Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Everybody saw this coming.

I really should read my own blog.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

All your base are belong to Tunch.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Accountability, motherfuckers.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

This fight is for everything.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Bark louder, little dog.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / Late Night Criminal Stupidity Open Thread: #Helstinki Summ-It-Up

Late Night Criminal Stupidity Open Thread: #Helstinki Summ-It-Up

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Since Trump likes to compare himself to Abraham Lincoln, I guess this misbegotten meeting would be his version of “The world will little note, nor long remember… “

… Vice President Mike Pence, National Security Adviser John Bolton and chief of staff John Kelly stood united in the West Wing on Tuesday in their contention that the commander in chief had some cleanup to do. They brought with them words of alarm from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as well as from a host of congressional leaders and supporters of the president for whom Trump’s public praise of Putin proved to be a bridge too far.

Even for Trump, a leader who has increasingly come to cast off the constraints and guidance of aides, the him-against-the-world position proved untenable. Trump may like doing things his way, eschewing advice and precedent like no president before, but he never likes being alone.…

The reviews he received were muted — Trump rarely takes kindly to direct confrontation — but it was a taste of what awaited him on his return in Washington, where stalwart allies like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich were speaking out.

By the time he arrived home, the parade of critical statements had become a stampede, leaving Trump the most isolated he’d been in the White House since last year’s controversy over white supremacist protesters in Charlottesville. Some in the president’s circle saw parallels in the response to that incident, when the president walked back his August comments critical of “both sides” for protests in the Virginia city, only to later revert to his initial position — that both white supremacists and their detractors shared blame for the violence.

Trump waited 27 hours, sent five tweets and sat for two television interviews after his initial comments in Helsinki before claiming he’d used a confusing “double negative” and meant “would” instead of “wouldn’t” in a key sentence at his press conference about who was responsible for election meddling….

As each White House effort to clean up the situation failed to stem the growing bipartisan backlash, Trump’s mood worsened, according to confidants. He groused about his staff for not better managing the fallout. He was angry at the two American reporters, including one from The Associated Press, who asked questions at the Helsinki news conference. And he seethed at the lack of support he believed he received from congressional Republicans…

Isn’t it just #Blessed that we have Staunch GOP Leaders(tm) like Pence, Bolton, Kelly, and even McConnell to keep “President” Trump on the Right-eous path? Good thing these fine Christianist men (and also Newt Gingrich) are not too shy to share these secretive meetings with the media!

Reader Interactions

50Comments

  2. 2.

    Mary G

    I worry about the wag the dog scenario. Pompeo and Tom Cotton have been out here this weekend raising money and talking Iran regime change at the Reagan library.

  3. 3.

    The Dangerman

    @Mary G:

    I worry about the wag the dog scenario…

    I’m thinking $5 a gallon gas won’t serve Trump well in the midterms (of course,that assumes that midterms would still happen).

  4. 4.

    Amir Khalid

    That last photo … Forgive me for repeating myself, but Trump and Putin look like a servant and his master.

  5. 5.

    NotMax

    @Amir Khalid

    Also repeating that it strikes me as a manchild who challenged someone to an actual dick measuring contest and came up woefully short.

  6. 6.

    Brachiator

    Biggest impact of Helsinki so far: the big wigs and respectable folk are starting to think Putin has something on Trump.

    One of the saddest things of all is that the “respectable folk” really believe that they are respectable.

    Vice President Mike Pence, National Security Adviser John Bolton and chief of staff John Kelly stood united in the West Wing on Tuesday in their contention that the commander in chief had some cleanup to do.

    I love these little stories. They all end the same way. Trump is a rigid old fool who always shakes off attempts to “handle” him.

    The US is not great again or leading the world. We have to hope that other world leaders realize that our president is an angry baby and not overreact to his nutty posturing.

    But the clock is ticking. We really need to take back the Congress in the midterms and see what kind of positive pressure can be brought to bear.

  7. 7.

    Ruckus

    @The Dangerman:
    Gas is already over $4/gal here in sunny Pasadena. Not at all stations but the average is about $3.85-3.90/gal. The cheapest I’ve seen is $3.69 per. I have no clue what it is in the hinterland.

  8. 8.

    Ruckus

    @NotMax:
    Add in the Iran thing and that sounds on the money. He’s trying to regain the manhood he never had.

    ETA It might be like the old joke about the food at summer camp, It was horrible and there wasn’t enough of it.
    This version as possible told by one of his paid for dates, “He was horrible and there wasn’t enough there to feel.”

  10. 10.

    Gemina13

    I remember some idiots who lived near me gloating that with Trump as President, gas would be down to “$1.50 a gallon!”

    It’s around $3.50 in Tacoma, on average. I’d like to find these brain trusts and see how this is working out for them.

  13. 13.

    hells littlest angel

    Trump looks like he wishes he could get the taste of semen out of his mouth.

  14. 14.

    jl

    “The world will little note, nor long remember… “

    AL planted the idea of rewriting Lincoln’s great speeches in Trumpese. It’ s her fault, not mine at all. I’m a very stable genius.

    So,
    “Losers’ll ignore this speech. Very unfair to me. And it has the best words. Sad. “

  21. 21.

    Mel

    @Amir Khalid: Fellow prisoner of felines here. I have one smashed up against my back, and one lounging across my knees. I’m basically just heated cat furniture right now.

    How is your guitar playing going?

  22. 22.

    Anne Laurie

    @NotMax:

    Also repeating that it strikes me as a manchild who challenged someone to an actual dick measuring contest and came up woefully short.

    It did cross my mind that’s why Putin used a female translator as the only (official) witness — he figured even Donny Dollhands would hesitate to whip it out in front of other men.

    (Assuming you remember the old joke about why women are so bad at math… )

  24. 24.

    Amir Khalid

    @Mel:
    Aside from learning blues guitar, I’m also learning to play by ear some classic Malay songs by P. Ramlee. (P. Ramlee, for those not familiar with Malaysian culture, is like Spencer Tracy, John Coltrane and Frank Sinatra all in one guy — a legendry actor, musician, and singer.)

  25. 25.

    Mel

    @Ruckus: Agreed. He’s like the wannabe bully who got his ass handed to him on the playground by the real bully, in front of a crowd, and then immediately tries to go after a smaller kid to silence the mocking and laughter.

    Only the small kid has ballistic missiles and nuclear capability. I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep much tonight. Or any night in the foreseeable future.

  26. 26.

    NotMax

    @Mel

    Wouldn’t go blowing it out of proportion. At this juncture it’s empty “I’m rubber, you’re glue” bombast

  28. 28.

    Mel

    @Amir Khalid: I love some good bluesy guitar.

    Have you heard Susan Tedeschi’s music (either her solo stuff, or her work with her husband Derek Trucks and their band)? I think that you would really love it if you loves bluesy rock. She’s a terrific guitarist and has a great voice as well. She does a cover of John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery” that is absolutely haunting.

    I’m really intrigued about P. Ramlee. Can you recommend a particular P. Ramlee movie or album that you think would be a good intro to his music?

  29. 29.

    Mel

    @NotMax: True. Perspective is key to keeping our sanity.

    This has been a bad week (health issues, a friend’s parent dying, trying to help and assist my parent who has Alzheimer’s and has been understandably particularly sad, angry and frustrated about the awfulness of the disease, but thus, very difficult and cantankerous) and watching the fragile agreement with Iran begin teetering a bit has really gotten to me.

  30. 30.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Mary G: That would plunge Trump’s pitiful approval ratings to even lower depths. The majority of this country hates Trump’s guts so he will not get the benefit of the doubt many Americans extended to President Bush right after 9/11.

    If the U.S. couldn’t win in Iraq, there’s no way it can win in Iran which has a larger population.

  31. 31.

    NotMax

    @Mel

    That’s more on one’s plate than is just. Not trying to be either glib or trite, but “one day at a time” can be a lifeline to grab firmly ahold of.

    Better days ahead.

  32. 32.

    Amir Khalid

    I’d like to recommend P. Ramlee stuff I’ve seen on YouTube, there’s plenty of it; but unfortunately, chances are that YouTube won’t let you see it.

  34. 34.

    Mel

    @NotMax: Thanks. I didn’t take it as glib at all. Sometimes that really is the only way to slog through the messiest parts of life – just focusing on getting through that particular day’s issues, and trying not to let the things that are truly beyond our control consume us.

  35. 35.

    Amir Khalid

    @NotMax:
    Yes, that’s the title song from a comedy film. If you can see that, you should do YouTube searches for songs like Getaran Jiwa, Jeritan Batinku, Jangan Tinggal Daku, Di-mana Kan Ku Chari Ganti … and movies like Ali Baba Bujang Lapok (funniest version of Ali Baba and The 40 Thieves ever, I tell you) Sarjen Hassan (WWII drama), Ibu Mertua-ku (MIL-from-hell melodrama), and Tiga Abdul (comedy set in a weird mash-up of 1960s Malaysia and the Arabian Nights world).

  37. 37.

    Robert Sneddon

    @NotMax: There are a few countries with breakout nuclear weapons capability, Japan being one of them (a breeder reactor, a PUREX-based fuel reprocessing plant, even an ICBM based on the Epsilon solid-fuel small-payload rocket). Iran is actually well behind Japan in that regard.

  39. 39.

    NotMax

    @Robert Sneddon

    And yet the American press breathlessly reports each new Netanyahu unit uttered over the past 3 decades –

    “Iran will have the bomb in 5 years.” “Iran will blow us up in 2 years. “No, 1 year.” “Make that 2 years again.” “No, 6 months.”

    – as if it has unassailable validity and is not a primarily political propaganda tool.

  40. 40.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Patricia Kayden: Big wars are always popular at first. He’d get a short-term boost before it all went to hell. It’s just a question of timing. Trump doesn’t really care about the midterms– he’d want to do it for himself in 2020 instead of blowing his chance now. But that is assuming he’s thinking rationally in terms of election strategy, and I doubt he ever does.

  41. 41.

    J R in WV

    Iran is close to Pakistan… originator of nuclear bombs along with India in South Asia. Like in an existential emergency the Pakistanis won’t help Iraq out against the westerners?

  45. 45.

    Tokyokie

    @Patricia Kayden:

    If the U.S. couldn’t win in Iraq, there’s no way it can win in Iran which has a larger population.

    As well as more formidable geography, no bordering nation from which to attack, and the ability to control the Strait of Hormuz.

  46. 46.

    JGabriel

    Jonathan Lemire (@ Top):

    Though never fearful of going it alone, Trump after Helsinki found himself perilously isolated – and the firestorm shows no sign of abating

    News Flash, Jonathan: Donald Trump is always fearful.

    The biggest mistake AP makes on a regular basis – and the NY Times, too, for that matter – is writing about, and treating, Trump as if he were a legitimate president, instead of a narcississtic, sociopathic, rageoholic, insecure, popular-vote losing president who only attained office as the result of a Russian psy-op/intel operation that, to Putin’s own surprise and increasing chagrin, successfully installed him there.

  49. 49.

    J R in WV

    @Amir Khalid:

    I got quite a bit back in my search results, but a lot was covers of his work. Sounds really good, especially for the era he was working in.

  50. 50.

    artem1s

    Gas is creeping up into the $3.90 range here in some parts of Ohio. Also, I’ve noticed that diesel is bouncing around quite a lot and is leading gas by a wider gap than in the past. High gas prices hurt commuters mostly. High diesel prices hurt buyers of just about everything. Anything that is shipped anywhere or is harvested by a machine is affected.

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