“BREAKING NATO: President Trump told the Telegraph that he’s considering withdrawing the United States from NATO, saying his decision is “beyond reconsideration.” He told the British newspaper that the United Kingdom doesn’t have a navy—which is false—and said of the most successful alliance in the history of the world: “I was never swayed by Nato. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way.””
This is what winning looks like of your goals are to destroy the current rule based world order. This is Chaos theory in its essence. Put a reckless and impulsive lunatic in charge. Fill his administration with the cosplay cabinet from hell, and destroy every treaty, and ally relationship which has kept this nation safe, and the richest in the modern world.
Additionally, he’s doing this while actively destroying our government from within: Destroyed the rule of law. Consolidation of key industries; media, social media, energy, banking, etc…
Trump and his cosplay cabinet from hell are just the bright, shiny objects; the real damage is being conducted far from prying eyes. And as for Trump’s Machiavellian Svengali’s—this is exactly what winning looks like if your goals is to destroy our position as the reserve currency of the world; creating a digital currency so a few can’t control the rest of us: Three Spheres of Influence! IMHO…:)
In a rational world it's the worst possible choice for him to break-up NATO, but it's beginning to look like the sooner the rest of NATO can extract themselves from Trump, the better for them. He never liked anything he didn't "create" himself and name after himself.
Yup, but the worst part is that this episode has exposed us to the world as a paper tiger. No one will trust us again.
And ironically, Trump is quick with his deflection, claiming it’s Great Britain and our allies that are the paper tigers. That may be true, but it certainly doesn’t change the world’s view of us—unreliable, and becoming the world’s greatest threat to peace; which says a lot!…:)
All those kinks that are now our daily news fare are published to distract us. Are you looking at Noem's marriage or Graham's Disney trip? Good, you're not looking at the money. That's exactly why they play Ugly Hollywood.
Agreed, one distraction after another, while slowly eroding any trust in all of our institutions, including government and media. If this isn’t winning for the kleptocracy, I don’t know what is; except while they win, the rest of us all lose.
Well, to a certain extent. Part of Project 2025 was to get a lot of their desires into law, but Congress decided that they were better off sticking their heads in the sand, so Trump has issued 252 EO's, every one of which can be ended by the next president on day one.
It seems as if everything Trump does, he does to please Putin. This is happening even as Putin helps Iran defeat the American bombers, and probably tracks Trump closely enough to arrange an assassination.
Agreed, but honestly I think it’s bigger than that. It wasn’t just Russia that helped Trump get elected; even SCOTUS, Israel (extending the war), billionaires—owners of social media all united—Coordinating and conspiring to get Trump elected. This is not in dispute!
In my opinion, this is bigger than Putin, and apparently The Epstein files are at the heart of this mess—blackmail and extortion!…:)
Putin himself is in serious trouble in Russia, both economically and militarily. Ukraine has Putin in a vice what with bombing the hell out of his oil shipping ports and sending his latest offensive packing with huge casualty numbers. I wouldn't be surprised if Putin doesn't beat his butt boy to the dust bin of history.
Robert, Trump wanted to be a President of consequence and, from his view point, good consequences or bad consequences matter not, he knows he will leave his mark of the world and generations to come will talk about him.
Agreed, and he definitely will leave office infamous; however, eventually this nation will one day grow a pair—and one day destroy every gold plated statue (idolatry) created for Dear Leader.
He’ll be remembered all right—as a modern day Nero/Hitler on steroids; and his scions—hanged, drawn and quartered..:)
Trump has to be front and center in the public eye 24/7. What level of negative self-esteem drives that kind of behavior? The man is very ill, both physically and mentally. Republicans will be responsible for him taking America into the gutter of world opinion and they will pay in the elections to come. At this stage, they must all be worried sick at what bizarre things Trump will end up saying tonight as he addresses the nation. I cannot stand the sound of his voice, so will be looking forward to just listening to the Bulwark's coverage. April Fool's Day, indeed!
Agreed, but the problem is we’d be replacing an incompetent authoritarian kleptocrat with a younger, and even more depraved and intelligence authoritarian kleptocrat.
I’m just not sure invoking the 5th will have the desired type of effect we’d be hoping and yearning for….:)
We (America, Americans) bought it (Trump) TWICE. It Broke it. We will spend decades cleaning up the mess, and never return ‘it’ to the previous state of its existence. This is a fatal error. All that is left is to determine what is ruined and beyond repair, and what can be salvaged.
Our children & grandchildren will get to vilify us for every subsequent horrible outcome that will be traced to the decision of their forefathers to place a petulant imbecile in charge of our country twice. They will constantly say, “who was it that said, ‘everything Trump touches does’? Was that Lincoln? Oh, that’s not quite right. Lincoln prospect? Lincoln ballroom? I never can remember who it was. But our grandparents sure should have listened”.
Republicans know this is going to be necessary at some point soon. Trump is unable to focus on or define his intentions for America's immediate future, much less long-term plans. It's just like a family, the decision to take away the car keys is usually made much later than was needed, with everybody just praying Grandpa doesn't get into an accident.
Trump: "I was never swayed by Nato. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way."
Really? Did anyone ever consider that it's the United States that is the paper tiger? Say whatever you will about Putin, but the man is an experienced intelligence officer and he knew that if Trump was elected president, he would do Putin's bidding for him. I'd say his strategy's ROI is pretty robust. Our norms have proven worthless. Our institutions have proven to be weak and toothless. Most of all, the great and good American people are amongst the most decadent, unserious, and childish people on the whole fuckin' planet because they've allowed all of *this* to happen. We know see *exactly* what happens when a country stops being serious and sober: economic destruction and reputational ruin. When the free world considers China a more predictable, reliable nation, that's when we know we are hosed.
Because Trump is such a narcissistic nanowit, he has never considered what will happen when our erstwhile allies develop their own nuclear weapons programs. And he has never considered what will happen when those same erstwhile allies stop sharing their intelligence with us. He's never much cared about the consequences of his actions, and he's not about to start now. Whatever happens, *we signed up for this*.
Of course, by law, Congress has to withdraw from NATO. Of course, the Republicans have dissolved Congress. It's time for Congress to come back, tell Trump to sit down and shut up, and fund heavy weapons for Ukraine, even though we have wasted 80% of them on Iran.
Well, they care for a certain extent of caring. I believe the phrase is "What's in it for me?" I mean, it's sad if the next generation of Americans is in chains, but not so sad if you pass a few million onto your grandchildren.
Seeing how things are playing out in the Middle East, it seems that even the world’s most powerful military can effectively be rendered a paper tiger when under the command of idiots who take their direction from Putin.
I'm fortunate that my kids always sprung these "opposite days" on us -- infuriating but instructive. The difference of course is that they knew what they were doing . . . lol?
Trump needs to be sued for the cost of reconstructing the East Wing of the White House. He destroyed part of a building that doesn't belong to him. No one else could get away with that. He must be made to pay for desecrating a building that belongs to the People of the United States of America.
He hates everyone, everywhere who leads a richer (not the $ kind of rich), more satisfying life than him. Even King Midas came to recognize the poverty (not the $ kind) of loving gold too much.
Scanning the headlines here and elsewhere this morning, it's apparent that America's government and its daily workings have become a hybrid amalgam of April Fool's Day and Groundhog Day.
1. “Tweaky manlets.” Perfect. I’ll have to start using that.
2. Trump may ACO, but the markets are equally … whimsical. I noted on a different post that the markets are untethered from stuff like product quality and trust. It’s all vibes now. Makes me want to pull my money and invest in something boring, like Canada (which is actually run by a competent banker).
Someone pointed out that the TACO trade isn't entirely credulous. It's less that traders believe Trump, and it's more that they think they can anticipate how *other* traders will act on Trump (regardless of belief), and they can therefore make money on the TACO trade.
Yahoo Finance has an article out about it -- "TACO FOMO"
> " Even if markets don’t believe a word of what Trump says, it’s better to make money by giving him the benefit of the doubt than to lose money while ignoring him. Traders aren’t just worried about a TACO – they’re trying to take advantage of the situation."
I remember the reaction of the GOP and conservatives when the Obama admin negotiated a real nuclear deal with Iran. It was a genuine deal but would never pass muster with a GOP happy to use Israel as a wedge issue. Thus the GOP invited Netanyahu to insult the presidency with a speech before Congress.
The deal for all its imperfections was genuine.
So years later, the Iran deal was destroyed by Trump and now.... well we will be in a worse place than under the deal. Iran remains with no agreement to monitor its nuclear material or much of anything.
There was a time when partisanship ended at the water's edge. The GOP has destroyed this principal to win elections. And what do we get? The present nightmare/
You reminded me. Trump used the "Bomb 'em Back to the Stone Ages" wording, the phrase I've been making fun of here for a month. This is the original position of the Queens-area blue collar Republicans of my youth. This predates Rush and FOX. This is the exact phrasing I've been hearing since kindergarten. Trump really is an old guy reading the NY Post with his egg on a hard roll and sweet coffee bitching out how if he were dictator, he'd show those !$#%$# a thing or two.
I an a NJ guy but have relatives buried on Queens. My father was born in Staten Island. I remember that blue collar types (including an uncle who was a cop in Brooklyn). They certainly favored the simple solutions over complex policies.
Kate...you brought back a memory that I've often wanted to share, but it was never exactly apropos to the conversation. Your post changed that today...thanks.
My dad was a mild and quiet centrist democrat. Somehow, our family ended up friends with a very redneck man and his wife. I'm guessing that I was around the age of 8 or so and we were visiting them at their farm. As we were getting in the car (just the 3 of us "guys"), the guy looked at me...and asked..."Jeff, what do you think we should do in Vietnam?" and, of course, I paused not having a clue what to say, and he immediately said "Yah, bomb the hell out of them...back to the stone ages!"
Even as a young lad, and probably due to my upbringing, I was sort of just amazed at how strong an opinion he had and his willingness to share it with a kid. It's just stayed with me all these years as an example of how some people felt about war, Vietnam and having very simple answers to complex problems.
Because I was GOP (at the time) and only heard one side of the story on steroids...I wasn't a fan of the Iran Nuclear deal, but for Trump to just tear it up was beyond stupid. At least with the deal...we had a starting point to cudgel them with, we actually did have boots-on-the-ground for inspections (however imperfect that arrangement was) and Trump could have always stated "The Nuclear deal is unsatisfactory and we need another agreement for conventional weapons and regional terrorism."
Of course, it was never about creating a better agreement, it was simply another showmanship thing of tearing up something Obama did.
How the F did our country become so imbecilic that someone like Trump could gain such a foothold over our country?
I was a Republican for years - my first vote was for Nixon. But there has always be what we might call the "bomb 'em" caucus. They were angry when Reagan began to work with Gorbachev, angry when Clinton tried to work with N Korea and so on. The trouble for all of us is that we do not know the inside view and each side has experts primed to give a one sided view. So.. was N Korea willing to cooperate?. At the time those who defended the what Clinton did. For me - it seems the US simply did nothing to fulfill its part and then... Bush II labelled NK part of the Axis of evil.
I know diplomacy is imperfect but the hard line approach has failed over and over.
So here we are NK is unapproachable, Iran control the flow of a significant portion of oil and gas.
Isn't it funny how Nixon will always be remembered for Watergate but it seems only the Dems and moderate GOPers recognize that he also did great things for the environment, voting rights, ending the Vietnam war, ending the draft, opening relations with China, the list goes on. I have no problem with anyone who voted for Nixon, even though they might think there's a certain stigma attached to their vote.
I think Nixon was emotionally ill equipped for the presidency even if otherwise qualified. I accept that he deserve credit for not opposing the environmental laws. I disagree with giving him credit for ending the Vietnam war because of his role during the 1968 campaign to quash negotiations that LBJ was having. Also the escalation of the conflict by bombing and then an incursion into Cambodia tells me that Nixon deserves credits for the horrors of Pol Pot and that the end of the Vietnam war was going to happen anyway.
But that was a long time ago so not worth too much debate. (My father said Nixon was a crook). I agree with him now.
As soon as Nixon stated, "I'm not a crook!" you knew he was. That being said, he could've blocked many things that he signed off on. I believe that in the GOP's eyes, Nixon's true sin was that he was impatient. He couldn't play the authoritarian long game that Reagan was adept at playing. Bush the Elder almost gave away the game with trying to expose Reaganomics for what it was but he took the VP "hush money". Right now we're seeing the endgame of what the GOP tried to start under Nixon, but got a full head of steam under Reagan. Clinton, Obama, and Biden were bumps and roadblocks in the way of the GOP's authoritarian fever dream.
Similarly (for me, anyway) is LBJ. If you've ever read Caro's "Means of Ascent" then you come away with a very negative view of LBJ and his quest for power. That being said, I visited the LBJ museum in Austin, TX a couple of years ago and was completely astounded by all of his SIGNIFICANT accomplishments.
I think that's where I can draw a line where LBJ's political prowess, however close to being unethical, could be turned around to do great things as POTUS. He had a soul and compassion. He understood the good that could be done from that office.
Trump has no soul; no compassion. He can only envision what he can GET out of being POTUS...everyone else be damned.
Wow...that sort of felt really good to post. Sort of cathartic as they say.
In the category of naked and blatant partisanship, nearly up there in the level of dissing John McCain for having the audacity to be captured after having being shot down and nearly killed…is the sending of love letters to the North Korean leader. How the GOP could ignore this type of behavior given how hard they are on the Dems to anything mildly controversial is maddening.
If it weren’t so serious, it would nearly be funny.
Interesting thought. Personally...I think it started at the beginning where a bunch of exceptional men came together and created some exceptional documents for how to run a government for the people; by the people.
These exceptional documents were further highlighted when, throughout our history, exceptional people gained access to government positions of great authority in our country.
It brings me back to a lifetime of leadership training and a specific training tool that's used over and over. It's the training tool where, as a group, you are hypothetically placed in a catastrophic situation (e.g. stuck in middle of the ocean on a life raft) and you're provided a list of 100 items and you have to rank them in importance to you and your survival.
The first phase of the simulation is for everyone to individually prioritize the importance of the items (#1 to 100). The second phase is to then, as a team, debate the priorities and come up with a revised list based upon the group's input and concurrence.
The conclusion of the simulation comes when a list is provided that was generated by survival experts with a very detailed explanation why certain things were near the top and others near the bottom.
I've done this exercise like 4 different times and the results are staggeringly the same every time: The group list is ALWAYS better than the individual ones. The aspect of debate and discussion leads to better decisions.
So...that's a heck of a long way to say that our form of government is exceptional because it was intended to be a government led by a group of people who must listen to others vs. being led by a single person monarchy (e.g.).
People like my late father, born in 1936, have childhood memories of WWII that appeared to them to end the Pacific Theater war with the use of the A bomb. That memory, I think, lead to the "bomb them into the Stone Age" attitudes that persisted thereafter.
No deal is ever perfect, and I remember having mixed feelings about the Iran deal under Obama, but I think the nomes of the deal were good and a deal means both sides find it satisfactory even if you don’t get everything you want. That Republicans cynically played not getting the ideal from a US standpoint meant holding out for something better which was unlikely. But even Democrats were skeptical, probably overly so, and no one worked on selling that deal so really only the downsides were presented. But even then, it didn’t seem clear to me what our goals were in Iran or what we really wanted to accomplish. Our goals with Iran are even less clear now. What deal we get will be worse and may leave the Iranians with even tighter control over the strait of Hormuz. This is shaping up to disaster and if this ends up happening expect the Saudis and our Gulf allies to take a very hard look at their security arrangements and reassess the value of the US.
I am not sure Rubio fully drank the Kool-Aid — i doubt he believes much of what he says or does, but in for a penny…. He has, however, offered up his tender, private parts for Trump’s gratification and then begged for more.
"Getting the Strait closed because of the war you launched and then telling other countries they are gonna have to figure out how to open it is like buying a casino, bankrupting it, then putting it on the other board members to lend you the money to pay back the bank." - Sam Stein
Poor darling his prized ballroom gets put on ice delaying construction of his most cherished real estate project ever. The gaping hole in the ground for a ballroom that is unlikely to ever be completed is the perfect example of Trump never following anything through to completion. Trump has a hard time making a decision and sticking to it. He likes having all his options open, but immediately gets buys remorse once his options close off by making the decision. Call it TACO or whatever else and the markets have been irrational, but it all speaks to Trump not fulfilling his promises. The gaping hole where the East Wing once stood is the perfect example of Trump starting, taking on more than he can handle and never following through on what hr promised.
I suppose that as Trump walks away from Iran, the rest of the world will make arrangements with Iran for transiting the Strait. Iran (an ally of Russia) wins. Trump walks away from NATO and Russia wins. Europeans restructure NATO without the US, moving defense contracts back to European companies. Courts tell Trump to stop his ballroom construction, Trump ignores their orders and continues. Trump attends SCOTUS arguments on birthright citizenship. "Nice court you have here. Be a shame If something happened to it." If SCOTUS rules against Trump, it gives Trump an excuse to send his ICE goons into select voting districts to threaten voters, delay voting, seize ballots, etc.
I'd reconsider a re-write of this sentence: "then spent much of the next year hashing out individual deals with various countries.". I believe it should read "then spent much of the year pretending to hash out individual deals with various countries.".
> "... Elon Musk’s posse of tweaky manlets ..."
Jane Austen? Mark Twain? Oscare Wilde? Voltaire? Eat your hearts out!
Egger is our moment's witty wordsmith.
Agreed. Egger extra good today.
He's on a roll this week!
“BREAKING NATO: President Trump told the Telegraph that he’s considering withdrawing the United States from NATO, saying his decision is “beyond reconsideration.” He told the British newspaper that the United Kingdom doesn’t have a navy—which is false—and said of the most successful alliance in the history of the world: “I was never swayed by Nato. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way.””
This is what winning looks like of your goals are to destroy the current rule based world order. This is Chaos theory in its essence. Put a reckless and impulsive lunatic in charge. Fill his administration with the cosplay cabinet from hell, and destroy every treaty, and ally relationship which has kept this nation safe, and the richest in the modern world.
Additionally, he’s doing this while actively destroying our government from within: Destroyed the rule of law. Consolidation of key industries; media, social media, energy, banking, etc…
Trump and his cosplay cabinet from hell are just the bright, shiny objects; the real damage is being conducted far from prying eyes. And as for Trump’s Machiavellian Svengali’s—this is exactly what winning looks like if your goals is to destroy our position as the reserve currency of the world; creating a digital currency so a few can’t control the rest of us: Three Spheres of Influence! IMHO…:)
In a rational world it's the worst possible choice for him to break-up NATO, but it's beginning to look like the sooner the rest of NATO can extract themselves from Trump, the better for them. He never liked anything he didn't "create" himself and name after himself.
Yup, but the worst part is that this episode has exposed us to the world as a paper tiger. No one will trust us again.
And ironically, Trump is quick with his deflection, claiming it’s Great Britain and our allies that are the paper tigers. That may be true, but it certainly doesn’t change the world’s view of us—unreliable, and becoming the world’s greatest threat to peace; which says a lot!…:)
All those kinks that are now our daily news fare are published to distract us. Are you looking at Noem's marriage or Graham's Disney trip? Good, you're not looking at the money. That's exactly why they play Ugly Hollywood.
Agreed, one distraction after another, while slowly eroding any trust in all of our institutions, including government and media. If this isn’t winning for the kleptocracy, I don’t know what is; except while they win, the rest of us all lose.
Project 2025 is a success!
Shhh, not so loud. It's completely and fully a success. But nobody talks about that except people like us, and Brendan Carr is listening.
well, not here
I tend to yell from a steeple, no one is going to shut me up
Exactly!
Well, to a certain extent. Part of Project 2025 was to get a lot of their desires into law, but Congress decided that they were better off sticking their heads in the sand, so Trump has issued 252 EO's, every one of which can be ended by the next president on day one.
Or struck down by the courts for being unconstitutional or contrary to an existing statute.
It seems as if everything Trump does, he does to please Putin. This is happening even as Putin helps Iran defeat the American bombers, and probably tracks Trump closely enough to arrange an assassination.
Agreed, but honestly I think it’s bigger than that. It wasn’t just Russia that helped Trump get elected; even SCOTUS, Israel (extending the war), billionaires—owners of social media all united—Coordinating and conspiring to get Trump elected. This is not in dispute!
In my opinion, this is bigger than Putin, and apparently The Epstein files are at the heart of this mess—blackmail and extortion!…:)
Fully agree.
Putin himself is in serious trouble in Russia, both economically and militarily. Ukraine has Putin in a vice what with bombing the hell out of his oil shipping ports and sending his latest offensive packing with huge casualty numbers. I wouldn't be surprised if Putin doesn't beat his butt boy to the dust bin of history.
Why would Putin want Trump assassinated? He’s Putin’s greatest asset by far.
More worried about Rubio or Vance health.
He is loyal to Russia and to his family.
I hope he doesn't position our armed forces to sustain significant harm to more people and more key hardware.
Robert, Trump wanted to be a President of consequence and, from his view point, good consequences or bad consequences matter not, he knows he will leave his mark of the world and generations to come will talk about him.
Agreed, and he definitely will leave office infamous; however, eventually this nation will one day grow a pair—and one day destroy every gold plated statue (idolatry) created for Dear Leader.
He’ll be remembered all right—as a modern day Nero/Hitler on steroids; and his scions—hanged, drawn and quartered..:)
I believe Trump said that there is no such thing as bad publicity. It's all good if it keeps Trump's name in the public.
Trump has to be front and center in the public eye 24/7. What level of negative self-esteem drives that kind of behavior? The man is very ill, both physically and mentally. Republicans will be responsible for him taking America into the gutter of world opinion and they will pay in the elections to come. At this stage, they must all be worried sick at what bizarre things Trump will end up saying tonight as he addresses the nation. I cannot stand the sound of his voice, so will be looking forward to just listening to the Bulwark's coverage. April Fool's Day, indeed!
all the time, this a.m. sitting for while in a court, tonight addresssing , finally on TV, tomorrow, who knows.
he's is real slippery female hater, he wants to use females as objects
and keep them repressed, it is really that simple, which is why my strong dislike for the puke is growing, growing, and the attention hog thing
it makes money
more branding
If somehow the 25th Amendment section 4 is not invoked in defense of America soon, we are all going to hell in a hand basket.
Agreed, but the problem is we’d be replacing an incompetent authoritarian kleptocrat with a younger, and even more depraved and intelligence authoritarian kleptocrat.
I’m just not sure invoking the 5th will have the desired type of effect we’d be hoping and yearning for….:)
We (America, Americans) bought it (Trump) TWICE. It Broke it. We will spend decades cleaning up the mess, and never return ‘it’ to the previous state of its existence. This is a fatal error. All that is left is to determine what is ruined and beyond repair, and what can be salvaged.
Yup. We have crossed the Stovicon.
I'd really like to find the Bulwark commenter who came up with that and buy them a coffee.
Not me, but I am using it moving forward!
Agreed, no matter how this ends, America won’t be the same; and not for the good! Let’s hope some of this is salvageable.
Our children & grandchildren will get to vilify us for every subsequent horrible outcome that will be traced to the decision of their forefathers to place a petulant imbecile in charge of our country twice. They will constantly say, “who was it that said, ‘everything Trump touches does’? Was that Lincoln? Oh, that’s not quite right. Lincoln prospect? Lincoln ballroom? I never can remember who it was. But our grandparents sure should have listened”.
Agreed, and “Everything Trump Touches Dies,” has become the credo of Rick Wilson, he has the substack: Against all Enemies. He’s very good…:)
Actual conversation I've had with my children:
Me: "You should blame my generation for this mess. We suck."
Them: "Oh, we blame Trump and the Republicans, not you, Mom."
We need a twentyfifthskidoo amendment.
Going to Hell in a bucket and not even enjoying the ride.
Sweet GD reference 😊
Well said..:)
I am eighty years old. Intimations of mortality dance in my head. With what has happened in my country, I have little hope of "resting in peace."
Republicans know this is going to be necessary at some point soon. Trump is unable to focus on or define his intentions for America's immediate future, much less long-term plans. It's just like a family, the decision to take away the car keys is usually made much later than was needed, with everybody just praying Grandpa doesn't get into an accident.
"Three Spheres of Influence!" I agree.
"Chaos is a ladder"...... Game of Thrones
A presidential address on April Fools Day . . . the jokes write themselves . . .
May the grain be with you, Hans :-)
Perhaps no one has done more for April Fools Day than Donald J Trump
That s my thought. April Fools for the last ten years.
Trump: "I was never swayed by Nato. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way."
Really? Did anyone ever consider that it's the United States that is the paper tiger? Say whatever you will about Putin, but the man is an experienced intelligence officer and he knew that if Trump was elected president, he would do Putin's bidding for him. I'd say his strategy's ROI is pretty robust. Our norms have proven worthless. Our institutions have proven to be weak and toothless. Most of all, the great and good American people are amongst the most decadent, unserious, and childish people on the whole fuckin' planet because they've allowed all of *this* to happen. We know see *exactly* what happens when a country stops being serious and sober: economic destruction and reputational ruin. When the free world considers China a more predictable, reliable nation, that's when we know we are hosed.
Because Trump is such a narcissistic nanowit, he has never considered what will happen when our erstwhile allies develop their own nuclear weapons programs. And he has never considered what will happen when those same erstwhile allies stop sharing their intelligence with us. He's never much cared about the consequences of his actions, and he's not about to start now. Whatever happens, *we signed up for this*.
Of course, by law, Congress has to withdraw from NATO. Of course, the Republicans have dissolved Congress. It's time for Congress to come back, tell Trump to sit down and shut up, and fund heavy weapons for Ukraine, even though we have wasted 80% of them on Iran.
Johnson and Thune are going to acquiesce to Trump. They, too, do not care about the consequences of their actions.
Well, they care for a certain extent of caring. I believe the phrase is "What's in it for me?" I mean, it's sad if the next generation of Americans is in chains, but not so sad if you pass a few million onto your grandchildren.
Johnson will. Not sure about Thune. He didn't cave on the filibuster as demanded by the president.
that's crazy that is old time out of date thinking cave man stuff, get with it
national ism isolate us we are FIRST
and the media says so
we are everything,
Seeing how things are playing out in the Middle East, it seems that even the world’s most powerful military can effectively be rendered a paper tiger when under the command of idiots who take their direction from Putin.
A military is only as good as its leadership. The trump shitshow proves it.
I'm fortunate that my kids always sprung these "opposite days" on us -- infuriating but instructive. The difference of course is that they knew what they were doing . . . lol?
Trump needs to be sued for the cost of reconstructing the East Wing of the White House. He destroyed part of a building that doesn't belong to him. No one else could get away with that. He must be made to pay for desecrating a building that belongs to the People of the United States of America.
Man...I really like that idea!
Someone should list the cost to date of "owning the libs" so far!
He hates everyone, everywhere who leads a richer (not the $ kind of rich), more satisfying life than him. Even King Midas came to recognize the poverty (not the $ kind) of loving gold too much.
Scanning the headlines here and elsewhere this morning, it's apparent that America's government and its daily workings have become a hybrid amalgam of April Fool's Day and Groundhog Day.
OMG...I posted that to someone else about 5 minutes ago! Great minds...
Although "amalgam" was a much more sophisticated word/concept than I used!
As long as we don't do it again tomorrow I think we're probably OK... :-)
Just the way Alito, Roberts, Kavanaugh, and Thomas wanted it. They think THIS is the optimal America.
Well said. Brilliant!…:)
"almost unfathomably clownish baby’s-first-stats-class formula"
Perfect. But I think drop the "almost."
1. “Tweaky manlets.” Perfect. I’ll have to start using that.
2. Trump may ACO, but the markets are equally … whimsical. I noted on a different post that the markets are untethered from stuff like product quality and trust. It’s all vibes now. Makes me want to pull my money and invest in something boring, like Canada (which is actually run by a competent banker).
Someone pointed out that the TACO trade isn't entirely credulous. It's less that traders believe Trump, and it's more that they think they can anticipate how *other* traders will act on Trump (regardless of belief), and they can therefore make money on the TACO trade.
Yahoo Finance has an article out about it -- "TACO FOMO"
https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/world-just-happened-dow-200559148.html
> " Even if markets don’t believe a word of what Trump says, it’s better to make money by giving him the benefit of the doubt than to lose money while ignoring him. Traders aren’t just worried about a TACO – they’re trying to take advantage of the situation."
Thank goodness they aren't a herd of Wildebeests.
maybe a herd of Wildebeests would do less damage
Lower quality means you hired less labor to make the product. So that is what Wall Street will always support because they are labor's enemies.
I remember the reaction of the GOP and conservatives when the Obama admin negotiated a real nuclear deal with Iran. It was a genuine deal but would never pass muster with a GOP happy to use Israel as a wedge issue. Thus the GOP invited Netanyahu to insult the presidency with a speech before Congress.
The deal for all its imperfections was genuine.
So years later, the Iran deal was destroyed by Trump and now.... well we will be in a worse place than under the deal. Iran remains with no agreement to monitor its nuclear material or much of anything.
There was a time when partisanship ended at the water's edge. The GOP has destroyed this principal to win elections. And what do we get? The present nightmare/
You reminded me. Trump used the "Bomb 'em Back to the Stone Ages" wording, the phrase I've been making fun of here for a month. This is the original position of the Queens-area blue collar Republicans of my youth. This predates Rush and FOX. This is the exact phrasing I've been hearing since kindergarten. Trump really is an old guy reading the NY Post with his egg on a hard roll and sweet coffee bitching out how if he were dictator, he'd show those !$#%$# a thing or two.
I an a NJ guy but have relatives buried on Queens. My father was born in Staten Island. I remember that blue collar types (including an uncle who was a cop in Brooklyn). They certainly favored the simple solutions over complex policies.
All gas, no go
Kate...you brought back a memory that I've often wanted to share, but it was never exactly apropos to the conversation. Your post changed that today...thanks.
My dad was a mild and quiet centrist democrat. Somehow, our family ended up friends with a very redneck man and his wife. I'm guessing that I was around the age of 8 or so and we were visiting them at their farm. As we were getting in the car (just the 3 of us "guys"), the guy looked at me...and asked..."Jeff, what do you think we should do in Vietnam?" and, of course, I paused not having a clue what to say, and he immediately said "Yah, bomb the hell out of them...back to the stone ages!"
Even as a young lad, and probably due to my upbringing, I was sort of just amazed at how strong an opinion he had and his willingness to share it with a kid. It's just stayed with me all these years as an example of how some people felt about war, Vietnam and having very simple answers to complex problems.
Because I was GOP (at the time) and only heard one side of the story on steroids...I wasn't a fan of the Iran Nuclear deal, but for Trump to just tear it up was beyond stupid. At least with the deal...we had a starting point to cudgel them with, we actually did have boots-on-the-ground for inspections (however imperfect that arrangement was) and Trump could have always stated "The Nuclear deal is unsatisfactory and we need another agreement for conventional weapons and regional terrorism."
Of course, it was never about creating a better agreement, it was simply another showmanship thing of tearing up something Obama did.
How the F did our country become so imbecilic that someone like Trump could gain such a foothold over our country?
I was a Republican for years - my first vote was for Nixon. But there has always be what we might call the "bomb 'em" caucus. They were angry when Reagan began to work with Gorbachev, angry when Clinton tried to work with N Korea and so on. The trouble for all of us is that we do not know the inside view and each side has experts primed to give a one sided view. So.. was N Korea willing to cooperate?. At the time those who defended the what Clinton did. For me - it seems the US simply did nothing to fulfill its part and then... Bush II labelled NK part of the Axis of evil.
I know diplomacy is imperfect but the hard line approach has failed over and over.
So here we are NK is unapproachable, Iran control the flow of a significant portion of oil and gas.
And we are a laughing stock.
There has been imbeccility for decades.
Isn't it funny how Nixon will always be remembered for Watergate but it seems only the Dems and moderate GOPers recognize that he also did great things for the environment, voting rights, ending the Vietnam war, ending the draft, opening relations with China, the list goes on. I have no problem with anyone who voted for Nixon, even though they might think there's a certain stigma attached to their vote.
I think Nixon was emotionally ill equipped for the presidency even if otherwise qualified. I accept that he deserve credit for not opposing the environmental laws. I disagree with giving him credit for ending the Vietnam war because of his role during the 1968 campaign to quash negotiations that LBJ was having. Also the escalation of the conflict by bombing and then an incursion into Cambodia tells me that Nixon deserves credits for the horrors of Pol Pot and that the end of the Vietnam war was going to happen anyway.
But that was a long time ago so not worth too much debate. (My father said Nixon was a crook). I agree with him now.
As soon as Nixon stated, "I'm not a crook!" you knew he was. That being said, he could've blocked many things that he signed off on. I believe that in the GOP's eyes, Nixon's true sin was that he was impatient. He couldn't play the authoritarian long game that Reagan was adept at playing. Bush the Elder almost gave away the game with trying to expose Reaganomics for what it was but he took the VP "hush money". Right now we're seeing the endgame of what the GOP tried to start under Nixon, but got a full head of steam under Reagan. Clinton, Obama, and Biden were bumps and roadblocks in the way of the GOP's authoritarian fever dream.
yeah, his brother died. his parents squablled,there was money issues.
the Quaker in him confused him, greatly
he was a virgin way too long
other then that, he grew up fine,
Similarly (for me, anyway) is LBJ. If you've ever read Caro's "Means of Ascent" then you come away with a very negative view of LBJ and his quest for power. That being said, I visited the LBJ museum in Austin, TX a couple of years ago and was completely astounded by all of his SIGNIFICANT accomplishments.
I think that's where I can draw a line where LBJ's political prowess, however close to being unethical, could be turned around to do great things as POTUS. He had a soul and compassion. He understood the good that could be done from that office.
Trump has no soul; no compassion. He can only envision what he can GET out of being POTUS...everyone else be damned.
Wow...that sort of felt really good to post. Sort of cathartic as they say.
Yep… all very good points.
In the category of naked and blatant partisanship, nearly up there in the level of dissing John McCain for having the audacity to be captured after having being shot down and nearly killed…is the sending of love letters to the North Korean leader. How the GOP could ignore this type of behavior given how hard they are on the Dems to anything mildly controversial is maddening.
If it weren’t so serious, it would nearly be funny.
"We fell in love." *gag*
Only when you get to the Trump Admin, there are ZERO experts at anything, which is one of the reasons America is in such trouble right now.
"Art of the Deal"!
I think that American exceptionalism is exceptionally overstated. In reality a bunch of gullible rubes.
I think the US had some exceptional elements but to the extent that we had them, they are gone now: https://terrymckenna.substack.com/p/has-america-no-shame?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
Interesting thought. Personally...I think it started at the beginning where a bunch of exceptional men came together and created some exceptional documents for how to run a government for the people; by the people.
These exceptional documents were further highlighted when, throughout our history, exceptional people gained access to government positions of great authority in our country.
It brings me back to a lifetime of leadership training and a specific training tool that's used over and over. It's the training tool where, as a group, you are hypothetically placed in a catastrophic situation (e.g. stuck in middle of the ocean on a life raft) and you're provided a list of 100 items and you have to rank them in importance to you and your survival.
The first phase of the simulation is for everyone to individually prioritize the importance of the items (#1 to 100). The second phase is to then, as a team, debate the priorities and come up with a revised list based upon the group's input and concurrence.
The conclusion of the simulation comes when a list is provided that was generated by survival experts with a very detailed explanation why certain things were near the top and others near the bottom.
I've done this exercise like 4 different times and the results are staggeringly the same every time: The group list is ALWAYS better than the individual ones. The aspect of debate and discussion leads to better decisions.
So...that's a heck of a long way to say that our form of government is exceptional because it was intended to be a government led by a group of people who must listen to others vs. being led by a single person monarchy (e.g.).
Yes. But…that tan suit!
among the nonsense.
People like my late father, born in 1936, have childhood memories of WWII that appeared to them to end the Pacific Theater war with the use of the A bomb. That memory, I think, lead to the "bomb them into the Stone Age" attitudes that persisted thereafter.
No deal is ever perfect, and I remember having mixed feelings about the Iran deal under Obama, but I think the nomes of the deal were good and a deal means both sides find it satisfactory even if you don’t get everything you want. That Republicans cynically played not getting the ideal from a US standpoint meant holding out for something better which was unlikely. But even Democrats were skeptical, probably overly so, and no one worked on selling that deal so really only the downsides were presented. But even then, it didn’t seem clear to me what our goals were in Iran or what we really wanted to accomplish. Our goals with Iran are even less clear now. What deal we get will be worse and may leave the Iranians with even tighter control over the strait of Hormuz. This is shaping up to disaster and if this ends up happening expect the Saudis and our Gulf allies to take a very hard look at their security arrangements and reassess the value of the US.
"Elon Musk’s posse of tweaky manlets". Outdid yourself here Andrew. Went down deliciously with my morning shot.
If Rubio had an ounce of integrity, he would resign over the NATO destruction. But he put on the Florsheim's . . . .
I think your statement"...he put on the Florsheim's" will replace "he drank the koolaid" .
I am not sure Rubio fully drank the Kool-Aid — i doubt he believes much of what he says or does, but in for a penny…. He has, however, offered up his tender, private parts for Trump’s gratification and then begged for more.
"Getting the Strait closed because of the war you launched and then telling other countries they are gonna have to figure out how to open it is like buying a casino, bankrupting it, then putting it on the other board members to lend you the money to pay back the bank." - Sam Stein
Worth repeating the LOVE here, too, Sam! 😍💕❤️🤣
Poor darling his prized ballroom gets put on ice delaying construction of his most cherished real estate project ever. The gaping hole in the ground for a ballroom that is unlikely to ever be completed is the perfect example of Trump never following anything through to completion. Trump has a hard time making a decision and sticking to it. He likes having all his options open, but immediately gets buys remorse once his options close off by making the decision. Call it TACO or whatever else and the markets have been irrational, but it all speaks to Trump not fulfilling his promises. The gaping hole where the East Wing once stood is the perfect example of Trump starting, taking on more than he can handle and never following through on what hr promised.
I suppose that as Trump walks away from Iran, the rest of the world will make arrangements with Iran for transiting the Strait. Iran (an ally of Russia) wins. Trump walks away from NATO and Russia wins. Europeans restructure NATO without the US, moving defense contracts back to European companies. Courts tell Trump to stop his ballroom construction, Trump ignores their orders and continues. Trump attends SCOTUS arguments on birthright citizenship. "Nice court you have here. Be a shame If something happened to it." If SCOTUS rules against Trump, it gives Trump an excuse to send his ICE goons into select voting districts to threaten voters, delay voting, seize ballots, etc.
I'd reconsider a re-write of this sentence: "then spent much of the next year hashing out individual deals with various countries.". I believe it should read "then spent much of the year pretending to hash out individual deals with various countries.".