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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Military / Late Night Terrorshow Open Thread: The ‘Commander-in-Chief’ Is TERRIFIED

Late Night Terrorshow Open Thread: The ‘Commander-in-Chief’ Is TERRIFIED

by Anne Laurie|  September 4, 20201:07 am| 88 Comments

This post is in: Military, Open Threads, Republicans in Disarray!, Trumpery, MONSTERS

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This means that the president will absolutely tweet out a confession https://t.co/5J3mvzyy9X

— Molly Jong-Fast? (@MollyJongFast) September 4, 2020

Not exactly, at least not yet…

This is panic. https://t.co/gE4auBjTk6

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 4, 2020

From the Atlantic article Cheryl cited earlier:

… Yet another, related, explanation concerns what appears to be Trump’s pathological fear of appearing to look like a “sucker” himself. His capacious definition of sucker includes those who lose their lives in service to their country, as well as those who are taken prisoner, or are wounded in battle. “He has a lot of fear,” one officer with firsthand knowledge of Trump’s views said. “He doesn’t see the heroism in fighting.” Several observers told me that Trump is deeply anxious about dying or being disfigured, and this worry manifests itself as disgust for those who have suffered…

Trump has been, for the duration of his presidency, fixated on staging military parades, but only of a certain sort. In a 2018 White House planning meeting for such an event, Trump asked his staff not to include wounded veterans, on grounds that spectators would feel uncomfortable in the presence of amputees. “Nobody wants to see that,” he said.

I’ve said this before, but what’s striking about Trump is that he’s so detatched from normal human emotions that he often doesn’t even understand when he’s saying something most people would find appalling. https://t.co/6ZJWKUmVUv

— Julian Sanchez (@normative) September 4, 2020

The second option is actually not a denial. https://t.co/tLUDwzdXxe

— David Simon (@AoDespair) September 4, 2020

Drip… drip… drip…

Update: a second source, specifically a senior U.S. Marine Corps officer with knowledge of President @realDonaldTrump comments confirmed the @TheAtlantic story. Here’s my copy at the @AP https://t.co/Qmq3EFxRZQ https://t.co/7o6a6a4AiO

— James LaPorta (@JimLaPorta) September 4, 2020

Live like a male mandrill, lose like a male mandrill. Very Serious Media People… smell weakness:

The AP has confirmed the accuracy of this extraordinary article. The White House has denied it. It could shatter perceptions of the President among the military. A recent Army Times poll showed declining support for him. https://t.co/4Qs6B91T8a

— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) September 4, 2020

Chris Wallace is going to go to town in the first debate grilling Trump about these comments

— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) September 4, 2020

Yes, Trump has said repulsive things about dead veterans, and yes, he sneered about POWs as well, and yes, he never said anything to Putin about the bounties placed on our troops, and yes, he got five draft deferments in Vietnam but … wait, I thought I had something here.

— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) September 3, 2020

Anyhoo, this might have room to change further https://t.co/vhbLfQ8sLL pic.twitter.com/LN3Nob1ejI

— Peter A. Shulman ? (@pashulman) September 3, 2020

I knew he sounded familiar https://t.co/4ILxItyJcK pic.twitter.com/BbzsXjlGon

— Michael Schaffer (@michaelschaffer) September 3, 2020

All the chatter so far has been about potential Trump October surprises — like a vaccine announcement. But the @JeffreyGoldberg story is a reminder that former Trump officials may be sitting on reams of damaging stories that have yet to come out.

— Blake News (@blakehounshell) September 4, 2020

The Second Term Agenda is 100% explaining that he didn’t have a series of mini-strokes. https://t.co/QLrG4TRhyX

— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 3, 2020

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Reader Interactions

88Comments

  1. 1.

    Mike in DC

    September 4, 2020 at 1:15 am

    There’s going to be a cascading series of news outlets corroborating these accounts. And it may culminate in some of the sources going public. At which point real damage happens.

  2. 2.

    Sebastian

    September 4, 2020 at 1:18 am

    I am in awe. This is like a torpedo hitting the ammo hold. After this, everything will stick: Russia, the mob, the rapes, everything. And right before Labor Day Weekend, Jesus Christ.

    Best of all, Republicans chained themselves to him. Savor, fellow jackals, savor.

    TICK TOCK MOTHERFUCKERS.
    TICK FUCKING TOCK.

  3. 3.

    Sebastian

    September 4, 2020 at 1:19 am

    @Mike in DC:

    This must have completely blindsided them. They even brought in SHS, she just made a statement. It’s all hands on deck.

  4. 4.

    feebog

    September 4, 2020 at 1:20 am

    @Mike in DC:  At least a few of these sources have to go public to remove all doubt.  It isn’t going to touch his core supporters of course.  He actually could murder someone and they would call it self defense.  But after all the flag hugging and cloying patriotic rhetoric this could leave a mark.

  5. 5.

    piratedan

    September 4, 2020 at 1:21 am

    reams of stories just waiting to come out?

    jaysus… if they just sat back and actually dug into any five of the scandals from the last six months in any kind of depth, that should be telling.

    The problem is, with Trump, there’s sometimes two, three scandals a fucking week. The media never digs deeply into any of them, because the fucker keeps putting more scandal kibble out to be scarfed…

  6. 6.

    NotMax

    September 4, 2020 at 1:22 am

    “That was your favorite president (ME!) doing a flawless imitation of the mirror universe Trump. GET A GRIP, Failing Media Creeps!”

    //

  7. 7.

    Chris T.

    September 4, 2020 at 1:32 am

    I’ve often thought that the deepest emotion driving Trump is fear.

    Then again, that might be true of most (all?) narcissists.

  8. 8.

    Cathie from Canada

    September 4, 2020 at 1:33 am

    But Nancy Pelosi got a haircut, so both sides….

    Actually, in a normal time, a story like this, once confirmed, would likely force a president to resign.  I cannot believe that Trump could survive it if Kelly and others are willing to go on the record about what Trump has said.

  9. 9.

    RaflW

    September 4, 2020 at 1:33 am

    Any person alive and in possession of an electronic device of any sort has seen Trump’s detached self-absorption, penchant for cruelty, and reckless disregard of anyone not named Donald or Ivanka Trump.

    So of course this military story rings true. Treating others like shit, even people most others call heros (maybe especially them!) is as central to his personal style — a phrase much too gentle for his sociopathy — as being ‘John Barron’, or shafting the skilled trades who built his condos.

  10. 10.

    RaflW

    September 4, 2020 at 1:36 am

    @Cathie from Canada: Kelly let Trump take a verbal dump on his son’s grave. I don’t think we can expect the former COS to rise up from the living incineration of his own soul now.

  11. 11.

    KirkwoodATL

    September 4, 2020 at 1:37 am

    I spent a semester in Belgium attending classes with a group of students from The University of Leuven. At the end of our semester, the Belgian students planned a surprise for us, their American colleagues, and took us to the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial. The students shared stories that were passed down from their parents describing how thankful they were that American soldiers came and helped the people of Belgium and the Netherlands in WW2 after liberation. They had much admiration for our soldiers. We then toured the cemetery. It was very touching and I was proud of our soldiers who died to help liberate Europe. To hear our president and commander in chief denigrate those soldiers who gave their life is devastating. Thank God my father made it through Vietnam as an army ranger in the 1st cavalry and fought in the Tet Offensive and he did not die or was captured. He obviously would have been considered a “loser“ according to this shameful president.  This POS is disgusting and isn’t fit to stand in front of these men much less be the Commander in Chief.

  12. 12.

    Martin

    September 4, 2020 at 1:38 am

    So, I don’t think Trumps base will care. If evangelicals can excuse away audio of ‘grab ’em by the pussy’, they’ll easily excuse this.

    I think the bigger thing is that in a span of 3 hours or so, 3 different media outlets had something distinct to add to this story, with the AP confirming all of it. That can’t be a coincidence. Lincoln Project already had an ad ready to go.

    This was a hit, and a good one, and why blow it first week of september if you didn’t have better hits to roll out in October, the morning before a debate, etc

  13. 13.

    Amir Khalid

    September 4, 2020 at 1:42 am

    If my national leader were found to have shown this kind of contempt and loathing for the country’s military personnel, his own party would hound him from office. Let’s see if any Republican poliician has the decency to condemn Trump.

    Four years ago, Trump could have his most shocking transgressions exposed and suffer little or no damage. i don’t think he can now; and judging by his reaction to this story, he seems to think that way too. He, his White House, and his campaign must be at panic stations right now. Good. Their Schade brings us Freude.

  14. 14.

    NotMax

    September 4, 2020 at 1:42 am

    May have missed mention of this.in earlier threads. FYI.

    Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson [on Sept. 2] shared that he and his family have been recovering from COVID-19 over the past two-and-a-half to three weeks.

    [He] said he tested positive for COVID-19 along with his wife and two daughters. Source

  15. 15.

    TS (the original)

    September 4, 2020 at 1:46 am

    @Cathie from Canada:

    It would probably force a Prime Minister out because some of his party members would be unlikely to support him in a vote of no confidence. The only way to force trump out is impeachment & that needs republicans with backbones.

  16. 16.

    Poe Larity

    September 4, 2020 at 1:46 am

    Trump said the troops stole all the billions unaccounted for in Iraq. Of course, he might have meant that in admiration, so theyd be winners?

  17. 17.

    Eljai

    September 4, 2020 at 1:48 am

    I saw the AP reporter, James LaPorta on Rachel tonight.  He said when the Atlantic article came out that  he couldn’t believe it.  He then contacted his sources who confirmed the story.  No disrespect to Mr. LaPorta, but I believed it the moment I heard it.  It sounds just like something Trump would say.  I wonder what it is that makes some people give this slimy turd biscuit the benefit of the doubt.  I just don’t understand.

  18. 18.

    RaflW

    September 4, 2020 at 1:48 am

    Since T took office, I’ve visited Sachenhausen concentration camp, and on another trip, the Normandy American cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer.

    Each has left a huge impression on me. Both represent parts of history we cannot forget, or allow ourselves or our leaders to lose sight of. Laying wreathes at our war cemeteries should engender for any high office holder the weight of each important decision they make.

    There but for the sake of FSM go I would be a good, humbling thought. And T is incapable of humility or compassion. So until he’s out, and his 100s of elected enablers are diminished or better yet run out of town, we must be vigilant.

    Good night, all.

  19. 19.

    Martin

    September 4, 2020 at 1:49 am

    @Chris T.: Yeah, it is. Narcissism is basically being unable to face  your true self, and creating a fake persona instead. Trumps true self is a loser, and that’s what he deep down believes, and he can’t face it. It doesn’t matter if its true or not, its what he believes is true. And so the fake persona is always trying to prove itself to not be the thing that the true self identifies as. It’s not that different from body dysmorphic disorder in general concept.

    So yeah, Trump is terrified of the ‘loser’ label and everything he’s been taught is associated with that label. I’m sure Fred had something to say about military service while he was helping secure those deferments for his son. And Trump didn’t attend a military academy out of interest – he was sent there because that was the punishment for young men who couldn’t get their shit together, which is obviously how Fred viewed him.

    It’s terrible that has defined his life, but the real crime is the legions of people who surround him and enable this shit.

  20. 20.

    Geminid

    September 4, 2020 at 1:54 am

    @RaflW: the story not only rings true, but by his panicked reaction trump has essentially confirmed it. “When you throw a rock into a pack of hounds, the one that yelps is the one you hit.” The cowardly cur is yelping loud because he knows the story is true.

  21. 21.

    piratedan

    September 4, 2020 at 2:03 am

    @Eljai: I completely get where you’re coming from, the press writes down what he’s been saying for the last four years but they never bothered to process it and understand it.  For some reason, THIS touches a nerve… and the rest of us sit back and wonder how the fuck can the nation survive with a group of context free dipshits like this being who the nation depends on for reporting the events of the day.  As if violation of international law, treason, nepotism, lying, influence peddling, sexual assault, racism and condoning violence and introducing fascism into the national discourse was just politics as normal.

  22. 22.

    NotMax

    September 4, 2020 at 2:04 am

    OT. 8 p.m. and it’s over 90 degrees outside. Not the most pleasant of days; periods of constant heat sap all vitality from me.

    Three fans humming in different parts of the room so it’s tolerable in the area of the desk. Even so, above normal regimen of hydration a must.

  23. 23.

    Luciamia

    September 4, 2020 at 2:06 am

    Anything that disturbs his slumbers…

  24. 24.

    sanjeevs

    September 4, 2020 at 2:08 am

    @Martin: I agree this was planned. They must be lining up around the block to spill on the things Trump has said and done.

    I’m waiting on the IC to start dropping things. They completely failed to do their jobs in 2016. Lets see if they can do something now to save the country from a traitor.

  25. 25.

    Chris T.

    September 4, 2020 at 2:09 am

    @NotMax: Ugh. We were looking at the option of retiring to Hawaii but concluded that it was too hot, and with global warming continuing, would just get worse. (We opted for just south of Canada in WA instead. Still waiting for new voter reg to take effect so we can drop our mail in ballots into the nearby ballot drop box.)

  26. 26.

    Jay Noble

    September 4, 2020 at 2:10 am

    Sometimes I think I live in an insulated time bubble called Balloon-Juice. All of this I remember hearing about when it happened. Same with the Falwell stuff last week. Samantha Bee has a YouTube up from a year ago. There is so much I’ve picked up in here the last few years that I’m often gobsmacked when people in the non-BJ universe are like “Oh Gawd did you hear about?” Why yes, yes I have and thanks to tha Jackals I can point you to some more relevant material.

    I don’t know how long I’ve been hanging here but THANK YOU, John for gathering this bunch of well-informed, passionate Jackals.

  27. 27.

    TS (the original)

    September 4, 2020 at 2:15 am

    @piratedan:

    The international scene comes quickly to mind, decimating NATO, The UN & WHO (in the midst of a pandemic) hardly rated a mention in the political media.

  28. 28.

    joel hanes

    September 4, 2020 at 2:15 am

    @Sebastian:

    They even brought in SHS

    Because if there’s anyone with a rock-solid reputation for veracity with respect to the actions and statments of Donald Trump, it’s Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

    Right?

    “… she burns facts and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smokey eye.  Like maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s lies.  It’s probably lies.”

  29. 29.

    MisterForkbeard

    September 4, 2020 at 2:15 am

    @Eljai: Right. Why would anyone dou t this? We have repeated similar public comments from Trump about McCain, Gold Star families and others. He regularly attacks anyone he feels didn’t measure up in some obscure way. He attacks basically everyone, including his own children.

    Some of this was even reported before – items like the skipping military honors because it was raining even though the other world leaders still showed up.

  30. 30.

    Martin

    September 4, 2020 at 2:16 am

    @sanjeevs: Yeah, the IC holds a grudge. They know how to hit back.

  31. 31.

    NotMax

    September 4, 2020 at 2:18 am

    @Chris T.

    Don’t want to give the impression it’s often like this (although yes, climate change has bumped up what passes for usual average seasonal highs). The trade winds have been mighty finicky this year. Without their influence the couple of handfuls of beastly hot days become much more noticeable.

  32. 32.

    scott (the other one)

    September 4, 2020 at 2:29 am

    @Sebastian: They asked her to take one for the team, huh?

  33. 33.

    Steeplejack

    September 4, 2020 at 2:35 am

    Blake News above makes the point that I was thinking about earlier: “October surprises” can cut both ways.

  34. 34.

    Sebastian

    September 4, 2020 at 2:38 am

    @scott (the other one):

    You win the thread. Haha brutal

  35. 35.

    sanjeevs

    September 4, 2020 at 2:40 am

    @scott (the other one): LOL

  36. 36.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 4, 2020 at 2:40 am

    Without reading any of the post or comments – Dump is a traitorous, orange, pussy-grabbing, Soviet shitpile mobster conman who has been slurping away at the Kremlin’s asshole since at least 1987 when he took out full-page newspaper ads trashing the NATO alliance.

    Traitorous Soviet shitpile!

  37. 37.

    Bill Arnold

    September 4, 2020 at 2:46 am

    @Sebastian:

    I am in awe. This is like a torpedo hitting the ammo hold. After this, everything will stick: Russia, the mob, the rapes, everything. And right before Labor Day Weekend, Jesus Christ.

    It is fun. And everyone who wants to can play. Twitter is on fire; journalists are high leverage and (usually) low-traffic.

  38. 38.

    joel hanes

    September 4, 2020 at 2:50 am

    @scott (the other one):

    Kim Jong Un saw what you did there.

  39. 39.

    Eljai

    September 4, 2020 at 2:54 am

    @piratedan:  @MisterForkbeard:

    Exactly!  It’s like that Maya Angelou quote “When someone shows you who you are, believe them the first time.”  He showed us who he was the first time and yet here we are 20,000+ examples later.  No one should doubt the depth of his depravity at this point.

  40. 40.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 4, 2020 at 2:57 am

    @mrmoshpotato: MY GOD! this is so much worse!

    TO HELL WITH ALL THE SELFISH SHITSTAINS WHO WENT “EWW, HILLARY!” GODDAMN FUCKING CHILDREN!

  41. 41.

    West of the Rockies

    September 4, 2020 at 2:59 am

    @Sebastian:

    Ah, and she is so well-liked and respected… Her credibility is beyond, um, what’s the opposite of impeccable?

  42. 42.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 4, 2020 at 3:01 am

    @Sebastian: Sarah Fuckabee Sanders?

    More like Sarah Fucking-Kim-Jong-Un Sanders. ???

  43. 43.

    West of the Rockies

    September 4, 2020 at 3:02 am

    @Sebastian:

    And to think, he could have just not run for president… He could be s(h)itting on his golden toilet, soiling porn stars, running his dreary fiefdom…

  44. 44.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 4, 2020 at 3:04 am

    @West of the Rockies:

    what’s the opposite of impeccable? 

    Being a shitstain who will also be in the dock at the American Nuremberg trials?

  45. 45.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 4, 2020 at 3:07 am

    @West of the Rockies:

    And to think, he could have just not run for president… He could be s(h)itting on his golden toilet, soiling porn stars, running his dreary fiefdom… 

    Yup.  A bazillion times this.

    Not that JEB!, Dick Joke Marco or Disgusting-face Cruz would’ve been any better.

  46. 46.

    Sebastian

    September 4, 2020 at 3:10 am

    @Bill Arnold:

    You nailed it, it’s fun! I’ve been glued to Twitter all evening. Taking way too much pleasure in observing all the standard moves completely fall flat.

    i was THIS close to tweet an Ari Fleischer CSPAN clip (the watch what you say one) at Sean Davis, co-founder of The Federalist but then reconsidered.

  47. 47.

    James E Powell

    September 4, 2020 at 3:12 am

    How many stories since 2015 have been guaranteed to bring an end to Trump’s campaign or presidency? Does anybody keep track of the number?

    Does anyone keep track of how long the press/media consider to be a story? I think the record is three days.

    I will keep putting my dollar down on “They will never desert him” until it loses for the first time.

  48. 48.

    West of the Rockies

    September 4, 2020 at 3:13 am

    @joel hanes:

    I didn’t see your comment until I addressed the same point a bit redundantly.

  49. 49.

    Sebastian

    September 4, 2020 at 3:14 am

    @West of the Rockies:

    Inorite?? But he was SO BUTTHURT when Obama roasted him with Omaha Steaks and Gary Busey, he just had to.

  50. 50.

    daryljfontaine

    September 4, 2020 at 3:16 am

    @mrmoshpotato: 

    Being a shitstain who will also be in the dock at the American Nuremberg trials?

    From your lips to the gibbet.

    D

  51. 51.

    Sebastian

    September 4, 2020 at 3:17 am

    @James E Powell:

    This is different. The United States has over the past decades elevated the military to sainthood. This is so blatant, not only is there no defense, you can shut up every Republican instantly.

    Absolutely amazing.

  52. 52.

    West of the Rockies

    September 4, 2020 at 3:20 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    I don’t know, Jeb might have bored us to death, but I don’t think he is half as vile and corrupt as Le Damned l’Orange.

  53. 53.

    piratedan

    September 4, 2020 at 3:22 am

    @mrmoshpotato: the part I find incredulous is that they trot out SHS  as if she’s some sort of ethical paragon of truthiness and expect us to buy it.

    While I fully expect some shoes to drop from this story, I am still dubious that this will be the death stroke.  There is a well paid cadre of spear carriers for the other side who will credulously inform us that we shouldn’t believe our eyes and ears (much less our hearts) and that we simply don’t understand what was meant or that our interpretation of the context is incomplete and finally break down and tell us that the troops are immaterial and are simply tools to be used and that they should shut up and do their jobs and be grateful for the opportunity to serve.

    If nothing else, some more faces were consumed by more leopards and maybe a few more survivors will understand the danger.

    The part that I find shocking isn’t what Trump said, we’ve all reached the conclusion that he’s a very malformed person for a looong damn time, it’s that here we are after a cavalcade of shit, that some members of the press are just now having a Casablanca moment.  I feel like doing a John McClane and shouting “Welcome To The Party!!! Pal!” and still have a fear that we’re gonna get FBI’ed at the end.

  54. 54.

    Steeplejack

    September 4, 2020 at 3:26 am

    @TS (the original):

    Rachel Maddow said tonight (Thursday) that the NATO ministers are having a special meeting on Friday, supposedly to discuss the poisoning of Alexei Navalny. It will be interesting to see how Trump plays this in the middle of his current meltdown.

  55. 55.

    scott (the other one)

    September 4, 2020 at 3:29 am

    @mrmoshpotato: They would have nominated people 99% as bad, sure, and signed into law every heinous bill passed by Congress, sure. But they would not have nominated Boof and they would not have ordered the systematic torture of little kids at the border, and for that alone, any of those other sentient pieces of fecal matter would have been greatly preferable.

  56. 56.

    Mary G

    September 4, 2020 at 3:45 am

    Bunch of buzz on Twitter that China may be launching a space plane, or maybe not:

    Now then — this could be something exceptional. The rumours are that inside this exceptional payload fairing atop a CZ-2F is a CASC spaceplane, launching from Jiuquan Friday. Source: 俊了个锅 via 林晓弈。 https://t.co/qs6VRfzQoP https://t.co/OESvzyDyEl pic.twitter.com/ZPnpwAIfyO— Andrew Jones (@AJ_FI) September 3, 2020

  57. 57.

    Grace

    September 4, 2020 at 3:46 am

    @James E Powell: Sadly, I agree with you. I’m not on Twitter so can’t speak to that but just checked the MSN home page newsfeed and all I see is a couple headlines, one that would make you think Dems are trying to rehash what he said publicly about McCain in 2015 and another bullet pointing several of these stories but under the headline that he denies them all. Political junkies on Twitter (and decent people) consider this a bombshell but I don’t think it will move a single one of his supporters nor will it last as a major story past the next shiny outrage du jour.

  58. 58.

    Brachiator

    September 4, 2020 at 4:17 am

    Trump has been, for the duration of his presidency, fixated on staging military parades, but only of a certain sort. In a 2018 White House planning meeting for such an event, Trump asked his staff not to include wounded veterans, on grounds that spectators would feel uncomfortable in the presence of amputees. “Nobody wants to see that,” he said.

    I despise Trump. And I despise those of his supporters who love him and who claim that they love the “heroes” who put themselves in harm’s way and yet tolerate this sort of bullshit from the Coward-in-Chief.

  59. 59.

    David Evans

    September 4, 2020 at 4:24 am

    @Mary G: If true it could be something of the same order as the American X-37B which has been operational for ten years now.

  60. 60.

    Brachiator

    September 4, 2020 at 4:25 am

    @Steeplejack:

    It will be interesting to see how Trump plays this in the middle of his current meltdown.

    In 2017, the United States was “concerned” when Navalny was found guilty of some trumped up charges.

    The State Department has escalated its reaction to “deeply concerned.”

    The United States is deeply concerned by reported preliminary conclusions from German medical experts that Russian opposition activist Aleksey Navalny was poisoned. If the reports prove accurate, the United States supports the EU’s call for a comprehensive investigation and stands ready to assist in that effort.

    Trump himself doesn’t have much to say, so far.

  61. 61.

    TS (the original)

    September 4, 2020 at 4:29 am

    @Brachiator:

    The State Department has escalated its reaction to “deeply concerned”

    Sen Collins says “I approve this message”

  62. 62.

    patrick II

    September 4, 2020 at 4:30 am

    @Chris T.:

    I’ve often thought that the deepest emotion driving Trump is fear.

    Then again, that might be true of most (all?) narcissists.

    I think it is the driving force for the entire right-wing.

  63. 63.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    September 4, 2020 at 4:51 am

    “I would be willing to swear on anything that I never said that about our fallen heroes…What animal would say such a thing?”

    With Dump it’s always projection or confession

  64. 64.

    NotMax

    September 4, 2020 at 4:51 am

    @Steeplejack

    Not difficult to predict.

    “Our so-called ‘allies’ (who can’t take a decent dump without OUR HELP) once again Surrendering their time and wasting OUR MONEY chasing Fake News and Wild Rumors. Super sad!”

    //

  65. 65.

    Kent

    September 4, 2020 at 4:51 am

    @Chris T.: That’s partly why we moved our family to WA from TX four years ago.  Also of course because TX.

    Nice actually living in a state that cares about democracy.

  66. 66.

    Ruckus

    September 4, 2020 at 4:52 am

    @Chris T.:

    Narcissists have issues. 1st they think they are better than everyone else. 2nd they are afraid that someone might find out that they are full of shit. 3rd they generally have more than one deficit, so a number of other personality defects which usually makes the major one worse. The culmination of shitforbrains crappy life, his inability to actually accomplish much of or anything positive, his monetary situation – which allowed him to never ever have to prove that he’s actually capable of anything other than fucking up, have brought him to the world’s attention as a massive fuckup and horrible human. The only people that seem to back him are racist morons. And possibly the massively delusional. But I repeat myself.

  67. 67.

    Jay

    September 4, 2020 at 4:54 am

    Car drives through protesters, Times Square, New York City, Thursday, September 3, 2020 pic.twitter.com/yMadwNYJSI— DataInput (@datainput) September 4, 2020

  68. 68.

    NotMax

    September 4, 2020 at 4:56 am

    Sigh. Codiing fix.

    @Steeplejack

    Not difficult to predict.

    “Our so-called ‘allies’ (who can’t take a decent dump without OUR HELP) once again Surrendering their time and wasting OUR MONEY chasing Fake News and Wild Rumors. Super sad!”

    //

  69. 69.

    NotMax

    September 4, 2020 at 5:27 am

    Rep. Peter King reinforces his reputation of being a smarmy a-hole of the first water.

  70. 70.

    Calouste

    September 4, 2020 at 5:32 am

    @Sebastian: I’m sure every Republican in Congress will shut up instantly when asked about this by a reporter. And then claim they haven’t heard about it and have to rush because they’re late for lunch. At 9 AM.

  71. 71.

    Sebastian

    September 4, 2020 at 5:49 am

    @Calouste: 

    They’ll try for sure. But they won’t escape this. This is going to be THE topic during Labor Day Weekend. Families, friends, local press, their political opponents will happily get in front of cameras and lambast them.

    I feel this is it. It’s indefensible, cannot be spun, and it won’t go away. What kind of distraction is big enough? And wouldn’t it be immediately seen as such?

  72. 72.

    raven

    September 4, 2020 at 6:14 am

    The suspect in the death of a far-right protester in Portland has been shot dead by US marshals in Washington state, according to local law enforcement officials.
    Michael Forest Reinoehl, 48, a regular attendee during weeks of protests, was killed during an encounter in Lacey, Washington, south-west of Seattle on Thursday evening, said the Pierce county sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer, according to the Olympian news site.

  73. 73.

    trnc

    September 4, 2020 at 6:44 am

    @Cathie from Canada: But Nancy Pelosi got a haircut, so both sides….

    “But her e-Salon”

  74. 74.

    Just One More Canuck

    September 4, 2020 at 6:55 am

    @West of the Rockies: nice Rusty Staub reference

  75. 75.

    Tim C.

    September 4, 2020 at 7:12 am

    I think we are underestimating just how evil most remaining Republicans are.

    Here’s why this doesn’t matter.
    1) Fox will give them a pathway to deny the reality of the statements, some classic non-denial denial.
    2) Some community college professor somewhere said something mean about white people, therefore this doesn’t matter.
    3) It’s just more proof that the lamestream media and deep-state are marxist traitors who are trying to keep America from being great.
    4) They all knew what Trump was in 2016, and they didn’t care then.

  76. 76.

    debbie

    September 4, 2020 at 7:26 am

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:

    Trump needs to fire his mouth. It betrays him at every opportunity.

    It’s hardly a stretch to know as fact that he has called soldiers suckers and losers when he very loudly proclaimed McCain was not a hero because he allowed himself to be captured.

    Trump can lie about what he says, but the video clips don’t lie.

  77. 77.

    debbie

    September 4, 2020 at 7:27 am

    @Steeplejack:

    “We’re no angels either. I’ve been told we’ve poisoned people. I can’t tell you who, but some day I will.”

  78. 78.

    Chris Johnson

    September 4, 2020 at 7:34 am

    @mrmoshpotato: 
    Absolutely Jeb! would have been better. Think about what you’re saying for a half second.

    And the thing is, no, he couldn’t have not run for President. He didn’t do it out of a sense of duty, or convenience, or even really glory-seeking. He was threatened into it, which means there’s someone on the end of that leash, and it’s a damn sturdy leash otherwise he’d be treating it with the same contempt he treats absolutely everything.

  79. 79.

    Chris Johnson

    September 4, 2020 at 7:44 am

    Also: the right wing terrorists are effectively Trump soldiers. It costs them a great deal in terms of stability, lack of direct support from their leader, organization: they have to pay out of their own pockets and with their own peace of mind to make all that up themselves, and it is partly against overblown monsters and partly out of a cult of personality. Effectively, they are Trump’s personal soldiers, seeking his approval and doing his bidding.

    They will tend to identify with ‘real’ soldiers, dress like them, consider all the ‘real’ soldiers to be also on their side and so on. Trump can deny everything but this cuts to the heart of him: somebody with total contempt for those who serve him cannot forever command loyalty, and when it breaks it can break HARD. It depends on how badly, and how tellingly, the mask slips. Seems like this is a bad one as these things go.

    So this is basically telling all his terrorists, ‘go die for me… you loser. Anything nice I say about you is lip service, really I think you are worthless’. If the man could even persuade himself to lament and grieve the loss of some right-wing terrorist he could fuel the martyr mechanism and really pump people up… but he can’t help but despise everybody other than himself, and this is a hell of a handicap for someone pretending to be a leader. It’s fine despising your enemies but deadly to despise your own friends, and that’s Trump all over.

  80. 80.

    Uncle Cosmo

    September 4, 2020 at 8:24 am

    @NotMax: Forget about “seasonal highs” – any denier will tell you they’re pretty much the same as over the last 50-60 years, and they aren’t really wrong (having lived through that period in pretty much the same place, I can attest to that).

    Look instead at overnight lows. In the 50s and 60s I grew up in an urban/suburban row house without A/C[1], and even in a Baltimore summer (not for the faint of heart or the humidity-averse) we could sleep fairly well with window fans drafting through, except for maybe 10-12 nights when the thermometer stayed in the upper 70s.

    These days[2] the overnight low summertime temperature rarely drops below the upper 70s from June 15 through September 15. Often the lows are in the 80s. Even when the daytime highs don’t break 90 F[3]. And for the same reason: Global warming puts more H20 into the atmosphere, more cloudy days ensue (keeping the highs down) and more cloudy nights (which trap the day’s heat in the air near the ground[4]).

    So if you run into CC deniers, you might ask them whether it’s been cooling down at night in summer the way they remember.

    [1] An interior-group RH – 2 exposed walls with limited possibilities for drafting through.

    [2] Living in a different interior-group RH, in an equally-dense section of uptown Baltimore City. With window A/C, thank doG.

    [3] Had a lot of those the past few years, mostly cloudy with afternoon/evening thunderstorms, some quite violent though mercifully brief.

    [4] Why do you think deserts cool off so rapidly after sundown? Dry cloudless skies allow the day’s heat to be radiated into space as infrared.

  81. 81.

    Another Scott

    September 4, 2020 at 8:33 am

    @piratedan: +1

    But it’s even more for me.  Enablers around him have known these things and more for years, but they continue to bury the news and work for him.

    They also have no bottom.

    Why didn’t Kelly resign and condemn him?  Anyone think to ask him that?  What will it take for Donnie’s Lackeys to understand that he is dangerously unfit?

    Dignity Wraith, indeed…

    Grr…

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  82. 82.

    tokyokie

    September 4, 2020 at 9:11 am

    At the time that der Trumpenführer skipped the ceremony at Aisne-Marne Cemetery a couple of years ago, I told my wife that he did so rather than get his elaborate combover wet. Turns out I was right on the money about the soulless bastard.

  83. 83.

    Miss Bianca

    September 4, 2020 at 10:57 am

    @West of the Rockies:

    what’s the opposite of impeccable?

    Err…”peccable”?

  84. 84.

    West of the Rockies

    September 4, 2020 at 11:29 am

    @Miss Bianca:

    Curious that we can be disgruntled but not gruntled or regruntled.

  85. 85.

    Hob

    September 4, 2020 at 11:53 am

    @piratedan:

    spear carriers for the other side who will credulously inform us that we shouldn’t believe our eyes and ears (much less our hearts) and that we simply don’t understand what was meant or that our interpretation of the context is incomplete

    Michael Tracey, whom at least half a dozen people still consider to be on the left in some way, is way ahead of you. You see, Trump was obviously making an anti-war statement about how the troops shouldn’t have been put in harm’s way, and only “neocon-lite” people would misunderstand him as somehow being an asshole. I think Tracey might be in league with Big Opthalmology, trying to produce an epidemic of eye-rolling injuries.

  86. 86.

    Hob

    September 4, 2020 at 11:55 am

    @West of the Rockies: Like a lot of the “this word makes no sense, why doesn’t a related word exist” things that everyone wonders about, the explanation of this one is simply that some words survive and others don’t— with a side helping of “prefixes haven’t always meant the same thing.”

  87. 87.

    Another Scott

    September 4, 2020 at 12:08 pm

    @Another Scott: Charlie Pierce is in my head…

    The most infuriating part of Jeffrey Goldberg's soon-to-be-legendary story is what it says about the men who continued to serve this president*. https://t.co/vTAdYNYR6Y

    — Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) September 4, 2020

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  88. 88.

    SFBayAreaGal

    September 4, 2020 at 12:17 pm

    @Another Scott: My thoughts exactly.

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