudeau will only boost the prime minister's popularity. But this is more than a personal story. Trump is day by day abdicating U.S. leadership.... He bullies traditional friends and allies; he cringes to adversaries, dictators, and potential funding sources for Trump enterprises. Bullying the G7 was the weekend's story; cringing to North Korea -- and behind it, China -- will be the story of the week ahead." ...
... "Debacle in Quebec." Paul Krugman buttresses the fear & dismay I realized yesterday -- and that was before Trump went on his anti-Trudeau TwitterWhine: "... there has never been a disaster like the G7 meeting that just took place. It could herald the beginning of a trade war, maybe even the collapse of the Western alliance. At the very least it will damage America's reputation as a reliable ally for decades to come; even if Trump eventually departs the scene in disgrace, the fact that someone like him could come to power in the first place will always be in the back of everyone's mind.... Maybe he was just acting out because he couldn't stand having to spend hours with powerful people who will neither flatter him nor bribe him by throwing money at his family businesses -- people who, in fact, didn't try very hard to hide the contempt they feel for the man leading what is still, for the moment, a great power." Thanks to P.D. Pepe for the link.
"Grab Bag o' Excuses". Jeremy Miller in the Guardian: "A January Gallup poll found that Trump's approval among Mormons had risen to 61%, [link fixed] higher than any other religious group surveyed, and 13 points higher than among the next group, comprised of Protestants and others.... Utah has become the epicenter of Trump's public lands policies.... [A conservative political operative named Don] Peay, [who is Mormon] thinks that support for the president is on the rise among Utah's Mormon Republicans, despite the administration's growing list of scandals, because of Trump's policies on public lands an monuments.... As for Stormy Daniels, Peay said that Mormons were not puritans." --safari ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: And you were wondering why formerly Never-Trump Romney has suddenly embraced the Worse President* Ever.
Masha Gessen of the New Yorker seeks ways to counter George Orwell's prediction that totalitarianism would kill literature of all kinds, save perhaps poetry.
*****
Screw you, Donald. "The photo first appeared on Merkel's official Instagram account around noon Saturday. 'Day two of the G-7 summit in Canada: spontaneous meeting between two working sessions,' part of the German leader's caption stated in English."Michael Shear & Catherine Porter of the New York Times: "President Trump abruptly upended two days of global economic diplomacy late Saturday, refusing to sign a joint statement with America's allies, threatening to escalate his trade war on the country's neighbors and deriding Canada's prime minister as 'very dishonest and weak.' In a remarkable pair of acrimony-laced tweets from aboard Air Force One as he flew to a summit with North Korea's leader, Mr. Trump lashed out at Justin Trudeau, the prime minister who hosted the Group of 7 summit, accusing him of making false statements. Literally moments after Mr. Trudeau's government released the joint statement, saying it had been agreed to by all seven countries, Mr. Trump blew apart the veneer of cordiality that had been in place throughout the two days of meetings in a resort town on the banks of the St. Lawrence River. 'Based on Justin's false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communiqué as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market! Mr. Trump wrote. A few hours earlier, Mr. Trudeau had announced that the seven nations had reached broad agreements on a range of economic and foreign policy goals, but he acknowledged that deep disagreements remained between Mr. Trump and the leaders of the other nations, especially on trade.... 'PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @g7 meetings,' Mr. Trump said in a second tweet, 'only to give a news conference after I left saying that, "US Tariffs were kind of insulting" and he "will not be pushed around." Very dishonest & weak. Our Tariffs are in response to his of 270% on dairy!'" ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: This is an update to a story linked yesterday by Shear. In that story, Shear wrote, "Mr. Trump also blamed former President Barack Obama for Russia's invasion, in which the country sent troops into Crimea. Mr. Trump said that it was Mr. Obama who should take responsibility for Russia's actions. 'Crimea was let go during the Obama administration, and you know, Obama can say all he wants, but he allowed Russia to take Crimea,' the president said. 'I may have had a much different attitude, but, so, you really have to ask that question to President Obama. You know, why did he do that?'" In fact, in the wake of the Russian invasion in 2014, it was Mr. Obama who led the other six nations in the Group of 7 to expel Russia in a joint statement known as The Hague Declaration."FDR caused WWII; Wilson caused WWI. ...
... Jennifer Hansler of CNN: "On Saturday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he told Trump that asking Russia to rejoin the G7 is 'not something we are even remotely looking at.' German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a press conference Friday that there was consensus that Russia should not return to the G7.... French President Emmanuel Macron told journalists on Saturday that Russia could rejoin the summit if Moscow implemented the Minsk agreements, which were intended to enforce a solution the crisis in Ukraine.... Lawmakers in the United States have condemned Trump's comments, which some have taken as the latest example of the US President's failure to condemn Russia for its interference in the 2016 election. 'The President has inexplicably shown our adversaries the deference and esteem that should be reserved for our closest allies,' Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona said in a scathing statement Friday....Former Vice President Joe Biden denounced Trump's remarks, writing on Twitter, 'Putin's Russia invaded its neighbors, violated our sovereignty by undermining elections, and attacks dissidents abroad. Yet our President wants to reward him with a seat at the table while alienating our closest democratic allies. It makes no sense.'Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Friday that Trump was turning US foreign policy 'into an international joke, doing lasting damage to our country.'" ...
... Peter Baker & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Shortly before leaving the annual meeting of major world powers on Saturday, President Trump boasted that it had been 'tremendously successful' and that on a scale of 0 to 10, 'the relationship is a 10.' Fewer than nine hours later, the relationship was plummeting toward a zero. With a petulant tweetstorm from Air Force One, Mr. Trump all but blew up the Group of 7 nations that the United States has led for more than four decades and essentially declared open political war on America's closest neighbor.... Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, the host of the meeting, and President Emmanuel Macron of France rebuffed Mr. Trump's positions in public comments, followed by Mr. Trump's abrupt refusal to sign the carefully crafted final communiqué.... Mr. Trump's view of the world, and his country's oldest and most important partners, is so infused by suspicion and grievance that he could not resist his pugilistic impulses even for a day.... Mr. Trump signaled his disdain for the Group of 7 meeting by arriving late and leaving early. By departing before the end on Saturday, he skipped sessions about climate change, oceans and clean energy -- ceding not only America's leadership on those topics, but also its very seat at the table. And with no warning on Friday, Mr. Trump deepened that rift by calling for Russia to be reinstated as a member without insisting on any of the conditions the West has demanded in terms of ending its intervention in Ukraine." Meanwhile, DNI Dan Coats was in Normandy, France, blasting Russia for its annexation of Crimea & other bad acts. ...
... Damian Paletta & Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "President Trump told foreign leaders at the Group of Seven summit that they must dramatically reduce trade barriers with the United States or could risk losing access to the world's largest economy, delivering his most defiant trade threat yet to his counterparts from around the globe. But there were numerous signs here that leaders of other countries stood their ground, having stiffened after months of attacks and insults.... If they don't back down and Trump does try to stop -- or at least slow -- the flow of trade, it could impact the flow of hundreds of billions of dollars in goods, potentially impacting millions of jobs in the United States and around the world. Trump, in a news conference before leaving for Singapore, described private conversations he held over two days with the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada. He said he pushed them to consider removing every single tariff or trade barrier on American goods and that, in return, he would do the same for products from their countries. But if steps aren't taken, he said, the penalties would be severe." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... David Herszenhorn of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Friday floated the idea of ending all tariffs and trade barriers between the U.S. and its G-7 allies -- an unexpected pitch that comes amid a tit-for-tat trade war Trump recently launched. Trump offered the aspirational proposal at the end of a contentious meeting on trade disputes at the G-7 summit in Quebec, an annua gathering of the leaders from seven major industrialized nations. During the private gathering, Europe's major economic powers pushed back hard against Trump's repeated assertions that the U.S. is a victim of unfair trade practices." ...
... Chas Danner of New York: "Even if Trump's [free-trade] proposal is taken at anywhere near face value, it's not clear how such an agreement would or could be reached and what impact it would have -- nor is it clear that the president understands any of the trade numbers he tosses around to begin with.... America's allies appear to have become fed up with the combative and chaotic Trump administration, and are shifting their strategy from trying to reach and educate Trump about the complexities of international trade, to seeking to punish the U.S. economy instead." ...
... Julian Borger & Anne Perkins of the Guardian: "The president departed a summit of the G7 major industrialised democracies in Quebec the same way he arrived, firing off threats of a trade war. His fellow leaders were warned not to respond to the steel and aluminum tariffs he has imposed on them. 'If they retaliate, they're making a mistake,' Trump told reporters before leaving several hours early, ducking sessions on climate change and the oceans. In a tense session on trade on Friday, European and Canadian leaders had sought to defuse the gathering conflict, rolling out statistics on how many US jobs depended on their countries' trade and investment and arguing that the US had more barriers to trade than its partners. The discussion had no effect on Trump, who stuck to the claims he made throughout his election campaign: that the US was being ripped off. 'The European Union is brutal to the United States,' he railed. 'And they understand that. They know it. When I'm telling them, they're smiling at me. You know, it's like the gig is up.' Canada too, the president said, 'can't believe it got away' with its trade deal with the US. 'We're like the piggy bank that everybody's robbing. And that ends,' Trump said. The president even threatened to stop doing business with US partners if they did not change their policies. 'And it's going to stop,' Trump said. 'Or we'll stop trading with them. And that's a very profitable answer, if we have to do it.' The disparaging tone towards leaders seen by all former administrations as America's closest allies was in marked contrast to the hopeful language he used in anticipation of Tuesday's planned summit with Kim Jong-un." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Benjamin Hart of New York: "During the few hours he spent at the G7 Summit in Quebec, President Trump effectively acted as a one-man turd in the punch bowl, distancing America from its supposed allies at just about every opportunity. On Saturday morning, Trump threw in straight-up rudeness to his list of offenses, showing up conspicuously late to a meeting assembled by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the topic of women's empowerment -- which, admittedly, is not high on Trump's list of concerns." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: If Democratic "leaders" had any sense, they would form a coalition, inviting internationalist Republicans to joint them, that created something of a shadow government supporting our former alliances with Western democracies & condemning Trump's petulant retreat from its world leadership. The coalition would maintain direct, public communications with G-6 leaders and other allies. The president largely gets to make foreign policy, but our allies need to hear repeatedly that this particular President* is not forever. ...
... Motoko Rich of the New York Times: "Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, arrived in Singapore on Sunday, two days ahead of his planned summit meeting with President Trump." ...
... His Touch, His Feel. David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "President Trump predicted Saturday that he will know almost immediately when meeting Kim Jong Un whether the North Korean leader is serious about negotiating a nuclear deal, suggesting his intuition is enough to size up the leader of the world's most opaque authoritarian regime. 'Within the first minute, I'll know. My touch, my feel -- that's what I do,' Trump said during a news conference in Quebec as he prepared to depart the Group of Seven summit en route to Singapore, where he is scheduled to meet Kim on Tuesday. 'You know the way they say you know if you like somebody in the first five seconds?' he added. 'Well, I think very quickly I'll know whether something good is going to happen. I think I'll also know whether it will happen fast.' Trump's remarks came two days after he said he didn't need to do a lot of preparation ahead of the historic summit because the interpersonal relationship between the two leaders would be the more important factor." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Jonathan Swan & Mike Allen of Axios: "President Trump is willing to consider establishing official relations with North Korea and even eventually putting an embassy in Pyongyang, according to two sources familiar with preparations for the Singapore summit. 'It would all depend what he gets in return,' said a source close to the White House. 'Denuclearization would have to be happening.' The sources stressed that this is one of many topics that could be discussed at the summit, and that certainly nothing like that has been decided or is necessarily expected to emerge from Trump's historic mano a mano with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un." Mrs. McC: Not to worry; Trump will never get around to appointing an ambassador. ...
... Triumph of Ignorance. Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "As President Trump prepares to meet Kim Jong-un of North Korea to negotiate denuclearization, a challenge that has bedeviled the world for years, he is doing so without the help of a White House science adviser or senior counselor trained in nuclear physics. Mr. Trump is the first president since 1941 not to name a science adviser, a position created during World War II to guide the Oval Office on technical matters ranging from nuclear warfare to global pandemics.... The lack of traditional scientific advisory leadership in the White House is one example of a significant change in the Trump administration: the marginalization of science in shaping United States policy. There is no chief scientist at the State Department, where science is central to foreign policy matters such as cybersecurity and global warming. Nor is there a chief scientist at the Department of Agriculture: Mr. Trump last year nominated Sam Clovis, a former talk-show host with no scientific background, to the position, but he withdrew his name and no new nomination has been made. These and other decisions have consequences for public health and safety and the economy."
"The Low I.Q. Bunch." David Smith of the Guardian: "[A]t a conference organised by the Faith and Freedom Coalition, a rightwing Christian group[, s]peaker after speaker extolled Trump's accomplishments in banishing the legacy of Barack Obama and furthering the Republican agenda. He was, they said, giving them exactly what they wanted -- indeed, more than they had dared dream of. Such adulation and hero worship -- Trump has the second-highest 'own party' approval rating (87%) of any postwar president at the 500-day mark, behind only George W Bush after 9/11 -- send a message of positive reinforcement crucial to understanding his swaggering self-confidence, lack of self-doubt and airy sense of impunity.... With a mix of demagoguery, policy expediency and anti-liberal sentiment, reinforced by Fox News and other conservative media, Trump has a tighter grip on his party than most past presidents had." --safari ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Not sure that these right-wing evangelicals have, on average, lower IQs than the rest of us (although it's possible); but they surely are close-minded, incurious, & in most cases biased against "the others."...
JeffBo Finds Something Else Indefensible. Louis Lucero of the New York Times: "The Justice Department late Friday night responded to Texas' request for an injunction in its challenge of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, agreeing with the state and several others that the program is 'unlawful.' Texas and six other states are suing the federal government to dismantle the immigration policy, which was put in place by the Obama administration in 2012. It enables individuals who were brought to the United States illegally as children to remain in the country without fear of deportation and grants them work permits. While the Justice Department on Friday called the program 'an open-ended circumvention of immigration laws,' it requested a delay if an injunction is issued. If ordered, the government argues, such an injunction would conflict with separate nationwide injunctions that have already been issued by courts in California and New York, and subject the agency to 'inconsistent obligations.' Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whose tenure as the nation's top law enforcement official has been broadly defined by his pursuit of immigration restrictions, remains deeply opposed to DACA." Mrs. McC: Thursday, JeffBo also decided not to defend a challenge to the Affordable Care Act. ...
**Political Ratf#cking. Tierney Sneed of TPM: "Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach personally urged Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to add a citizenship question to the Census, documents released late Friday revealed. Kobach -- in July 2017 -- cited specifically the desire to exclude certain non-citizens from U.S. congressional apportionment. Such a move would have drastic political implications, and would shrink the representation of states with large immigrant populations -- many of which are Democratic states -- in the U.S. House of Representatives. That rationale is different from the one Ross pointed to when he announced he was added the question: a Justice Department request for the data for Voting Rights Act enforcement. Kobach also proposed asking non-citizens whether they had a green card. The Kobach emails ... also indicated that Kobach and the Commerce secretary had spoken over the phone about the issue 'at the direction of Steve Bannon.'" -- safari: Even when their corruptive schemes come to light, they still go ahead, because IOKIYAR. ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: This looks like nearly slam-dunk evidence against the government & for the plaintiff-states in the suit they've brought challenging the move to add the question.
... Michael Miller of the Washington Post: "For the first time, federal courtrooms ... across the Southwest are being flooded with distraught mothers and fathers who have been charged with misdemeanor illegal entry and separated from their children -- a shift in policy touted by the administration as a way to stop families from trying to reach the United States but decried by critics as traumatizing and inhumane. Last month a Honduran father separated from his wife and 3-year-old son killed himself in a Texas jail cell, The Washington Post reported Saturday.... Family separations were rare under the Bush and Obama administrations." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Amid the confusion, it looks as if JeffBo & Co. may have devised a Catch-22: urge the parents to plead guilty to a misdemeanor border-crossing before they apply for asylum, then deny them asylum because they're criminals. Not sure this is true, but even the public defenders who are trying to help the asylum-seekers don't know for certain. ...
... Values Voters' Approved. Ryan Koronowski of ThinkProgress: "A Honduran father who was arrested and forcibly separated from his wife and child while trying to enter the United States, killed himself in a padded cell, according to a new report from the Washington Post.... [Marco Antonio] Muñoz, his wife, and their three-year-old son crossed the Rio Grande at the small Texas town of Granjeno on May 12, seeking to apply for asylum, according to border patrol agents the Post spoke with about the matter.... Once they were taken to McAllen to a processing stating, they were told they would be separated, and Muñoz 'lost it' according to the agent.... Honduras has one of the highest murder rates on the planet." --safari
Michael Stratford of Politico: "Education Secretary Betsy DeVos earlier this year reinstated an accreditor of for-profit colleges despite findings by her agency's career staff that the organization failed to meet federal standards, an internal document shows. The report, released by the Education Department on Friday in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, shows that career department analysts had serious concerns about restoring the federal recognition of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools just a month before DeVos issued an order reinstating the accreditor's federal status.... Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) this year also raised concerns about several of the schools that ACICS approved, criticizing the 'lax oversight' of institutions he said were operating as 'visa mills.'"
This Russia Thing -- the British Connection. Carole Cadwalladr & Peter Jukes of the Guardian: "Arron Banks, the millionaire businessman who bankrolled Nigel Farage]s campaign to quit the EU, had multiple meetings with Russian embassy officials in the run-up to the Brexit referendum, documents seen by the Observer suggest. Banks, who gave £12m of services to the campaign, becoming the biggest donor in UK history, has repeatedly denied any involvement with Russian officials, or that Russian money played any part in the Brexit campaign. The Observer has seen documents which a senior Tory MP says, if correct, raise urgent and troubling questions about his relationship with the Russian government. The communications [also] suggest ... continued extensive contact in the run-up to the US election when Banks, his business partner and Leave.EU spokesman Andy Wigmore, and Nigel Farage campaigned in the US to support Donald Trump's candidacy.... Banks and Wigmore inviting the [Russian] ambassador [to the U.K., Alexander Yakovenko] and a senior Russian diplomat to attend an evening with business contacts in a pub, and even to watch the results of the referendum at Leave.EU headquarters in Millbank, although the ambassador said he had to decline because of commitments in Moscow. The invitations continued after the referendum during the time in which Banks, Wigmore and Farage began travelling regularly to America to support Donald Trump's bid for the presidency, according to the documents. Ambassador Yakovenko met Wigmore and Banks on 19 August, the day Steve Bannon became Trump's campaign manager. It was days before they travelled to Mississippi with Nigel Farage for a rally on 25 August at which Donald Trump introduced him to the crowds as 'Mr Brexit'."
Michael Kranish of the Washington Post: "George Soros, the billionaire investor and liberal donor, sat in his hotel suite by Lake Zurich this week, lamenting the turn much of the world has taken in recent years: 'Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong.' His favored presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, lost to President Trump, whose 'America First' platform runs counter to the globalism Soros embraces. Trump, he said, 'is willing to destroy the world.' The European Union, which Soros once hoped would be so successful that he could end his charitable work in the region, is contending with the impending loss of Britain and a rise of anti-immigrant sentiment. And Soros himself has emerged as a political target in elections from Hungary to California, where his donations have been used as a cudgel against the causes he supports.... But rather than recede from public life in his twilight years, Soros has decided to push even harder for his agenda, he told The Washington Post in a rare interview. 'The bigger the danger, the bigger the threat, the more I feel engaged to confront it,' Soros said Thursday.... 'So in that sense, yes, I redouble my efforts.'"
Shannon Van Sant of NPR: "Seventeen-year-old Lulabel Seitz was a model student, and the first in her family to graduate from high school. With an above 4.0 GPA, she was class valedictorian at Petaluma High School in northern California, which meant she would give the commencement speech at her graduation.... About four minutes into her speech, Seitz began to talk about sexual assault allegations at the school. Officials then disconnected her microphone.... People in the audience began yell, 'Let her speak!' School officials did not turn her microphone back on." --safari
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Reader Comments (24)
Joe Biden says, " It makes no sense."
But it does, Joe, if our feckless leader is compromised. Intellectually, morally, and politically. Putin definitely has something on the Pretender. Something huuuuge, I'm sure, but my imagination is not up to the task.
I can't picture any Pretender behavior so bad that that it would. come as a surprise.
Reuters header: "G7 leaders urge Russia to stop undermining democracies"
Unsaid but implied?: Because the Pretender doesn't't need any help. He's doing just fine by all by himself.
@ Ken
I'm not even convinced whatever Putin has on Trump is "yuuuge". I'm betting it's more than likely small and rather meaningless to the US as a whole, but absolutely fundamental to the Trump Organization. I bet Putin has a way to expose the Organization for its shambolic operations and could push it over like a house of cards at any minute.
He's such a petty figure, I wouldn't put it past him to be willing to be pushed slowly and methodologically to dismantle our most important assets as a nation over a few hundreds of millions of dollars of ill-gotten gains to keep his fraudulent empire above water. It's almost always Occam's razor with this guy, and covering his ass is always priority numero uno. If you blackmail him on his supposed "wealth", you can extract any concession available.
On another note, I can't imagine what Gen. John Kelly has going through his mind as he wades through the destructive wake left by the Moron with our once staunchest allies. He's a career military man. He has to know the value of alliances and multilateralism and steadfast allies. Now here he is, staring them down as an official representative of a rogue US government. How does he look them in the face at the negotiating table, nodding approvingly by Drumpf's side as he spouts absolute nonsense and threatens to torpedo our entire alliance?
He'll eventually leave the White House and frantically attempt to rewrite history, crowing about how much worse it would've been had he not stayed, despite all evidence that the foundations of our country are shaking loose under his guidance. Fuck that and fuck him.
@ Safari
Your argument about the nature of the Pretender's likely not so big peccadilloes is persuasive. For him and his wealthy supporters, the only thing that counts is money.
I'd guess that's precisely why my imagination is not up to the task. That's not the world I live in.
And no wonder the Pretender is always so angry. He's achieved wealth and nearly unmatched power, yet much of what he says and does is still determined by someone else. He's still someone's puppet, hurking and jerking to his master's discordant tune.
" ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Not sure that these right-wing evangelicals have, on average, lower IQs than the rest of us (although it's possible); but they surely are close-minded, incurious, & in most cases biased against "the others."
This in response to Smith's Guardian piece coupled with Davenport's NYT's piece just above it. Both reports send chills and feelings of such frustration–-it's the old 2 plus 2 equals 3 syndrome and nothing this "one man turd in a punch bowl" does can dissuade them from their adulation of him. I just received an email from my brother that illustrates the mindset of our country's right-wingy fly by nighters( I will post it momentarily).
So we had the president* of the U.S. go to the G7 summit (late), extoll the success of said summit–-gave it a 10–- (left early–-said he had to prepare for the Kim, but then said he didn't have to prepare cuz he be real good with "knowing right away whether things will go right"–-gut tugging or tingling, I imagine) then suddenly turn around and complain bitterly about how unfair it was and proceeded to denigrate certain members who are our allies and then suggest Russia be reinstated. One would have to conclude there is something seriously off balance here, no? Guy is off his chomp! What or who is going to stop this despicable man? How much longer do we have to wait. As a citizen of this country I am humiliated by this representative; he has besmirched our reputation.
No kidding! say a thousand like minded–-no kidding!
I DON’T AGREE WITH ALL THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS DONE OR SAID,BUT I’M ALL FOR THE FOLLOWING.
Subject: Fwd: Fw: 13 Things Americans Want
This is the most accurate statement of what the American Citizens who live outside of the swamp want and expect from their government.
I like the list of 13 things that I, as a senior American citizen, want. Trump is at least talking about issues that most Americans are concerned about. My mantra about Trump is this: Truthfully, We are in agreement with most of what he says. We are getting older and our tickers aren't what they used to be, but what matters is that he covers most of the 13 things we as seniors want, at least I do for sure
1. Hillary: held accountable for her previous wrongs!
2. Put "GOD" back in America!
3. Borders: Closed or tightly guarded!
4. Congress: On the same retirement & healthcare plans as everybody else.
5. Congress: Obey its own laws NOW!
6. Language: English only!
7. Culture: Constitution and the Bill of Rights!
8. Drug-Free: Mandatory Drug Screening before & during Welfare!
9. Freebies: NONE to Non-Citizens!
10. Budget: Balance the damn thing!
11. Foreign Countries: Stop giving them our money! Charge them for our help! We need it here.
12. Term limits for congress
And most of all.
13. "RESPECT OUR MILITARY AND OUR FLAG!" And our police
We the people are coming!
Only 86% will send this on.
Should be 100%
What will you do? I ADDED 14. DRAIN THE DAMN SWAMP!!!!!
Please send it on; if only to one person.
"IN GOD WE TRUST"
PD, what was the rule on exclamation points? I couldn't figure it out. Ask your bro to ask the 86%!!!!! !?
What's this latest, PD?
Proof that while evangelicals might not be stupid, old folks (by their own declaration 86% of them anyway) definitely are?
Wish I could laugh, but people who think this way, regardless of their calendar age, are obviously more afraid of living than dying.
Self-centeredness and fear are the only explanations I can come up with.
Well, I could barely stand to read any of today's posting. How do the people in the traditionally-run-by-psychopath countries keep sane? How do they not have hatred that ruins their very souls? I am not a praying person but find myself howling at the skies, hoping that Air Force One will skitter off a runway and demolish the administration, leaving the crew and reporters intact. The presidunce is a mongrel psycho and I don't wish for him or his presidency to flourish. He should be locked up for life. Thank you, middle America morons, as well as those ignoramuses in my own state. While you're at it, fate, take out the Congress.
@Patrick: I can't tell you the urge I have of responding to my "bro" and tearing apart his friend's 14 wish list and asking that person what exactly ARE the things you don't agree with Trump. But–-as some of you know my brother and I clashed politically during Obama's presidency and continued during Hillary's campaign and it practically severed our relationship. We mended, albeit with fractured hearts, and I promised myself to stick to correspondence about dogs, family news, and childhood remembrances. It isn't easy, but it's what I need to do.
"My touch, my feel..." Sounds like Kim is gonna get groped.
Krugman weighs in: Says there has never been a disaster like the G7 meeting–-that it could herald the beginning of a trade war, maybe even the collapse of the western alliance.
"at the very least it will damage America's reputation as a reliable ally for decades to come; even after Trump eventually departs the scene in disgrace, the fact that someone like him could come to power in the first place will always be in the back of everyone's mind."
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/09/opinion/debacle-in-quebec.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fopinion-columnists
PD, IQ is a difficult concept because having the ability to evaluate anything doesn't mean that you use your great brain. Any data to back up the list of 13? No, this is emotional. Overall, I think the right has a lower average IQ but Trumpism is all about defending who you think you are. But don't forget Einstein said that the difference between smart and stupid is that smart has limits.
How will Trump sling his Singpore spin? Especially if the art-of-the-deal master’s strategies come up short?
But if he can turn it into an over-the-top presser, the photo-op should be ama-a-a-a-zing standing with the supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jung Un ...or if things don’t work out, maybe that other influential Kim jets in a.k.a. Her Kardashianness posing along side Trump and Ambassador-at-large, Dennis Rodman. It's the New World Disorder.
What I am really secretly (blabbing it here) hoping is that when Trump schedules his yuge pronouncement over there in front of the world press, that the event is interrupted by breaking news out of D.C.: the Mueller indictments we’re all a-hoping, a-wishing, and a-praying for will rain on his parade.
...and if we thought today’s undiplomatic Tweets from AF1 re G-7 came from a petulant brat, his return flight ravings would be totally off the charts !
Destruction, treachery and fecklessness as policy roadmaps.
It has been determined beyond the scope of any serious and truthful investigation that the little king is no negotiator. Whatever negotiating skills he once had (mostly involving lying, coercion, promises soon to be broken, his connections to organized crime, sleazy bankers, and self-promotion), now work only on the weak-minded and even there only in an apparitional, notional manner. Likewise it has been decades (a generation or more) since he actually built anything, at least anything of worth, relinquishing all claims that he is a creator of jobs or an avatar of economic success. Multiple bankruptcies and a history littered with one failed narcissistic project after another should easily cement such a conclusion.
Except to the mouthbreathers.
To sentient Americans and citizens of the real world who see the growing list of Trumpian outrages for what they are, evidence of an uncontrollable giant toddler who lives to waddle into a room in his dirty diaper, full of bile, itching to kick over whatever carefully constructed block tower comes into view, indicates that wanton and random destruction appears to be his very special métier, his personal idiom, if you will.
If his inferiors (everyone else on the planet) are not going to do as they're told then, by god, he will huff and puff and blow their house down. Former US ambassador to Panama (until he resigned in protest of the little king's disinterest with and disgust for everything except his own status and wealth), John Feeley, neatly encapsulates Trump's paranoia and weak-mindedness. "He’s like a velociraptor...He has to be boss, and if you don’t show him deference he kills you." In an initial meeting with Feeley, the little king demanded why he should give a shit about Panama "What's in it for us?" After a long list of excellent reasons for maintaining a strong and constructive presence in Central America, all Trump wanted to know was whether or not Feeley was impressed with the fact that his hotel is the biggest on the skyline.
For decades now the Party of No (now dba the Party of Traitors) took as it's MO a negation of any idea they didn't like. There was no compromise, no attempt at finding common ground, and not alternate plan on offer. It was just...NO. That infantile obduracy has found its apotheosis in the dictator trump. NO has morphed into negation and destruction. It's easy to tear down and, to a small, weak, simple minded type, probably feels good to storm into a room of serious adults, piss in the punch bowl, break the china, call everyone buttholes, demand that they let your pal Putie, a war criminal and murderer, play in their sandbox, then kick everyone on your way out, as you fly off to another potential catastrophe.
I've heard apologists describe the Trump Approach (knock down everything) as creative destruction. If by creative they mean a coordinated effort that will result in a net positive with plenty of room for future improvement, this is a lie. Such a position implies thoughfulness and an appreciation for costs versus benefits. The only equation that interests Trump is "What's in it for me?" In the short term, what's in it for him by casually destroying decades of carefully wrought foreign policy and friendship is a cheer from the idiots. Such a fleeting "hurrah" doesn't even merit description as a short term gain. Which means there's something else afoot. Pure malice is more like it. He does it because it satisfies his need to stomp anyone and anything he doesn't understand or know how to deal with as a rational adult.
And this horrible, debauched, primitive compulsion for dominance and destruction is reflected in the stance of his entire party. Families? They used to be the "Party of the Family". Not anymore. Take those kids away. Put the parents in lock up. Fiscal responsibility? Ha! National security? Never in life. And leave us not even debase the word by uttering "conservative".
The destruction appears across the board and in all areas of public life and governance.
And there is nothing to replace it. It's becoming a smoking ruin. Like the giant hole in lower Manhattan after 9/11, there is nothing left but there is also no plan for recovery. When Trump promises to blow up NAFTA and negotiate separately with China and Canada, the likelihood that this will happen is on a par with Jeff Sessions becoming president of the NAACP and pledging lifelong support to the United Negro College Fund and Black Lives Matter.
If Trump truly feels that there is a trade imbalance (or any of the other numerous grievances and complaints on his list), there are other ways to treat this problem. But there are no other Trump Ways. Kicking shit over is all he is really able to do. He's an impotent--and distressingly dim--child. And, unless Mueller finds a smoking gun with Putin's fingerprints on it in the little king's sock drawer, he'll be president for the near future.
Maybe longer.
If this isn't the time for a powerful grassroots uprising, there never will be another in American history. Or what's left of it. We need more than Chuck Schumer tweeting "Oh boy, this is bad".
Can't wait for Singapore. Success, here we come.
Bobby Lee,
Jeeez....you had to put that image in my head? Now I need a brain disinfectant. I have to say, that claim that "I'll know in the first minute" and the "touch and feel" thing sound more and more like some cheap carny magic show come on. "Step right up, folks, The Great Donaldo is here. Merely by touching you he knows all. Step right up folks, don't forget to pay General Kelly at the door, that's right. Just $100 per sucker, er, person."
If he arrived at the meeting wearing a Carnak the Magnificent hat, I wouldn't be the least surprised.
My guess of today. There will never be a US history book for the 21C that does not include the Merkel photo.
My guess for Tues. The wonderful agreement between Kim and Trump is going to look exactly like the terrible agreement between the Obama and Iran.
AK: Sorry about that. The images in my mind are bad enough.
"This is getting funny but ain't nobody laughing". I have this dread that if Democrats fail to take at least one chamber this November we haven't seen anything yet. The party of "Uh-huh" would go right along.
We may yet wind up with a Roman temple to the emperor Trumpus Invictus on the mall with a statue larger than Lincoln.
There used to be just 3 qualifications to be a congress(man), but I
think while we weren't paying attention another was added:
1. Age
2. Citizenship
3. Inhabitancy
4. Castration
Seems none of these elected and appointed officials (maybe one or
two) have the balls to do or say anything about the actions of the
groper-in-chief who seems determined to undermine any advances
that have been made by sane people over the last 250 years in this
country.
And I guess we'll need to learn Russian before his term ends.
@Marvin: The trump-Kim agreement will look nothing like the Obama-Iran (plus five other countries) deal. trump is proudly going into it completely unprepared. My bet is that it will be one page long, and trump's top priority is that there is enough room on the page for his seismic signature.
I am really and truly afraid that he will give away the world just so his name will be on the damn thing and will be remembered forever. As I said the other evening in a late late post, we all remember the name Neville Chamberlain.
@ NiskyGuy
Love your comments, but I'll bet the so smart Pretender doesn't.
This is the crux of a chain letter P.D. Pepe got from her brother, with my corrections in italics:
We are getting older and our tickers aren't what they used to be, but what matters is that he covers most of the 13 things we as seniors want, at least I do for sure
1. Hillary: held accountable for her previous wrongs! I'm not sure what the writer thinks Hillary's "wrongs" are, but most of them were not illegal; rather they represented a pursed concept of possibilities. If he's talking about The Emails! & Benghaaazi!, those are nonsense gripes.
2. Put "GOD" back in America! There's no "God" in the Constitution, which is our foundational document. Since each of us has a personal conception of "God," "God" would be impossible to legislate.
3. Borders: Closed or tightly guarded! We are a nation of immigrants, and our economy is suffering because we need more of them.
4. Congress: On the same retirement & healthcare plans as everybody else. I'm good with that.
5. Congress: Obey its own laws NOW! Members of Congress are required to do that now. This isn't an "improvement."
6. Language: English only! This is an expression of an ignorant, xenophobic prejudice & it embarrasses anyone who voices it. Obviously, it's easier to thrive in a country where one speaks the dominant language, and the children of immigrants almost always learn English.
7. Culture: Constitution and the Bill of Rights! I don't know what this means. The Bill of Rights are part of the Constitution, so there's no "and" there. Moreover, culture is far more than a political document. This "desire" doesn't make much sense.
8. Drug-Free: Mandatory Drug Screening before & during Welfare! This is another of those right-wing prejudices with almost no factual basis. Few Americans receive "welfare" & very few of those who do flunk drug tests. Moreover, almost all who receive what the right thinks of as "welfare" really cannot help themselves: they're children, they're elderly, they're truly disabled. Are there some slackers? Yes. But percentage-wise, not many. This, too, is embarrassing, & anyone who makes such remarks should be ashamed of himself.
9. Freebies: NONE to Non-Citizens! Don't know what "freebies" are either, but maybe this means things like education & emergency medical care. Obviously, we all benefit when residents, whether or not citizens, are healthy & well-educated. Besides, many non-citizens don't really get "freebies." They pay into Social Security (even if they don't get it) & all kinds of taxes -- property taxes, sales tax, income tax. This perception of "freebies" is another embarrassment of ignorance.
10. Budget: Balance the damn thing! After the last big recession, even the worst ignoramus should understand enough about macroeconomics to know that federal deficit spending is necessary to pull out of economic hard times. The time to balance the budget is now, after Obama & the Democratic congress put the U.S. back on a strong economic foundation.
11. Foreign Countries: Stop giving them our money! Charge them for our help! We need it here. While there may be instances in which we can comfortably pull back a few million $$ in foreign aid, for the most part we don't give much anyway. Less than one percent of federal spending goes to foreign aid. In most cases that aid is either politically advantageous to the U.S. or represents simple humanitarian decency.
12. Term limits for congress. That might be okay, but it will make little difference in Congress's ability to do its job.
And most of all.
13. "RESPECT OUR MILITARY AND OUR FLAG!" And our police. I think most of us respect the military & the police to the degree they deserve it. The flag is a symbol; some people think it should be "respected" for which it stands; other's think it's a piece of fabric & it's quite all right to make underwear out of it. I'm kinda in the first school, but I don't get all bent out of shape when rednecks decorate their asses with it or wear the flag on their hideous muscle shirts. That's a fashion choice I won't be making.
All in all, this is a list that demonstrates an ignorance of reality & a disdain for long-held American values that any patriot can counter in a few minutes. It's a pity that many U.S. citizens, like the author, know so little about their own country. His or her list is something only a fool would write.
Two major issues in US international relations seem missing from discussion. Justin Trudeau is a handsome, articulate young man and the leader of Germany is a seriously tough female. Neither can possibly work with the old, fat, bald, inarticulate male POTUS.
Dear Marvin,
I believe you left out one obvious modifier: impotent.