The day is beginning with people adjudicating which untruths are acceptable and which aren't from White House. Slippery slope.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 15, 2017
TRUMP: Flynn has been treated badly by the "fake media" and leaks to media are a "criminal act" and a cover-up for Hillary's "terrible loss" pic.twitter.com/mbBPw31Eg1
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 15, 2017
Can you stand by someone you just fired? https://t.co/myIJMZ4Ohh
— Sara Murray (@SaraMurray) February 15, 2017
The FBI does not believe Michael Flynn will face legal jeopardy, sources tell @PeteWilliamsNBC https://t.co/EFCX1875Wc pic.twitter.com/74BMFmoCkY
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 15, 2017
Sunday: Flynn staying
Monday: Flynn gone
Tuesday: Flynn bad
Wednesday: Flynn good
Thursday: Who Flynn?
Friday: Flynn named to replace Flynn— James Poniewozik (@poniewozik) February 15, 2017
The #Flynnghazi story says less about Flynn than it does about Trump, who chose Flynn despite the warning signs. https://t.co/1eRv3uQjnS
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) February 15, 2017
Got to wonder what's in them. Enough dirt to flip the Senate perhaps?
— Schooley (@Rschooley) February 15, 2017
.
Meanwhile, in another part of the galaxy…
Siren: Sounds like the Trump administration just put our NATO allies “on notice,” if you will https://t.co/HynpgbUL1j pic.twitter.com/DB2PigmQ0p
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 15, 2017
Omnes Omnibus
The NATO thing is scary.
zhena gogolia
@Omnes Omnibus:
Terrifying. I thought he was supposed to be the sane one.
SiubhanDuinne
Well shit.
Adam L Silverman
@zhena gogolia: He doesn’t set US policy. He oversees carrying out the defense portion of it. He had his marching orders. He executed those orders.
tobie
Someone said on a thread last night that there’s nothing new about the US asking NATO nations to contribute more to the cost of security forces. Frankly I’ve never followed this closely enough to know but the whole ultimatum part–“pony up with money or we’ll dump you”–does seem new and a bad harbinger for the future.
PeakVT
“Nice continent you got there. Be a shame if something happened to it.”
Completely fucking bonkers.
Mike J
@Omnes Omnibus: Particularly with Su-24s coming within 200 yards of our warships.
Davebo
Threatening NATO is a shallow and obvious bluff. Mattis knows that even if he’d like to see members increase military spending he know that in the end it’s a veiled threat.
Adam L Silverman
@tobie: Its not. Its been an ongoing problem with the alliance for a long time. But it is often ignored in the breach given the other benefits that NATO provides the US.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: This is sleep disturbing shit for me. DO THESE FUCKS KNOW WHAT NATO IS AND WHAT IT HAS DONE?
trollhattan
@Adam L Silverman:
Yup. As to why he took the job surely knowing he’d be working for a combination of Forrest Gump and Hannibal Lector is anybody’s guess.
sigaba
@zhena gogolia: He’s not the boss and has no intentions of challenging the boss.
Lizzy L
Robert Reich’s comment about 45’s tweets:
trollhattan
@Omnes Omnibus: SATSQ?
Mike J
@Adam L Silverman: The US pays extra because it wants a leadership role. Why is the US president called the leader of the free world? In large part because we pick up the tab.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: Mattis does. Trump does not. Nor does he care. Since 1987 he has publicly stated the belief that alliances in general, and NATO in specific, are for suckers. That the US gets ripped off by them, which fits within his zero sum understanding of negotiations. At the end of the day Trump is the boss and Mattis serves at his pleasure.
Omnes Omnibus
@trollhattan: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Suzanne
@Omnes Omnibus: I had to explain to a contractor that I work with why it is so very much in the best interests of the US to have Europe be peaceful.
I was kind of floored. Contractors are not smart, as a rule, but this was exceptionally dumbassed.
Adam L Silverman
@trollhattan: My understanding is that it was to protect the DOD and the military by serving as a buffer.
Major Major Major Major
I saw somebody reputable saying that this sort of talk with NATO allies is fairly common..
EDIT: I see I was not the first.
sigaba
@Adam L Silverman: I wonder who Mattis thinks will replace him if he resigned…
Viva BrisVegas
@Mike J:
That’s why the UN HQ is in New York. That and the fact that billions of UN dollars flow through to the US economy from there.
Damn those NATO freeloaders. At least Russia is maintaining it’s level of military commitment.
Mnemosyne
@Adam L Silverman:
Yeah, that was my reaction. Mattis is the message boy, not the one who set the policy, and since the US is set up to have the armed forces defer to civilian control, he doesn’t have much choice once he’s given his marching orders.
Chris T.
I wish someone would ask Trump how it was that Hillary’s 3M win in the popular vote forced Trump to hire Flynn … and now that he’s weakened by Flynn leaving, just how much weaker than Hillary is he today?
amk
@Adam L Silverman: I wuz just following orders. Where have we heard that one before?
You still sticking up for mad dog?
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: My legs are twitching in response. I don’t disagree with your comment, but it makes me crazy. Me, I have always been an Atlanticist.
sigaba
@Mnemosyne: He’s an errand boy? Sent by grocers, perhaps? To collect a bill?
I see. No method. At all.
Villago Delenda Est
@Mnemosyne: He is a civilian, for all practical purposes, but he’s in the chain of command. He is also a message boy who can’t stray from the script, at least in public.
And yes, as Omnes alludes, he does know better. That NATO has kept the peace not just with the Soviets/Russians, but among the Europeans, who have these bad little intramural squabbles.
? Martin
Hey, remember a week ago when Trump mysteriously put his support behind the One China policy (which the US does not support, but merely acknowledges, because we do not recognize PRC sovereignty over ROC), after saying he would negotiate with China? Well, a funny thing happened…
What a weird coincidence.
Omnes Omnibus
@amk: Do you really want to go there? Do you think it is appropriate?
danielx
People in this country have forgotten why peace is a desirable thing, as a general rule. Have further forgotten that peace is not the usual state of affairs in Europe or anywhere else for that matter.
Mike J
@Mnemosyne: OT, but have you seen Lucy Worsley’s show on the history of romance novels?
Omnes Omnibus
@? Martin: I can’t even….
Suzanne
@danielx: People have also forgotten that one of the overarching reasons the US is involved in trade deals is also to maintain influence in order to keep things peaceful. It is better for the economy not to expend resources on wars.
Redshift
Gee, I wonder if the FBI sources who told Pete Williams that Flynn is legally in the clear were from the New York office…
NotMax
Attack the messenger, ignore the message.
Dolt 45 S.O.P.
Ruckus
@sigaba:
Effectively yes he is. Of course the grocer that sent him only sells rotten stuff that can’t be eaten, and as stated above they really have “paid” the bill many times over. Do they get more out of the arrangement than we do? It depends on what you see as the real role of NATO and even the EU. They really are more valuable to us than most think, if you look at the world as being better off without major wars.
danielx
@Suzanne:
Great for short term stimulus. Unproductive long term, and then there’s the whole bloodshed issue.
Omnes Omnibus
@Ruckus: NATO makes sense. Now Trump is Pres. Square it.
ETA: I can’t.
Villago Delenda Est
@danielx: This is what disturbs me. Most of our economic elites think no further than the end of the current fiscal quarter.
Mnemosyne
@Mike J:
I did not, but now I’ll have to!
I’m still pissed that episode two of her Regency series isn’t available anywhere (at least, not with an actual audio track). Even my friends in GB can’t help me. Feh.
NotMax
@Suzanne
Tell it to Boeing. And Dow. And Raytheon. And DuPont. And Halliburton. And General Electric. And…
jl
I think NATO needs some substantial; adjustments. But exactly how much they pay is not one of them. And even if it were, lumping them all together and putting them ‘on notice’ to submit to a vague unilateral demand with a short time horizon is a very bad way to get anything done without damaging the alliance and relationships with very important allies.
So, we’ve seen the bone-deep bigot from Trump. Now we get to see some of the crummy two-bit bone-deep con man and shake-down artist. What a toxic idiot.
Edit: Any change in a crucial alliance like NATO takes patient planning and negotiations, and consensus decision making. So, maybe Priebus can.. or Pence… or… no, never mind. No one in the WH can help. They are all dolts, grifters and infants. This will be a mess.
danielx
@Adam L Silverman:
Quite true, and as it should be. However….there’s also the question of how much Mattis is willing to put up with from Trump. A guy who is already a retired four star of long and distinguished service is not going to tolerate the mind games/humiliation that Trump routinely visits on subordinates and others.
Mnemosyne
@sigaba:
I am blanking on this movie reference, except that I seem to remember that it is a movie reference of some kind. Scorsese?
ETA: Tarantino?
Ian
F U Maggie H. Your newspaper mainstreamed fake news with the 24/7 smoke but no fire Clinton foundation “scandals”. You led us hear, deal with it. Why does no one remember one year ago? I am sure the NYT had the inside story of Ill Douche’s scandals, why not run them wall to wall?
? Martin
@NotMax:
They only have that attitude because they’ve never been bombed. They like small wars, not big ones.
sigaba
@Mnemosyne: you get another hint:
“I’ve seen a snail. Slither. On the edge. Of a straight razor.”
Also Dennis Hopper has a camera.
Hungry Joe
“What has NATO ever done for us except assure more than 70 years of peace between the major powers?”
“The aqueduct?”
“Yeah, okay, the aqueduct. But aside from the aqueduct and 70 years of peace, what has NATO ever done for us?”
“The roads?”
“Well, of course, the roads. The roads go without saying. But aside from … “
Ian
@Mike J:
Not only does he want to make our allies pay more because it is unfair, he also wants us to pay more and dramatically increase defence spending.
SFAW
@Ian:
There wasn’t even that much smoke from the Foundation itself, it was mostly self-generated by the “news” organizations.
Yarrow
@Lizzy L:
This is accurate but incomplete. Trump does the same thing at his rallies and interviews and any other time he speaks. “Not a puppet. You’re the puppet.” He’s the puppet. “No one respects women more than me.” He doesn’t respect women at all. “Lock her up.” Lock him up.
Those are just some of his greatest hits. But it’s easy to read him once you figure out the key. He tells you who he is every time he speaks.
Mnemosyne
@sigaba:
Is the speaker in darkness for most of the shots because he was too goddamned fat to be shown on camera as an ex-Green Beret by the time he got himself down to the Philippines?
ETA: Not only did G recognize the line, he parroted it back in Brando’s voice. This is why we’ve been together for almost 17 years.
danielx
@Villago Delenda Est:
Not to mention that we might lose.
I’d be willing to bet the next major war, if or when it occurs, will hinge on drones. Small, cheap drones, which are not manufactured here to speak of. The Chinese are in a position to build drones of every variety on a fantastic scale, which I would imagine keeps people awake at night. People whose job it is to come up with unpleasant scenarios….
patroclus
I don’t doubt that someone told Pete Williams that Flynn doesn’t face legal jeopardy, but I believe that he does face legal jeopardy; especially if he lied to the FBI. The false statements statute is quite broad and can be used very easily by federal prosecutors. I think it’s more accurate that he doesn’t face legal jeopardy quite yet.
Obama went to Canada last fall and spoke to the Parliament (and they loved every minute of it and ended up chanting “Four More Years”) and I watched the whole speech and in it was a section blatantly calling on Canada to spend more money on NATO (only 5 members meet the 2% of GDP requirement). Mattis saying that is normal and the other members usually agree and say that they’ll do better but end up not doing it (like Canada). If this is all that there is, I’m not troubled. Trump’s instability, however, and the possibility that we wouldn’t do anything if Russia moved on Estonia, is the real problem – not what Mattis said.
NotMax
@Martin
Bombings are a setback, not necessarily a determinant of business collapse, as history amply demonstrates..
BASF, #1 chemical producer on the planet today
Bayer, #10
Mistubishi Chemical, #11
danielx
@sigaba:
“You’re an errand boy….sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill.”
SFAW
At what point will the MSM finally start referring to Shitgibbon as “Lying Whiny Grifter-in-Chief” (or some facsimile thereof). Yeah, I know: “Never.”
Of course, the funny thing is, there’s no rational court in the land that would return a libel conviction. Defamation, perhaps, but he’s been shown/proved to be a liar, a whiner, and a grifter.
Sometimes I wish I believed in a just God.
sigaba
@Mnemosyne: I don’t know who else could’ve done that role. James Caan? Screw that noise.
Mnemosyne
@patroclus:
I’ll see if this analogy works: the words “don’t make me turn this car around!” have a very different effect depending on if they’re coming from your gentle but frustrated mom or your drunk asshole father, even if they’re the exact same words. Context is everything, especially in this case.
Mnemosyne
@sigaba:
Robert Duvall could have, but then he couldn’t have been Lt. Kilgore. Life is full of trade-offs.
ETA: Maybe Rod Steiger.
Tenar Arha (same Tenar, more Nameless Ones)
@Adam L Silverman: I don’t know why I keep hoping for the Senate & House to wake up & realize they are actually letting him destroy over 70 years of post-war policy which has kept the “peace” & any wars local & generated fortunes.
With the pace of events I no longer believe they have the time to let him cook so they can blame the policy failures on him. It’s beginning to look to me that if they let him go on for even 3-6 months, everyone will discount us, permanently. They’ll lose it all for their tax cuts for billionaires, who will move their companies & money anyway when we’re the byword for unreliable allies & illegality.
tBone
@NotMax:
And the Republican quislings in Congress. I mean, I had subatomically low expectations for them, and they’ve still managed to burrow under them. I really thought even a beaver-faced fucknut like Chaffetz could do the very simple math on this one: you want to be on the side that’s charging the hill and screaming “Wolverines!” when Red Don goes down, not standing next to him.
SFAW
@tBone:
Good one.
sigaba
@Mnemosyne: Peter Boyle.
efgoldman
@Adam L Silverman:
And if some or all of our NATO partners tell us to pound sand?
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@danielx:
“Never leave the boat. Absolutely god damned right.”
jl
I don’t know at all what the Russian connection amounts to with Trump.
But trying to squeeze more cash out of US allies has been a long standing obsession with him. He’s been yammering about it for decades, even back when he tried to get into politics as a center-right Democrat. Europe and NATO countries in particular not ‘paying their way’ is, especially after the end of the Soviet Union, a low priority problem that is best solved gradually, with consensus among the allies.
But this is squeezing money out of suckers, from Trump’s point of view, and as dear to his heart as ignorant bigotry. He won’t let it go. Though, given his attention span, that may not mean much.
SFAW
@Mnemosyne:
Or Hayden Christensen. (Ignoring that he was born two years after the movie was released, of course.) But he would have brought the right amount of gravitas to the role.
With the added benefit that the audience would have been screaming Kurtz’s last line whenever he was on screen.
magurakurin
@sigaba:
-Do you know who’s in command here, soldier?
-Yeah.
magurakurin
@NotMax:
That smell. That gasoline smell.
Villago Delenda Est
@tBone: Chaffetz and the rest are not Congressmen. They are apparatchiks of a fascist political party.
Thru the Looking Glass...
@Suzanne:
Except for the farkers who make the bombs ‘n shit… they love it.
magurakurin
@sigaba: my second favorite movie in the world, after the Magnificent Seven. But the Director’s Cut kind of sucks. The original theatre run is better.
and Brando was amazing in that role. The scenes are shot in near darkness because we are inside a man’s soul…the heart of darkness…
Villago Delenda Est
@magurakurin: Well, it is based on Conrad, so…
Also, too, Kurtz is German for “short”.
? Martin
@magurakurin: Have you seen the film Hearts of Darkness? Quite good.
SFAW
@magurakurin:
But not the original?
clay
@sigaba: How about George C Scott?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl: Trump doesn’t understand long term relationships, just look at his personal life. Everything is transactional with him.
Stacy
@Lizzy L: But can we last two years? I mean as individuals and a country. These 25 days of the SCROTUS regime have felt like a lifetime.
Peale
And if they say “no?” What then? Like if Spain says “you know, the chances of us needing to get involved in that war you’re cooking with Iran are too high” then what? Does he just kick them out?
amk
@Lizzy L: reich is finding out that only now? It has always been projection with all the rethugs.
Thru the Looking Glass...
The Trump “Adminstration’s” apparent solution to a leaky intel community…
(from the NY Times)
And yet another very, very, hugely rich person w/ NO experience whatsoever in the field he’s being chosen to review… in this case, national security…
I find these people terrifying…
efgoldman
@Thru the Looking Glass…:
Discussed in the previous thread. He’ll be lucky to get thru the front gate at Langley. let alone “investigate” anything.
Ruckus
@Omnes Omnibus:
Of course you can’t square it.
There is no way to square the current president. Non, nada, zip, zilch……. It can not be done, even by those who profess to like him. He’s a fake. If he hadn’t inherited what at the time was a pretty decent amount, and turned it into about 10-15% of what a normal person would have been able to do, and didn’t owe money to rotten people, who are of course the only ones who will loan him money, and who has the taste and class of exactly who he really is, poor white trash, you would have never heard of him. He’s incompetent, he’s vain to the 27th degree, he’s getting senile ahead of time, he’s an asshole…….
Have I spelled it out OK? Need I go on?
pamelabrown53
@Thru the Looking Glass…: #83
Speaking of terrifying, Spouse relayed some creepy information regarding Trump Russian flunkie, Carter Page. He sent a letter to the DOJ making wild rambling accusations about Hillary and her campaign. You can find it at the “Intercept”. Truly bizarre. I’m surprised this hasn’t really hit the blogs yet..even though it’s late.
? Martin
@Thru the Looking Glass…: Yeah, don’t worry about that. If the IC is currently withholding information from Trump, they’ll lock down completely when this fucknut shows up.
Ruckus
@NotMax:
Even for them it’s better to not spend it on actual war. Now endless spending preparing for war, that’s good for them.
But actual war, that costs in ways they don’t need.
Thru the Looking Glass...
@efgoldman: Sorry… never looked at the previous thread…
I hope you are right…
jl
@Ruckus: Unless it is a splendid little war, won quickly with fame and glory and great prestige for the officers, statesmen and corporate titans who won it..
But, sadly, we know how most of those have turned out. Bad bets that powerful people sometimes make, though.
David Spikes
@jl: At the end of the day it only makes sense if the US wanted to cut its defense spending. Since Trump says he wants to actually increase DOD what is the point other than being a “tough” guy.
pamelabrown53
@pamelabrown53: #86
Here’s an excerpt from Carter Pages letter to the DOJ asking them to review “the severe election fraud in the form of disinformation, suppression of dissent, hate crimes and other extensive abuses”. More excerpts found at the Intercept.
efgoldman
@David Spikes:
And that’s the problem, isn’t it. At the end of the day, nothing about President Peach Pustule makes sense.
Fair Economist
@Thru the Looking Glass…:
The intelligence agencies are going to be in a world of hurt now. It’s not like spies know anything about keeping secrets from their bosses.
efgoldman
@Fair Economist:
Or anyone else
jl
@David Spikes:
” it only makes sense ” I don’t see how an argument that contains that phrase is relevant for understanding what Trump thinks or does.
‘win and get stuff’ is a Trumpian prime direction. How or why is irrelevant.
jl
@efgoldman: This is rare historical moment when the spies could spill the beans to everyone, and every person in the world over 5 years old knows them, and our bosses in HW would still be in the dark.
I guess, try to sit back and enjoy the spectacle.
NotMax
@https://balloon-juice.com/2017/02/15/open-thread-trumpstuntin-status-moving-from-snafu-to-fubar/#comment-6250903
“Here’s my complete review of the broads in the intelligence agencies. Not a 10 among them.”
Calouste
@Thru the Looking Glass…: I think we’ll soon find out a few things about that New York billionaire that he rather wish stayed secret. It’s not like the IC is limited to just leading about Trump. If Trump and his flunkies want to go to war with the IC, the IC will fight back, and I know who I put my money on.
Manyakitty
@sigaba: Ah yes. Time for a rewatch.
Arclite
@PeakVT: “Completely fucking bonkers.”
Except that they’re not holding up their end of the bargain. They basically ignored Obama on this issue. I’m tired of paying for their defense, since we have to forward deploy more troops and equipment to make up the difference. It’s one thing for Mexico not to have an air force, it’s something else entirely for countries within a few hours reach of the Russian land army not to pay AT LEAST 2 goddamn percent for their own fucking defense.
EBT
@Ruckus: Speaking as poor white trash, we resent being classed with deadbeat donnie.
magurakurin
@SFAW: uh, I mean the original…unless of course you mean The Seven Samurai
magurakurin
@? Martin: no, I will investigate
jl
@EBT: We need to popularize a more accurate phrase for an important demographic: Rich white trash. Not large, but influential far out of proportion to its size.
We also need to bring back the phrase ‘rich man’s son’. Trump is a sad case. He found his true calling in life as a rich man’s son. Yet he wasn’t satisfied.
RandomMonster
@NotMax:
So stealing this.
Villago Delenda Est
@efgoldman: The fact that other NATO countries have been listening in on Donald’s flunkies talking to Vlad’s flunkies.
And that they have absolutely no legal restraint on spilling the beans.
? Martin
@Villago Delenda Est: Well, I don’t think Trump has quite figured out that one of the principal jobs of the IC is to keep information from people that want it, and another is to release it to the people that will produce the result they want. They are fucking experts at this.
Trump has always been the bluntest of hammers. He really doesn’t get this in any capacity, and almost nobody has his back. The GOP is at best neutral – they don’t want to burn him, but they’re not about to pull him out of the fire either.
lahke
Hi, slightly off topic. Hope you’re still up and in an answering mood, Adam. I keep hearing all kinds of civilian people referring to the president (any president) as the commander in chief. But why would that matter to a civilian? What are the obligations of a civilian to obey a military commander, outside of a situation where we have martial law? If Trump ordered me to do something, can’t I just blow him a raspberry? (that’s telling him to fuck off in geezer terms, children).
ThresherK
@lahke: I’ll have a crack, as I’m awake now with nuffin better.to do.
Tangenntial: I think it’s a pre-emptive respect ploy. Trump’s leaking respect all over the place, so hanging onto the trappings like the Prsidential Seal, or the term CiC, is a natural for him or his boosters.
I think you can blow him that raspberry. Don’t want to know how he’ll overreact to it, though.
lahke
Thanks! Guess we’re the only ones still up.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@lahke: When the kid was in the Air Force, I told her shub was her CIC; he wasn’t mine. Yes, it does bother me that the media refers to the President as CIC; because for the vast majority of us, he isn’t.
? Martin
@lahke:
Since I work for the government…
Yes, you can tell Trump to fuck off. A member of the FBI can as well, with limits. We had a training today in how to handle ICE visits to our campus, which was basically a workshop in who to tell to fuck off and how.
My oath is to uphold the policies of the institution and to Constitution of the State of California. On top of that I have a certain obligation to listen to my boss, provided I’m being asked to operate within policy and law. If I’m asked to operate outside, I can tell him/her to (very politely) fuck off, and that goes for anyone in the chain of authority up.
Further, it is not my job to try and resolve federal policy with the above. My understanding of state policy is clear. I pretty much don’t fucking care what some ICE official tells me to do, I follow state law and policy and get legal council by my side ASAP, even if that includes being shown a subpoena. Now, I do listen to legal council at that point and stop interpreting things on my own.
The issue the IC is up against is that they swore an oath to uphold the US Constitution, against enemies foreign and domestic. They have a President that is obviously not able to process information rationally, and that they have reason to suspect has been compromised by another country, and himself is not putting the Constitution as his first obligation. That puts them in a very difficult spot – their oath is not to the President. As much as Trump wants to believe himself to be, he is not king. His authority is derived within the constraints of the Constitution. Outside of the Constitution, he has no authority. The IC is operating in that extremely difficult grey area between upholding the Constitution, and meeting the established obligation to their boss and that chain of authority. Right now, those are out of phase with each other and their stress level is probably pegged at 11. If they are correct, and the legal system works as it should, they should be in the clear legally. Now, they might lose their jobs. That’s always spelled out clearly. Doing the right thing per your oath doesn’t always save your job, it just keeps you out of jail. Sometimes you have to fall on that other sword. I’ve been there several times, and thankfully come out with my job more or less intact. It sucks hard, though.
Fred
Tuned in to CNN a bit ago. Listened to a gang of five or six experts tap dancing around the obvious cluelessness of the Donald and his policy shift on Israel. They all had a slant on it but it was all rationalization to find the pearl in a pile of dung. Gotta be a pony in there somewhere.
But then what do I know? I’ve only known Trump was a crack pot con man since he first floated to the surface on American network TV decades ago. He was a vicious jack ass then and he has only gotten more bizarre with age.