Donald Trump doesn’t know where the red-line is drawn, or at least he pretends not to. His latest journey beyond the pale involved putting out an altered video of Nancy Pelosi. Trump created this blasphemy and then used social media to amplify it, tweeting, “PELOSI STAMMERS THROUGH NEWS CONFERENCE,” and then Rudy Giuliani backed him up with a tweet, “What is wrong with Nancy Pelosi? Her speech pattern is bizarre.” That tweet has since been deleted, and as to what was wrong with the Speaker — same thing that was wrong with reporter Jim Acosta, when he was depicted karate chopping a White House employee at a press conference, i.e., the video had been doctored. What you saw was an altered version of what actually took place, created for the purpose of smearing the individual in question. That is what we call Propaganda 101 and it’s standard operating procedure at the Mad House, which we might as well start calling that piece of real estate on Pennsylvania Avenue, because it’s accurate.
This is to be expected from the Un-Reality TV actor that we have in the White House. All the world’s a sound stage and all the people merely viewers. And he’s the “star” ala Gloria Swanson in the last frames of “Sunset Boulevard” where her descent down the staircase and her descent into madness are one and the same.
Now, the good news is that Nancy Pelosi is nobody’s fool and she knows how to get to Trump, as does Pete Buttigieg, who made the comment on Fox News of all places, about the nation’s Trump obsession, “It’s the nature of grotesque things that you cannot look away.” Spot on, Mayor Pete. Here’s more that’s spot on from Maureen Dowd, New York Times:
“I don’t have a problem standing up to somebody who was working on Season 7 of ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ when I was packing my bags for Afghanistan,” Buttigieg told The Post’s Robert Costa, saying he took a dim view of Trump’s bone-spurs excuse to get out of serving in Vietnam.
Pelosi winds Trump up when she drips condescension worthy of a Jane Austen grande dame, saying she will pray for the president or pleading for someone to stage an intervention with the poor soul.
After Pelosi remarked that the president was engaged in a cover-up, Trump dynamited his own meeting with “Crazy Nancy,” as he called her. His I’m not crazy, you’re crazy rebuttal to Pelosi echoed his I’m not a puppet, you’re a puppet line to Hillary Clinton during the debate. […]
“He does outrageous, nasty, destructive things, knowing full well he’s crossing a line, and then he pretends he didn’t,” said Trump biographer Tim O’Brien. “He has spent five decades going to gossip columnists, radio shows, TV interviews and newspapers to stick a knife into almost anybody who crosses his path that he doesn’t like and he revels in it. There is something amazing in the Energizer Bunny aspect of his nastiness and his ignorance. He doesn’t care what people think about how mean or dumb he is. He just keeps going.”
O’Brien is right, this is who Trump is. It’s all about attention. That’s all it’s ever been about. The man’s soul is a void, a black hole in space, totally empty and devoid of light. He’s the moon, reflecting the light of that which is alive, but having no life of his own. He lives for the cheers, the lights and the cameras, without which he is nothing. He’s like a man in a sensory deprivation tank, nothing gets in and what rattles around in his brain spews out the next day incoherently on Twitter. Yet miraculously, a person like this, was somehow enabled, both by a disgruntled electorate, duped into thinking a populist outsider could be their savior and by an archaic electoral college system, to attain the highest office in our land. He was elected by those who are superficially informed at best, and respond to images on the TV set, and characters that can pull emotional triggers, more than leaders making sense. This much we already know, all too well, and all to our collective detriment, as our farmers go broke, public schooling worsens, our international trade relations are severed, perhaps forever; while we’ve gone from being the exemplary ideal of the world to its laughing stock.
We’ve paid one hell of a price for this miscarriage of the democratic process which resulted in the election of this abnormality, this freak not only of politics but of publicity, the twin pools which spawned him, now durably polluted — for how long, we don’t know, but this mess is not going to be cleaned up overnight, that much is certain.
The ballot box giveth and the ballot box taketh away. Right now Trump is engaged in a death fight to stay in office. He granted extraordinary powers to William Barr the other day, allowing Barr to declassify documents, as some sort of justification for routing out Trump’s political enemies, i.e., the men and women of the FBI who were doing their job in 2016, investigating ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. Trump even called out some of these people by name, James Comey, Peter Strzock, Lisa Page (“his wonderful lover, Lisa Page,” OMG) and Andrew McCabe. He shouted out on Twitter, once again, “My campaign was spied upon…this is TREASON!”
This idiot extradinaire doesn’t even know what treason is. Treason is defined as levying war against the United States or giving aid and comfort to the enemy meaning a country or countries which whom we are already at war. This consummate moron is sitting in the chair behind the Resolute Desk and tweeting this blather out into the ethernet and he hasn’t the remotest clue of what he’s talking about. It just sounds good that he should be asking for the death penalty for a crime which hasn’t been committed by people whose only real “transgression” has been that they honored their oaths of office and their country rather than capitulate to the whims of this two bit, gee gaw, jim-crack, side show freak, who somehow managed to get the keys to the mansion on the hill.
So while the Trespasser in Chief squats in the People’s House, knowing he doesn’t belong there and knowing that the eviction notice is coming, November 3, 2020, if not sooner, let’s make sure he gets that eviction notice. I don’t advocate for “the I-Word” because I think that’s another Trumpian manipulation and he wants to be impeached, so he has more ammunition to play the victim and piss and moan to his base about plots and the Deep State. I’m for divesting ourselves of this millstone around the neck of the body politic at the only place where it counts, the ballot box.
Resist and GOTV like your life depended on it — because, friends, it does. This time it really does. We’re already down in the water up to our chin and if Trump gets reelected in 2020, it’s glub glub. I hate to be a fatalist, but that’s how I see it.
Ursula…..of all the chaos and unbelievable ignorance this dumbass has unleashed on the nation and the fury it has caused me, the report that he will do an event/photo op with active service members in Japan on Memorial Day….the fact that this draft dodging pig would use the military for a photo shoot on tha,t day makes me literally sick to my stomach.
There is a special place in Hell for this bastard.
My favorite Buttigiegism was when he told Pence that any issues with his sexuality should be taken up with his creator.
……all they could do is whimper a half-assed response. 🙂
P.S. A friend told me that one of her memebers posted to her site an ad where dumbass is having a Memorial Day Sale of all of his MAGAt swag.
*fumes*
That happens every holiday. It happened at Veterans Day, look for it next at 4th of July and then Labor Day and so on and so forth. This is all a big marketing scam, when you get down to it.
You know, I said many many years ago to a gay friend of mine that I thought that “gay” was a gene that hadn’t been discovered yet. I said, “Won’t it be great when it’s discovered that it’s all genetic, like hair color? Then all the bitching will stop.” His response was, “Are you out of your mind? Then anybody carrying a baby with that gene would abort the baby.”
I was shocked at this, but I saw the man’s point. Nevertheless, I know it’s a natural thing, because every gay man or woman I’ve ever known has told me that it’s just something they knew about themselves early on. They also knew it was a cultural no no. Maybe that part of it is changing, at least I hope so.
And Buttigieg is right, take it up with the Creator. No wonder Pence was speechless. What a sanctimonious ass.
Now Sarah Sanders says that Trump will leave it up to Barr to decide if Comey should be arrested. I am going to lose my mind soon. I don’t know what should be done anymore, not that I ever did, anyway. There doesn’t seem to be any more time. Impeachment is morally, the right thing o do, it won’t get rid of trump, though. I am just lost here.
Don’t be lost, Mae, be strategic. I think Pelosi is right in holding off, because Trump wants to be impeached. It will allow him to play the victim. Comey was right, get him out at the ballot box.
Now don’t get me wrong, nothing, but no thing, would make me happier than to see this *@%*(# impeached immediately, but we don’t have the votes in the Senate. It’s not like Watergate. We can’t be o’erhasty with this decision.
We’re going to just have to tough it out until we can get rid of him once and for all, at the ballot box. Grab him by his ball(ot)s, that will get his attention and solve this madness once and for all.
BTW, where did you hear that Sanders said Barr should decide whether to arrest Comey?And for what? If you have a link, share it please. This has utterly escaped me and I can’t imagine how.
I think she was on chuck todd today.
Or last night, I don’t watch chuck todd. Aldous has a diary about it at dkos.
That explains it. She’s talking out her a$$ as usual. Yeah, let’s see Barr “arrest” Comey, that I can’t wait to see. Right. Alternate facts, much?
Sarah found out she loves being the top bully. What fun to have so much “power.” Gag. I would guarantee you, that Trump says mean stuff about her behind her back. She is a twit. I so hope that she goes down hard.
My speculation is that she’s looking for a gig on Fox News when all this is over. She’s basically going to be unemployable for any real world kind of a job. We’ll see.
She isn’t attractive enough to get a job with fox.
She’s got decent bone structure. If she lost eighty pounds, she could “be a contender.” Not being bitchy, here, just stating the obvious.
It will be very interesting to see how everyone ends up.
Objectively speaking and as a guy who has always (yes, always) found fair skin, black hair and dark brown eyes to be captivating features for a woman I wouldn’t even say she needs to lose eighty pounds or even less than that. Not every guy thinks a woman has to be tall, platinum blonde & blue with a giant rack to be attractive.
Sanders suffers from an ugly soul/character. Her ugliness radiates outward from her core being. I’ve seen and known women who most would objectively meet the standards of “model” beautiful who had about as much appeal as nasty mop that had just been used to clean up a “#2′ bathroom accident. I’ve also known women who have been shall we say large and with bad hair who were sexy as hell. My point is that while outside appearance almost always counts to some degree, a person who is truly beautiful on the inside is still appealing and even desirable, while someone who is truly ugly on the inside is a turn off no matter how great their outer packaging might appear.
Sanders is about as ugly on the inside as a person can get. And THAT, not being a little heavier than average is what make her so ugly to behold.
Sarah strikes me as that overweight girl who got bullied in junior high and has been looking for payback ever since. And I question if even Fox News will be much of an employer for ex-Trumpers when this is over.
I don’t know which way Murdoch is going to swing when all is said and done, but once the Trump Phenomenon fades away and it’s back to some kind of normalcy, I think the Murdochs will throw the entire Trump cabal over. Bear in mind, Rupert won’t live forever, his kids will take over, and that will be a different era.
I’m making that same bet, Ursula. Moreover, I keep getting reports that Murdoch’s sons are already taking over the day-to-day at Fox News.
That might explain the shift in tone over there. Chris Wallace has no problem playing devil’s advocate to Trump and Jeannine Pirro stepped in it a bit too deep last month. It will be interesting to see where all this is in a year or two.
What’s to stop him?…..for that matter, what’s to stop dumbass from declaring marshal law from some half baked national emergency scheme and canselling elections?
That I can see, nothing……and he is becoming very aware it it.
*canceling*
I had almost this exact same discussion with a friend on the phone the other night. I told him that if it would get to that, I would hope that some military men — and I’m sorry Jim Mattis is out of the loop — would just mutiny and say, “No, we’re not following your orders.” Far be it from me to advocate a coup, but if the titular “president” is going to go insane and do completely illegal things, I would depend on some patriot to step forward and uphold the rule of law.
And maybe I am completely insane for saying so. Man, I hope not. I hope it doesn’t come to that kind of a show down. But if it does, I hope somebody will decide to invoke the 25th Amendment and just relieve him of duty.
Dearest, he is already doing insane and totally illegal things…..
I would imagine the citizenry would be left to save the nation and liberty….and WE will.
Oh, absolutely. But as in all things, there are degrees, and if he gets to some Point of No Return, with martial law or God forbid the nuclear codes, I am hoping some sane adult will step forward and save us. I’m hoping that doesn’t happen and I’m hoping that we can vote the bastard out, obviously.
What’s to stop him, Blue? What’s been stopping him all along…himself. The record consistently shows that he talks a far better game than he has ever played. He may–and does–threaten people with the possibility of this and that. But how often does he actually follow through? He only does it if a)he thinks no one will oppose him and b) he thinks he can make money from the action.
And, like all long-term commitments, he is highly allergic to war. So no, what he wants is your fear over what he MIGHT do. The Litany of Fear from Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel Dune is a useful thing to remember when he bellows.
https://thinkprogress.org/donald-trump-sarah
try this link
also a piece on it @ Daily Sound and Fury by Aldous J Pennyfarthing
I read that and she’s just blowing smoke. Hucky Boo Boo is so full of it. Remember, she was singing the treason song as well?
Who would want a proven habitual lair to represent their cause???
She carries the stench of shame from the Teump adiministarion as his most accomplished iliar.
She is a pig and I’m not weight shaming the pig…..only the pig’s character.
…..and I apologize to pigs……
What should be done is what is being done, Cmae. One doesn’t take clay from the Earth and use it to build the Pyramids of Giza in a single night. The correct response to anything outrageous from this camp is “pull the other leg.” They can say anything. They will say anything. But their followup sucks with the force of a black hole. Only panic if there is action.
While this stellar bit of dialogue applies to our current circumstances, think of it as a preview on what is waiting for Trump and/or his kids: “The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away. Mostly, the Lord taketh away.”