In my life I have seen or known of 12 Presidents. For a good deal of that time I was a reliable Republican voter. That is until George W. Bush came to office and let loose the worst instincts of the party , starting a foolish war in Iraq, a stupid war we are still dealing with the after effects of. And then the rise of the selfish clods in tri-corner hats, advocating for the agenda of cruelty and selfishness just did me in on the GOP. I left it with real animus in my heart and have never looked back from that decision. As Max Boot has said, “We Need to Destroy the Republican Party” and start over. He’s right of course, but I have to admit, I never imagined in my deepest gloom, just how right he really was. The last two weeks of watching Donald J. Trump, the most truly unfit man to ever hold the office of President, have surpassed even my most pessimistic imaginings of what a bad President could be.
The other 11 Presidents had their faults, but I think it is a safe bet to say that all 11 of them had a commitment to the principles that were supposed to have made America a great country and a leader on the world stage. Those other 11 guys – even George W. Bush – understood that they had an obligation to all Americans, not just the people who voted for them. And none of them would have stooped to the moral black hole that we saw Donald J. Trump throw himself into in the last couple of weeks. Any thinking and caring American has to be utterly appalled and ashamed of what the supposed leader of our country has done in that time frame.
To start with, Donald J. Trump, the President of the United States, ignored the conclusions of the United States intelligence agencies, which had credible evidence that the leadership of Saudi Arabia ordered the grisly murder of a journalist and instead chose to suck Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s dick. Even I, a died in the wool Trump despiser, did not think he could stoop that low. But, I was wrong.
So much for American justice. In a statement both stunning and coldhearted, President Trump on Tuesday gave Saudi Arabia a pass on the grisly murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the name of U.S. national security. He blithely rejected a U.S. intelligence assessment as well as damning physical evidence provided by Turkey indicating that the kingdom’s de-facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, authorized the Saudi dissident’s execution, in Istanbul, on October 2nd. The President of the United States sounded more like a defense attorney—or lobbyist—for the oil-rich kingdom than a protector of American values.
“It could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event—maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!” Trump said in a two-page statement. He condemned the Khashoggi assassination as an “unacceptable and horrible crime,” but then said Saudi Arabia was too important a purchaser of U.S. weaponry, an exporter of oil, and an ally in “our very important fight against Iran” to take punitive action. “The United States intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests of our country,” Trump said.
“Very simply,” he concluded, “it is called America First!”
Ummm, no it’s not. America is not anywhere near first in this deal. This reprehensible behavior is about Trump first and
To start with, it’s important to remember that Saudi Arabia needs the United States a lot more than we need Saudi Arabia. By giving Saudi Arabia a pass on this horrific crime, Trump is actually opening the region and the United States up to even more instability and potential attacks on persons living on US soil. Second, Trump’s lousy transactional view of foreign policy does not actually help Americans or create jobs in the United States. When Trump says it does, he is flat out lying.
The President’s statement was riddled with falsehoods and contradictions. He embraced the “vigorous” denials from King Salman and his tempestuous young heir, Prince Mohammed—even though several members of the fifteen-man hit squad that killed Khashoggi worked for the crown prince, who is known by his initials, M.B.S. Trump based his justification on what he claimed was the kingdom’s promise to invest or spend four hundred and fifty billion dollars, including a hundred and ten billion dollars in arms purchases, in the United States. Last month, however, Politifact concluded that Trump’s claim earned a “pants on fire” rating. “Orders on that scale don’t exist” and are only a “mirage,” it said. “There is no data behind the $450 billion, and the $110 billion is a blend of smaller deals in progress, old offers”—from the Obama era—“that have not come through, and speculative discussions that have yet to move forward.”
Saudi Arabia, in fact, has only followed through so far on fourteen and a half billion dollars in arms and aircraft, the State Department acknowledged last month. Other deals are merely vague memorandums of understanding that cover the next decade, not this year. On Tuesday, a new report by the Center for International Policy also called Trump’s claims “wildly exaggerated”—and noted that many of the jobs created from the arms sales are in Saudi Arabia, not the United States.
All of which ignores the fact that a nation-state ordered the brutal murder of an innocent man solely to discourage critics, and the United States of America – which is supposed to stand up for human rights – is giving them a free pass to do so. The fact that a President, regardless of what party he is from, would issue such a morally reprehensible sentiment is a signal that Donald Trump, the man, is seriously unfit for the office he holds.
Sarah Leah Whitson, the executive director of the Middle East division of Human Rights Watch, told me that Trump’s statement “isn’t just immoral, it’s reckless and will come back to haunt and hurt U.S. interests.” She said the crown prince has proved to be “an impulsive, sadistic, unhinged leader” who has destabilized the region, most notably by launching the deadly war in Yemen, in 2015. “This only signals to tyrants around the world that it’s open season on journalists and critics, wherever they are, so long as they’re cozy with Trump.”
We’ve seen this play before. Spoiler alert – it does not end well.
In effect, Trump is doing his best to help the Saudi regime get away with the murder of a U.S. resident and one of the Arab world’s most prominent writers. If the administration continues down this path, it will further destroy whatever is left of America’s moral credibility on global human rights and freedom of expression. It puts truth-seekers and journalists who dare challenge the Saudi regime and other intolerant governments in grave danger, no matter where they live. Trump’s refusal to act gives a symbolic green light to the young, power-drunk Mohammed bin Salman so he can continue his reckless exploits in Saudi Arabia and the Arab world, for possibly the next 40 to 50 years, and face zero consequences.
One more key point, this is not an isolated mistake by the Orange Menance. Consider:
He failed to attend the APEC summit, instead sending bible banger in chief Pence to go in his place. This is a huge fuck-up on his part and is one of his obligations as President.
He failed to visit Arlington Cemetery on Veterans Day. And he even has publicly acknowledged that as a mistake.
He went to France, where he had a once in a life time opportunity to send reassuring messages to Europe and to mark a truly historic occasion , the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. Instead he sat in his hotel room and tweeted insults to people under threat of one of the worst fires in US history. And he insulted his French Hosts which I think is also truly unforgivable, which is not to mention the way he disgraced his own country and show incredible disrespect to the men who gave their lives in the “war to end all wars”.
Macron, to his credit, picked up on the insults and gave Donald J. Trump the true rebuke that he deserved.
“Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism,” Macron said. “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 makes it essential — its moral values.”Macron later warned that “the old demons” have resurfaced, declaring that “giving into the fascination for withdrawal, isolationism, violence and domination would be a grave error” for which future generations would hold them accountable.
And then there is this:
This is what they call in soccer, an own goal. Totally avoidable. But here we are, and the shitbag in Chief has still not apologized for it yet.
And as an extra added bonus, while all of this was going on, the American Stock Market is 2000 points less than it was before the election in 2018. And the odds are – the
I would also be remiss if I did not also point out, that in the last two weeks it was revealed that Donald J. Trump went full tinpot dictator. You never are supposed to go full tinpot dictator.
WASHINGTON — President Trump told the White House counsel in the spring that he wanted to order the Justice Department to prosecute two of his political adversaries: his 2016 challenger, Hillary Clinton, and the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey, according to two people familiar with the conversation.
The lawyer, Donald F. McGahn II, rebuffed the president, saying that he had no authority to order a prosecution. Mr. McGahn said that while he could request an investigation, that too could prompt accusations of abuse of power. To underscore his point, Mr. McGahn had White House lawyers write a memo for Mr. Trump warning that if he asked law enforcement to investigate his rivals, he could face a range of consequences, including possible impeachment.
The encounter was one of the most blatant examples yet of how Mr. Trump views the typically independent Justice Department as a tool to be wielded against his political enemies. It took on additional significance in recent weeks when Mr. McGahn left the White House and Mr. Trump appointed a relatively inexperienced political loyalist, Matthew G. Whitaker, as the acting attorney general.
It is unclear whether Mr. Trump read Mr. McGahn’s memo or whether he pursued the prosecutions further. But the president has continued to privately discuss the matter, including the possible appointment of a second special counsel to investigate both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Comey, according to two people who have spoken to Mr. Trump about the issue. He has also repeatedly expressed disappointment in the F.B.I. director, Christopher A. Wray, for failing to more aggressively investigate Mrs. Clinton, calling him weak, one of the people said.
As Will Smith said, “Somehow, ‘I told you so’ just does not quite say it. “
We will not even talk about his totally abysmal visit to California and complete lack of empathy he showed out there.
Taken together, this is a damning portrait of a man who is utterly unfit to hold the office he holds and is doing immense damage to the United States with every passing day.
Absolutely.
Me too, Stacie. Me too.
And between now and Christmas its going to get worse, of that I have no doubt. Hopefully there will be bright spot :
Never in my deepest depths of depression, could I have imagined just how worthless this man truly is. But every time you think Trump has hit bottom, he breaks out a shovel and goes even lower.
And the rest of us get to suffer because of it.
Take some time and listen to John Oliver explain why this all so dangerous. I have to drink myself to sleep right now.