;)
The Commentariat -- May 27, 2016
Gardiner Harris of the New York Times: "President Obama laid a wreath at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial on Friday, telling an audience that included survivors of America's atomic bombing in 1945 that technology as devastating as nuclear arms 'requires a moral revolution.'" -- CW ...
... MSNBC coverage, which includes the full speech, is here. ...
... The New York Times is updating events surrounding President Obama's visit. They include excerpts of his speech.
Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "President Obama's public disparagement Thursday of Donald Trump ... during a news conference in Ise City, Japan, obliterated the now-quaint political convention that partisanship stops at the water's edge. It also revealed a stark truth: The world is worried about Trump." -- CW ...
Rachel Bade & John Bresnahan of Politico: "House conservatives on Thursday blocked passage of a relatively uncontroversial energy and water spending measure after Democrats attached an amendment that would bar federal contractors from discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The appropriations bill failed 305-112, with a majority of Republicans opposed because of the gay rights provision.... Democrats also heavily voted against it over objections to other GOP-sponsored add-ons, including one related to immigration.... The breakdown of the appropriations process started earlier in the day when Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.) opened the weekly GOP conference meeting with a prayer about the LGBT issue, prior to the vote. He read a passage from the Bible and questioned whether members would violate their religious principles if they supported the bill. Moderate Republicans were stunned by Allen's remarks, and some walked out of the meeting in protest, according to GOP lawmakers." CW: If you were wondering why the do-nothing Congress can't do nothin', this is a prime example: both sides tack controversial amendments onto run-of-the-mill bills.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in a Washington Post op-ed: "Three years ago, during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing at the height of a contentious debate about sexual assault in the military, one of our nation's highest-ranking military officials -- the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- ... in an effort to defend the status quo, Navy Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr..., told the Senate about 93 sexual assault cases ... in which civilian prosecutors 'refused' to prosecute and commanders 'insisted' on prosecuting the cases. For many of my colleagues, including former senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Armed Services Committee at that time, it was a compelling argument, which they repeated on the floor of the Senate while successfully filibustering our reform. It was also verifiably false...." -- CW
The Die Is Precast. Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) hasn't yet met with Supreme Court nominee Merrick B. Garland.... But Hatch already wrote an op-ed, accidentally published in the Deseret News, claiming, "Like many of my Senate colleagues, I recently met with Chief Judge Merrick Garland.... Our meeting, however, does not change my conviction that the Senate should consider a Supreme Court nominee after this presidential election cycle." The paper later removed the op-ed. "Paul Edwards, the executive editor of the Deseret News, on Thursday described the piece as a draft that was 'awaiting edits from the Senator following his meeting with Judge Garland' and was published inadvertently." -- CW ...
... Michael Virtanen of TPM: "Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Thursday that having only eight high court justices isn't good, resulting in some 4-4 splits this year that denied litigants an opinion." -- CW
Lena Sun & Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "For the first time, researchers have found a person in the United States carrying bacteria resistant to antibiotics of last resort, an alarming development that the top U.S. public health official says could signal 'the end of the road' for antibiotics.... The authors wrote that the discovery 'heralds the emergence of a truly pan-drug resistant bacteria.'" --safari
Ta-Nehisi Coates of The Atlantic: "On Tuesday, Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced she would seek the death penalty for Dylann Roof. It has not been a year since Roof walked into Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and murdered nine black people as they worshipped.... [K]illing Roof does absolutely nothing to ameliorate the conditions that brought him into being in the first place. The hammer of criminal justice is the preferred tool of a society that has run out of ideas. In this sense, Roof is little more than a human sacrifice to The Gods of Doing Nothing." --safari
Annals of Journalism. Katie Rogers & Michael de la Merced of the New York Times: "A day after Peter Thiel explained why he had given about $10 million to fund multiple lawsuits against Gawker Media, the site's founder [Nick Denton] published an open letter [in Gawker] to the Silicon Valley billionaire, calling him 'thin-skinned' and a 'comic book villain' and challenging him to a public debate about the role of journalism in society.... Mr. Denton harshly criticized what he said was a lengthy, unnecessary vendetta Mr. Thiel waged against not only Gawker Media but also individual journalists." -- CW ...
... Katie Rogers & John Hermann of the New York Times: "The story of Gawker versus Hulk Hogan -- or, perhaps more accurately, Peter Thiel -- has some asking whether press freedom in the United States is in peril if a scorned billionaire can help deliver a crippling blow to a media company." -- CW
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Kelsey Sutton & Peter Sterne of Politico write a "pre-eulogy" for Salon.com. -- CW
Presidential Race
Thomas Kaplan & Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "... Hillary Clinton on Thursday played down a report from the State Department's inspector general that criticized her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. In an interview with ABC News, Mrs. Clinton repeated her concession that using the private email server was a mistake. But she suggested that voters had more important issues to consider when making up their minds between her and the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump. 'As I've said many times, if I could go back, I would do it differently,' Mrs. Clinton said." -- CW ...
C-SPAN: "Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) ... says he plans to pursue what he calls 'discrepancies' in the wake of the audit, saying, 'Secretary Clinton and some State Department officials have not been truthful.'" Video. CW: Thanks, Chuck. I'm sure you'll do a totally nonpartisan, professional job & get your "report" out right around Hallowe'en. Maybe you could dress it up with a Photoshopped cover pic of Hillary in a witch's costume. P.S. OR, you could follow Sen. Hatch's example & tell us now what's in that "report" before you do that "inquiry."
... Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "State Department officials took pains to accommodate Hillary Clinton's email practices as secretary, according to newly released testimony by a career agency official. Clinton was offered a 'stand-alone' computer near her office that would let her access the Internet without entering a password or logging into the department's network as other employees are required to do, the official said. The official, Lewis A. Lukens..., said he was told the proposal was declined because Clinton was 'not adept or not used to checking her emails on a desktop.'" -- CW ...
... Chuck Todd, et al., of NBC News: Wednesday's "stinging State Department inspector general report on Hillary Clinton's email practices should have produced one of the worst 24 hours for Clinton's campaign. Instead, it's been a political flesh wound.... Why? Because almost all of Hillary Clinton's weaknesses are overshadowed by Trump's." Via Paul Waldman. CW: Hard to believe Chuck wrote this balanced report; I'll bet his coauthors, Mark Murray & Carrie Dann, are the "real" writers.
Dahlia Lithwick of Slate: "I count myself among the many silent liberals who have largely kept their feelings on Bernie versus Hillary to themselves -- partly because each speaks to me in different ways.... That said, I have been taken up short by the number of comments and scoldings I have faced, from close friends and casual acquaintances alike, for voicing even a hint of support for one or the other in recent months.... If we are treating our friends and allies like we treat our enemies, we are not really a movement so much as a collective of grievances." --safari
Dave Weigel of the Washington Post: "A new count of Kentucky's ballots from the May 17 Democratic primary found no discrepancies, confirming ... Hillary Clinton's narrow victory over Sen. Bernie Sanders. It was Sanders who asked for the canvass just two days ago...." -- CW
Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "Bernie Sanders's campaign manager says 'back-channel conversations' are underway with Donald Trump's staff about setting up a bipartisan debate between the two presidential candidates." -- CW ...
... Burgess Everett & Seung Min Kim of Politico: "For some Democrats, Bernie Sanders' latest gambit -- challenging Donald Trump to a debate to cap all debates -- is the last straw.... Lawmakers reacted with puzzlement, sarcasm and barely veiled anger as Sanders' campaign and Trump himself played up an event that would exclude Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.... A minority of Democratic lawmakers, though, said they'd be fine with Sanders going toe-to-toe with Trump on TV, if only to unmask the Republican nominee as a false advocate for working people." -- CW ...
... Nick Gass of Politico: "Donald Trump on Thursday said he would 'love' to debate Bernie Sanders and raise $10 million to $15 million in the process, even if the Democratic challenger is not well positioned to be his general election foe.... 'What we'll do is raise maybe for, maybe women's health issues or something, if we can raise $10 million or $15 million for charity, which would be a very appropriate amount. I understand the television business very well.' The event would 'get high ratings' and 'should be in a big arena somewhere,' Trump said." -- CW
I will give you everything.... I'm the only one. -- Donald Trump, in Bismarck, North Dakota, Thursday
** Ignoramus-in-Chief. Ashley Parker & Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump traveled Thursday to the heart of America's oil and gas boom, where he called for more fossil fuel drilling and fewer environmental regulations while vowing to 'cancel the Paris climate agreement,' the 2015 accord committing nearly every nation to taking action to curb climate change.... But experts remain skeptical of Mr. Trump's command of the complexities of the global energy economy. And he made claims, such as a promise to restore jobs lost in coal mining, that essentially defy free-market forces.... In his speech, he complained, inaccurately: '[The Paris] agreement gives foreign bureaucrats control over how much energy we use on our land, in our country. No way.'... 'Under my presidency, we will accomplish complete American energy independence,' he said.... But experts say that such remarks display a basic ignorance of the workings of the global oil markets." -- CW ...
... Ben Jacobs of the Guardian: "Donald Trump pledged to cancel the Paris climate agreement, endorsed drilling off the Atlantic coast and said he would allow the Keystone XL pipeline to be built in return for 'a big piece of the profits' for the American people." --safari...
... safari note: Not only would Drumpf shred our own social fabric, but he would literally melt the planet. The irresponsibility of the GOP on climate change has become absolutely pathological. ...
... "A Walk in the Dead Woods." Tim Egan: "While the world burns and gasps, Trump is now leading the only major political party in the advanced world to deny climate change." -- CW
Paul Krugman: "... the idea that Donald Trump, of all people, knows how to run the U.S. economy is ludicrous." -- CW
No, You Lying Sack of Rat Droppings, Elizabeth Warren Is Not a House-Flipper. Annie Linskey of the Boston Globe: "... Donald Trump opened a new line of attack against Elizabeth Warren Wednesday, accusing the Democratic Massachusetts senator of being a 'total hypocrite' because she 'bought foreclosed housing and made a quick killing.' Trump, pointing to stories that have been circulating in the right-wing media for years, focused on a practice from Warren's past in which she bought or helped finance two dozen properties in Oklahoma for various family members over about two decades.... Trump's accusation ... implies that Warren's family made a fast sale to realize a speedy profit.... The average amount of time that Warren or her family held on to a property was about 7½ years, property records show." ...
... CW: I don't suppose Donald Trump has provided financial help to any of his relatives -- like his children who work for him at no doubt fabulous salaries.
James Hohmann of the Washington Post: "Rick Wiley, hired with great fanfare in mid-April, lasted only six weeks as Donald Trump's national political director. The Trump campaign released a statement late [Wednesday] night saying that it has parted ways with Scott Walker's former campaign manager.... Here's what that says about him and his campaign.... There is a raging internal turf war between the old guard and the new guard.... Trump does not think he actually needs to run a modern campaign to win.... Trump is not playing nice with the consultants favored by the establishment.... Trump's shop is beginning to feel more and more like Hillary Clinton's operation ... circa 2008! That's when a revolving coterie of staffers fell in and out of favor, bickered publicly and contributed to the disarray in her campaign.... But, but, but: Trump is still more decisive than Clinton." -- CW
Jonathan Chait of New York: "Donald Trump is a wildly promiscuous liar.... His contempt for objective truth is the rejection of democratic accountability, an implicit demand that his supporters place undying faith in him. Because the only measure of truth he accepts is what he claims at any given moment, the power his supporters vest in him is unlimited.... Where he has broken truly unique ground is in his lies about relatively small, routine matters." --safari
That's All, Folks. Stephen Ohlemacher & Jill Colvin of the AP: Donald Trump "shrugged off signs of discord in his party hours after sewing up the number of delegates needed to clinch the GOP nomination, a feat that completed an unlikely rise that has upended the political landscape and set the stage for a bitter fall campaign." -- CW
Beyond the Beltway
** Marc Tracy of the New York Times: "Kenneth W. Starr, the former independent counsel who delivered a report that served as the basis for President Bill Clinton's impeachment in 1998, was removed as president of Baylor University on Thursday after an investigation found the university mishandled accusations of sexual assault against football players. The university also fired the football coach, Art Briles, whose ascendant program brought in millions of dollars in revenue but was dogged by accusations of sexual assault committed by its players -- an increasingly familiar combination in big-time college sports. Mr. Starr was stripped of his title as university president but will remain Baylor's chancellor and a professor at the law school. The chancellor position is 'centered around development and religious liberty,' a regent said on a conference call Thursday afternoon, adding that Mr. Starr's 'operational responsibilities have been removed.'" -- CW ...
Adam Kilgore & Nick Anderson of the Washington Post: Baylor's" Board of Regents apologized to the school community for the findings of an outside investigation it commissioned in the fall. A damning 13-page report, prepared by law firm Pepper Hamilton, revealed a football team allowed to run amok by university administrators and law enforcement officials.... 'We were horrified by the extent of these acts of sexual violence on our campus,' Richard Willis, the chair of the Board of Regents, said in a news release. 'This investigation revealed the University's mishandling of reports in what should have been a supportive, responsive and caring environment for students. The depth to which these acts occurred shocked and outraged us.'... The investigation exposed a football program under [Art] Briles that was allowed to operate under its own rules, which led to intimidation of alleged victims, concealment of sexual assault charges and risk for future attacks." -- CW
Shootin' Squirrels & Drinkin' Beer. What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Rick Anderson of the Los Angeles Times: Portland, Oregon, police chief Larry "O'Dea, 53, appointed chief last year, has ... been placed on paid administrative leave while Oregon State Police investigate the shooting [of a fellow hunter] and the sheriff's version of what happened in Harney County." -- CW ...
... Mistakes Were Made. Maxine Bernstein of the Oregonian: "Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward is the first to acknowledge significant holes in his deputy's investigation of the April 21 hunting accident near Fields that has sidelined Portland's police chief and snared Portland's mayor in the fallout.... [The deputy, Chris] Nisbet, never identified which weapon discharged or seized any of the guns for further examination, according to his summary report. He made field observations that most in the group seemed drunk, but didn't follow up with field sobriety tests.... The deputy didn't pursue inconsistencies in some of the statements....
"[The men] were sitting in a line on lawn chairs, shooting ground squirrels while drinking beer, the deputy's report said. [Larry] O'Dea was on the left of his friend, Robert Dempsey, 54, who was shot. During the interview, the deputy noted that O'Dea was shaking and had glassy and bloodshot eyes. O'Dea told the deputy that he believed his friend had shot himself accidentally while trying to put his pistol back in a shoulder holster and that O'Dea's own rifle wasn't in his hand at the time.... O'Dea sometime later ... called Dempsey and admitted to his friend that he had shot him when he picked up his rifle after grabbing a drink, the sheriff's records show.... O'Dea has never told the Harney County Sheriff's Office that he was responsible, Ward said." CW: I still maintain this is one of the best "Today in Responsible Gun Ownership" stories ever. And it just keeps getting, well, squirrelier.
Way Beyond
Shame on Australia. Michael Slezak of the Guardian: "Every reference to Australia was scrubbed from the final version of a major UN report on climate change after the Australian government intervened, objecting that the information could harm tourism. Guardian Australia can reveal the report 'World Heritage and Tourism in a Changing Climate', which Unesco jointly published with the United Nations environment program and the Union of Concerned Scientists on Friday, initially had a key chapter on the Great Barrier Reef, as well as small sections on Kakadu and the Tasmanian forests." --safari
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Reader Comments (21)
"I will give you everything.... I'm the only one."
While this reads like the desperate declaration of a crazed teenager who's just been dumped by the object of his obsessions, it's actually a remark -- in a prepared speech -- by the guy who just got enough delegates to win the Republican presidential nomination.
I know you medical professionals think I'm wrong, but I continue to believe that Donald Trump is INSANE. And anyone who believes this crazed declaration is just as nuts.
Marie
Indeed, Marie, donald trump (whose name I will never again capitalize) IS insane. He has quite a few personality disorders from which to choose: anti-social (aka psychopath), narcissistic, pathological liar, immature (yes, that is a personality disorder). I could go on, but what's the use?
I have recently wondered whether trump was sexually abusive to his daughters when they were younger, but that is just my wondering. I have not heard that he was, but he is so inappropriate in his sexual talk about them--and about all women--I would not be surprised.
If this deficient human bean is elected POTUS, I really must find my way to Canada. I just do not think I could tolerate the shame of living in a country that elected a carnival barker/con man to be our President.
Are Americans who like trump really this stupid?
"I will give you everything.... I'm the only one."
So many thoughts... These are the words of a person who is very good at getting elected and horrible at governing. The personalizing of "I will give _you_ everything" makes the listener feel special. Given many of his other remarks and those of his followers, I am sure there is also a component of "and not _those_ people" to it.
@Kate:
The short answer is "yes."
A longer answer is that like Trump's, everyone's view of the world is befogged to some degree by their own neuroses, the emotional detritus of their experiences from the womb forward that necessarily influence perceptions and judgment.
My hope--I'm too worried to say "my trust"-- is that while we're all "cracked" a little, come November the majority will prove sane enough, that is, remain in close enough touch with reality, to put this dangerous buffoon back in the idiot box whence he arose and off the front page of the NYTimes.
I believe it was Socrates or Plato playing Socrates who said the unexamined life is not worth living. By that definition of worth, self-reflection (as distinguished from navel gazing) is key.
But self-reflection requires open-mindedness and the perspective that comes from learning. In Trump we have an entirely close-minded, ignorant unreflective personality on full and embarrassing display. Clearly that appeals to many, I suspect mostly to those who are similarly limited, that is as you say, "stupid."
Even the ignorant need an avatar.
Have a fine Memorial weekend. We all have much to remember.
"The man who promises everything is sure to fulfill nothing, and everyone who promises too much is in danger of using evil means in order to carry out his promises, and is already on the road to perdition." ~ Carl Jung
"The superbug that doctors have been dreading just reached the U.S. "
What a surprise? I wrote a chapter in a textbook on microbiology for medical students that included a statement from science literature about the concerns of overuse of antibiotics in animals and humans. The book was published in 1974.
JUST GIVE ME THE MONEY!!
@Marie & Kate: Oh, dear, I think you are both too kind in labeling Trump "insane" for that implies that "he know not what he do and maybe not know who he is"––this said by some country lawyer somewhere trying to get his client, charged with murder, off on the basis of insanity. I'd argue that the Donald knows exactly what he's doing and he's doing it full steam ahead even though what is IN that head is like a muddled bowl of mush. We and others have called him all sorts of names, amusing ones like "cockalorum," callow, and even "coxcomb" which describes a vain and conceited man–-somewhat of a dandy, but of course he's so much more than that because he's DANGEROUS and DEMENTED and is running for the most important job in the world––could we say "world?"––yes, I think we can. So–––what I find insane are all the followers of this man who has done such a magnificent job of hoodwinking them. Their sense of reality is scary. And the fact that Trump's trajectory has laid bare the large division in this country once again brings us into the realm of having to look at ourselves without that shiny patriotic patina.
Obama's trip to Japan––visiting Hiroshima is ground breaking and heart breaking to revisit the horror of our bombing there. No Japanese official has ever visited Pearl Harbor, but maybe now they will. Japan has a museum somewhere commemorating the dead pilots that never returned after destroying our ships and many lives and started a brutal war that seemed to have no end.
THE BARE BONES
In the summer when I was seven,
After Pearl Harbor and Germany’s declaration
Of war,
We children strung chicken neck bones,
Color-dyed, into long necklaces—
Something about those small, smooth
Odd shaped bones intrigued me—
Something about where they came from—
The wringing of all those necks—so many
Deaths for all those pretty chains.
By the time the leaves turned,
And bonfires singed the air,
We were back in school, the bones
Somewhere in a drawer.
What did we know of war.
I think of this every time I suck
The neck of a roasted chicken—
The sweetest part—I think.
2005
Probably many of you RC readers have already visited DJT's Web site, but, until this morning, I had not...and, the experience was as the French say, "Incroyable!" The Trump Organization's Web site and the incroyable " biography " of the Donald, which includes such gems as:
"In 2011, after failed attempts by both Senator McCain and Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trump single handedly (my boldface) forced President Obama to release his birth certificate, which was lauded by large segments of the political community. In 2012, Mr. Trump was voted "Statesman of the Year" by the Sarasota Republican Party."
" Mr. Trump is one of the highest paid speakers in the world, often drawing tens of thousands of people. In September of 2011, Mr. Trump gave a two city speech in Australia, for over 3 million dollars." Really? I searched for proof that this was totally b.s., but nada. So? Really?
There is more, so much more—whadda a phenom! I'm surprised he manages even the few hours of sleep per night that he claims.
The goosesteppers are all lining up to back Trump. And the rest will fall in line like good little stormtroopers. Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio and maybe even Jeb(!) will follow. Republicans have goosestepping in their blood. They'll back the Strong Man (never a woman though) because it's what they live for. Largely because most Republicans have never been leaders. They're followers.
They follow whatever Fox says, or whatever Limbaugh pukes out. They live in deathly fear of what Drudge might say about them. They follow racists and haters, gun knobbers and misogynists. They don't lead. And Trump is a leader only insofar as he's got the biggest mouth.
Think of it...Orrin Hatch, once considered a reasonable and effective politician, a man among men, possibly a Supreme Court justice, when it comes time for him to stand up, is no leader either. Does a leader have a position paper all written out, in strict accordance with party policy, to denigrate a highly qualified judge, a man he previously voted for and accorded high marks, even before he meets the man? That's not a leader, that's a subservient lackey.
And Mitch McConnell? His "leadership" standing is about on a par with the 53rd lemming in line to go over the cliff.
And they'll all line up to lick the Strong Man's boots, or at least give a good impression of it.
Those polls showing Donaldo leading Clinton? That's the boot lickers and goosesteppers coming home to do their duty. Not for the country, but for The Party. For the Confederacy.
Some leaders. A collection of ignorant slobs, bigots, moral midgets and proponents of violence all racing to worship an overfed, orange-haired, gallumphing liar.
Somewhere James Madison is weeping (and Thomas Jefferson is saying "Christ, I knew this day would come...")
PD,
You may have put me off chicken...
The fun we've all had with the line from "Casablanca" ––"I'm shocked, shocked that gambling has been going on here" can now be brought out once again regarding the outing of Navy Adm. James Winnefeld's lying to Congress about the sexual abuse cases in the military. I was hoping Kristian Gillibrand could sway those that actually believed the brass could take care of their own disciplinarily ; it turns out they just took care of their own period. I'm shocked I tell ya!
An aside: Once when my younger son, then in high school, gathered his buddies at our house for some beer drinking (we parents were elsewhere) I happened to come home early and could tell as soon as I entered what had gone down. I hesitated long enough for them to go out the back door and get rid of the evidence and when I confronted them I so wanted to use the "I'm shocked, shocked that underage drinking has been going on here!" but just said hello to the guys who quickly left so that my son and I could have our little chat. Later that evening my husband found the beer stuck away in the bushes.
PD,
"Later that evening my husband found the beer stuck away in the bushes."
The same bushes, likely, where you'll find the military's investigation of sexual abuse cases. In fact, those guys probably stole that beer too.
From The (thickening) Files of Law & Disorder:
Bro-On-Bro Play Date In Drumpf-esque Sandbox
"The NYPD and FDNY have a long history of working together as one to save lives in New York City. But put them together on a field of play and all hell usually breaks loose.
It happened *again* (my emphasis) on Sunday, when the city's Bravest and Finest squared off in what was supposed to be a *charity* (ditto) football game at MCU Park on Coney Island. Instead, it turned into an all out brawl that resulted in some bloody faces, bruised knuckles and soaring testosterone levels . . .
Police commissioner Bill Bratton was on hand and later tweeted 'Congrats to @FinestFootball for their 29-13 win over @FDNY. A great game played by all for a great cause.' He did not mention the brawl."
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more-sports/watch-nypd-fdny-brawl-charity-football-game-article-1.2646905
"I will give you everything--I'm the only one."
This is either messianic delusion or one of the more obvious con jobs to come down the pike in some time. I mean, this isn't even slick. Sick maybe, but not slick. Trump is the magician who has never mastered the coin behind the ear trick. He keeps dropping it then yelling that none of the other magicians can do it as well as he can. Then he begins to wail and cajole and lie, to distract from his embarrassing artlessness.
This is the sort of bleating one might hear from a neighborhood gang leader. And not a very good one. As a con man, he makes an obvious fraud like Paul Ryan look like the leader of the Mission Impossible team.
Plus, what does everything mean? Every thing can include plenty of things that are antithetical, by definition. He'll give us matter PLUS (at no extra charge) anti-matter. And he's the only one who can do that.
A Trump monologue is a descent into a fetid stream-of-consciousness maelstrom fed by wild currents of world class narcissism, paranoia, anger, greed, egocentrism, illogical and baseless suppositions, and naked, crass pandering. He begins by talking about energy policies, draped with lies and misinformation then sidles sans segue into Second Amendment screeds. Then it's the media, then Hillary, then he sees a guy in the crowd wearing overalls "Hey! I LOVE FARMERS. Oh, and by the way, have you seen my wife's ass lately?"...it really is a stunning exhalation of extemporaneous, unfocused, almost infantile rhetorical flatulence peppered with gaudy and grandiose avowals of his own superhuman abilities. I suppose this is part of what he means when he says he will "give you everything".
I'm inclined to somewhat agree with Marie. I don't think the guy is completely insane, but there is clearly something wrong--really wrong--with him. As Ken says, we're all of us cracked in certain ways, but that dank, dark world in Trump's head is so far removed from the reality the rest of us inhabit and is so detached from the regulating laws of the universe (no Donald, it is neither philosophically nor physically possible for you to give everything to everyone) that anyone believing in his cons must desperately want his lies to be true. Either that, or they have some problems themselves.
To Ken Winkes Re: "the unexamined life is not worth living"
This is one of several quotes I keep in my top desk drawer:
When opened, they're on display . . . as reminders.
From Wikipedia:
"Socrates believed that philosophy - the love of wisdom - was the most important pursuit above all else. For some, he exemplifies more than anyone else in history the pursuit of wisdom through questioning and logical argument, by examining and by thinking. His 'examination' of life in this way spilled out into the lives of others, such that they began their own 'examination' of life, even though Socrates himself had lost his. Socrates was saying that a life without philosophy - an 'unexamined' life - was not worth living."
Could the past be prologue to something worse than Trump?
The entirely avoidable and unnecessary e-mail kerfuffle is a direct outcropping of HRC's personality. When you have someone who feels as if rules can be sidestepped or ignored whenever it's convenient for them, combined with the caution of a control freak, a lot of bad things can happen. So here's what I'm thinking. We all catch a lucky break (at least it seems that way at first) and Clinton wins. Hooray!
But then it's clusterfuck time. Every Ted, Marco, and Ailes will be waiting in the wings for Hillary to screw up. Then it happens. Something, something, something, she decides that it's a pain in the neck for certain top secret thingies to be handled properly and then we're in for Clinton Impeachment Number 2. After four years of this, the public is fed up, sharks are in the water and her next opponent is Lyin' Ted Cruz, or someone even worse. How is that worse than Trump? Trump would be horrific as a president, no question, but I don't see that he'll be able to do a tenth of the damage he promises. Much of it is simply illegal or patently impossible. Wall off Mexico? Please. Besides, Trump's only real goal is his own self-aggrandizement.
Not so for Cruz. And because he doesn't appear as obviously whacked as Trump, his dangerous policies might gain some purchase. Especially in an environment poisoned with Clinton hatred.
I know this is way out there but I'm really concerned about Hillary's predisposition for self-immolation. She's an amazingly smart lady but so clueless in some areas (a trait shared with a lot of smart people).
Plus, people don't change. Do we believe she's seen the light with all the trouble this e-mail fiasco has caused her? And do we believe she'll shape up and do the right thing as president if elected and never do something this stupid again?
What do you think?
And here's another thing. If she fucks it up and loses in 2020, it might be a long time before another Democrat gets into the Oval Office.
I hope I'm overreacting, but there are so many possible future scenarios in play right now and most of them have very, very bad outcomes.
To Marvin Re: " The superbug that doctors have been dreading just reached the U.S. "
My Father - also a Microbiologist - authored publications concerning the over-use (and mis-use) of antibiotics in both Humans & Animals. This is *not* "news": It's been a long-known concern - precisely as you've pointed out from personal experience. Were he still around, you'd likely have much to talk about.
To anyone wondering if a Trump presidency would really, truly, be catastrophic, I have two words:
Supreme Court
Pat,
One of the most prominent mendacious frauds in the Confederate Party (there are so many, Lyin' Paul Ryan, used those same two words to exhort Confederates to "unify":
"What I'm most concerned about is making sure that we actually have real party unity, not pretend party unity. Real party unity, because we need to win this election in the fall, there's just too much at stake -- the Supreme Court, on and on and on I could go."
Confederates have been bristling since they lost their sure thing in SCOTUS rulings and they want it back. They pine for the days when they didn't have to make legal or rational or ethical (or any kind of) arguments before the court, when they could just show up and say "Help us". It worked far more times than not and they want that back. Just look at the number of twisted fringe wingers on Trump's short list for the Supreme Court. Confederates like Ryan are jonesing for being able to return to lead pipe cinch decisions from THEIR court.
And this is why, for all his bluster and sniffing about how he's just "not ready" to endorse Donaldo, and his oh so painful show of faux integrity in the face of a totalitarian, anti-democratic, anti-American presidency supported almost wholeheartedly by his party, Ryan will, any day now, line up to bow before the Drumpf Monster, like all his cowardly, traitor buddies and say "Thank you sir, may I have another?"
So, yeah.
Supreme Court.
Could someone please call Bernie and remind him?
I agree with you, Akhilleus, just as I partly blame Bill for the shrub regime, HRC could go similarly. With the emails, she was better secured than past Secs. of State (Powell used AOL - the Sec. of State going to war!), but should have behaved better. Bengaaaaazi!!! is hysteria, but at least it's off the front pages. I wonder if independent/moderate voters care about emails, and if the head of steam can be kept up on those issues. The gop is definitely aware of their reliance on SCOTUS and the potential for two, possibly three appointments in the next 4 - 8 years.