Morning Reading

Just how abnormal is neo- fascist narcissist Donald "Rump" Trump (a.k.a., Lord Dampnut)? Our morning reading plumbs the shallows for answers.

Big ego + weak mind = disaster:

Before Donald Trump proposed a 1,000-mile wall on the U.S.-Mexico border to stop migrants, he tried to build a two-mile barrier on a pristine stretch of Irish coast to rein in an ocean. 

He didn’t succeed.  

Irish surfers, weekend beachcombers, environmental scientists, local planners and even a microscopic snail got in his way. In December, Trump International Golf Links backed down from plans it had said were essential to protect the company’s lone Irish course — picturesquely nestled in dunes overlooking the Atlantic — from being swallowed by rising seas. 

For a man who loves to win, the defeat — just a month after his election as president — has left a bitter taste. And despite the motley nature of the resistance, Trump seems to have singled out a lone culprit: the European Union, whose rules and regulations underpinned many of the objections. 

In interviews and public statements, Trump has cited his tangle over the golf-course wall as Exhibit A in justifying a jaundiced view of the E.U. that puts him at odds with decades of bipartisan U.S. foreign policy. (our emphasis)

OK, we'll go there:  this is just par for the course for Narcissistic Personality Disorder sufferer Rump.

That chortling you hear is Russian autocrat and Rump puppet master Vladimir "Vlad the Invader" Putin seeing his dream of a shattered democratic Europe coming closer to fruition thanks to a certain mentally disturbed shitgibbon.

Then there's this fallout from Melissa McCarthy's epic portrayal of Rump's mini- Goebbels, "Baghdad Sean" Spicer:

As the press secretary for a president who's obsessed with how things play on cable TV, Sean Spicer’s real audience during his daily televised press briefings has always been an audience of one. 

And the devastating “Saturday Night Live” caricature of Spicer that aired over the weekend — in which a belligerent Spicer was spoofed by a gum-chomping, super soaker-wielding Melissa McCarthy in drag — did not go over well internally at a White House in which looks matter. 

More than being lampooned as a press secretary who makes up facts, it was Spicer’s portrayal by a woman that was most problematic in the president’s eyes, according to sources close to him. And the unflattering send-up by a female comedian was not considered helpful for Spicer’s longevity in the grueling, high-profile job in which he has struggled to strike the right balance between representing an administration that considers the media the "opposition party," and developing a functional relationship with the press.

"Trump doesn't like his people to look weak," added a top Trump donor. (our emphasis)

Précis: weak- minded, would- be strongman doesn't like his people to look weak.  Look for Baghdad Sean to appear with an assault rifle and in camo at his next press briefing.

Is they learning? Maybe when it comes to the Washington Post national news staff:

President Trump appears to be laying the groundwork to preemptively shift blame for any future terrorist attack on U.S. soil from his administration to the federal judiciary, as well as to the media. [snip] 

Trump’s terrorism blame-game is in keeping with how he ran his campaign, looking for scapegoats at nearly every turn. He often blamed his own failings — a poor debate performance or a gaffe or a primary loss — on the media or other perceived enemies, and he fed his own conspiracies that his adversaries were out to undermine him. [snip] 

In the days since [U.S. District Judge James] Robart’s ruling last Friday night, Trump sent nine tweets about the judge and stoking fear that suddenly the door had been opened for terrorists to enter the country and cause “death & destruction.” [snip] 

In his commentary, Trump has ignored the screening measures and other counterterrorism precautions that have long been in place by U.S. customs and border officials. [snip] 

Trump also sought to diminish the credibility of Robart, calling him a “so-called judge.” Although presidents at times critique judicial rulings, they rarely take personal swipes at individual members of the federal bench. Trump’s breach of protocol could have a chilling affect on the judiciary, which constitutionally rules independently of the executive branch.  (our emphasis)

Less than 3 weeks in, Rump's anti- democratic, un- Constitutional, intemperate words and actions are alarming even those with a long history of normalizing this existential danger.  It's come too late to avoid having his tiny fingers near the nuclear launch codes and on filling the Supreme Court vacancy, but it's important that every opportunity for push back (a.k.a, "telling the truth") is taken by the media.  The Stormtrumpers want to operate in a chaotic blizzard of "alternative facts," the better to foster a disintegration of the norms, boundaries and truths that keep our civic institutions functioning.  Media like the Washington Post (which did it's large part in promoting the Clinton e-mail nothingburger) are perhaps beginning to realize the danger we're facing due to their malpractice and are attempting a late course correction.  To which we say, "Welcome to the real world -- better late than never (?)."