We welcome one Red Hat to temporary reality following ignorant sociopath Donald "Rump" Trump's inane comments about the fires in California (including citing Finland, where he thinks they “spend a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things” to clear the forest floors). The Guardian interviewed some residents of the Chico community in deep red northern California, where Rump made a perfunctory visit on Saturday:
Trump was criticized for his initial response to the fire and threat to withhold funding, after he tweeted: “There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!”
When asked about the president’s visit to the area, Kirk Ellsworth, whose adult children lost their homes in the fire, shook his head in disgust.
“My kids lost everything. I voted for him – and now? He can kiss my red ass,” Ellsworth said. “What he said was ridiculous. It hurts my heart. A lot of us voted for him and he [talks] down to us?”That Rump's constant, insipid lying hasn't until now been taken by Mr. Ellsworth and fellow Red Hats as a sign that he thinks maybe you're stupid is a sign that, well, maybe you are.
But, we shouldn't be so quick to blame the Red Hats for their blindness. The Toronto Star's Daniel Dale notes another culprit:
Trump regularly makes 20 to 30 false claims in his rally speeches. But if you watched a network news segment, read an Associated Press article or glanced at the front page of the newspaper in the city that hosted him, you’d typically have no idea that he was so wholly inaccurate.
If a car salesman told you 36 untrue things in 75 minutes, that would probably be the first thing you told your friends about your trip to the dealership. It should have been the first thing we all told our readers about Trump’s August rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
This issue is so urgent because Trump is getting worse and worse. In 2017, he averaged three false claims per day. In 2018, it is about nine per day. In the month leading up to the midterms: a staggering 26 per day. By my count, he’s now at 3,749 false claims since his inauguration. The Post, which tracks both false and misleading claims, has tallied up to 6,420.
Meanwhile, the press continues to blast out the lies unnoted. Two weeks ago, Axios and the AP uncritically tweeted his nonsense about the United States being the only nation to grant birthright citizenship. (They updated after they were criticized.) It happened again Monday, when Trump earned credulous tweets and headlines from ABC, NBC and others for his groundless assertion about “massively infected” ballots in Florida. (our emphasis)Still waiting for the media "pivot" into doing their jobs.
Dana Milbank draws a contrast between the Thanksgiving would- be autocrat Rump is planning and that of the troops sent to the southern border, bravely awaiting... what?
President Trump is reportedly planning to celebrate Thanksgiving once again at his members-only Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida, feasting on (if previous menus repeat) a 24-dish extravaganza of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, marshmallow sweet potatoes, red snapper, leg of lamb, grilled diver scallops, stone crab, ahi tuna martinis, Maine lobster bisque, short ribs, beef tenderloin and seven desserts.
It will likely all be topped off by what the president calls “the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake” — available exclusively to members ($200,000 initiation fee) and guests.
Things will be rather less sumptuous along the southern border, to which Trump, just before the midterm elections, ordered some 5,600 troops, with another 1,400 on the way, to contain the “national emergency” posed by the approaching caravan of Central American families seeking asylum.
Since the election, Trump has forgotten about the mortal peril posed by the caravan “invasion” — he has mentioned the “caravan” only once, and only when asked — but the troops he ordered to act in this political advertisement can’t forget. They will remain on the border through Thanksgiving, the New York Times reported, eating MRE rations, living in tents without electricity, receiving neither combat pay nor hostile-fire pay. (our emphasis)This, mind you, after dissing veterans by letting drizzle foil him taking part in the WW I ceremonies in France, his subsequent failure to show up at Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day for the second year in a row, and his excuse for not visiting troops in combat areas because of his "busy schedule." Why does he hate the troops?
If that wasn't enough, Cadet Bone Spur's picked a fight with the person who led the raid that killed Osama bin Laden:
President Trump in an interview broadcast Sunday dismissed criticism from the retired admiral and Navy SEAL who led the operation to assassinate Osama bin Laden.
"Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace noted during a discussion with the president that William McRaven has said Trump's attacks on the media are the "greatest threat to democracy in his lifetime."
Trump in response called McRaven a "Hillary Clinton fan" and "Obama-backer."
"Wouldn’t it have been nice if we got Osama bin Laden a lot sooner than that, wouldn’t it have been nice?" Trump asked.To which McRaven replied:
"I did not back Hillary Clinton or anyone else," McRaven said in a statement to CNN on Sunday in response to Trump's comments. "I am a fan of President Obama and President George W. Bush, both of whom I worked for."
McRaven said he admires all presidents, "regardless of their political party, who uphold the dignity of the office and who use that office to bring the Nation together in challenging times."
"I stand by my comment that the President's attack on the media is the greatest threat to our democracy in my lifetime. When you undermine the people's right to a free press and freedom of speech and expression, then you threaten the Constitution and all for which it stands."We hope senior officers' oath to the Constitution is supreme. We may need them to uphold that sooner rather than later.
Lastly, as always, we recommend you check out Infidel 753's link round-up for a slew of topics covering politics, religion, arts, culture, science and more.
2 comments:
They will remain on the border through Thanksgiving, the New York Times reported, eating MRE rations, living in tents without electricity, receiving neither combat pay nor hostile-fire pay.
Then let them eat cake. Beautiful chocolate cake, of course.
This turkey is completely oblivious. Of course, soldiers expect to have to work in arduous conditions sometimes, but in case of real necessity, not just for a political stunt -- which in any case now serves no further purpose since the election is over.
Infidel -- Moving these troops to the border to legitimatize his political blather is one of his worst abuses of power, in a long string of abuses. But, since he's referred to the U.S. military as "my military," an action like this fits his frame of reference. Mattis tried to provide cover for it within the DOD as a "training operation," but at some point a line needs to be drawn before we tread completely into banana republic territory.
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