But it seems, in the aftermath of the Democratic blue wave election last week, Rump has become ever more unhinged, as exhibited by his behavior in France, his ever- moronic tweeting, and his destructive lies about the ongoing vote counting in Florida. Of course, he's not alone in doing damage to our country's democratic institutions (see two posts immediately below). These are just a few examples today of the dystopian rot infecting the nation.
Fraud and Fruit Loops
“The Republicans don’t win and that’s because of potentially illegal votes,” Trump told the conservative Daily Caller website. “When people get in line that have absolutely no right to vote and they go around in circles. Sometimes they go to their car, put on a different hat, put on a different shirt, come in and vote again. Nobody takes anything. It’s really a disgrace what’s going on.”
He also called for new national ID laws with a bizarre assertion: “If you buy a box of cereal – you have a voter ID.” (our emphasis)Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs is what immediately comes to mind here.
Alpha Dawg Exposed
Twenty-four hours after Melania Trump went public about her displeasure with the deputy national security adviser, the first lady's husband did her bidding and sent Mira Ricardel packing. Melania showed she knows how to play like a Trump and the President is likely none too happy about it. [snip]
The public nature of the first lady's statement put the President in an extremely awkward position. He couldn't find a way to look strong in the face of his wife's public call for a top aide's dismissal. [snip]
If Trump feels the victim of pressure from his wife, it's because he has created in his marriage a perfectly Trumpian dynamic. As a man who believes that life is about winners and losers, Trump has long approached every human endeavor as a desperate battle for primacy. If you are not the boss, then you are being bossed, and for him this condition is unbearably humiliating.Rump is a bully, coward and fraud. As often as not, humiliation is a just reward.
Facebook Is No Friend
The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Facebook’s lobbying operation in Washington DC had attempted to distract from growing pressure over Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election by hiring a political consultancy to target opponents.
The consultancy, Definers Public Affairs, published dozens of negative articles about other tech companies on a “news” website that the PR firm ran in-house.
Definers also attempted to cast Soros, a long-standing target of antisemitic conspiracy theories on the far right, as the driving force behind Facebook critics. As late as this summer, the New York Times reported, the firm was circulating documents that put Soros as “the unacknowledged force behind what appeared to be a broad anti-Facebook movement”.
At the same time, Facebook lobbied “a Jewish civil rights group to cast some criticism of the company as antisemitic”, the newspaper reports. (our emphasis)Democrats, please "invite" Mr. Zuckerberg and Ms. Sandberg to testify to the House.
An Exotic Ambassador
President Trump on Wednesday announced his nomination of Lana Marks, a handbag designer and Mar-a-Lago club member to be his next U.S. ambassador to South Africa.
In a statement, the White House noted Marks's service on the Women’s Leadership Board at the Harvard Kennedy School, as well as her schooling in South Africa. Marks speaks Afrikaans and Xhosa, two of South Africa's 11 official languages, according to the release.
CNN reported that Marks remains a member of Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, noting that her daughter was married at the location.
Marks's handbag line, CNN noted, features certain designs with skins from exotic animals, including ostriches and alligators. (our emphasis)Mar- a- Lago, check. Inexperienced, check. Insensitive sociopath, check. Yep, she's in the Trumpist wheelhouse.
That's exhausting enough for one morning.
