Living Large In Carson City: The Truth Is Out There But Not From Trump Edition

Posted on by technoscribe50: Gary Brady-Herndon

liar's pants don't actually catch on fire quote

 “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.” Mark Twain Quoting Benjamin Disraeli

The fiasco that was the G7 meeting in France this past weekend just keeps on giving. Quoting that paragon of wisdom duo, Brewer and Shipley, Trump might be said to be “One toke over the line”. How else can Americans square the outlandish behavior of Donald Trump anytime he comes into the proximity of world leaders. Leaders that are actually leaders and not political hacks of Trump’s ilk. Actually, Americans can only hope that Trump is sucking on the pipe behind closed doors, but judging by his Twitter behavior, it must be meth, not pot, that he his is imbing in on a regular basis.

There was one shining moment in the wrap up press conference that the president gave at the end of the summit among a flurry of lies, innuendos, and outright incomprehensible moments. Trump in his batshit crazy modus operandi continually called for the members of the G7 to allow Russia back into the fold. You will remember Russia was kicked out for attacking and annexing part of the Crimea, and you know, shooting down a civilian airliner.  Trump, however, fueled by what god awful substance he puts into his system claimed that Obama was somehow responsible for the Russian expulsion and that Putin had embarrassed the former president. In Trump’s third grade mental construct, this prompted Obama to call for his and Russia’s ousting from the G8.  This is a claim he repeated over and over.

At the height of the press conference, Yamiche Alcindor, White House correspondent for the PBS NewsHour, stepped up to the mike and said this,

“Why do you [keep repeating] the misleading statement that Russia outsmarted President Obama when other countries have said that the reason why Russia was kicked out was very clearly because they annexed Crimea. Why keep repeating what some people would see as a clear lie?” Source

Ouch! What makes Alcindor’s question so relevant and poignant is a trend in broadcasting that has some, not a lot, but some, journalists no longer willing to allow Trump to simply say shit without being called the liar that he is on a daily basis. According to the Washington Post, as of June 2019, Trump told 10,796 lies to everyone from farmers, coal miners, businesses, everyday Americans, world leaders, and on and on. Think about that number: 10,796 lies told by an American president. It even defies Trump supporters’ credulity.

Yet, when journalist like Alcindor call Trump out his go to action is to, well, lie some more. His entire trip was one false statement after the other. We now know that his push for Russia’s acceptance back into the G7 was a bone that he could not stop gnawing on to the chagrin of other G7 members except for Italy who sided with the president’s demand for Russia’s readmittance. Still, Trump in his egomaniacal way would not let go of support for his old friend, even at the risk of alienating the G7, Americans, and even members of his own party. Sometime in the near future America will learn what is the impetus behind his selling out his own country and cozying up to one of the most brutal dictators in modern history. That time cannot come soon enough which brings up another new topic.

Deutsche Bank hints that it has copies of Trump’s tax returns raising the question if they might be available through the subpoena process for the House Judiciary Committee to get their hands on them. A minor kerfuffle came Tuesday night when Lawrence O’Donnell on his MSNBC talk show claimed that Russian oligarchs had co-signed bank loans that Trump took out several years ago which would have given plausible impetus to begin impeachment proceedings. On Wednesday, O’Donnell capitulated saying he should not have aired the oligarch angle when only one source actually claimed the statement was true. Regardless, the Deutsche Bank factor will surely play an ever increasing role in the Trump investigation as more information comes clear and open to public scrutiny.

Back to the lies. In an article by Calvin Woodward for the Associated Press titled “In 7 days of tweets, Trump lets the bedbugs bite” chronicles the seven days the president spent in France at the G7 and afterwards amid lies, Tweets, and countering claims that his Doral Golf Course did not, repeat, did not have bed bugs. Here is a sample of just one day, 

SUNDAY, AUG. 25

On the sidelines of the G-7 summit of world leaders, French diplomacy produces an unexpected meeting with Iran’s foreign minister, a potentially groundbreaking development with an adversary of the West.

As this unfolds in the halls, Trump tweets in honor of talk-show veteran Regis Philbin: “Happy Birthday Regis, a truly special man!” Trump plays up an opinion poll he likes and makes the improbable claim that the other world leaders mainly want to know from him “why does the American media hate your Country so much?” AP

No matter what one’s political leanings might be, it is obvious that Trump is slipping further into the dark depths of conspiracy theorists and the land of boogeymen. He really believes there are dark forces that want only to spread lies and falsehoods about his “legacy”.

The one thing Americans can be certain about is the president has no clue about how irony works. In a Tweet earlier this week, he attacked all things Puerto Rican in this Tweet,

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

Puerto Rico is one of the most corrupt places on earth. Their political system is
broken and their politicians are either Incompetent or Corrupt. Congress approved
Billions of Dollars last time, more than anyplace else has ever gotten, and it is sent to
Crooked Pols.
No good!….      Aug 28, 2019  CNN
His statement “Their political system is broken  and their politicians are either
Incompetent or Corrupt. . . . Crooked Pols” is beyond self delusional. The fact is
America’s political system under Trump could easily be described in the same words. 
As CNN noted in the same article, he followed the above Tweet with this little nugget of
wisdom,
“And by the way,” he added, “I’m the best thing that’s ever happened to Puerto Rico!”
It defies logic that this man is allowed to walk around in public much less be allowed to
comment on anything of substance and be heard. When I think of Trump and Puerto
Rico, I will always go back to the image of  Melanie and Trump standing behind a table
stacked with rolls of paper towels surrounded by a room full of desperate Puerto Ricans.
His idea of help at that meeting was to mimic shooting free throws into the crowd using
the paper towels as balls. Some legacy . . .
The week ended on a bright note, however, when Trump turned on his favorite fake
news outlet, the disreputable Fox News Network. In a statement aimed at his shrinking
basket of deplorables, the president lashed out at the network stating, “Fox isn’t working
for us anymore” in reaction to a discussion about recent polls showing all of the current
Democratic presidential front runners handily beating him in the race if the vote were
taken that day. Fox commentators like Shepard Smith, Bret Hume and Neil Cavuto took
umbrage with Trump’s implication that the network owed allegiance to the president
and said so in blunt, no nonsense terms.

No one knows what will become of this latest brouhaha, but it’s a safe guess that Trump will find a way to lie about the dust up regardless of what happens going forward. If things go as they have over the past week, the president is already teeing up his next Tweet denying he ever said anything about Fox News or that the fake media cooked up the lie to make him look bad. Regardless, the crazy house remains open for business with the head clown running around with his head stuck up his behind with no attachment to reality. Happy September, winter is coming.

 

Living Large In Carson City: Pop Goes The Weasel Edition

Posted on by technoscribe50: Gary Brady-Herndon

Angry man.png

“Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism . . .  Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism. By saying our interests first, who cares about the others, we erase what a nation holds dearest, what gives it life, what makes it great and what is essential: its moral values.” Emmanuel Macron

Let’s face it, it is not getting better. Trump is slipping, and with his demise, any chance for normalcy is going with him. The sheer rash of angry  incidents of acting out since the midterm election has eclipsed even his most erratic days since he has been in office. The day after the election he fired Jeff Session and installed Matthew “The Hulk” Whitaker as acting Attorney General despite questions of constitutionality and the customary line of ascension. He was just getting warmed up.

The now infamous post election press conference was the thing  journalist’s wet dreams are made of – even if it was a little pathetic to see unfold. His attack on Jim Acosta was breath-taking. Trump came off as a quintessential demented, arm waving proxy for your worst nightmare over Thanksgiving dinner when Uncle Walter comes in wearing a red MAGA hat spouting Alex Jones conspiracy theories. Again, Trump was only getting started. Over the week since, he has attacked journalist at will, and oddly, often Black female journalists calling them stupid and racist. No irony there.

Then there came the European trip to France to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended WWI. To say the trip was screwed up from beginning to end would give too much credit to Trump. It was a holy hell and damnation tour for the Orange One. Whether it was French President Macron calling out Trump for his divisive rhetoric proclaiming himself a nationalist or Trump ditching a ceremony at Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial near Paris to honor American soldiers who died there (conflating a light drizzle to zero visibility and driving rain that falsely grounded his helicopter) or his general dismissive and flippant air that he displayed the entire ceremony filled weekend, Trump was the butt of criticism and satire.

For Trump, the only bright thing that occurred was when Vlad the Impaler Putin showed up – late – and gave Trump a pat on the arm. Trump’s grin was either one of servile servitude or the desire to take his and Putin’s bromance to the next level. I won’t go there. The rest of the time was pretty much an occasion for Trump to sulk and act like the crazy person he is rapidly becoming. Who wanders around in a cemetery in misting rain by themselves when all the fun people are gathering and paying homage to heroes of bygone days?

The list of Trump’s shooting himself in the foot just keeps getting more bizarre and longer. Attacking California as being responsible for the out of control wild fires, trying to bitch slap Macron because he had the audacity to suggest Europe needs an army to protect themselves from Russia, China, and yes under Trump’s watch, America in the future, and calling for banning our troops’ votes sent from overseas are just a few of the highlights of the past few days. And, of course, he skipped the Arlington memorial service on Veteran’s Day. Call me crazy, but his actions display a disregard of common sense, respect, and a shameful lack of understanding and empathy. Remember, this is the man his base supports and thinks can do no wrong.

Which brings me to the topic of civility. In an article by Aldous J. Pennyfarthing titled Gen. Michael Hayden: ‘We are off the scale dishonoring the office’, Pennyfarthing made a statement that took me back. He wrote,

I’ve long since realized there’s no point in fighting Trump supporters online. It’s sort of like playing tetherball with your dog. You’ll win every round, but your dog will think he’s winning and will never, ever, ever give up.

This statement led to an epiphany on my part. Since the beginning of summer, I have been going to several hardcore conservative sites to engage readers there in an ongoing, fruitless exchange of barbed messages none of which have changed none of our beliefs. I think I have said before that I felt like I needed to know the people I criticized and engaging the Trump base seemed the best way to do that on a one to one basis.

Predictably, Trump’s base parrots his administration’s talking points and those of Fox News. Their hatred for Obama is frightening in its intensity and misinformation. These are people who believe Obama is not a United States citizen, and he almost single-handedly destroyed the military. When you confront them with hard numbers about the growth of the military across the last four administrations, they can in their minds make it not so. This is one of many, many examples.

And yes, they still think Hillary should be locked up and believe that the day will come when she and Obama will be brought before the court system and face the music. It is weird beyond belief what these people can convince themselves to accept. Considering Trump’s actions over the past week, it is understandable why they accept the unacceptable with a leader who lives in a fantasy world of lies, deceit, and overt hatred for anyone who will not bow down at his feet and grovel.

It is not a stretch to say that civility, or lack thereof, originates at the top and flows down to the people on the ground. While Trump’s actions are an anathema to his detractors, his base sees his actions as indicative of what has to be done to make America great again. In Trump, however, they have a diseased mind for a leader for reasons not even they understand. Trump has no, nor ever will, respect his base. They are a means to an end and little more than canon fodder for the political warfare Trump needs to hold onto his tenuous grip on the Republican Party.

Yet, there is something afoot in Washington that is disturbing as it is interesting. Trump’s actions over the past week clearly point to underlying pressure and concern that has got the Orange One acting out like a 12 year-old caught with his hand in the cookie jar. The Daily Kos reports in an article, Something’s up: Fox, Wikileaks, Enquirer, Drudge, Stein & Guiliani not tweeting, that the silence in the tweet universe bodes badly for the administration. Trump supporters Roger Stone and Jerome Corsi appear to be facing imminent indictments from the Mueller team. Don, Jr. is also rumored to be facing indictment if the rumor mill is anywhere near correct. This was expected by Washington elites and politicians who saw Mueller waiting until after the midterms before roiling the political waters by moving forward and risking condemnation from the Republican Party.

Ultimately, the center is not holding, and Trump’s actions take on new meaning in light of his incivility and sulking demeanor. Where will it end? If there are political gods and goddesses, Trump and his minions will face much deserved retribution as the walls of justice come crashing down around them. It can not happen too soon.