Islamophobe Travels To Saudi Arabia

Pathological liar and anti-Muslim bigot Donald "Rump" Trump is traveling to Saudi Arabia today, the first stop on a tour that he's already griping about. There, he's going to meet, dine and make nice with leaders of some 50 majority Muslim countries. It's hard to imagine the amount of hypocrisy that will be exhibited on both sides, with Rump's Muslim-banning Islamophobia and the Muslim leaders' tolerance of his bigotry against their religion. One of the goals is to sell more U.S. arms to the various kingdoms and principalities under the guise of creating an "Arab NATO" against Iran, but also to suppress their subjects. Of course, big oil is never far from the discussion (see: Sec. of State Rex "Rexxon" Tillerson, who will be with Rump). After the fall of Saddam Hussein's Iraq, and with an Iran-friendly Shiite government replacing it, Sunni Arabs, led by Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, have been pushing for more aggressive U.S. policies toward Iran, fearing a Shia ascendancy in the region. Notably, they opposed the Iran nuclear agreement almost as fiercely as the Likudniks in Israel.

The overwhelming irony, of course, for right-wing Islamophobes in the U.S. is that Saudi Arabia is the wellspring of the radical fundamentalist Wahabi sect that continues to preach jihad against the U.S. and its allies, and supplied support and 15 of the 19 terrorists that brought down the World Trade Center. You know right-wing Islamophobes here in the U.S. would be on their hind legs howling, howling if President Obama had made Saudi Arabia his first foreign visit, and were accepting the plaudits and a banquet from the Saudi royals.

On The Media -- Is They Learning? *

We might have to start calling it "The Washington Post" again.  From a story today in that paper with the headline "Trump's Rallying Cry: Fear Itself":

The machete-wielding man was quickly shot and arrested Friday morning by French police and soldiers, but from the vantage point of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, it was a crisis dire enough to put a nation 4,000 miles away on high alert. 

“A new radical Islamic terrorist has just attacked in Louvre Museum in Paris. Tourists were locked down. France on edge again. GET SMART U.S.,” President Trump tweeted.
French authorities are indeed investigating the incident as possible terrorism. But other than the critical wounding of the assailant, there were no injuries, except a slight cut to the scalp of a soldier. 

Trump’s reaction to the Egyptian attacker who had shouted “God is great” in Arabic also stood in stark contrast to his public silence on the killing of six Muslim worshipers five days earlier at a mosque in Quebec City. 

The episode spoke loudly to the fact that stoking fear — a strategy that helped get Trump elected — is emerging as a central part of how he plans to carry out his governing agenda.

Perhaps some things are so obvious even the traditional "both sides" media are having a hard time ignoring the truth.

BONUS: More evidence?

BONUS II:  Good advice ... from a Republican.
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* h/t George W. Bush, our edumacation preznit.

National Shame

You couldn't toss a rock this morning and not hit a news story, an editorial or op/ ed about neo- fascist demagogue Donald "Rump" Trump's un- American Muslim ban.

Our first order of business is to debunk Rump's and his cast of lying sycophants' claim that only 109 people are being affected by the Muslim ban. That would be off by a magnitude of several tens of thousands: it's more like 90,000.  Always remember these poor excuses for human beings are pathological liars.

Now, here are a few opinions that caught our eye (as always, please check out the full piece at the link).

Frequent blind squirrel and former Bush speechwriter Michael "Mushroom Cloud" Gerson rips Rump a new one:

The image of President Trump, flanked by Vice President Pence and Defense Secretary James Mattis, signing an executive order that (among other things) excludes Syrian refugees from the United States, is indelible. Three powerful American leaders, targeting and dehumanizing some of the most vulnerable people on Earth. A picture of bullying. A picture of cruelty. A picture of national shame.

You can skip Gerson's last paragraph, where he feels obliged to cite Ronnie Reagan as a counterpoint. Reagan, of course, is the spiritual father of these assorted white nationalists and nihilists running the show now. Look it up on Breitbart or WND ("wing nut daily"), Gerson. They see all kinds of similarities.

Catherine Rampell reminds us of the colossal cowardice and hypocrisy that's part of the Republican Party's DNA:

Where, exactly, is the red line for Republicans in Congress right now? 

We have a president with pronounced authoritarian tendencies, who believes he “alone can fix it”; who signs sweeping executive orders reportedly without even briefing relevant Cabinet members on the logistical, humanitarian and national security consequences; who directs his staff and surrogates to lie about the tiniest and most ridiculous and easily fact-checkable of details; and whose staffers brought us to the brink of a constitutional crisis when they ignored federal court orders. [snip] 

A mere year ago, Republican leaders condemned Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.) said it was “not conservatism.” Then-Gov. Mike Pence (Ind.) called it “offensive and unconstitutional.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) called it “completely and totally inconsistent with American values.” Senator and then-presidential-candidate Marco Rubio (Fla.) agreed, saying, “It violates a lot of the things that we think about our country.”

Maybe when perceive that their own skinny necks are on the electoral chopping block they'll suddenly see that "red line." Or not.

Jonathan Alter on "the least American president of the United States":

The most striking thing about President Trump’s first 10 days in office is that the ardent nationalist who pledged to put “America first” is emerging as the least American president of the United States. 

By least American, I mean least connected to the larger democratic values that define the country. 

Our national identity is unique in the world because it’s based not on race, religion, or country of origin, but on ideals that transcend party 

Such ideals are at odds with a president who lies promiscuously, destabilizes the government with impulsive, discriminatory, and inhumane policies backed up with jarring firings, and cannot allow his White House to apologize or admir error under any circumstances, even for neglecting to mention Jews in a Holocaust commemoration. Those are the telltale signs of a foreign dictator, not an American leader. 

This morning*, the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to confirm as Attorney General slimy neo- Confederate weasel Sen. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (KKK- AL) who is said to have had his hand in the Muslim ban order as well as other un- American actions by this White (supremacist) House junta.  With that knowledge alone, as we say in the post below, if there's one Democrat on the committee or in the full Senate who votes for this "thing," he or she should be written out of the Democratic Party.  Period.'

* The vote today was delayed, not in small part because the Russo Republicans couldn't keep their half-assed members in the room long enough to vote.

Sunday Reflection - "I Was Born Here"

“I think his words are very dangerous.  When these types of comments are made, no one thinks about how they really affect people. I’m African American. I don’t have another home to go to. My family was born here. I was born here. I’ve grown up in Jersey. All my family’s from Jersey. It’s like, well, where do we go?” --  Ibtihaj Muhammad, bronze medalist in the team sabre competition and the first American competing as a Muslim to win a medal in Olympics history, on neo- fascist hatemonger Donald "Rump" Trump's Islamophobic hate speech.  We're proud and fortunate to have people like Ms. Muhammad as fellow Americans. People like Donald Trump?  Not so much.

Trump Wants To Ban Muslims; Britons Want To Ban Him

Shorter Republican front-runner and deployed air bag Donald "Rump" Trump:  the only thing we have to fear is fear itself (but that will have to do for now!):

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has gone beyond opposing the entry of Syrian refugees to wanting to stop all Muslims from emigrating into the US, NBC News reported.

Trump’s campaign said in a statement that he is calling for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.”

Meanwhile, some Brits are looking at banning an undesirable from their country:

The British Parliament could soon review a petition calling for U.S. presidential candidate and former reality TV star Donald Trump to be barred from entering the country on grounds that he has violated the U.K.’s laws against hateful and defamatory speech.

The Independent reported that a petition begun by Suzanne Kelly from Aberdeen, Scotland must gather 100,000 signatures before it can be taken up for debate by the House of Commons.

Good show!  Carry on!

BONUS:  Others react to Rump's demagoguery.

BONUS II:  Water seeking its own level.