Tuesday Reads: Trump is “Frustrated that his Greatness is Not Widely Understood”
Posted: October 17, 2017 Filed under: morning reads, U.S. Politics | Tags: Donald Trump 45 Comments
How Trump sees himself: “God Emperor Trump”
Good Morning!!
Yesterday was another mind-boggling day in the ongoing drama of the “Adult Day Care” Center previously known as the White House. Trump held two strange press avails in an effort to convince horrified Americans that he’s doing a great job as POTUS. Politico: Trump gives his own performance a Trump-sized endorsement.
Friends say President Donald Trump has grown frustrated that his greatness is not widely understood, that his critics are fierce and on TV every morning, that his poll numbers are both low and “fake,” and that his White House is caricatured as adrift.
So on Monday, the consummate salesman — who has spent his life selling his business acumen, golf courses, sexual prowess, luxury properties and, above all, his last name — gave the Trump White House a Trump-sized dose of brand enhancement.
With both the Roosevelt Room and the Rose Garden as backdrops, he mixed facts and mirage, praise and perfidy in two head-spinning, sometimes contradictory performances designed to convince supporters and detractors alike that everything’s terrific, moving ahead of schedule and getting even better. His opponents were cast as misguided, deluded or even unpatriotic.
In the cabinet meeting in the Roosevelt Room Trump said that he has no responsibility for the failure of his initiatives in Congress. It is Congress that is “not getting the job done.” He is blameless.
In the Rose Garden, Trump said he hopes Hillary Clinton runs again in 2020, again attacked NFL players for protesting police violence against African Americans, and dithered about why he hasn’t said anything about the four soldiers who were killed in Niger nearly two weeks ago. He even claimed that President Obama and other former presidents didn’t make calls to the families of fallen service members.
Faced with a question about not calling or writing to families of soldiers killed two weeks ago overseas, he deflected by saying other presidents didn’t do either one — and that he often did both. The letters, he said, were going out Monday evening, and he planned to call once time had passed.
Questioned by incredulous White House reporters, who noted that other presidents had made those calls, Trump said he was told otherwise by unidentified officials — and demurred. “I don’t know if he did,” Trump said.
“To say president obama (or past presidents) didn’t call the family members of soldiers KIA – he’s a deranged animal,” Alyssa Mastromonaco, a top Obama aide, wrote on Twitter.
There’s much more at the link. The entire article is a recap of Trump’s many excuses for the failures he refuses to take responsibility for.
Axios offers a much briefer summary of yesterday’s Trumps lies and obfuscations: Trump’s alternative reality
Trump says he and McConnell are “closer than ever before.” Both men and their staffs have been trashing each other in public and private for months.
Trump says other presidents “didn’t make calls” to families of soldiers killed in duty. They did.
Trump says Obamacare is “dead.” His repeated efforts to repeal it failed.
Trump says it’s been established that “no collusion” took place with the Russians. Bob Mueller is interrogating the president’s associates and advisers on this very point in real time.
Trump says he’s on a historic pace of accomplishment. He’s not.
Trump says he “already” has “the votes right now” for a bipartisan health care fix. He doesn’t….
On GOP senators: “I’m not going to blame myself, I’ll be honest. They are not getting the job done.”
“Obamacare is finished. It’s dead. It’s gone. It’s no longer — you shouldn’t even mention. It’s gone. There is no such thing as Obamacare anymore.”
On Steve Bannon’s war on McConnell and the Republican establishment: “Steve is … a friend of mine … I can understand where Steve Bannon is coming from. … I know how he feels. … There are some Republicans, frankly, that should be ashamed of themselves.”
On whether he’s considering firing Mueller: “No, not at all.”
“Oh, I hope Hillary runs. Is she going to run? I hope. Hillary, please run again.”
Raw Story: ‘The empathy of a cockroach’: Phil Mudd shames Trump’s self-centered response to fallen soldiers.
Responding to the president’s speech, ex-CIA official Phil Mudd was unequivocal in his condemnation.
Boy, a tough day for the president,” Mudd told a panel assembled by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “How about the families who accepted a child or father or spouse home in a casket — it’s not a tough day for them?”
“This guy has the empathy of a cockroach,” Mudd continued, using Trump’s infamous speech in front of the CIA’s “Wall of the Fallen Hero” to brag about the size of his inauguration crowds.
“When you look at people who serve overseas and who give their lives, he’s supposed to say something simple,” the former CIA operative said. “We love what they did for this country, we empathize with the families and we stand with you. Maybe even going to Dover Air Force Base to salute those caskets as they come home.”
Instead, Mudd concluded, “all he can say is ‘my job is tough, and the guys who came before me like President Obama also didn’t do too well in these circumstances.’ I just don’t get it.”
See the video at Raw Story.
Could it be that more Republicans are beginning to see how dangerous Trump is?
CNN Corker: Trump criticism had been ‘building for some time.’
He called the White House “an adult day care center.” He suggested President Donald Trump was setting the nation on a course to “World War III.” And he said Trump “concerns me,” adding that the President was treating the office “like a
And on Monday, Sen. Bob Corker stood by those remarks, adding: “My thoughts were well thought out.””Look, I didn’t just blurt them out,” Corker, a Tennessee Republican, told CNN. “My comments — my comments, I stand by them — yes.”
Corker also added a fresh complication to the intensifying White House push to overhaul the tax code, saying that he would oppose any tax-cut bill that would raise the deficit.
“No,” Corker said when asked if he would back a tax plan that would hike the deficit. “I mean, I’ve stated that clearly.” [….]
“Look I’ve been expressing concerns for some time and it’s built over time,” Corker said Monday. “I’ve had private dinners, I’ve had private phone calls, I’ve tried to intervene on topics that I thought things were going in a different direction and are not going to be good for our country. This is not a new thing, it’s been building for some time. And it’s a pattern that I think we’ve fought and expressed for some period of time.”
And in a speech last night John McCain attacked Trump without naming him specifically. ABC News: McCain slams ‘half-baked, spurious nationalism’ sweeping US in passionate speech.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., slammed “half-baked, spurious nationalism” in an impassioned speech while accepting the Liberty Medal in Philadelphia this evening.
McCain, who was presented with the medal by former Vice President Joe Biden, began by saying he was humbled by the award before eventually lashing out at the nationalism that has swept the U.S. and warning against leaving the nation’s place of prominence in the international community.
“To fear the world we have organized and led for three-quarters of a century, to abandon the ideals we have advanced around the globe, to refuse the obligations of international leadership and our duty to remain the last best hope of earth for the sake of some half-baked, spurious nationalism cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems is as unpatriotic as an attachment to any other tired dogma of the past that Americans consigned to the ash heap of history,” McCain said, to applause.
“We live in a land made of ideals, not blood and soil,” he continued. “… We have done great good in the world. That leadership has had its costs, but we have become incomparably powerful and wealthy as we did.”
He added: “We have a moral obligation to continue in our just cause, and we would bring more than shame on ourselves if we don’t. We will not thrive in a world where our leadership and ideals are absent. We wouldn’t deserve to.”
I saved so many stories for today, I don’t have room for all of them. Here are some of them, links only.
LA Times: Jesus Campos, Vegas security guard shot before rampage, appears to have vanished.
WaPo: North Korea says ‘a nuclear war may break out any moment.’
Jessica Valenti at The Guardian: #MeToo named the victims. Now, let’s list the perpetrators.
Politico: White House brushes off House investigators over aides’ use of personal email.
Ron Brownstein at CNN: How Donald Trump is negotiating like a hostage-taker.
Vanity Fair: Jared Kushner’s Family is Screwed and It’s All Boy Wonder’s Fault.
Vanity Fair: Is Trump Precipitating His Own Impeachment?
The Atlantic: Puerto Rico’s Recovery Is More Uncertain Than Ever.
Jefferson Morley at Alternet (via The National Memo): Is The 25th Amendment A Solution To Trump Madness?
What stories are you following today?
peej
Carissa
bostonboomer
dakinikat
ecocatwoman
grayslady
mablue2
JJ Lopez aka Minkoff Minx
NW Luna
peggysue22
quixote
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
Lots of interesting links BB! I think (hope) the rhetoric from DPRK is the usual saber-rattling. I also think (hope) this latest disrespect for the military will dislodge support from a lot of his conservative base in the armed services. He seems bound and determined to get them all killed.
I haven’t read all of this yet, but the New Yorker has a lengthy read on Pence:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/23/the-danger-of-president-pence
I got that from Hullabaloo – they have a taste of what’s in the article:
https://digbysblog.blogspot.in/2017/10/the-last-person-you-want-to-see.html
What a piece of work. I don’t know if just letting tRump play in the baby pen might be safer…
The Pence article is excellent. Dakinikat wrote about it yesterday.
There’s a feature on his conversion at university from a Catholic and Kennedy loving dem to the creep he is today. He gets uglier in the process also. He ran unsuccessfully for Congress several times doing spurious and nasty things. I’m going to look for it to post here.
Judge not lest ye be judged??? Christ on a cracker – I just loathe pious people.
Thanks Dak,I never saw that.
“personal connection with Jesus”
If Pence ever does have that, he’ll find Jesus the liberal street preacher thundering “Do unto others!” at him.
And, of course, he’s the guy the Mango Moron pointed at when the questions turned to gay rights and said, “Hur-hur, dont ask him, he wants to hang them all hurty-hur-hur.”
Dictatorships: rule of law suspended, detention without trial, torture, killing Others (immigrants, Puerto Ricans, blacks, women, the sick and poor). We’ve got it all.
Yup. Pence has been Trump’s biggest defender, and it’s because he wants to advance his own hateful agenda–and Trump is doing it.
Without any hyperbole, substituting a general term for a specific one (animals for dogs, eg) is an actual medical sign of dementia. I’d have to hunt up the link of the peer-reviewed article. I saw it maybe a month ago, but I think it’s been around for a few years.
I’ve seen something similar about tRump’s use of the word “thing” – which he uses constantly and has been for a while now.
It’s absolutely a sign of dementia. He is pretty far gone. And that’s on top of his extreme narcissism and likely bipolar disease–or at least hypomania.
Cognitive decline/deficit may cause anomia (inability to recall names of objects). Specific etiology includes dementia, traumatic brain injury, stroke, tumor, conditions such as multiple sclerosis, and developmental deficit, among others. Yes, use of “things” as substitute for the word which can’t be recalled is very common. “Things” is also used by teenagers in a different manner.
Business Insider: New memo suggests Russian lawyer at Trump Tower meeting was acting ‘as an agent’ of the Kremlin
Honestly, all I can think is “Duh.” Given her publicly known background, anybody who believed she was at that meeting because of concern for unadopted babies needs to be in what used to be called “a home.”
The “adoption” issue is about removing sanctions. It was Putin’s response to US sanctions.
Yeah, I know, but I’m thinking of that sanctimonious whiff of “think of the children!” that they tried to hang around it at first.
Right.
Would those be the children they cared so much for that they cut them off of CHIP?
(Um, what’s the point of this hideous thing? Or did I miss something somewhere?)
Skull made up of women’s naked (and almost faceless) bodies? Misogynist pretending to be artistic? Misogynist artist scared of women who he equates with death?
Salvador Dali …total objectification of women
That first picture makes me want to march up to the WH and kick Trump’s ass. He’d be cowed after that and would run to mommy, Behind all the bluster is a moronic coward.
I’ve long grown tired of the talk, just throw out the sexual perpetrator in chief and his Cabine
if I, a usual peaceful person, am thinking of violence, it may be an omen of the people taking him out. If only….
Who expects any of these people to tell the truth?
I have a suspicion that nothing is going to come out of this investigation since most of these witnesses are known liars.
If they all follow the same script nothing can be proven. Disturbing.
KIJM 2
Wondrous beasts. And look at their thick plush fur — where it’s not shed nor scarred. (Can you tell I am a handspinner?) Lots of biting insects in that meadow; hope the bison have thick skin.
Poor Sparky doesn’t have much fur. I sm surprised he made it through the winter. Glad he found love again…. Luna what is a handspinner?
Oh, yeah, guess not everyone would know. I spin by hand (as opposed to by machine) to make yarn. And what’s even more archaic — I spin with spindles, not a wheel!
Our ancestors took fluffy amorphous wool and spun it with sticks & stones into a linear form, and then wove to make clothing and sails and tapestries and more. Spinning by hand is calming, meditative, amazing, and fun. Plus I get to play with pretty colors and textures.
So interesting, Luna – I’ll have to google it and see how it’s done!
Wow, amazing skills you have Luna! Are you self taught? Do you also knit with the yarn you spin?
Delphyne & cats, if you’re ever in my area, I’ll teach you spindling! It’s something that our ancestors did, in different ways and cultures, and we can too. Just takes practice! You can knit, weave, crochet, braid, whatever with your yarn. I’ve spun wools, silk, camel, mountain goat fiber (that I harvested from sheddings I find in the mountains), cotton.
If you’re interested in more, Ravelry is a fantastic site for fiberarts. It’s free and hosted by a small group of people, mostly Jess and Casey who started it maybe 10/15 years ago. You do have to register, but it’s not associated with Google or Facebook. There are forums for knitters, spinners, crocheters, weavers, feminists who knit and spin, and spindlemakers and fiberdyers and more. I’m on there as Lunakin and co-moderate the Spindlers group. If you join, PM me!
JJ also spins with spindles and a wheel, and weaves (or at least did with a roof over her head and her equipment).
Resources, in no particular order:
Best book IMO is Abby Franquemont’s Respect the Spindle for its wealth of info and photos plus culturally appropriate references. This was my entry drug into spindling. Abby was taught by Andean weavers when a child with her anthropologist parents on site in Peru. Check your library; occasionally goes on sale at Interweave. E-book available. Abby also has lots of good YouTube videos.
Sara Lamb does mostly superb weaving, but also writes on handspinning.
Sarah Swett’s site shows some of her marvelous tapestries and handspun and handweaving plus techniques.
Tracy Hudson is an ethnologist/fiber artist with intriguing and lovely photos of technique and equipment.
The late lamented Spindilicity still has a lot of good articles and pics though the index didn’t work the last time I tried it.
Oh, and bison shed their thick winter coats come spring with warmer temperatures, though poor Sparky did get a lot of fur-producing skin burned off. They will huddle together in groups for warmth during winter storms, and for defense, facing out with their horned heads.
Thank you, Luna!! I will look into the links – I love anything textile – the touch, the colors they absorb, how they feel against the skin, how they hang.
I’ve crocheted in the past, but never picked up knitting. Being an early Boomer, we still had Home Ec in grammar and middle school, so we learned about sewing and cooking. I took to cooking really quickly, but never to sewing – I think because I couldn’t sit still long enough. Now, however, I have the interest to learn sewing so I can make simple things and simple clothing with the fabrics and colors that I like. Pret a porter is often boring and lacks any sense of my own eclectic style.
Thanks again for all the information!
Old white hateful men hate being laughed at.
My response to right wing Christi -Fascists:
John 16:3 – “They will do such things because hey know not the Father, nor me.”
Politico-Christians give real Christians like, my mother, a bad name.
Agree. “As you do unto the least of these, so you do unto me.” and “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”
Well, if I was Gaffer Faber I’d try to keep a lower profile in that case. He’s such obvious proof of a close association between stunted forebrain and whiteness.