The orange oaf is scheduled to waddle forth to address the nation at 11 AM ET. Post reporter Josh Dawsey says on Twitter: “Several aides say Trump is not looking to escalate further with Iran with this morning’s speech.” Well, that’s good?
I predict Trump will be extra snorty and insufferably braggy — really going out on a limb here!
Anyhoo, open thread.
Tom Levenson
This is a moment to miss E. F. Goldman.
Fuckem.
The Moar You Know
I don’t. I think he’ll be medicated as fuck and read his entire “statement” off the teleprompter in that voice that says both “I don’t give a shit about any of this” and “I’m functionally illiterate” because it was explained in no uncertain terms to him that if he gets a bunch of servicemembers killed in the run up to the election, he won’t get his precious, precious second term
As evidence for this hypothesis, I present his only tweet of last night, obviously not written by him in any way, shape or form.
NickM
I can’t watch him address something so serious in real time. It’s easier on my system to read Juicers’ reactions in almost-real time, so I’ll be checking in here.
zhena gogolia
@The Moar You Know:
I could just picture what the situation was last night when they considered having him go on TV. What a mess he must be in private, given what he looks like in public.
Cheryl Rofer
Here’s the White House livestream
SiubhanDuinne
Exactly what I anticipate. With that weird non- or mis-placed emphasis he always employs when reading (heh, “reading”) from the Teleprompter.
Betty Cracker
@The Moar You Know: You could be right. That tweet was DEFINITELY not written by Trump.
schrodingers_cat
I am glad that you are watching it so that I don’t have to. I have only seen one Orange Concealer speech, the one he gave the RNC convention after he grabbed Ivanka’s ass on live TV. I lasted about 10 minutes before I had to turn it off.
Spanky
@Cheryl Rofer: Why do you hate us so?
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: What was the tweet?
Aleta
Perfect opportunity to mention Ivanka and promises kept and america safe and fund my wall and call dems names and say millions of jobs.
MisterForkbeard
I think this goes one of three ways:
1) Trump acts incredibly smug and assholish about how his plan ‘worked’, de-escalates.
2) Trump acts incredibly smug and assholish about how ineffective Iran was and how they can’t hurt us, but “de-escalates”.
3) Trump goes full-fucking whackadoodle and declares more actions against Iran are coming.
Kay
They’re hugely confident in their pronouncements. Again. Over and over and over.
Amazing. There doesn’t seem to be any way to get them ever doubt their own judgment.
My youngest child is sometimes over-confident. It’s kind of a nice problem to have raising a kid but still I tell him to, you know, consider developing a shred of humility and…he’s a junior in high school. These people are full grown adults.
geg6
I simply cannot watch or listen to this piece of garbage. I hate him so much and my blood pressure can’t take it. So I appreciate having all of you to suffer so I do not have to.
VOR
Twelve minutes after and still no sign. This smells like show biz crapola to build suspense.
Kay
Let me guess- it’s a huge success. It always is.
Chris
@Aleta:
“If only my wall had been built, those Iranian missiles would never have gotten over it and hit our brave boys in Iraq.”
NickM
@VOR: That or they’re waiting for him to get his legs under him after whatever they dosed him with.
Aleta
Best mission that has ever been accomplished !
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@NickM:
Me, too. I just turned NPR off in time. They were talking about the setting, and how presidents decide if they want to be seated in the Oval Office, standing in that elaborate hall. Trump has set up an audience. I wouldn’t be surprised if applause breaks are written in.
The Dangerman
Has it started yet? More importantly, has he finished? I won’t watch for the same reason I don’t swing a hammer and hit my hand. Not into pain.
Put me down on “medicated as fuck”.
The Moar You Know
15 minutes late. Musta needed another shot of Xanax to get the screaming to stop.
schrodingers_cat
@Kay: Ian Bremmer is a clown. After I read his take on Modi, I will never again take anything said by him seriously ever again.
Soprano2
@Kay: Those were exactly my thoughts. How can he be so sure after less than a week? He’s projecting his wishes is all that’s happening here.
Mike in NC
Fat Bastard wanted to palm this whole mess onto Pence’s plate and move on, but sometimes even the media know where the buck stops.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Kay: I’m really surprised at how many people are joining in on the declarations of Mission Accomplished.
DCrefugee
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Me too. Pandora is playing Butthole Surfers radio. Seems appropriate.
MisterForkbeard
@VOR: I’m going say they’re waiting for the meds to kick in properly.
Betty Cracker
@WaterGirl: Here’s the tweet:
Weirdly chipper, no? Lack of random noun capitalization and fairly competent use of punctuation tells me Trump didn’t write it.
chris
Cheryl Rofer
@Kay: Bremmer called it a win in an earlier tweet and got thoroughly dragged
ETA: Also what Schroedinger’s Cat said
Gravenstone
Must’ve finally found the right drug cocktail to let him slur words from a teleprompter without breaking into hysterics. Yeah, this is going to be a train wreck.
Spanky
@The Moar You Know:
“Hello! Is there anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me. Is there anyone at home?”
The Moar You Know
20 minutes late and counting. I’m invoking the “15 minute rule”, everyone can go home now.
He’s either really not doing so well with the sedation or has died on the toilet.
Chris
@Betty Cracker:
“Most powerful military in the world.”
Is… anyone ever going to point out in public that our Most Powerful Military has fought five major wars since 1945 and has unequivocally won exactly one of them?
Kay
@schrodingers_cat:
I am not as sure the sun will rise tomorrow as these people are confident that really complex events will turn out exactly like they predict.
That same over-confident child was born with a bad eye. We went to a surgeon at the U of M who is supposedly one of the best in the field. He told me “we don’t really know how the eye works so no guarantees” – I could have hugged him. I was delighted. I found a mere mortal who doesn’t, in fact, know everything!
Barbara
@geg6:
Seconded.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@The Moar You Know:
It is Elvis’s birthday…
OldDave
Worked for Elvis. Works for me.
NickM
@Betty Cracker: The inappropriate affect of “All is well!” is pure NPD Trump though.
JPL
@Betty Cracker: Imagine writing a tweet pretending you are trump and leading with all is well. His staff thinks so highly of him. lol
The Moar You Know
At 25 minutes late, NBC has dropped the feed and gone to Lester Holt (i think). Trump ain’t coming out, looks like.
Aleta
My kingdom for an escalator ride down into the briefing room.
hueyplong
@Barbara: I have not watched Trump vomit word-like things for two years.
Cheryl Rofer
The Dangerman
@The Moar You Know:
Oh, man, rip that fucker out of the bathroom for a quick trip for display at the Smithsonian. The toilet, not Trump.
Gravenstone
@NickM: Needs moar Kevin Bacon!
randy khan
@Kay:
Bremmer’s tweet is remarkably stupid.
Granted, there were people – basically all the smart people – who were worried because all of the evidence of the last 4-1/2 years indicates that Trump is just the kind of guy to bumble into a war.
But this implies that somehow we won this exchange, which is exactly wrong. Everyone is mad at us, only a fool thinks that the missiles were the real retaliation, Iran has dropped another one of the strictures in the Obama deal, and we have no allies supporting what we did.
Bruce K
@chris: Isn’t the saying that it takes two to make peace but only one to make war? I don’t trust the theocrats at the top of the Iranian power pyramid any farther than I trust the theocrats (or the kleptocrats) at the top of the American power pyramid.
Betty Cracker
All the shitbags EXCEPT Trump just showed up (Pence, Pompeo, etc.).
Joe Falco
And things are starting now
JPL
OMG I have the tv on mute and listening to John Oliver instead, but trump just came out of the shadows.
Bill Arnold
@Cheryl Rofer:
Giantcat9 has been my hero since inception, but that is above and beyond! :-)
JPL
It’s to early to drink, but has he blamed Obama yet?
The Moar You Know
Oh yeah, he’s on and I win. He is doped up to the fucking gills. Every word off the teleprompter.
SFAW
@Betty Cracker:
If you’re talking about “in the maladministration,” then the briefing room (or whatever it’s called) is much too small. You’d need the Rose Bowl.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: Having now seen the tweet – thank you – I agree that there’s not a chance in hell that he wrote that.
Betty Cracker
Particularly heavy and inexpertly applied layer of orange-brown makeup today.
Ella in New Mexico
The darting glances and extremely apprehensive look on the face of the military guy over Trump’s left shoulder pretty much says it all.
They’ve been fighting with him for hours, and still don’t trust he’s not gonna fucking blow this whole thing up.
The Moar You Know
Oh boy, whoever wrote this is blaming this entire shitshow, that he caused, on Obama.
Betty Cracker
He just blamed Obama — drink!
The bare patches of skin around Trump’s eyes and hairline are almost bluish. Here’s hoping it indicates a severe health condition.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@JPL: Well it does bring to mind Kevin Bacon’s last scene in Animal House when he marches the ROTC cadets into a brick wall…So appropriate!
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: I’m sure his hands weren’t steady enough to apply his own makeup. Or perhaps there’s no way to apply that much and have it look okay.
Are we one step away from Weekend with Bernie?
Bostondreams
Did he just blame Obama? Really?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Betty Cracker:
Betty Cracker
OMG, he’s slurring badly!
Avalune
Tolerited.
I’m not going to tolerite anymore of your sh!t.
evodevo
@NickM: Yes. This. I can’t stand to even hear his voice any more – the damage he’s done to this country and to democracy ….aarrrrgghhhh!
SFAW
@The Moar You Know:
Or doped up like John Gill? [Except Gill (i.e., from Star Trek, not the theologian) was a basically a good person, if misguided. ]
Immanentize
@Avalune: I think you mean “toilerate this shit.”
Ella in New Mexico
@Betty Cracker: I’m thinking someone applies his makeup in a way that attempts to make his face look slimmer for the camera, in front on shots. Follow the darker tone placements–the triple chin and fat covered jaw, out from the eyes stopping at mid temple, etc.
So, is conturing supposed to look this fake? Where’s Melania?
TaMara (HFG)
I purposely took the dogs for a walk. And he’s stillllll talking. Fuckem.
The Moar You Know
Every person on that stage not named Trump is in pants-shitting panic mode. But they dodged a bullet. He read the statement and left.
chris
Maybe it’s the makeup but he does not look well at all. Muted because I just can’t listen.
And he’s done and gone.
Betty Cracker
Now he’s leaving. Damn. Barely got through that one. I thought he was going to swallow his own tongue.
SFAW
@evodevo:
As the saying goes: come sit by me. [Or geg6, or schrodinger’s cat, or any one of a number of us.]
SFAW
@Betty Cracker:
FSM/Santa/Baby Jesus doesn’t love you/us that much.
Betty Cracker
He was slurring alarmingly there for a sentence or two. Couldn’t pronounce the words “murder” or “tolerate.” I thought he was stroking out.
Ella in New Mexico
@Betty Cracker: yes, and the dry “nose breathing” thing is more pronounced today.
Also sounds like a deal was made he’d get enough Obama blaming and anti-Iran rhetoric to keep him happy and not stray of topic or riff.
Another Scott
Didn’t watch nor listen.
But of course.
(groucho-roll-eyes.gif)
Cheers,
Scott.
Joe Falco
Thank god it’s over. Man is sounding off his greatest hits on Obama blaming, claiming credit that he’s built the military back up and demanding NATO to step up like they’re his tenants. What an absolute shitshow
Sebastian
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I’ve been saying for a while that he is about to keel over. Dude had a stroke and the pressure keeps rising with impeachment, crisis left and right, shoes dropping everywhere, and of course his drug habit.
I am convinced he’ll have a major health issue soon. I am also buying all popcorn futures for the debates.
Cheryl Rofer
@Ella in New Mexico: That’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Commander Mark Milley. When he’s with Trump, he always looks like he wants to sink into the ground.
Betty Cracker
It’s so weird the way the TV news people just discuss the speech as if it was in any sense normal.
Barbara
@Betty Cracker: That pattern (delayed start, curt, even surly delivery, quick exit) suggests he was fighting with them about what would be said and finally acquiesced to a prepared statement that didn’t give him enough chest thumping credit.
Kay
@randy khan:
I just want one of them to say, once, that they don’t know. Because they don’t.
They all complain about the “death of expertise” or whatever but they caused it. No one ordered them to make bold predictions over and over. That wasn’t a requirement.
They can still be experts and be fallible and conscious of the wonders of the universe and their small role in the scheme of human events :)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Barbara: look for the upcoming Sixty Minute Hate (tomorrow or Friday?) to be off the fucking rails
Ella in New Mexico
@Cheryl Rofer: LOL go figure :-D
Sebastian
@Betty Cracker:
That’s a common symptom with people who snort too much speed/coke/Adderal
Bill Arnold
Did he give 2013 as the JCPOA year?
That was full of lies, some of them quite clearcut.
Rommie
@Sebastian: I think it’s a valid bet there will be NO debates, for reasons unsaid but obvious.
Cheryl Rofer
For which we can be glad. Looks like they managed to shuffle him off the stage before he got into some of his greatest hits, but he did manage to insist on some other things. The “Death to the JCPOA” crowd got lots of licks in.
Kay
All the Trump people blame Obama, constantly. Betsy DeVos had an entire congressional appearance last month where all she did was blame Obama.
It’s consistent with them being bad hires. Whiny. Won’t accept responsibility.
Barbara
@randy khan: Dodging a bullet isn’t the same thing as winning.
schrodingers_cat
@Another Scott: Just like another candidate originally from NYC who loves to shout and wag his finger.
zhena gogolia
I couldn’t watch it, but —
grubert
He sounded drugged and dead inside.
Bill Arnold
@Barbara:
It is, however, often a prerequisite.
Ella in New Mexico
@The Moar You Know:
Maybe we ALL won :-D
I’m betting that last night’s “deferral” of a statement by him was accompanied by an attempt to get him to go to bed and get some sleep, likely using sedatives.
Combine Ambien with him waking up early and taking whatever meds he normally does to help his brain work at at least 50%, he’s definitely a candidate for fuzziness and slurring.
And waddling off stage like his legs are telephone poles
@grubert:
That’s just his normal baseline. He was actually even more drugged today, have to admit.
Chip Daniels
I’m proud to say that in three years I have not watched so much as a second of him, or heard his voice and today was no exception
But from the comments it sounds like he had the appearance of a sullen child delivering a forced apology.
Is that about right?
randy khan
@Barbara:
Yep.
Aleta
@Ella in New Mexico: He looks horrified. Of course, who knows if he really is… could be just his Resting Horror Face.
Except I doubt he’s at rest. Hyperalert Horror Face is probably a documented thing in rooms with no escape path from Trump.
VOR
@Barbara: CNN noted someone came out about 15 minutes after the hour and swapped the folder placed on the lectern. Said that was a sign they changed the contents of the speech.
The Moar You Know
@Barbara: Totally agree. You can tell which parts he wrote. They didn’t let him say very much of that. Someone has him on some sort of leash (again, my bet is some hard tranquilizers).
VOR
@Bill Arnold: Yes, he said the JCPOA was in 2013. In our reality, 2015. I suspect there will need to be serious fact-checking on this speech, as usual.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@The Moar You Know:
Read and left? That certainly inspired confidence.
Betty Cracker
Here’s a short clip that captures the worst of the slurring:
khead
Three takeaways for me:
The slurring and stumbling with words.
As always, it’s Obama’s fault.
Asking NATO for help. Good luck with that.
lgerard
Sad that trump cannot see that if Iran can use this to drive a bigger wedge between the government of Iraq and the US, then they are the clear winners here.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Barbara:
If he sticks to pattern, he’ll stew for a day or two and then tweet what he really feels.
zhena gogolia
@Chip Daniels:
If you haven’t seen him in three years, you have no idea of the horror. He is in deep dementia.
hueyplong
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I’ll take the under on how soon he tweets the unvarnished version.
The Dangerman
@Rommie:
As long as he’s minimally functional (breathing, not drooling, not dropping his pants and taking a dump on stage), he’ll debate. Doesn’t matter what he says, FOX calls him a winner of the debate and mission accomplished.
Betty Cracker
I don’t suppose we’ll get any details on the new sanctions Trump says he’s imposing on Iran. He’s going to harangue NATO again, but what are they going to do?
Soprano2
So, what will the tweets be like later today, since they didn’t let him do all the chest-thumping and dick-swinging he wanted to?
chris
As Kay says, the incompetence is staggering.
Aleta
@Dorothy A. Winsor: We need a betting pool for how long he can be subdued.
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: That clip is appalling.
Barbara
@khead: NATO isn’t a mercenary force that he gets to call up in order to deploy whatever impulsive military action he decides to take. I assume this is his way of teeing up the eventual anti-NATO tweet storm that awaits when NATO allies ask for detailed information on strategy and goals, which he will spin as a refusal to help.
Cheryl Rofer
@chris: Everything he said on the JCPOA comes from those who have opposed it from the start and have wanted a war against Iran. The mistaken “2013” may be his own.
WaterGirl
Betty, calling Trump the Orange Oaf reminded me of one of my favorite images related to Trump.
I love that photo so much.
Jeffro
@chris: I admire Dale’s dedication but we’re pretty well past the point where anyone cares about this level of fact-checking. trumpov lies all. the. time. trumpov also knows next to nothing about anything. So, calling out his lies and/or ignorance is just kind of, I dunno…’silly’ is not the word, but ‘a waste of time’ is close.
chris
@Cheryl Rofer: Agreed. What a bunch of monsters.
Could just need a larger font on the teleprompter. Or he just lies about every single fucking thing.
jimmiraybob
@Betty Cracker:
I was in another room with the volume down and “tolerited” made me pause, look up and shake my head. His performance, demeanor and the substance of his statements are all so predictable (are the Obama’s doing a forever home remodel in their place between his ears?). No doubt this will be SOTU material. Perhaps he will get “tolerated” right with enough practice.
zhena gogolia
chris
@Jeffro: Maybe, but at least there is one person whose job is to say, Lies, Lies and More Lies! On TV too which can only help.
jimmiraybob
Is watching Fox News to get a heads up considered insider information?
J R in WV
I avoid seeing him, normally, but I made an exception this morning. WOW what an experience, seeing the “leader of the free world” sinking into dementia right before our horrified eyes. And that General, the one next to Pence, who couldn’t keep his eyes still… freaked out…
The other military guy managed to keep his eyes motionless, never even blinked that I noticed. Stone face in the gaze of death! But Trump was so flat, no emotion in his speech at all. Really scary, couldn’t deal with a live question, ran away, ran away.
germy
germy
@J R in WV:
Beta-blockers before every major speech, so that he doesn’t become agitated and go off script?
glory b
@Kay: I watched a former colleague of mine argue a case before the PA Supreme Court. One of the justices asked her a question and she confessed that she didn’t know the answer. They nodded in agreement with the justice who said he found it refreshing that someone would say that rather than spending time stumbling around for something to say when it was clear they didn’t know.
KrusherKing
@Betty Cracker: We should be so lucky.
jimmiraybob
Just like any WWE wrestling event, his cult fans will deliriously cheer each of his signature moves and crawl over broken glass to buy his merch.
germy
I have a theory that “2013” is code in Trump’s mind for “Obama administration”
“2013” means “Stuff Obama failed at” and stuff Trump succeeded at (in his own mind). As everyone knows, he has a profound and deep resentment of the previous administration.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Cheryl Rofer: So as the Starfish said; ask what would a drunk do and that’s what Trump would do. Now it looks like a real fight now Trump is going walk while talking smack about how he totally kicked ass.
West of the Rockies
Maybe a thread devoted to this: do we truly believe Trump is on tranquilizers OR is clinically suffering from cognitive diminishmen? Clearly he demonstrably has NPD, but all snark aside, is our US president being controlled via drugs? Who is doing it? What is their agenda?
Crazy Pants times…
randy khan
@glory b:
“I don’t know” is a remarkably powerful thing to say, particularly when there’s no reason for you to know. Also, it saves you a lot of embarrassment when the other person actually does know.
And people generally are fine if you tell them that, particularly if it’s something that’s actually hard to know about or if you can find out the answer and promise to do so.
germy
Aleta
@jimmiraybob: Insider info is how the best people do it.
Bill Arnold
@germy:
2013 is (well appears to be) the last time Trump predicted that Obama would try to start a war with Iran (just the text since some people get triggered):
germy
@West of the Rockies:
Often, people who are cognitively diminished will be sedated. I don’t think he’s being controlled by others via drugs. He’s controlling himself. He’s from the 1980s. His worldview is that there are pharmaceuticals that can be hacked to enhance performance and/or pleasure. He doesn’t see it as drug use.
Frankensteinbeck
@Ella in New Mexico:
He had to use sedatives to get to sleep. Trump spent yesterday evening in pants-shitting terror as his chance to upstage Obama’s OBL raid turned into a war he was getting blamed for.
Kay
@glory b:
I genuinely think Trump teaches people bad things. He makes people worse than they already were, and we were already pretty bad.
NickM
Ha! #Adderall is now trending on twitter! Are people catching on?
SFAW
@West of the Rockies:
I don’t know, but I bet he looks like Skip Homeier.
West of the Rockies
@germy:
Do you think he dosed up to calm his nerves? That could certainly be the case, like an alcoholic who needs “a lil’ nip” to get going.
Bill Arnold
@germy:
What about Medications/Drugs as a Cause of Trump’s Large Pupils?
And that’s in the not-Weird part of the theory space. (Oh yes, some possibilities are much more Weird. :)
Brachiator
@Bill Arnold:
And yet, according to the Great White Dope Reverse Osculator, Trump is a manly man who is delivering a well-deserved blow to those dastardly Iranians. Doing what Obama “failed” to do.
zhena gogolia
jl
I don’t think the Iranian missile attack is the end of Iranian retribution, though they are talking like it is. Trump and his flunkies are probably that easy to fool. Probably IC and military are not. Seems like from comments last night that Silverman and some other commenters agree.
zhena gogolia
@SFAW:
Why? I don’t know the reference. (I know Skip Homeier, but why?)
jl
@germy: “drug abuse.”
danielx
@West of the Rockies:
As a practical matter, does it make any difference? And why not both?
germy
Brachiator
@West of the Rockies:
Unless there is some degree of informed reporting on this, I don’t much care about feverish speculation.
SFAW
@zhena gogolia:
Skip Homeier played Melakon in “Patterns of Force,” a Star Trek episode. Kirk finds his former professor, John Gill (whom I referenced above) is the Fuehrer of a Nazi-like society on some planet. As it turned out, Gill was kept perpetually drugged-up by Melakon, and the Nazi brutality was Melakon’s doing. [Of course, Gill had given that planet the original idea, because the Nazis were so “efficient,” or something like that.
ETA: Note: I don’t think Shitgibbon is being “controlled” by anyone or anything other than his own id. But I also think he’s too stupid to apply anything resembling critical thinking to any of the bullshit pushed by Miller, Pompeo, McConnell, et al. Not that he wasn’t already predisposed to that shit, of course.]
The Lodger
@germy: I thought something like that was the case… otherwise, why not use his real name other than “the American contractor?”
WaterGirl
@germy: To Trump, the contractor wasn’t a person. Just a pawn to be used in Trump’s own little game.
germy
I get the feeling Baker is disappointed:
schrodingers_cat
OT from the last thread:
Some good news in India on the electoral front, BJP continues its string of losses in district level elections. They have lost their stronghold of Nagpur. Nagpur is where the Sangh (RSS) headquarters are. The man who writes PM NM’s script, Mohan Bhagwat, is here.
Maharashtra’s ex-CM Fadnavis (BJP) and Cabinet minister Gadkari are also from Nagpur. This is like Rs losing in their stronghold in the Deep South where the Klan was born.
jl
@WaterGirl: I’ve been wondering why absolutely no information about the contractor has been in the media. Might be Trumpster racism and media manipulation, or corporate media disinterest, because they are monsters when it comes to US blow stuff up news.
OTOH, if the contractor has connections or family in Iraq, that might be valid reason for releasing very little info.
Brachiator
@zhena gogolia:
The media has been brought to heel by Trump and the right wing nut jobs. They are the enemy of the people, and so must tread carefully.
Of course, it is unnecessary for a journalist to speculate that Trump is mentally unstable. But it should be within bounds to note whether the speech conveys confidence in a time of national emergency, or whether it is rambling and shambolic. Has any reporter or pundit offered the slightest bit of analysis of Trump’s delivery?
zhena gogolia
WaterGirl
@jl: Maybe it’s as simple as this?
The people pulling Trump’s strings and pushing for war did not want Trump to know the guy was brown. Because then all bets are off, and they won’t get their precious war.
zhena gogolia
@Brachiator:
I can’t watch MSM so I don’t know. But I doubt it. It would show up on twitter if they did.
MattF
@West of the Rockies: It’s fair to ask, but I’m very wary of all the ‘experts’ who are ready to diagnose Trump’s neurological status. I think ‘asshole’ and probably ‘malignant narcissist’ are enough.
zhena gogolia
@MattF:
Just watch a clip of him from three years ago and then watch something recent. The deterioration is significant.
germy
@WaterGirl: If he can’t pronounce “tolerate” maybe he thought it was wiser not to attempt the poor guy’s name.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Mike in NC
Have read in several articles that Trump most likely grew up with dyslexia which was undiagnosed. The military school he was shipped off to did nothing but aggravate his inclinations to be a bully and liar. His school records, like all the medical and financial records, have been sealed and buried.
West of the Rockies
@zhena gogolia:
I recall Reagan’s trembling becoming more obvious by the mid-late 80’s, and it was revealed later that he was clinically worse in the throes of Alzheimer’s.
jl
@Brachiator: Well, speculation about the health of a prominent politician is off limits. Look at Hillary Clinton and other prominent Democrats.
West of the Rockies
@Mike in NC:
Trump in military school… Probably full Draco Malfoy minus the charm and compassion and humility.
Kay
To me the best news is Trump and Republicans don’t think a war will help them retain power. I didn’t think so either- I don’t think the public wants another war- but you never know the horrible shit these people can successfully sell, so I wasn’t confident.
I’m glad we agree.
jl
@West of the Rockies: A deteriorating Reagan had more competence than when Trump entered office, let alone what he is now. And arguably more than GW.
Domestic short hair tabby
@schrodingers_cat: one bright spot in this veil of tears – that is good news indeed
Frankensteinbeck
@schrodingers_cat:
Thank goodness. Fingers crossed you can Throw The Bums Out across the board. God damn genocidal fascists.
Doug R
@WaterGirl:
Bernie’s already working on that with his heart problems.
I think you mean Weekend at donnie’s
joel hanes
@Spanky:
My body rebelled at the amount of self-medication that have been needed to get me through the last three years, and now I’m no longer comfortably numb.
The last couple weeks have _hurt_. Damn the man. Damn the Republicans. Damn Brexit. Damn the Heartland Institute. Damn Mitch McConnell and Lindsay fucking Graham and Gym Jordan and Devin Nunes and Matt Gaetz.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
this occurred to me, too
OTOH, trump wants a photo-op that he can claim trumps (ahem) Obama and earns him that Nobel prize; he was talking about a “handshake” with Iranian officials at the UN just a couple months ago. OTOH, being too nice to Iran might drive Bolton out in public
Doug R
@Ella in New Mexico:
I think they’re using stage makeup rules in the HD era.
Ella in New Mexico
@Frankensteinbeck:
And the subsequent need for the medical staff to take him to the shower to firehose all the poop off his nether regions was likely very overstimulating as well
joel hanes
@Bill Arnold:
Giantcat9 has been my hero since inception
If circumstances do not require a revival of Get Your War On, I will be immensely relieved, and not a little surprised.
Boy do we need a revival of Media Whores Online. Chris Cilllizzzza and Chuck “merkin beard” Todd, I’m talking about you. Among others.
WaterGirl
@Doug R: I should have italicized Weekend at Bernie’s and added: only with Donnie.
How far we have fallen.
zhena gogolia
@Kay:
Yes, that is a relief.
Ruckus
@schrodingers_cat:
You last longer than me by 10 min 30 sec
scav
Fourteenthed on the near absolute disinterest in feverish speculation about drugs, although something managed with a process other than a preteen gossip-fest (did you see her makeup!) is probably warranted. Furthermore, I think we’re beyond the point of taking activity in twitter being evidence of actual life, let alone intelligent life.
Scuse me, I do not question the intent, but it certainly seemed the rising tone for a while at least.
schrodingers_cat
@Frankensteinbeck: In addition to Maharashtra, they also lost Jharkhand in central India two weeks ago, a state they had held for the last 20 years. Their core agenda of Hinudtva is not popular beyond their upper caste base. Since their monstrous Loksabha win in May they have overreached and they are getting a much deserved push back.
Loksabha == House of Commons in the Indian Parliament.
zhena gogolia
@scav:
Did you watch the speech? Are you not at all concerned that a person who can barely speak is in the White House?
WaterGirl
@germy: He can’t even say “United States” so perhaps it would have been wiser of him to not attempt the be the fucking President.
No, this hostility is not directed toward you. :-)
West of the Rockies
@joel hanes:
Damn your love, damn your lies…
schrodingers_cat
@Ruckus: Believe me it tested my endurance.
Kay
Mean but true.
Kay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I hate that so much of what they do is about their gross “relationships” with people. It’s all so personal. Given my druthers I would not be dragged into Donald Trump’s fucked up insane grudges.
I watch Bloomberg ads and I think “this is about these two assholes having a ‘who is richer?’ fight.
We all somehow got made part of Rudy Guiliani’s anger about Biden making fun of him.
Obama never did that, which I appreciate. Just leave us out of your horrible, ego-driven, petty pissing matches. Be professionals. I YEARN for a respectable distance from these crooks.
MattF
@Kay: Sheds some light on the ‘tired of winning’ prediction. Just redefine ‘winning’ to mean ‘losing’. Head slap. ‘Now, why didn’t I think of that!‘
Another Scott
@jl:
https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article239053173.html
(via Aleta)
Cheers,
Scott.
scav
@zhena gogolia: I am concerned, yes, absolutely. I am also concerned that a frenzied thread a comments contributing little more than “is he on drugs.?” “he is soooooo on drugs!” and ‘did you see his hair / makeup?” conveys more of a preteen gossipfest before a pep rally than a an actual topic of importance merits. Did you read where I noted the concern was more about tone than intention?
joel hanes
@jl:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/contractor-whose-death-trump-cites-was-a-naturalized-us-citizen-born-in-iraq/2020/01/07/afa7e774-31ac-11ea-91fd-82d4e04a3fac_story.html
Frankensteinbeck
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Trump wants more than that, or rather, he wants it on a grander scale. He wants the NYT, WaPo, and CNN pundits (who he thinks represent what the American people think) to be praising how cool and brave and what a hero he is. He wants to be able to go to baseball games and have everyone spontaneously cheer because he did something even better than taking out OBL. He wants to be able to call up talk shows and tell the story for the twelfth time while the anchors gasp and tell him that it was an incredible accomplishment that makes him the best president ever. When someone said they could assassinate Suleimani, he saw a shot at that. Instead, he has this clusterfuck where everyone is debating whether he’s dumber than shit and started World War 3, and every time he asks how to slap down the Iranians and prove he’s the best they tell him there is no way, that he has to bend over and take whatever Iran gives him.
Brachiator
@jl:
Well, speculation about the health of a prominent politician is off limits. Look at Hillary Clinton and other prominent Democrats.
I didn’t say it was off limits. I said that I don’t care.
And in fact, the stupid, uninformed, malicious speculation about Hillary Clinton damaged her campaign. And this was the press, not not just by the general Internet.
Of course, while I want Trump out of office, I would prefer that accusations be backed up.
ETA: Trump is also protected by a historical tradition that presidential infirmities are covered by a veil of protection and denial. And despite the 25th Amendment, a lot of folks are reluctant to declare a president, and this president, unfit.
Ruckus
@zhena gogolia:
I always thought he’s been in dementia for a while. And that he’s just getting in deeper. If they are medicating him and this is the best he can do-this will not go well from here on out.
Ruckus
@Frankensteinbeck:
trump has been only bluster and bullshit his entire life. And he’s lost that “magic.” His life from here on out is shear terror and flop sweat. Not a good picture for anyone, but a fucking disaster now for all of us.
Kay
@MattF:
He really does do it and he has done it over and over. Initiate a crisis, claim crisis was less costly than predicted, claim victory.
He doesn’t even take it back to the status quo- it’s always worse- but they still give him credit.
There’s truth to it too- I really am relieved. I’m not insane though- I recall that he created the crisis. I don’t know what’s going on with them or how they’ll able to completely forget the genesis in like 36 hours, but they seem to. It’s a mystery.
jayjaybear
@Doug R: RuPaul rules, more like it. He looked like Trixie Mattel…
Brachiator
@schrodingers_cat:
This is very good news. I hope the push back continues and intensifies.
Kay
They need a labor union app. Or just a labor union.
sukabi
@Kay: funny how an actual living wage would eliminate the need for a calming “meditation” on “I need to pick up 3 extra shifts and my room mate needs 4 to pay the rent ….. Ohmmmmmmmm”
karen marie
@Chris: I’m not sure the invasion of Granada counts as a “major war.” That’s the only one we’ve won, right?
sdhays
@Kay: From their chairs in the green room, the status quo hasn’t changed. Iran = bad. US relationship with Iran = strained. US forces in a war zone are in a dangerous place. No bombs going off in malls in major US metro areas.
Ho hum.
schrodingers_cat
@Brachiator: It continues, alas people like my mom are still in denial.
Baud
@Chris:
To “win” a war in the modern era has lost any meaning. War isn’t an event anymore. It’s an ongoing process. You would never say “we won a law enforcement” because law enforcement is just a thing that people do. That’s what war has become.
JoyceH
@germy:
“He’s from the 1980s. His worldview is that there are pharmaceuticals that can be hacked to enhance performance and/or pleasure. He doesn’t see it as drug use.”
Exactly. In his mind, ‘doing drugs’ means going or sending a minion to a rundown neighborhood where you meet with a seedy character you know only as “Snake”, who takes a wad of cash in exchange for drugs. On the other hand, if you can find some Dr. Feelgood to prescribe something for you, THAT’s not ‘doing drugs’, that’s ‘taking my medicine’.
Kay
@sukabi:
I think it’s great the employees are making the connection between “pay” and “benefits”, because it’s all just pay :)
Thank god this long misunderstanding is being cleared up. All pay. 100%.
Another Scott
@Kay:
Speaking of Unions… GovExec – Trump Admin Makes Case to Break Immigration Judges Union.
We have to fight them every single day…
Cheers,
Scott.
jonas
Kadzooks! Just saw a clip of this shitshow and 1. man, the dude does not look well, and 2. just WTF? He spends the last couple of days strutting around tweeting boo-yahs about having gotten Soleimani, and now, after Iran responds by lobbing some missiles into Iraq that didn’t really hit anything, he stands there, looking rather ill and unsteady in front of his teleprompters, asking why we can’t all just get along, and war is over if you want it and besides it was all Obama’s fault.
How can the clutch of ostensibly grown-ass people, including members of the JCOS, standing around this doddering jackass possibly act like this is even remotely normal? I still can’t wrap my head around it. I guess they must have been some *really* good tax cuts.
zhena gogolia
@jonas:
Oh, we’re not supposed to question his fitness for office, that makes us look like teenagers gossiping.
Amir Khalid
@Baud:
Indeed. The shooting match is just one aspect/phase of a political conflict that was brewing long before anyone on either side picked up a rifle, and continues after the shooting. But it’s the most conspicuous part, and too many think that’s the war.
It’s the underlying conflict you really need to resolve if you want to prevent more shooting wars arising from it. That’s the hard part; it could be centuries old, it could have arisen from some fundamentally irreconcilable difference between the belligerents. And that resolution is often not easily (or at all) doable.
Gin & Tonic
@zhena gogolia: Sorry, I’ve been offline. Is this a new rule?
Mnemosyne
@Mike in NC:
ADHD and dyslexia often go hand-in-hand. I still feel that I recognize a lot of his behaviors and compensations as undiagnosed ADHD.
zhena gogolia
@Gin & Tonic:
It’s in the thread above. I can’t remember who it was who was unhappy we were discussing Trump’s obvious mental derangement and drugged state and wondering why the professional journalists were ignoring it.
Tehanu
@geg6: you and me both. I keep a black marker on the breakfast table to cover pics of that asshole in the paper (yes, I’m old).
WaterGirl
@Gin & Tonic: Not a rule as much as a totally unsurprising turn of events given that we are all pretty tightly wound today.
I wonder why.
trollhattan
Was at the dentist this a.m. when the little teevee up in the corner cut away to him I was busy being flossed and scraped. I can attest having a dental probe shoved into my gum is better than listening to Twitler McSniffypants.
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne:
trump has so many mental health issues in one very untidy mess. He should be in the book of worst mental illness examples of humanity.
The latest of course is the murder he just ordered for his idea that people would love him for it.
Ruckus
@Kay:
It’s called total lack of responsibility. The entire lot of them lacks the concept. Cause and effect, logic, they all lack those as well. If stupid shit goes their way, they will party and claim how smart they are. If they don’t get that extremely rare outcome, they claim it’s not their fault – someone else, somewhere else, screwed up. They take pride in coming up with all the ideas, even though their success rate sucks because their ideas suck.
evodevo
@Frankensteinbeck: Yes. This. Narcissistic sociopaths canNOT deal with failure and oppobrium – it is the biggest threat to their egos possible…
sgrAstar
@Cheryl Rofer: Milley is a potted plant, rolled out in his ceremonial garb to cast his mighty, manly frown to quell trump sceptics. Total joke.
?
FlipYrWhig
Re: the post’s title…
It was sweet of those guys to blame an oaf
mapaghimagsik
@Betty Cracker: is he trying to have a drawl?
Geoduck
@jonas: He’s a venial physical coward. He belatedly realized that the Iranians might actually shoot missiles at him, personally.
Comrade Scrutinizer
@Baud: “War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning” by Chris Hedges. Good book. Do read it.
catclub
I agree on the delusional part.
This is really the first line in how to influence negotiating partners and win concessions: “Unilaterally break an agreement, kill their top military commander,
expect them to come to the negotiating table.”
catclub
Of course, the fact that the US voters even came close to a majority in electing him, is on us, not him. It is not amazing to me that he got elected. It is amazing to me that he got more than 10% of the votes. All those mental illness traits were completely self-evident three years ago. … and people wanted said we want more of those, please.