Avoidance of Reality Is Visible On Left & Right - In Aversion To The T-word

"Tweet for me, little Donnie Bird, and invite me to the White House".

"No matter how vulgar, gross, threatening, cruel, illegal  or insane the Right becomes,  it's always the Left that is warned against piping up too loudly".  Katha Pollitt, The Nation, July 30, p. 7)

"Many people tried to speculate on what it was,  what kind of Kompromat, the Russians had on Trump. When the answer - like infidelity or death-  was staring them in the face. Yes, Putin has something on Trump he helped him win. That's the Kompromat." - Julia Joffe, from 'GQ' and on 'All In' Friday night.

"There is a non-trivial chunk of the American population who think that Brennan is corrupt, that Clapper is corrupt, that this is made up and the Russians didn't do any of this. And even if they did it doesn't really matter. We cannot let this become normalized. This is not normal."  - Former NSA head Michael Hayden, in The Financial  Times.



Never let it be said that traitors have no defenders.  As we slip further down the rabbit hole, it is evident that the Traitor-in-chief's quislings, poltroons and media defenders are working overtime to upend reality and make people believe what they behold with their own two eyes doesn't exist.  Already this normalization trope is starting to infect otherwise rational and objective websites and outlets like slate.com,  where we are now informed that continued use of the T-word, say by left media and the progressive base,  is "making Trump more powerful".

Sorry,Slaters, but that is only in the distorted perceptions of his base and personality cult.  79 percent of whom on the Repuke side, according to a new Axios/ SurveyMonkey poll, approved of the way Trump handled himself with Putin in Helsinki.  One has to wonder what universe or planet these twits are living in  or on. It can't be the same one I inhabit.

Those who are patriots,and possess IQs over room temperature, know what they saw at the Helsinki farce and no bundle of lies spewed out by the TRAITOR is going to change that.  

Now, let me back up a bit, because I want to invoke former U.S. attorney Joyce Vance's parsing of the definition of treason from last Wednesday on ''All In.'  As she noted it does not mean conforming to the legal standard as espoused in Article III of the Constitution:

"Section 3. Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court."

Obviously, it can't conform to the Article III definition because we are not at war with Russia.  But, to Vance and others - like Robert Reich - that doesn't mean no treason has occurred.

The use of the word treason by those of us parsing the Helsinki travesty and now Trump's invitation of Putin to a White House  "summit",   is more centered on political grounds, such that: a) he is providing aid and comfort to a hostile adversary,  already shown to have interfered in our 2016 election (bolstered by Mueller' recent indictment of 12 GRU agents), b) Trump's own renunciation of his oath to protect and defend the Constitution by overtly siding with this adversary against his own intelligence community, and further c)  Trump continuing to ignore the intel community's verification that the attacks are ongoing, continuing into our upcoming midterms..  Again, standing idly by - and even using his soapbox - to denounce the Mueller investigation. 

Look, let's clear the fog. At the end of the day our Presidents - even illegitimate ones like Trump - are issued just one basic set of  instructions, as embodied in Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution: "to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and to faithfully execute the duties of the office."  Trump did NONE of those at the Helsinki debacle, and no one of sound mind or of IQ over 100 can tell me he did.  On the dais at Helsinki all Trump had to do - one fucking thing - is confront Putin re: the attack on our 2016 elections. The scum with the morals of a slug wasn't up to that task. Case closed.  And it's not just me that believes this turd is out of his depth or Putin's pawn. A number of historians do as well.  See  e.g.


 Michael Beschloss: “We are Living an a National Emergency” - Daily Kos

Lastly, Trump openly and brashly invited Putin and the Russians to hack his political opponent on July 27, 2016 - a day that will live in infamy. He said before the rolling  cameras:

"I will tell you this, Russia if you're listening, I hope that you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. You will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Let's see if that happens."

So Trump, in full public view, asked Russia to hack Hillary Clinton.  Did this just come out of the blue as a random brain fart? Not at all, given we know Russia has been funding Trump since the late 1980s. As per The New Republic (Aug./Sept. 2017, . p. 29):

"A review of the public record reveals a clear and disturbing pattern: Trump owes much of his business success, and by extension his presidency, to a flow of highly suspicious money from Russia. Over the past three decades, at least 13 people with known or alleged links to Russian mobsters or oligarchs have owned, lived in, or even run criminal activities out of Trump Tower and other Trump properties. Many used his apartments and casinos to launder untold millions in dirty money .....Taken together, the flow of money from Russia provided Trump with a crucial infusion of financing that helped rescue his empire from ruin, burnish his image, and launch his career in television and politics....It's entirely possible that Trump was never more than a convenient patsy for Russian oligarchs and mobsters."

To quote Robert Reich:

"Never before has a President of the United States so brazenly sided with a ruthless dictator intent on destroying American democracy. If this is not treason, what is it?"

All these in tandem amount to treason in the political sense, as opposed to the purely legalistic sense.  And yet, we are informed by more and more nabobs that we are incorrectly grasping the reality unfolding before our  eyes, and it is we who are "unhinged" and suffering from "Trump Derangement Syndrome".   Or we are not applying reason in the proper sense.Hence, we were wrong to think anything malign was afoot when Trump cheered Putin's proposal  (at Helsinki) to drag Americans like Bill Browder and  former ambassador Michael McFaul  to be interviewed by KGB thugs.

We are also informed (even by leftie scribes who should know better) that what Trump has done the past week - including tossing allies under the bus - is mostly just more breaking norms or personal quirks. But see, when I read lefties' prose about "using reason rather than treason" and "there is no evidence yet" that tells me their brains have already been hijacked so that what emerges from their neurons can no longer be trusted.  They are no longer faithful reporters of reality, but dupes mired in Trump's disputatious, liar's fantasy realm - where up is down, black is white and left is right.  Oh, and right is wrong, and wrong is right!

As Exhibit A,  I  refer to blogger Tom Gallagher in his post last Friday on smirkingchimp.com, e.g.

May We Speak of Reason, Rather Than of Treason?

Like most left critics he overthinks his own arguments and ends up pissing down his own throat and choking on his codswallop.  Reading through his piece, for example, he conflates Trumpian violations of existing policies and norms - via his "transactional" modus operandi-  e.g. unraveling the North American Free Trade Agreement, with treason.  Failing  to grasp that the latter accusations have a real basis, i.e. providing cover for a hostile foreign power - for which Dotard has already been shown ample foreign intercepts and other intelligence - concerning active meddling in the 2016 election. 

So Gallagher mixes chalk and cheese in scolding those of us who opt to use the T-word, by himself dragging in irrelevancies to do with affronts to norms * - and not giving us the credit or common sense to see these would not be treason as I've defined it.  So, it's not a case of "hurling any charge at hand" or "the kitchen sink"  but rather citing the specific charges and actions. 

(* At the same time, in the wake of last week's Helsinki meet criticisms, Trump has become even more like an untrained mutt that needs to be brought to heel, cf  'President Digs In Against Critics', WSJ, July 21-22, p. A1,  "Trump ended a turbulent week by shrugging off criticisms of his use of tariffs to influence trade and pubic scolding of the Fed.")

For example, as we beheld at the Helsinki meet last week, Trump  hurled his own country and intelligence community under the bus to provide cover for a guy he knows instigated the  election attack!  He also, by the end of the week, invited the same putative attacker to a new "summit" at the White House this fall - awarding a rare honor to a known election meddler who got Dotard into office!  How fucking hard can this be? 


Another example of a vacuous non sequitur from Gallagher:

"perhaps the shortest route to recognizing the ultimate vacuousness of the charge of treason is remembering that what’s treason to some is heroism to others."

So, seriously, you're going to tell me that a goodly set of people interpreted Trump's actions last week as "heroism"?  Oh wait, wait! That's right, his low IQ base would ascertain that... but see, we are talking about normal people, not brain -jacked dolts drooling every second at Fox and Friends.

He also claims, for example:

"The bottom line is that treason is a vacant, rote charge; a wasted opportunity to talk about real things."

Huh?  A "wasted opportunity to talk about real things"?  Please don't compel me to believe you're like the Trumpies, Tommy. You mean, like Trump inviting Russians to hack Hillary's emails isn't a real thing? So it's a fantasy thing?  Like Trump willy- nilly finding it "an incredible proposal" by Vlad to send American citizens to Russia to be interrogated - if Russia sends its 12 GRU operatives here? Sheesh! We truly are through the looking glass.

But say one thing, say the next. As chowder-headed and myopic as Gallagher's essay is,  it can't compare to the manifestly pathological detachment from reality in Michael Anton's Friday WSJ op-ed piece, 'Why Trump's Detractors Cry 'Treason'' (p. A17).  No, for deranged freaks who badly need a high voltage dose from Dr. Pat Bannister's  ECT machine, Anton tops the list.  Among the  alter - realities ("alternative facts")  he asks us to accept in his screed:

- Mr. Trump said three times on camera that Russia meddled in the 2016 election"

He also contradicted that over 60 times and repeatedly called such claims a "hoax"

As David Corn noted: 

"Throughout the campaign, and while the attack was going on, Donald Trump and his lieutenants were saying it's not happening. Even when he was briefed by U.S. intelligence he came out and said, 'nope, nothing happening."

-  Mr. Trump does not side with Russia over his own intelligence agencies

Hmmm...could have fooled me with that Helsinki performance!

-There is plenty of  evidence of illicit American interference  in the 2016 election to defeat Trump and elect Hillary Clinton.

Yeppers, we saw how that worked out.  One question, if the goal was truly to get Hillary elected, and the FBI agent  (Peter Strzok) was as dedicated to doing that as James Clapper and James Comey, why didn't he just blow the whistle on Trump in the fall when he'd opened up the case?  One phone call to the NY Times would have sunk the Donald, and yet he didn't do it. Why not? 


 But alas, that's what it's come to, reality and actual logical reasoning are no longer a part of discourse.  Those grounded in reality and the use of appropriate language to correctly describe it, vs, those who wish to say we are unhinged for doing so. Who wins will matter, because if the "reality is unhinged" side prevails it means the full normalization of everything Trump has been doing- including his betrayal of nation and Constitution, and we sink even more into the distorted cesspool of his own unreality.


As Dr. Jeffrey Sachs aptly put it:

"We have a one person wrecking ball right now that is going to destroy global trade through his individual ignorance and whims. We have a one person wrecking ball who is undermining every alliance and the publics abroad are stunned....they want nothing to do with our country. Trump is breaking our alliances, endangering our security, endangering our economy and he's psychologically, absolutely unfit for office.

And, for god's sakes, by enabling this, the Republicans in congress must understand they are putting the entire country in jeopardy"

Excellent points, and at the end of the day his comment is a clarion call for more citizens to use the T-word, not fewer. 

See also:

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/ed-tant/80282/if-politicians-won-t-confront-trump-s-treachery-the-people-must

Excerpt:

"Some dare call it treason. After President Trump kowtowed to Russian strongman Vladimir Putin during the recent summit meeting in Finland, former CIA Director John Brennan fumed that “Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to and exceeds the threshold of ‘high crimes and misdemeanors.’ It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin.... If politicians will do nothing to curb the treason and treachery of Trump, then it becomes the responsibility of the people to do so in the streets and in the voting booth. As American author John Steinbeck said more than 50 years ago, “I am troubled by the cynical immorality of my country. It cannot survive on this basis.””

And:

In Wake of Helsinki, Congress Faces a New Charge: Complicity

Is Donald Trump a Traitor? - YouTube

Update:

Now we've learned (7/23) from Huckleberry Sanders that Preznit Fucktard is considering withdrawing security clearances for any former officials who've criticized him including: former CIA director John Brennan; former FBI director James B. Comey; former CIA director Michael V. Hayden; former national security adviser Susan E. Rice; former director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr.; and former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe.

According to Missy Inbred:

“The president is exploring these mechanisms to remove security clearances because they’ve politicized and, in some cases, actually monetized their public service and their security clearances in making baseless accusations of improper contact with Russia or being influenced by Russia,”

All the more reason to take this POS  Traitor clown down as soon as possible. Mr. Mueller, where is your indictment when we need it?

What Would My Revolutionary War Ancestors Think Of Our Nation's Present Predicament?

There is little doubt that Jacob and Conrad Brumbaugh, knowing what the rest of us know concerning Trump, would regard him as a traitor no different from Benedict Arnold.



With the Independence Day celebrations tomorrow, I thought it might be instructive to consider what my ancestors Jacob and Conrad  Brumbaugh - both of whom fought in the War of Independence- might think of our situation and Trump.  I ought to take time here to applaud Janice's notable efforts in finding the connections to  Jacob Jockel and Conrad as well as intervening generations, while doing research at Ancestry.com.

It was Janice's fine efforts which first turned up Eliza Ann Brumbaugh,  my paternal great grandmother, with her marriage certificate  dated Nov. 20, 1881- marriage to my great grandfather Phillip Adam Stahl.  From there, and getting hold of the book, 'The Genealogy of the Brumbaughs',  she could track back four generations to Jacob 'Jockel' Brumbaugh, and younger brothers Conrad, George, and Johann. It was Jacob and Conrad who fought in the Pennsylvania Militia during the American Revolution.

Specifically, Jacob Jockel Brumbaugh served as a Private, Seventh class, 4th Company of the First Battalion, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Militia.   Conrad served as a Private in Capt. John Orbison's Fourth Company, Fourth Battalion of the Cumberland County Militia - commanded by Col. Samuel Culbertson. Jacob and Conrad knew what they were fighting for:  home and country -   against a tyrant King (George III) and his whole gang of Redcoats.

However, there is no doubt at all that neither Jacob or Conrad - if confronted by today's appalling events and our dear "leader"- would wonder why the War of Independence had been fought at all. That is,  given so much liberty and a thriving nascent Republic appeared to have been so easily sacrificed to a latter day "Mad King George".  Only now in the odious person of a grifter-made billionaire named Donald Drumpf. And one in conspiracy with a hostile foreign power which clearly helped put him into office.

As James Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence, noted in a recent TIME interview:

"Of course the Russian efforts affected the outcome. Surprising themselves, they swung the election to a Trump win. To conclude otherwise stretches logic, common sense and credulity to the breaking point.  Less than eighty thousand votes in three key states swung the election, I have no doubt that more votes than that were influenced by this massive effort by the Russians."

Both Jacob and Conrad would no doubt have weighed Clapper's words carefully, but also examined the deep background as turned up by the extensive reporting in  The New Republic (Aug./Sept. p. 29) to wit:

"A review of the public record reveals a clear and disturbing pattern: Trump owes much of his business success, and by extension his presidency, to a flow of highly suspicious money from Russia. Over the past three decades, at least 13 people with known or alleged links to Russian mobsters or oligarchs have owned, lived in, or even run criminal activities out of Trump Tower and other Trump properties. Many used his apartments and casinos to launder untold millions in dirty money .....Taken together, the flow of money from Russia provided Trump with a crucial infusion of financing that helped rescue his empire from ruin, burnish his image, and launch his career in television and politics....It's entirely possible that Trump was never more than a convenient patsy for Russian oligarchs and mobsters."

The ongoing, deplorable actions of the White House occupant would also have angered and appalled both brothers, e.g.   the flouting of the emoluments clause in the Constitution by Trump and his family, e.g.

http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2017/01/lawsuits-against-trump-for-emoluments.html

Neither Jacob or Conrad would have taken kindly to Trump's  continual reliance on rallies for his base, inciting their passions and presenting further evidence for the 'mischief of faction'  Madison warned about whereby "citizens - whether amounting to a minority or majority of the whole - are united and actuated by a common impulse of passion (to cast their votes) adverse to the rights of other citizens or the permanent and aggregate interests of the community". 

This is exactly what the Trump voters did, motivated by passion and recklessness via Trump's often violent rallies to give a middle finger salute to the rest of the country - thereby militating against the majority's interests.  It is also what Trump's pandering to his base continues to do.  I suspect Conrad would be most exasperated at Trump's betrayal of long time allies, while also pandering to hostile authoritarian regimes, including in Turkey, the Philippines, and North Korea- even saluting a N. Korean General, an action for which I can just imagine both Jacob Jockel and Conrad saying: "For that he should be hung!"

What about Trump's "zero tolerance" policy of locking up infants, toddlers in cages at "tender age shelters"?  Jacob and Conrad would have blown their respective gaskets: "In cages? Children?  This vile filth should not only be hung but drawn and quartered too! Is that what he would have done to us on entering this country from Germany?  To our brothers too? Swine!"

In the end, it's good neither Jacob or Conrad is able to see the travesty, betrayal and destruction to which our country has been subjected.  At the same time, if their spirits were still alive and energized, they'd be literally screaming "Do not go quietly into the despot's  dark night! Fight, fight for what is right though all looks lost! This country we fought for is more important than one man - or all his supporting liars,  quislings and followers!"

-----------------------------
Footnote:  It was Janice who reminded me that  Jacob Jockel also fought in the American Revolution, hence the edits made  to this post.

Kudos To Justin Trudeau For His Smack Down Of Traitor Trump

This photo of the 71 year old brat facing an "intervention" by REAL world leaders, said all you needed to know about the G7 summit over the weekend. When I asked Janice  what Angela Merkel was likely saying she replied: "I'm going to bash your fat orange face in if you don't act your age!"

"To our allies: Americans stand with you even if our president doesn't."  - Sen. John McCain

"Why is Donald Trump acting like a snowflake on the international stage? Why is he acting like the ultimate snowflake when Justin Trudeau gives a blandly Canadian response? It was not that tough. He was being kind, eminently reasonable." Joe Scarborough this morning.

The ending of the G7 meet in Quebec was supposed to be a non-drama. Basically, all seven member nations had agreed to signing the final statement --  which was crafted by the U.S. delegation though with some disagreements noted.  Reporters on Air Force One had even been told that the United States would sign the joint statement. But then the unthinkable occurred, as Traitor Trump - our illegitimate resident - unleashed a broadside on Canadian Premier Justin Trudeau.  The orange- hued mutt didn't even have the courage to broach opposition (to a Trudeau speech) to his face, but  in a remarkable pair of acrimony-laced tweets after sneaking away on Air Force One.. But this is the coward twerp we've come to know:

A fucking disgrace and rank embarrassment  to the nation and a blight on the world.  A blight because this feral swine - by his puerile actions-   upended two days of global economic diplomacy late Saturday.    He did this by having  a hissy fit and refusing to sign a joint statement with America’s allies, threatening to escalate his trade war on the country’s neighbors and deriding Canada’s prime minister as “very dishonest and weak.”

Imagine that! This Do-TURD calling Justin Trudeau 'dishonest and weak' when already Trump had spieled off over 3, 300 lies by his 500th day as resident.  A zero who is so weak he has to recruit lackeys to do his firing for him (such as for Comey and Tillerson)  and hasn't the balls to criticize a man to his face but has to resort to tweet attacks on Trudeau on his plane. . Like a little tweety bird, all twitters, no substance...and no balls.  Rather like the "ultimate snowflake" to use Joe Scarborough's phrase.

But it didn't stop there. In addition, Trump sent off his little pet monkeys, including economic adviser Larry Kudlow and senior trade adviser Peter Navarro,  to spout even more disparaging adjectives on the Sunday talk show circuit. These included the following descriptors of Justin Trudeau: “amateurish,” “rogue,” “sophomoric” — while also accusing Trudeau of a “double-cross” and “betrayal.”

But the most incendiary remark was unleashed by the pretentious buffoon, Navarro:

“There’s a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad-faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door.”

Making one wonder what this imp would say if Trudeau had really stabbed Dotard in the back.  Somehow I think these two assholes-  Kudlow and Navarro -  have their perspectives inverted. They need to reverse the mirror because they are the dregs who betrayed the Canadian PM and the G6.  Why? Because literally moments after Mr. Trudeau’s government proudly released the joint statement, again drafted and approved by the UNITED STATES -  and agreed to by all seven countries -  Trump blew it apart with his deranged tweets.  As Ian Bremmer put it this morning on CBS, "this was the geopolitical equivalent of the Comey firing".  And he traced it to Trump's inability to control his emotional impulses in a critical setting.

Trump  also, by his classless fit, shattered the veneer of cordiality that had prevailed throughout the two days of meetings in a resort town on the banks of the St. Lawrence River.  That fit, perhaps triggered by the worry he would soon be meeting a superior opponent in Kim Jong Un in Singapore,  led him to tweet:

“Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!” 

 

Of course, all of this is horse manure, given that when goods and services are factored into the trade equation, the U.S. is actually coming out slightly ahead of Canada.

 And WHO is Trump anyway, that he can't be challenged or confronted-  especially by a PM defending his own country from the ravages of a Hitler wannabe, e.g.


Hyperbole? Hell no!  Recall that Bill Eddy-   who wrote the definitive book on high conflict personalities -  observed that Trump is  “…potentially the most dangerous person in politics since Adolf  Hitler.”  Got that? The most dangerous politico since Adolf Hitler. Indeed, he's already shown himself to be a traitor to this Republic  and even former Director of National Intelligence,  James Clapper,  now concedes (in the latest TIME, June 11, p. 45), that Trump definitely got shoehorned into office by Russian hacking into U.S. election systems. As he put it:

"Of course the Russian efforts affected the outcome. Surprising themselves, they swung the election to a Trump win. To conclude otherwise stretches logic, common sense and credulity to the breaking point.  Less than eighty thousand votes in three key states swung the election, I have no doubt that more votes than that were influence by this massive effort by the Russians."

So despite Trump incessantly calling the Mueller probe a "witch hunt" and "a hoax" he knows damned well he had the assistance of an alien, hostile state to get into high office. In other words, he is a traitor:
One can then plausibly conjecture that a prime reason for Trump's rage against Trudeau is that he knows in his heart of hearts Trudeau is legit, legitimately elected, while he needed the help of Putin and Co. to grab enough electoral votes. (And as I noted in previous posts, had the electoral college done its due diligence as opposed to rubber stamping, Trump never would have been installed, e.g.

http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2016/12/why-hamilton-electors-would-be-right-to.html

In an alternate universe where law is respected, this bitch would have been hung already or put before a firing squad. He most certainly wouldn't be sowing discord and chaos, alienating our closest allies and slandering the Prime Minister of the host nation for the G7 meet..  All appalling actions, behavior more in synch with a mentally unbalanced 12 -year old than a U.S. president. But wait, he isn't a real president, only a pretender, a fake. A Traitor!

 In an interview with a San Diego journalist two years ago,  referencing the earlier quote, Bill Eddy was asked: "Clearly a terrifying opinion — yet we do remember the ardent hordes of Hitler’s followers. Can you elaborate?"

Eddy replied:

"There are similarities regarding how he connects with his followers, so that they become more passionately connected when he and they are criticized. It strengthens their bond. It’s a major part of my book. In a nutshell, it’s because he uses emotions instead of logic, and uses repetition on a greater scale than most politicians since Hitler. He has conditioned his followers to his simple arguments from day one. Hitler was known for spewing ten times as many words as any other politician, and he used modern media for voice (daily speeches  on the radio) and face (movies of him speaking at his huge rallies). These emotional media projecting face and voice are much more powerful on our brains than printed words."

It is noteworthy that in the interest of comity Justin Trudeau had sought to play down personal clashes with Trump as he wrapped up the summit, calling the meeting “very successful” and saying he was “inspired by the discussion.”.   Why wouldn't the PM who is the host of such a meeting want to at least put a positive accent on it at the end?  The same way (well, not quite) Dotard is trying to put a positive spin on the Singapore meeting with Kim, before even having met him.  A "summit" which from all indicators will be more like a glorified photo op.

Trudeau was also justified in pledging to retaliate against the United States tariffs on steel and aluminum products in defense of Canadian workers.  Again, this is eminently natural to do  for a nation's leader and only a spineless, worthless wuss and loser would punt.   He also said this to Trump's face, as well as on assorted Sunday shows last week, so it was never "behind" the orange baboon's back.  But see, Trudeau didn't realize fully he wasn't dealing with a mature adult male but a sick, narcissistic, egomaniacal coward who sees every robust defense of others' interests as a threat to his own.  Hence, the urge - like a 12 year old who needs a serious intervention - to 'punch back",   even when others are merely defending their own turf and principles. 

But like the alley cats  the 14 year old Trump used to stab with his specialty switchblades while growing up in Queens, he expects no one to fight back. Trudeau did and the bellyaching litte yellow belly couldn't take it.

 Trump, who apparently saw Trudeau’s news conference on television aboard Air Force One en route to Singapore, lost it at the sight of a fearless leader.  His only recourse then was to again emulate a petulant twelve year old, and project his own insecurities and defects onto Trudeau, e.g.

“PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @g7 meetings,only to give a news conference after I left saying that, ‘US Tariffs were kind of insulting’ and he ‘will not be pushed around.’ Very dishonest & weak. Our Tariffs are in response to his of 270% on dairy!”

Not long after that childish expulsion, John "Ripper" Bolton -  Trump's top national security stooge.....errr adviser  -   tweeted out a photo of Trump, with arms crossed and pouting, as the leaders of the other nations stood in a circle around him.  Evidently DOLT-on believed the image (seen at the top) would convey Trump in a defiant pose facing down the G7 allies trying to get him to rescind "America First".

In fact, all the photo did is confirm the truth most already knew: The U.S. is being led by a 71 year old, navel -gazing man baby who conducts government business like a dyspeptic toddler who shits his diapers every two minutes and expects quick changes.

Mr. Trudeau’s office responded to Dotard’s Twitter barrage with a carefully worded statement, making clear the U.S.'  maggot leader had lied again.   As Trudeau spokesman Cameron Ahmad put it:

 “The prime minister said nothing he hasn’t said before — both in public, and in private conversations with the President.”

Meanwhile, President Emmanuel Macron of France had left an indelible imprint of his thumb on Trump's right hand after a particularly vise-like hand shake. (Google "Trump bruised right hand from Macron" or some such, and you'l see it.) As Janice put it when the image flashed across the news last night: "Too damned bad Macron didn't break his hand!"  Ouch!

That  power hand shake (Macron got the jump on him) was followed by 48 hours of tense and often confrontational closed-door discussions between Trump and the leaders of America’s closest allies — France, Britain, Canada, Japan, Italy and Germany — in the hopes of resolving a brewing trade war among friends. Instead, the gathering   to further inflame Dotard's belief that the United States is being treated unfairly by countries with which prior presidents had long ago negotiated trade agreements for the flow of goods and services.

Exhibiting his full range of ignorance and stupidity, Trump railed about what he called “ridiculous and unacceptable” tariffs on American goods and vowed to end them.  Like the disruptive, ignorant  brat he is, he whined:

“It’s going to stop, or we’ll stop trading.with them. And that’s a very profitable answer, if we have to do it.”

Awww, Bwaahahahahahaaa!   Poor little baby Doturd. Give him a sippy cup, and another diaper change. Wouldn't want him going into that meeting with Kim Jong Un with a full load.

The other six leaders were defiant in the face of Trump’s threats, accented by Justin Trudeau's end comment:
 

“I have made it very clear to the president that it is not something we relish doing, but it is something that we absolutely will do. As Canadians, we are polite, we’re reasonable, but also we will not be pushed around.”

Goof for you, sir! And be ready to level the full 'boom' of the planned $12.8 billion tariffs on Trumpdom come July 1st.

Emmanuel Macron himself  said that trade debates ought never be conducted via angry emotional outbursts, Adding:

 “There is no winner, there are only losers when you take that strategy.”

Next time, sir, please do crush Trump's tiny hand. It would make wifey's day.

See also:

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/p-m-carpenter/79588/america-first-more-like-america-dead-last

Elitists Need An "Excuse" To Slam Trump? How About Just Watching This A-Hole In Action - Like On FOX Yesterday

"I'll call Fox and Friends any time and sound off! I'm da Prez!"

One of the ongoing concerns of media and culture analysts (e.g.  David Frum in 'Trumpocracy - The Corruption of the American Republic') is that the thing occupying the White House will have its behavior "normalized" and become more and more accepted. One of the first putative signs of this would be a steady diminution of outrage, people no longer willing or able to call this degenerate on anything - or even use epithets to describe him.  That is a point many suspect we're rapidly reaching.

It doesn't help either to have Rightist, Trump ass- lickers like the WSJ's William McGurn ('The Elitists' Trump Excuse', yesterday, p. A 11) insisting it's all liberal and media "elitist" huff and puff because we disdain "Trump's brand of vituperation".  In other words, we attack the Trump Thing because of its constant attacks on the values, virtues and norms that  "democracy requires to survive."

Thus, like Jim Comey, we declare this maggot is "morally unfit" for the Oval Office. In fact, many of us go beyond Comey and declare this loathsome loser and con man is mentally unfit to hold office of any kind, even dog catcher in Podunk, Arkansas.  As 'Exhibit A' you need look no further than the 31 minute insane rant Dotard unleashed yesterday morning on Fox and Friends, e.g.

Missed 'Fox & Friends'? Here's what Trump said on Cohen, Ronny ...

But hell, don't just take my word, watch it and make up your own mind.  At the end of it you tell me if you really, truly believe this type of unhinged behavior is presidential in any measure, or that it doesn't degrade the office as well as the person holding it - not to mention the country. Think before you answer! Can you really visualize a President Obama calling in to MSNBC's "Morning Joe"  to deliver such an extended rant, or a JFK or FDR?    Let me back up, visualize any other president calling in an extended TV rant when he's supposed to be doing the work of the country?   (As one former FBI agent put it on 'All In', "That's the time he's supposed to be going over the nation's security issues in the Presidential Daily Briefs!")

If you can imagine another president - even Gee Dumbya Bush-  doing the same, then you inhabit a different universe from the one I'm in.

To put a perspective on it, even the illustrious Steve Doocy - main anchor of the FOX trio - and most famous for burning his hands while trying to roast marshmallows, actually trying to cut the Dotard off after 28 minutes, saying "Mr. President, we know you have a MILLION things to do...."    Well, evidently not.

But the blowhard imbecile kept on ranting for another 3 minutes before the station had to pull the plug on the fool, with the Fox trio saying "Adios".

But why be surprised? We knew from this time last year the piece of waste occupying the office hates to work, he'd rather loaf, watch TV, tweet and rant.  Recall 'the Donald' has never really worked at a real job outside of owning his family branding business (who could order anyone to do his bidding) and being a NY real estate weasel who used bankruptcy (of multiple casinos) to make more $$$.  Hell, five days into his presidency he  even bawled that the job had  turned out to be too much for him to deal with. Too many details, too much stuff to master for an extensive government bureaucracy.  Hence, his penchant for becoming a cable TV and tweet addict. See e.g.

http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/donald-trump-stunned-to-learn-presidency-is-an-actual-j-1792215349

Excerpt:

“Being president is harder than Donald Trump thought,” begins the article, neatly capturing the blithe, criminal ignorance that characterizes both Trump himself and the many dozens of millions of morons who thought he should be the leader of the free world. Yes, being the president is a harder job than Donald Trump would expect, because Donald Trump had never previously held an actual job, because actually, spending your inheritance on a succession of failed cons is not an actual job."

 But hey, if the job is too much maybe he ought to resign. It beats wasting time tweeting, watching TV for nine hours a day, and ranting like a nut railing about UFO "invasions" on talk radio.  Or as one MSNBC guest put it on 'All In' last night: "The rant reminded me of my Uncle Willy who calls in to sports radio and unloads his bile every other day."

Anyway, McGurn asks in his op-ed piece:

"So which is more damaging to the American body politic - the schoolyard taunts and threats of Trump, or the anti-Trump opportunism of 'polite' society?"

But given the opposition  of "polite society" - i.e. that which upholds and values norms, decency and decorum-  is the only edifice standing against normalizing Trump, that's an easy call.  As David Frum has put it in his book, the longer Trump remains in office the greater  the corruption of our democracy. This is  because his behavior becomes more and more accepted, as outrage is lessened ("too much to be outraged over")- until daily rants on FOX ("Trump TV") become a way of governing. This we cannot allow, whether McGurn and his ilk like it or not.

McGurn's other complaints - as if  we "elites"  are trying to impose fascism on the Trumpies,  are all red herrings. Examples:

- "Good liberals once found the idea of spying on American citizens without just cause unconscionable... But when the target becomes a former Trump campaign associated, it becomes OK."

Hold strain there, Willy.  Carter Page was ID'd  as a suspected foreign (Russian-linked) agent long before U.S. FISA warrants were issued to monitor him. This was by way of foreign intercepts of his assorted meetings with Russian FSB, GRU etc. agents.  For the U.S. then not to do anything would have made our own intel agencies appear slack and incompetent.

McGurn again:

"James Clapper revised procedures to make it easier to unmask Americans  in intelligence reports, and share the information, making leaks all but inevitable. The illegal leak of Mike Flynn's name in connection with a phone conversation with Russia's ambassador was one result."

C'mon, Willy, pull your head out of your fat ass.  Going after Flynn was perfectly justified given he was wheeling and dealing with the Russkies, via phone calls, and  after Obama had imposed sanctions, and even before the Trump cabal had assumed office.  Besides, Flynn's calls were again picked up via foreign intel intercepts which were forwarded to the CIA, NSA etc. For our intel agencies to do nothing while foreign agencies monitored Flynn, Carter Page and others would have been irresponsible.

McGurn ends by writing:

"The point to the double standard isn't in any way to justify Mr. Trump's more boorish displays. It is, however, to say that the standard ought to work both ways."

But by resorting to false analogy McGurn is indeed justifying Trump's more boorish ways.  He's saying in effect we have no right to cast "stones' of opprobrium at this mental and moral misfit because we've allowed greater "sins"  of omission and commission to go unanswered. Seeming to forget or dismiss the fact that Bill Clinton was impeached based on illegal wiretaps made by then Columbia, MD resident and Pentagon flunky, Linda Tripp - when MD law expressly  made recording phone calls a felony without notifying the other person on the line (in this case one Monica Lewinsky).   Ken Starr, then special prosecutor, used those illegal phone recordings to go after Clinton - with the Reepos jumping on the illegal wiretap bandwagon to hang him out to dry.

So don't hand me any BS about "double standards".  Trump, by not only flouting standards but breaking laws as well (e.g. obstruction of justice) merits at least impeachment, and probably indictment as well.


See also:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/26/opinions/trump-fox-news-interview-dantonio-intl/index.html

And:

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/p-m-carpenter/78895/trumps-latest-meltdown

Excerpt:

"The NY Times' reporting, however, captured a president in mental and emotional free fall, such as, "Even the Fox hosts seemed concerned as the president railed at length about the 'fake news' media. 'I’m not your doctor, Mr. President, but I would recommend you watch less of them,' one of the hosts, Brian Kilmeade, told him.""