Tag Archives: Trump

“I could be one of the diers.”

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Inside the Trump White House After His COVID-19 Diagnosis. Olivia Nuzzi article in New York Magazine. For those of us wondering what sort of drugs Trump might have been on following his brief stay at Walter Reed…

“He’s on the sort of drugs you’d see with a Tour de France rider in the mid-’90s!” Another way to say this, the former White House official said, was that the president is “hopped up on more drugs than a Belgian racing pigeon.”

But the money quote that will stick with me is from Trump’s niece, Mary Trump:

“The president is best understood as a self-unaware Tin Man, abandoned as a small child by his sick mother and rejected by his sociopath father until he became useful to him, whose endless search for love and approval plays out as mental warfare on the Free World he improbably represents. “In order to deal with the terror and the loneliness he experienced, he developed these defense mechanisms that essentially made him unlovable,” Mary said. “Over time, they hardened into character traits that my grandfather came to value. When you’re somebody who craves love but doesn’t understand what it means — he just knows he misses it and needs it, but he’ll never have it because he’s somebody nobody loves — that’s fucking tragic.“

Senate Impeachment Trial: January 6 Video Montage

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House Impeachment Manager Rep. Jamie Raskin presents a video montage of the January 6, 2021 Attack on the U.S. Capitol during his opening statement during the U.S. Senate Impeachment Trial of former President Trump.

Bruce Castor, an attorney for Donald Trump, made a rambling opening statement and The Washington Post put together a highlight reel.

“Release the whirlwind”

What became of Trump’s election dead-enders

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“Some of his most hardcore associates and advisers, who egged Trump on and helped fuel his most dangerous or destructive attempts to subvert American democracy, aren’t doing so well. In the three months since the election was called for Joe Biden, most of the lawyers and MAGA enthusiasts who decided to play a consequential role in the ex-president’s efforts to overturn the Democratic nominee’s 2020 win (efforts that led directly to the Jan. 6 mob violence), have had their jobs or businesses shredded, their personal lives shaken, or their reputations irrevocably tarnished—all while Trump’s been relaxing and playing his rounds of golf in the Sunshine State.”

Daily Beast

The Big Lie

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NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen with a suggestion for journalists in the post-Trump era:

“In the same way you might begin an interview with a pro forma, “this is on the record,” or “how do you spell your name?” journalists (and talk show bookers) should set the ground rules with, “Very quickly before we start: who was the legitimate winner of the 202 election?”

If the answer is “that’s a complicated question,” or “Trump”… no interview or air time.

I don’t get a lot of invitations these days but the next time someone asks me to go have a beer, should I ask this question: Who won? Do I want to spend time with someone who believes The Big Lie and perpetuates it? A lie that can and might destroy our country?

Under consideration.

Belief vs. Reality

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“We are all capable of believing things which we know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally proved wrong, impudently twisting the facts so as to show that we were right,” but “sooner or later a false belief bumps up against solid reality, usually on a battlefield.”

— George Orwell

Or the marble halls of Congress. Seems like everybody is worried that millions of Trump supporters believe he really won the election. And that, they insist, undermines the very fabric of our democracy. I don’t doubt that but I’m skeptical there’s anything anyone can do to change what they believe. How much energy should be expended to convince these same people the QAnon conspiracy is horseshit? That there really are no pedophile lizard people. I see no difference. As long as they’re trapped in their social media echo chamber and getting all the news from Fox and OAN, their “beliefs” will continue to be fed and reinforced.

“But they’ll turn to violence, like what we saw on January 6 at the U.S. Capital!” Probably. People will die and a lot of damage will result. But I’m curious how these overweight weekend-warriors in their Wal-Mart camo will do against trained, well-armed National Guard troops. Don’t get me wrong, I hope this doesn’t happen but the Trumpsters insist it will. So be it.

As some of last week’s “patriots” get arrested and — eventually — face trial and jail time, I’ll  also be curious to see how they handle that. As well as true patriots like Rev. Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela? Can they do a few years of federal prison time? We’ll see.

So I really don’t care if you “believe in your heart” the election was stolen. It wasn’t, but believe that lie –and live that lie — till the day you die. And send me a photo of one of the lizard people.

Trump Twitter account suspended

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“After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.” Full blog post by Twitter.

“Come on, everyone! Let’s go to Parler!”
“And if Apple pulls our app, we’ve always got Android.”