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Have you ever seen a bigger phony in your life?
Before rambling on for over two hours - a record even for the big-mouthed Donald Trump during his presidency - at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Donald Trump famously - or infamously, depending on who you ask - embraced the American flag.
Some are suggesting it was closer to a molestation.
Whatever it was, Trump apparently is proudly using it as a show of his true patriotism. The White House tweeted this image, which suggests that they take pride in it. This seems weird to me, even by (perhaps especially by) traditional conservative standards, because this act, and Trump's behavior more generally towards the flag, seems to have been desecrating the flag. After all, according to most conservatives (or people who describe themselves as conservative in this country these days, because there is a big difference between legitimate political conservatism, and what passes for it these days), true patriotism is about sacrificing yourself when the time comes to do so, and not desecrating the flag. Trump is the antithesis of all of that. He failed to show up to fight a war for his country when asked to do so, even after receiving elite military training. Frankly, given this man's history, it feels almost impossible to imagine this guy sacrificing anything for a cause greater than pursuing how own lusts and delusions of grandeur. And he has desecrated the flag, even by conservative standards. After all, it is not supposed to be anything goes in terms of respecting the flag, although flag worship in the United States has simply gone way too far for entirely too long. Trump is merely manipulating this, like he manipulates everything else, because that is what a scam artist does. Say what you will about Trump, but nobody can take away his unbelievable mastery at being the greatest con artist the United States, and perhaps even the world, has ever seen.
It is hard to take this man seriously.
Yet, rather paradoxically, it is now impossible not to take the threat that he poses seriously.
Just last week, I remember one of the most revealing and alarming things that Michael Cohen said during his Congressional testimony was his fear that Trump would not peacefully give up the White House in 2020 if he loses the election. Somehow, that seemed to be missed by many in the press, but it was a major point to me. Especially given that one-third of Americans believe that a second civil war is inevitable. The idea that a dangerous monster like Trump is in the Oval Office is bad enough, and a majority of us know that he should never have been entrusted with high office to begin with. But the idea that this man will probably not give up his office willingly or peacefully, now that he is in it, was my personal worst fear about him. That once we have this petty tyrant in there, we will be stuck with him, come what may, for the long term.
Shame on Americans for collectively allowing him into the high office that he now occupies in the first place!
These ridiculous, obviously orchestrated and made for television surreal moments when this former "reality television" star is clearly trying to make some kind of a statement about how he is a true patriot (then why didn't he fight in Vietnam when he had the chance?) might be almost comical, if they were not so sad and, frankly, scary.
Again, this man is in charge now. He has access to enormous power, and he has already done tremendous amounts of damage with his irresponsible conduct during his first two years. It makes most cringe to think about what he still might do.
Quite a few people were alarmed at his rambling speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference days ago. The ridiculous beginning, with him wrapping himself up in the flag, almost literally, followed by his longest speech as president, which was even more difficult to comprehend than usual, but which nevertheless was filled with him spewing hatred and every attempt to dehumanize his detractors, to the roar of his adoring, easily manipulated crowds. No matter what this man does or says, they are behind him. Fail to deliver on his promise to make Mexico pay for the wall? They don't care. Fail to deliver (or even come close to delivering) on his promise to deliver on a national healthcare plan that would be affordable and cover everyone? They give him a pass. Fail to clearly accuse Nazis and white supremacists of inciting violence, even though they came armed to their march? No problem! Pass a massive tax break for the rich, and have average people's taxes go up (which many people are only finding out about now, during tax season)? Again, not a problem. Fail to keep that promise that he would not have time to play golf while in the White House, instead going for rounds of golf virtually every weekend in his sunny, privately owned (by him) Florida resort? Not an issue, or even so much as a raised eyebrow.
They will let him say and/or do anything. Hell, he said as much. Remember when he said that he could shoot someone in broad daylight, and his supporters would not care, and would continue to give him their unwavering support? Well, he was wrong about a lot of things, clearly, before and since. But he was right on the money with that prediction.
No wonder Trump can act the way that he did at the Conservative Political Action Conference, and say the things that he did, even if the speech was disjointed. Most people would be embarrassed to be featured so prominently in such a compromising manner after that speech, and they would want to bury that memory as best as possible. What makes Trump so challenging is that he literally seems to have no shame, and however feebly, he defends his ridiculous words or actions, and his supporters keep gobbling it up. I used to say that he kept lowering the bar, lowering standards. But frankly, I believe that he has erased standards, so that there is now an absence of limits regarding behavior coming from the man who is supposed to represent us, to be our face and our voice.
How embarrassing!
Nicole Belle, in an article blasting Trump's speech, put it quite adequately:
If there is a better display of raging narcissism mixed with Adderall-infused dementia thriving on cult-like adoration, it's yet to be seen.
Let's see some samples from Trump's rather infamous speech:
“You know, I don’t know, maybe you know. You know, I’m totally off script right?” Trump said at the outset of his speech. “This is how I got elected, by being off script . . . and if we don’t go off script, our country is in big trouble, folks.”
Right. And here is what Trump said about the Democrats:
"They are embracing open borders, socialism, & extreme late-term abortion...lawmakers in NY cheered as they passed legislation to allow babies to be ripped from the womb of their mothers. Right up to the very moment of death... the will execute the baby."
A little more. And keep in mind, this is the President of the United States speaking:
"Mothers who love their daughters give them massive amounts of birth control pills, because they know their daughters are going to be raped on the way up to our southern border. Think of that. True story told to me by the Border Patrol. So true. And so sad. Think of how evil that is."
He continued, citing very dubious statistics without backing them up or revealing his source:
"1 in 3 women is sexually assaulted in the dangerous journey north. When I ran for president, my first speech, I mentioned the word 'rape'... if you look at that speech, that was so innocent compared to what's actually happening."
Not surprisingly, he once again turned to a common theme, not just with him, but with popular conservatives who seem incapable of defending their own positions, as much as dehumanizing and outright lying about anyone opposed to their positions:
"We have people in Congress right now that hate our country... When I see some of the statements being made, it's very very sad. And find out -- how did they do in their country? Did they do well?... Some will say it's terrible he brought that up, but I don't mind."
And this:
"We had the greatest win of all time... Unfortunately you put the wrong people in a couple of positions, and they leave people for a long time that should not be there. All of a sudden, they are trying to take you out with bullshit. With bullshit."
"The greatest win of all time?"
That goes even beyond traditional Trump overreaches.
Bob Ceska tweeted his reaction on March 2nd:
It is hard to take this man seriously.
Yet, rather paradoxically, it is now impossible not to take the threat that he poses seriously.
Just last week, I remember one of the most revealing and alarming things that Michael Cohen said during his Congressional testimony was his fear that Trump would not peacefully give up the White House in 2020 if he loses the election. Somehow, that seemed to be missed by many in the press, but it was a major point to me. Especially given that one-third of Americans believe that a second civil war is inevitable. The idea that a dangerous monster like Trump is in the Oval Office is bad enough, and a majority of us know that he should never have been entrusted with high office to begin with. But the idea that this man will probably not give up his office willingly or peacefully, now that he is in it, was my personal worst fear about him. That once we have this petty tyrant in there, we will be stuck with him, come what may, for the long term.
Shame on Americans for collectively allowing him into the high office that he now occupies in the first place!
These ridiculous, obviously orchestrated and made for television surreal moments when this former "reality television" star is clearly trying to make some kind of a statement about how he is a true patriot (then why didn't he fight in Vietnam when he had the chance?) might be almost comical, if they were not so sad and, frankly, scary.
Again, this man is in charge now. He has access to enormous power, and he has already done tremendous amounts of damage with his irresponsible conduct during his first two years. It makes most cringe to think about what he still might do.
Quite a few people were alarmed at his rambling speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference days ago. The ridiculous beginning, with him wrapping himself up in the flag, almost literally, followed by his longest speech as president, which was even more difficult to comprehend than usual, but which nevertheless was filled with him spewing hatred and every attempt to dehumanize his detractors, to the roar of his adoring, easily manipulated crowds. No matter what this man does or says, they are behind him. Fail to deliver on his promise to make Mexico pay for the wall? They don't care. Fail to deliver (or even come close to delivering) on his promise to deliver on a national healthcare plan that would be affordable and cover everyone? They give him a pass. Fail to clearly accuse Nazis and white supremacists of inciting violence, even though they came armed to their march? No problem! Pass a massive tax break for the rich, and have average people's taxes go up (which many people are only finding out about now, during tax season)? Again, not a problem. Fail to keep that promise that he would not have time to play golf while in the White House, instead going for rounds of golf virtually every weekend in his sunny, privately owned (by him) Florida resort? Not an issue, or even so much as a raised eyebrow.
They will let him say and/or do anything. Hell, he said as much. Remember when he said that he could shoot someone in broad daylight, and his supporters would not care, and would continue to give him their unwavering support? Well, he was wrong about a lot of things, clearly, before and since. But he was right on the money with that prediction.
No wonder Trump can act the way that he did at the Conservative Political Action Conference, and say the things that he did, even if the speech was disjointed. Most people would be embarrassed to be featured so prominently in such a compromising manner after that speech, and they would want to bury that memory as best as possible. What makes Trump so challenging is that he literally seems to have no shame, and however feebly, he defends his ridiculous words or actions, and his supporters keep gobbling it up. I used to say that he kept lowering the bar, lowering standards. But frankly, I believe that he has erased standards, so that there is now an absence of limits regarding behavior coming from the man who is supposed to represent us, to be our face and our voice.
How embarrassing!
Nicole Belle, in an article blasting Trump's speech, put it quite adequately:
If there is a better display of raging narcissism mixed with Adderall-infused dementia thriving on cult-like adoration, it's yet to be seen.
Let's see some samples from Trump's rather infamous speech:
“You know, I don’t know, maybe you know. You know, I’m totally off script right?” Trump said at the outset of his speech. “This is how I got elected, by being off script . . . and if we don’t go off script, our country is in big trouble, folks.”
Right. And here is what Trump said about the Democrats:
"They are embracing open borders, socialism, & extreme late-term abortion...lawmakers in NY cheered as they passed legislation to allow babies to be ripped from the womb of their mothers. Right up to the very moment of death... the will execute the baby."
A little more. And keep in mind, this is the President of the United States speaking:
"Mothers who love their daughters give them massive amounts of birth control pills, because they know their daughters are going to be raped on the way up to our southern border. Think of that. True story told to me by the Border Patrol. So true. And so sad. Think of how evil that is."
He continued, citing very dubious statistics without backing them up or revealing his source:
"1 in 3 women is sexually assaulted in the dangerous journey north. When I ran for president, my first speech, I mentioned the word 'rape'... if you look at that speech, that was so innocent compared to what's actually happening."
Not surprisingly, he once again turned to a common theme, not just with him, but with popular conservatives who seem incapable of defending their own positions, as much as dehumanizing and outright lying about anyone opposed to their positions:
"We have people in Congress right now that hate our country... When I see some of the statements being made, it's very very sad. And find out -- how did they do in their country? Did they do well?... Some will say it's terrible he brought that up, but I don't mind."
And this:
"We had the greatest win of all time... Unfortunately you put the wrong people in a couple of positions, and they leave people for a long time that should not be there. All of a sudden, they are trying to take you out with bullshit. With bullshit."
"The greatest win of all time?"
That goes even beyond traditional Trump overreaches.
Bob Ceska tweeted his reaction on March 2nd:
I can't reiterate this enough: Trump's whatever-the-hell-that-was today at CPAC was deeply disturbing and profoundly dangerous. The president of the United States is mentally unstable and a threat to the safety and security of the free world. Not joking. This is a crisis.
Through it all, the disconnect between Trump and his supporters, and the mainstream media, as well as the rest of the country, and the rest of the world and, frankly, reality, seems to be widening. Clearly, there is something that they are seeing about what is happening, which most everyone else is not seeing. Or, vice versa. Maybe they sincerely do not get how embarrassing and alarming such behavior, and such words, are, especially from the supposed leader of the nation.
Yet, Trump's approval ratings are up!!! There may be no more glaring sign of where this country is right now politically, and socially, than that. His poll numbers have never been stronger. His approval ratings stand at 46 percent, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
Think about that! Nearly half of Americans feel that this man is doing a job that they can support. Despite all of the nonsense, the circus act. Despite the incoherent overall message and seeming randomness of his so-called "leadership," and despite the only coherence that can be found in his words always being a message of hatred and division, and this from the self-proclaimed "president for all Americans."
This is what we are dealing with in this country right now. This is the sign of where we are, and how pathetic things have gotten. Not just a lowering of standards, but a complete absence of standards and limits, all embodied in this one man and his millions of loyal and enthusiastic supporters.
You know, I am struggling personally. I do not want to be one of those people who falls under the trap of being distracted by the master of distractions, or to cry foul at things that look and definitely feel wrong, even as the rest of the country seems to collectively shrug and say, "Ah, well, what are you going to do?"
Yet, we are not heading towards a good place here. All of this is ridiculous nonsense, not worthy even of a movie or television show. Apparently, a lot of Americans seem to feel that this is all that this is, because what is happening is ridiculous. It would be a joke, if it were not actually real, and with consequences that have already been tragic. Because we are heading in the wrong direction in this country. Indeed, we have been for many years, even decades, but now, we are falling so much faster, and the inevitable crash is so much closer. And to the extent that I can, I want to scream out about what's going on, and at the very least, I want all of this ridiculous and inexcusable behavior to be documented, so that it will never, ever be forgotten. Because this country is going through a very dark chapter right now, and we cannot let anyone forget this, lest we repeat it!
Here are the links to the articles that I used in writing this particular blog entry:
President Trump's approval rating continues to climb by William Cummings, USA TODAY, March 4, 2019:
The internet winces at ‘embarrassing’ White House tweet celebrating Trump’s ‘flag molestation’ Travis Gettys, 04 MAR 2019:
Trump’s 2 Hour CPAC Freak Out (Only on Fox News) Exceeds Even His Own Standards for Lunacy by Mark NC on March 2, 2019:
Bob Ceska's Twitter page:
Aaron Rupar's Twitter page:
Trump's Rambling, Crazy CPAC Speech Previews GOP's 2020 Campaign Talking Points By Nicole Belle, March 2, 2019:
https://crooksandliars.com/2019/03/trumps-rambling-crazy-cpac-speech-previews?utm_source=social&utm_medium=twitter&utm_content=11380
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