Merkel's team uploaded this to her Instagram, describing it only as "a spontaneous meeting between two working sessions." pic.twitter.com/ngqHCtpujs
— David Mack (@davidmackau) June 9, 2018
The incredible photo we're all sharing today was taken by Jesco Denzel, a German government photographer. He gets credited in very few of the viral tweets. Website here: https://t.co/X3hEMsEVN4 pic.twitter.com/3VfaX6ssli
— Barry Malone (@malonebarry) June 9, 2018
Anyone else reminded of the old joke that starts “One day the different parts of the body were having an argument to see which should be in charge…”?
That photo is out of Merkel’s office. Here’s almost the same moment from the Trump WH perspective. https://t.co/YWfixHkTm7 pic.twitter.com/jqWb83oPDa
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) June 9, 2018
That second pic is from Dan Scavino, Trump’s former golf caddy and current tweet-ghostwriter.
This is what it looks like when you're at the helm of a superpower. The otherwise most powerful people in world crowd around you as you sit back and field questions pic.twitter.com/hHFEsNirPQ
— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) June 9, 2018
Hmmm. My first reaction is parents pleading w the killer to tell them where he buried the bodies. https://t.co/X9iqopDVcK
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) June 9, 2018
In both cases, the woman was right. pic.twitter.com/TveQ0Hb81P
— Schooley (@Rschooley) June 9, 2018
Whomever did this, really nailed it. pic.twitter.com/xu7QmOpi3E
— Spry Guy (@SpryGuy) June 10, 2018
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
Holy shit, that last one with Trump in a height chair with a bowl of spaghetti on his head is god-tier. Perfectly encapsulates his demeanor.
Jeffro
American business leaders, please be sure to weigh in (loudly, publicly, in the papers and through your blessed Chamber of Commerce) on how you feel about all this. Is Trumpov sticking up for you, or sticking it to you? Inquiring minds want to know!
dmsilev
The photo from the White House actually makes Trump look worse. He’s small and insignificant and almost lost in the background.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@dmsilev:
Not to mention his mouth is agape and his eyes are half closed. He looks weak, feeble, and surrounded.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Whom did this to me?!
sfinny
I wanted to take a moment to thank the Balloon Juice commentariat for their kindness and comfort to me when I put my cat down. You all know who you are and are loved for your comfort. You got me through the night.
Jeffro
@dmsilev: Yup. That Saagar guy needs to pick better opportunities to try and kiss ass…that pic ain’t it.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@dmsilev: Wow, this White House has a shitty photographer.
JanieM
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yes!
For a while I was keeping a list of instances of “whom/ever” where it should have been “who/ever,” but the overcorrection got so common that I quit bothering. Give it a couple of decades and who/whoever will have more or less vanished.
Grammar is so much more interesting than President Clickbait at this point…..
boatboy_srq
I am SO reminded of the scene from Silence of the Lambs where Lechter meets the Senator. Merkel seems ready for “Take this thing back to Baltimore!”
boatboy_srq
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Is there anything about this WH that is not shyte?
MomSense
This is beyond embarrassing. I loathe our dumb ass so called president.
Librarian
@JanieM: Kind of like using the apostrophe s for the plural.
HumboldtBlue
It was a horse racing day. Here’s Desus & Mero talking horse names.
dmsilev
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Or a good photographer who isn’t fond of the person on the other side of the lens.
B.B.A.
Do we hate George Soros now? I can’t keep up with the official party line anymore.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@dmsilev: I’m going with shitty cause Trump won’t pay for a good one. It looks like they didn’t even do minimal post on that picture.
Redshift
I’ve seen another photoshop job that puts a straightjacket on him. Works very well with the folded arms. And the fact that he’s Trump.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@B.B.A.: What? Didn’t get your Soros bucks this month?
?BillinGlendaleCA
I’m headed out for a photoshoot and looked at traffic, the LA Pride route for tomorrow is in rainbow colors on teh google maps.
Steve in the ATL
@?BillinGlendaleCA: my Soros bucks were late this month; I had to call and complain using my ObamaPhone
randy khan
I have to agree that, if anything, the White House photo makes Trump look weaker and even less in charge. You could play the German version as showing him being kind of defiant; in the White House version he just looks overwhelmed.
MisterForkbeard
@dmsilev: Sort of? If you just look at the thumbnail, Trump looks kind of happy, or opining forth on some question. Once you zoom in, you can see he looks really out of it.
YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)
@randy khan:
And yet the Trump supporters commenting on both see Trump in charge. Truely a different vision of reality.
M4
Man, yeah, gotta agree with everybody else, the WH photog is amazingly bad.
jl
Important to remember what the pics represent. This:
@AlbertoNardelli
#G7 trade discussion yesterday. I understand that Trump presented a list of grievances, listing what each country, one by one, owed the US – trade deficits, tariffs, defence and so on. Basically, a live performance of his Twitter threads.
https://twitter.com/AlbertoNardelli/status/1005357043941855237
I also heard a news report that the Wreck ’em Rectum unexpectedly and suddenly, with no explanation, nixed some of what he had previously agreed to. I haven’t found out yet what exactly what he backed out of.
Tweet found via Josh Marshall tweet feed.
Edit: shouldn’t the Airing of Grievances wait until Festivus?
Platonailedit
jl
@Platonailedit: Sure it does. Putin’s Russia, has something on Trump, and Trump know it. There you go: sense.
Or, Trump is a wannabee undemocratic strongman, and so Putin, Kim, Duterte, Orban, those are the people he admires. Again: sense.
Probably both.
Tell everyone that wrt to the trade nonsense, Congress could stop Trump cold in his tracks. Congress has delegated trade power to the president, and Congress can take them back. Tell that to any salvageable Trumpster of GOP leaning family or friend if Trump’s idiot trade wars bite them in the ass between now and November.
Mary G
PM Abe’s face and body language as he looked over at Macron say what we are all thinking: she might as well be talking to the wall as this moron .
cwmoss
@boatboy_srq: I just used your Baltimore caption on my feed! (With attribution)
sukabi
@?BillinGlendaleCA: hire your caddy to take pics and ghost tweet this is what you get. Crap in crap out.
Frankensteinbeck
@YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S):
Trump is the center of attention. He is defining the situation. Trump supporters see that as power and success. He’s making a woman angry with his refusals, which they see as another sign of success. Remember, Republicans are basically internet trolls. There is no context in the photo itself that makes it plain they’re frustrated because Trump does not understand even the most basic concepts of the subject being discussed.
What interests me is that Trump’s tweets suggest he didn’t get it, either. He thought he’d bullied them, and was shocked and angry afterwards to find out that what he interpreted as deference was people smiling and nodding at the babbling toddler while they made all the important adult decisions without him.
Platonailedit
The numbnutz bully to the other nutter: You get only one shot at this.
Ken
@Frankensteinbeck:
Which is odd, because he’s been through exactly this situation before with the Asian trade talks. He babbles and disrupts things for a day or two, leaves the conference early, and the other nations make their own agreement which leaves the US out of the picture.
(Well, it would be odd for someone capable of learning from experience.)
tomtofa
I was reminded of another similar meeting, when the leaders strolled a couple hundred yards down the street and Trump had to take a golf cart.
Can’t walk, can’t stand. Sad.
sukabi
@Ken: it’s the syphilis, scrambles the brain.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
So what’s happening with the G7 agreement anyway? Are we being excluded?
Major Major Major Major
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Maybe we’ll leave and go form our own ‘G’ clique with Russia. We can be the G2.
Wag
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
Welcome to the G6
Yutsano
I want to call him a shanda, but that’s an insult to the concept.
rikyrah
The Blacksonian has a new exhibit on Oprah
https://twitter.com/NMAAHC/status/1003638153645703168?s=20
Major Major Major Major
@Wag: “You know what? I’m gonna go make my own Group, with blackjack, and hookers. Ah, forget the group! …and the blackjack.”
Ladyraxterinok
What a disgustingly smug look on his face! ‘I won’t listen and you can’t make me!’
Wag
@Major Major Major Major: Just hookers. And blow. Lots of hookers and blow!
Major Major Major Major
Have I mentioned lately how much I hate John Bolton?
The Dangerman
@Yutsano:
I don’t know what that is, but I think a “shouldn’ta” is what I’d call him.
Trump’s a serious POS and he’s about to get rolled by Kim but he doesn’t care as long as he’s the center of attention. I’m sure he loves farting on crowded elevators.
Raoul
I’m not sure what’s worse, that Saagar Entejie tweet, or the morass of morons who are MAGA grunting in response.
Raoul
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Are we being excluded?
Are we taking our (loose) marbles and stomping off to NK with nothing?
Yes, yes we are.
Major Major Major Major
I had the oddest interaction today. My friend and I found a small store that essentially only sells Pee-Wee Herman memorabilia and various kinds of skull sculptures, and had a chat with the owner. He apparently used to have a much larger skulls-and-stuff store there, and then a medium-sized one. At that point he had a stroke, and now he just runs the small store I’d found, a few hours a day to stay sharp. We talked about neighborhood history. My friend bought a small skull carving that was labeled as some sort of carved jawbone.
RedDirtGirl
@Frankensteinbeck: Well said. Thank you. A good way to look at it!
rikyrah
Totally adorable ?
For Father’s Day
https://youtu.be/GGtL_NeHhlk
poleaxedbyboatwork
@Major Major Major Major:
Betwixt the chickenshit-martial-mustache-of-misunderstanding-Bolton and the unselfaware-hypocritical-fiery-judgment-empty-threat-Pirro and the arriviste “did-anyone-notice-my-transparent-grift-gosh-I-hope-not!” Scara(mouche)(douche)-mucci and Rudy-“fuck-y’all-I’ma-gettin-rich,beeyatch!”-noun-verb-9-11, n garish gargoyle-unkempt-unloved-unmoored-houseplant-StephenMiller and literally *anyone* fucking else who carries water for LordPissyPantsHersheySquirtPetulantDefiance, they are *all* categorically assholes adept at shifting the goalposts. It’s likea juvenile thumbwar you can never win.
We live in an indescribably imbecilic time. It’s infuriating.
imo
Damien
You know what’s kind of amazing is how these Nazis are so desperate for a dolchßtosselegende that they decided to just be the ones who stab America in the back.
I hope every single person who voted for Donald Trump ends up in a ditch somewhere, penniless, sick, alone, and ending every day with a phalanx of pigeons shitting in their open mouths.
RedDirtGirl
Have you all seen the photos of Macron’s thumb print
on the shitgibbon’s hand from the most recent episode of
Shaking Hands With Trump?
Priceless!
sukabi
@rikyrah: I love his pink slippers???
M4
Ooh boy, a real doozy of a story intro from the NYT here.
RedDirtGirl
@rikyrah: WOW. That is wonderful! Thank you for sharing it!
YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)
@RedDirtGirl: The mark of Satan! or more likely makeup smear.
HumboldtBlue
Mazel tov!
(too obscure?)
Yutsano
@M4: They pretty much swallowed after that blowjob.
@HumboldtBlue: I chortled. Does that count?
YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)
@HumboldtBlue: I think you mean a shandy, not a mazel tov cocktail.
Mnemosyne
@Raoul:
No kidding. It’s especially creepy to see them all babbling about Trump being God’s chosen one. ?
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne:
If drumpf is the chosen one, this is no god I want anything to do with.
YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)
Seriously, I am not sure who currently are the cons, who is being conned. I think WSJ editors suggesting congress take away tariff authority suggests they may have an inkling that what they thought was the con is turning out to be DJT either falling for his own con or going off the rails. In any case it seems that his handlers have stopped being effective.
The press is still following every shining object he throws up. It’s like all of the administration is a pack of circus clowns or magic assistants misdirecting the audience while the pickpockets work.
The Federalist court stacking scheme is still going strong so McConnell is still on board.
Sessions is getting his pounds of flesh so he’s okay with the abuse he gets.
The oligarchs may be dismayed at the threat to the US and world economy, or they may have their own hedges in place.
Meanwhile the cultists and trolls are cheering and in denial of any problems.
ruemara
@Mnemosyne: I had no idea god was all out of choices so a shit sandwich it was.
In the interest of bringing you a better tomorrow, toe beans.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Look at the picture a second time, I get this odd feeling the only reason Trump hadn’t bolted from Merkel was his own staff wouldn’t get out of his way lol.
Brachiator
@Frankensteinbeck:
We are getting into an interesting area here. Trump is delusional or he doesn’t know how to back out of his own con. He will lie for domestic consumption and his supporters and Fox News will still believe that he is calling the shots and setting the agenda.
But while this shit works at home, other world leaders have no reason to pretend that Trump knows what he is doing, nor can they patiently wait to see if he will honor settled agreements. They will have to do more of what is happening now, exclude the US and move on.
So now, we get to see whether the hard right media, the GOP leadership and the financial markets continue to pretend that Trump’s lies are the real deal.
John McCain is already out there saying that “Americans stand with you, even if our president doesn’t,”
Is Fox News going to declare that these are the ravings of a dying man and don’t mean squat?
The sad thing is that Trump doesn’t even realize that the stakes have gotten higher in this international game, or that he may not have enough chips to even stay in the game.
Calouste
@Brachiator: McCain is still a Republican, so he is still with the shitgibbon. It’s a really easy line, (besides McCain of course voting for all the shit the shitgibbon pushed down, except for the Obamacare repeal). You either stand with the rest of the world, or you are a Republican. You can’t do both.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@Major Major Major Major:
Huh. That sounds intriguing. What’s it called, or where is it? I love oddball little places like that.
M4
@Comrade Colette Collaboratrice: Martin’s 16th Street Emporium.
ETA one of the yelp reviews (which are all accurate) notes “it has a GREAT collection of random things,” lol
YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)
@YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S): @RedDirtGirl: I’ve seen a larger picture of the Macron mark that looks more like a bruise than a makeup smear. I guess it was a grip and groan.
Brachiator
@Calouste:
Not necessarily true, but we shall see.
A CBS news headline says “Democrats, McCain criticize Trump over G7 comments,” quoting McCain, Schumer and Pelosi.
So, the GOP just might back their man to the bitter end. They may be waiting to see whether Trump screws up in Singapore or actually accomplishes something.
The clock is ticking.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@M4: Thanks! Easy Thursday lunchtime walk from my office.
M4
@Comrade Colette Collaboratrice: mind the hours: Tu-F 4pm-6pm; Sat 12-5. He doesn’t have the energy for a full-scale operation ☹️
Anne Laurie
@YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S):
Trump’s retaining water, bigly. If he’s on heart meds — which would not be unusual, given his age & habits — they need adjusting. If he’s not, whoever took over from Dr. Ronny Jackson needs to run some tests!
Sloane Ranger
First off thanks again for everyone’s kind words and support on my brother’s death.
Leto – I’m not in that place but thanks again for the phone numbers.
Ohio Mum – I took your advice and went to a church yesterday. They were having a Bach organ recital. I said a few prayers for Rick and listened to the music. I found it very cathartic as I was able to cry for the first time since he passed. I fly home this afternoon to face the practical issues dealing with repatriation of Rick’s remains, what to do with his belongings, which are still in police custody, and dealing with his estate. First off tomorrow morning, informing Rick’s employer.
As for that photo, it looks like all the other world leaders tried to stage an intervention and selected Angels Merkel as their spokesperson. Clearly it was unsuccessful!
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Jeffro:
I’d say it’s time for American manufacturers to direct every campaign donation and lobby dollar to the democrats.
prostratedragon
In Scavino’s photo Blister is the only one disappearing into shadow, and the quizzical or stupefied expressions of those in the foreground that we can see make me wonder at the laughter in the background. Could Bolton and Trudeau be laughing the same laugh?
if this be mere incompetence, then it is wondrous.
From what seemed at the time like a crazy year, 1971:
“Quiet Dawn”
Ken
@Major Major Major Major:
Wasn’t this an episode of Tales from the Darkside?
Dorothy Winsor
I hope we get some tell-all stories about what the world leaders think of him.
Zinsky
The creepy, ignorant old sexual predator Trump has no business being with a distinguished group of dignified, intelligent people like that. The people who cleaned the toilets at the G7 conference had more class than him!
Matt McIrvin
@Damien:
During the Bush years, a popular conservative argument was that all the horrors of Republican control were just evidence that big government was no good, so we had to keep voting Republican to keep big government off our backs.
A similar one is the “look what you made me do” line. “We have to keep electing these sadists and grifters; it’s your fault because of transgender people in public restrooms!”
Matt McIrvin
@Ken: And when they went back the next day, the shop didn’t exist and there had never been a building there!
Gex mobile
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: that’s where they should have been all along. The pro-business party that wants to do just enough to keep capitalism from eating itself and/or stave off tumbrels was always the better choice for them. But moderating their insatiable greed is not what they do.
Steve in the ATL
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: lol. You’re right, but you know they’ll never do it!
Raoul
I fully understand that Tom Nichols does not have the best interests of Democrats in mind. But he can still be correct some times (and an insufferable pompous ass at other times).
This thread.
Tom Nichols @RadioFreeTom
It’s not that I disagree about policy with Trump supporters. It’s that I know they don’t give a shit about policy. There’s no way to have a policy argument with people whose eyes are always looking up to the television for a cue from Dear Leader about what to say next. /1
As @JVLast once said, Trumpism is non-falsifiable. Whatever Trump does is right. There are no principled arguments to be had, because if Trump changes his mind or tweets something off the wall, Trumpers change their position immediately. /2
…
For them, Trump is their shot. They know he’s, um, emotionally disordered, to use @Peter_Wehner’s term, but they don’t care: this is their one chance to grab the car keys and throw a kegger before Mom and Dad get back home. That makes talking with them about policy impossible. /5
I think we’d all be less exhausted if the Trumpers would just admit that what they value from Trump is the social leveling effect he has, forcing intelligent people to respond endlessly to stupid comments and bad ideas, than continue pretending they care about “policy.” /8
Read the whole thing.
Zinsky
Liberals still don’t “get” the importance of constant, consistent messaging. Every reference to Donald Trump should be a reminder of what a sick, deviant human being he is. I prefer phrases like “rapist Donald Trump” or “sexual predator Donald Trump” or “sexual degenerate Donald Trump”. You are normalizing this pervert by referring to him as “President Trump”. Never forget that he was NOT elected by the people of the United States. He lost by over three million votes and the American people need to be reminded of that every single day this creepy pervert is in the Oval Office!
Peale
I guess what irks me about the Canada trade war is that in the end, its probably going to be effective in the fall in Wisconsin and Minnesota because they reverse engineered Dairy farmers as being the beneficiaries. So basically throwing away an entire free trade zone for totem industries. So not only do the foreign leaders have to be subject to GOP presidents, they have to consider the politics of small states with Senate seats up for grabs.
trnc
@Platonailedit: Biden let his name be dragged around per the “Biden rule” nonsense. How much sense did that make?
afanasia
@?BillinGlendaleCA: They really do. The put out a terrible black and white one recently that was aiming for “Kennedy White House” but hit visual incoherence instead.
Bobbo
“Whomever took this picture.” Why oh why, for the love of God?
Steeplejack
@poleaxedbyboatwork:
You have used up your hyphen allotment for the whole month. Plan accordingly.
Brinkley Paiste
And why is he the only person sitting? Is he exhausted before he even gets to Singapore?