Donald Trump is an ass, Houston edition: Daily Bullshit, August 28-31, 2017

Updates

  1. August 28, 9:58 pm:
    • We will undoubtedly see a number of calls for action potentially leading to Donald Trump’s impeachment. This[1] is the first one I’m inclined to take seriously. (Golden Showers)
  2. August 28, 10:25 pm:
    • Cabinet members and White House aides are beginning to distance themselves from Donald Trump.[2] The twenty-fifth amendment requires a vote of the cabinet to find Trump unfit to serve.[3] (Charlottesville)
  3. August 29, 12:30 pm:
    • Jennifer Rubin is scathing on Donald Trump’s trip to Texas before Harvey is even done.[4] (Houston)
    • Jelani Cobb complains that Antifa violence vindicates Donald Trump who alleged in the wake of Charlottesville that there was violence on both sides.[5]
  4. August 30, 3:49 am:
    • Antifa are idiots and assholes. Their tactics eviscerate their claim to be anarchists[6] and they’re helping rationalize Donald Trump’s false equivalence between paleoconservatives and counter-protesters.[7] (Charlottesville)
    • In his speeches on his trip to Texas even before Harvey had left the state, Donald Trump has barely mentioned victims, thrilling instead at the sizes of his audiences.[8] Did I mention that Trump is an ass? (Houston)
  5. August 30, 9:56 pm:
    • Here’s the Politico new story on Donald Trump’s purpose for his trip to Texas.[9] (Houston)
    • Donald Trump is not the only one displaying severe psychological defects impairing his ability to serve. Here’s Dianne Feinstein.[10]
  6. August 31, 11:47 am:
    • Politico reports on the public disagreements between Donald Trump and his advisors.[11] (North Korea, yes, really)
  7. August 31, 12:48 pm:
    • More ridicule for Donald Trump on his trip to Texas. (Houston)
  8. August 31, 5:31 pm:
    • A now bought-and-paid-for Bernie Sanders is rebuffing efforts to convince him to lead a new party.[12] (Democrats)
    • In response to Donald Trump’s claims to have witnessed devastation first-hand, Aaron Blake is reduced to explaining the difference between first-hand and second-hand information.[13] (Houston)

Houston

Extreme weather events tend to be outside my bailiwick, so my initial intention is not to archive stories on this disaster. But Harvey is huge and well, and Donald Trump is managing to make an ass of himself here too. And I have relatives in the Hill Country of northeast Texas who were entirely too close (but seem to have been unaffected).


This being Twitter, others have already responded and more poignantly than I ever could, long before I even woke up to find out what was going on:

And of course, Twitter has follow-up:

Then here’s the Politico report:

It was a presidential trip to a deluged state where the president didn’t meet a single storm victim, see an inch of rain or get near a flooded street.

But the daylong visit, during which President Donald Trump spent far more time in the air than on the ground, gave the optics-obsessed president some of the visuals he wanted, as he checked in on the government apparatus working on relief efforts and was buoyed by a roaring crowd of locals.

And it showed that the president, who often obsesses about crowd size and fame while speaking in hyperbolic superlatives, would not drop those traits even amid hurricane cleanup. He praised his Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, Brock Long, for becoming “famous” during his frequent TV appearances, talked repeatedly about the historic nature of the storm and marveled at adoring Texas residents who greeted him.

“What a crowd, what a turnout,” Trump said, wearing khakis and a storm jacket — an unusual look for him — while waving a Texas state flag before about 1,000 people gathered across a rural Texas highway.[14]

Are you fucking kidding me? This is how the president of the United States gets covered in the wake of a disaster? I guess it is when that president is Trump. But we are now well into what is, for me, entirely uncharted territory. I’ve never in my life seen a president, not even Richard Nixon, held in such disdain in the mainstream media. He can cry “fake news” all he likes but we no longer have the question of whether his presidency is over, but rather when he lost all credibility and when—and how—he departs (more on this under North Korea).

Jennifer Rubin, “Mr. President, the flood victims should come first, not your photo op,” Washington Post, August 29, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/08/29/mr-president-the-flood-victims-should-come-first-not-your-photo-op/

Julia Conley, “No Mention of the Victims, But ‘What a Turnout!’ Trump Declares in Texas,” Common Dreams, August 29, 2017, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/29/no-mention-victims-what-turnout-trump-declares-texas

Josh Dawsey, “Trump relishes role as chief executive of Harvey response,” Politico, August 29, 2017, http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/29/trump-texas-hurricane-harvey-242148

Aaron Blake, “Trump claimed he witnessed Harvey’s devastation ‘first hand.’ The White House basically admits he didn’t,” Washington Post, August 31, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/08/31/trump-claimed-he-witnessed-harveys-devastation-first-hand-the-white-house-basically-admits-he-didnt/


Joe Arpaio

Even the Moonie paper notes, even if only to dismiss them, “accusations that the president hid the Arpaio pardon behind Hurricane Harvey, which was preparing to make landfall in Texas as the pardon was announced.”[15]

It’s worth commenting on Paul Ryan’s remarks. First, Paul Ryan exhibits characteristics of an oxymoronic combination of capitalist libertarianism and social or traditionalist conservatism. I despise capitalist libertarian economics, but folks at the Cato Institute and other capitalist libertarians are often excellent in their analysis of issues involving the Bill of Rights, which authoritarian populist Joe Arpaio enthusiastically shredded while demonstrating the fuzziness of the boundary between authoritarian populism and paleoconservatism on unauthorized migration.

But the other point is that nearly all elected officials and other elites, including Ryan and even Donald Trump, become functionalist to some degree: Gaining power vests their interest in the status quo. So the other thing to observe in the stories under Charlottesville is the degree to which other functionalist conservatives—including the Secretary of State and Defense Secretary[16]—are criticizing Trump, even if not very loudly in Ryan’s case[17] and somewhat obliquely in Mattis’ case.[18] It’s a pretty good bet that others are thinking what Ryan, Rex Tillerson, James Mattis, Gary Cohn, John McCain, and Jeff Flake are saying.

To understand this, understand the at least subconscious relationship between elites and police: Police exist in a framework to protect what wealthy folks most have to lose, property; they are very well armed and any armed insurrection against the status quo would need to at least neutralize the police; and it is therefore essential that police be loyal to the death. Yes, Arpaio violated the Constitution. But worse than that, in doing so, he broke the trust that functionalists require from police.

Dave Boyer and David Sherfinski, “Trump’s pardon of Arpaio sends strong messages to immigrant advocates, Mueller team, loyalists,” Washington Times, August 27, 2017, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/27/joe-arpaios-pardon-a-donald-trump-message/

Lisa Mascaro, “Speaker Ryan ‘does not agree’ with Trump’s pardon of Arpaio,” Los Angeles Times, August 27, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-updates-speaker-ryan-does-not-agree-with-1503856893-htmlstory.html


Charlottesville

Laura King, “Tillerson appears to distance himself from Trump on racism and ‘values,'” Los Angeles Times, August 27, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-updates-tillerson-appears-to-distance-self-from-1503847245-htmlstory.html

Amber Phillips, “Are some of Trump’s key Cabinet members thinking about abandoning him?” Washington Post, August 28, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/08/28/are-some-of-trumps-key-cabinet-members-thinking-about-abandoning-him/

Jelani Cobb, “The Antifa Protests Are Helping Donald Trump,” New Yorker, August 29, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-antifa-protests-are-helping-donald-trump

Paige St. John and James Queally, “‘Antifa’ violence in Berkeley spurs soul-searching within leftist activist community,” Los Angeles Times, August 29, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-far-left-violence-20170829-story.html


Golden Showers

Jane Chong and Benjamin Wittes, “Congress Needs to Open a Formal Impeachment Inquiry,” Foreign Policy, August 28, 2017, http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/28/congress-needs-to-open-a-formal-impeachment-inquiry/


Dianne Feinstein

Jessica Chasmar, “Dianne Feinstein on Trump: ‘He can be a good president,’” Washington Times, August 30, 2017, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/30/dianne-feinstein-calls-for-patience-on-donald-trum/


North Korea

Leon Panetta has an important point, that those of us looking at White House tensions as possibly auguring a twenty-fifth amendment removal of Donald Trump, when he says of the public disagreements between Trump and his advisors that he “think[s] the problem is that they (advisers) are now dealing with a president who tweets his thoughts to the country.”[19]

Presidents often disagree with senior advisers over policies or other matters but the differences are usually confined to internal deliberations and become public only through leaks or much later in memoirs, historians and former government officials said.

“I haven’t seen a modern president with a pattern of this many high officials saying things like that,” said Michael Beschloss, a presidential historian.[20]

At least in the Politico rendering, it isn’t clear that Beschloss is taking Trump’s use of Twitter into account, that we might indeed be seeing publicly what is normally private, that as Sarah Sanders said on Air Force One, she doesn’t “think anyone has tried to distance themselves. I think that at moments maybe you have people that disagree. I think that’s a healthy thing for you to be able to have productive conversation.”[21]

So the questions that arise here are, first, what happens when policy deliberations are aired publicly? And second, are these actually just ‘deliberations’ or is there another story playing out, as when James Mattis “appeared to delay implementation of Trump’s decision to ban transgender people from enlisting in the military” or when Gary Cohn reportedly considered resigning over Trump’s Charlottesville comments?[22]

Because the other part of this is what I write above under Joe Arpaio and in a recent blog entry,[23] that this is, for functionalist conservatives and neoconservatives, a substantially discredited president. Which seems to point to two possible directions: One, and probably still most likely at least in the short term, is to essentially to do what Robert Reich recently suggested, to render Trump irrelevant. Reich notes that “Trump no longer has a working majority in the Senate because several Senate Republicans have decided the hell with him.” Reich believes that “although Trump will still hold the title of President, he’s on the way to being effectively removed from the presidency. Neutered. Defanged.”[24] But the other, which I think is more plausible in the medium to longer term, is that bypassing a president proves unworkable or unacceptable and the cabinet votes to remove him via the twenty-fifth amendment. As Reich notes, “We’re not out of danger. Trump will continue to rant and fume. He’ll insult. He’ll stoke racial tensions. He could still start a nuclear war.”[25] That last one sure as fuck has my attention.

Jonathan Landay and Jeff Mason, “Top advisers in more displays of disagreement with Trump,” Politico, August 30, 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-advisers-idUSKCN1BB075


Democrats

Seth McLaughlin, “Draft Bernie activists implore Vermont Sen. Sanders to consider leading new party,” Washington Times, August 31, 2017, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/30/bernie-sanders-asked-grass-roots-activists-lead-ne/

  1. [1]Jane Chong and Benjamin Wittes, “Congress Needs to Open a Formal Impeachment Inquiry,” Foreign Policy, August 28, 2017, http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/28/congress-needs-to-open-a-formal-impeachment-inquiry/
  2. [2]Amber Phillips, “Are some of Trump’s key Cabinet members thinking about abandoning him?” Washington Post, August 28, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/08/28/are-some-of-trumps-key-cabinet-members-thinking-about-abandoning-him/
  3. [3]Andrew Prokop, “The 25th Amendment, explained: how a president can be declared unfit to serve,” Vox, May 17, 2017, https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/2/9/14488980/25th-amendment-trump-pence
  4. [4]Jennifer Rubin, “Mr. President, the flood victims should come first, not your photo op,” Washington Post, August 29, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/08/29/mr-president-the-flood-victims-should-come-first-not-your-photo-op/
  5. [5]Jelani Cobb, “The Antifa Protests Are Helping Donald Trump,” New Yorker, August 29, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-antifa-protests-are-helping-donald-trump
  6. [6]David Benfell, “On violence,” Not Housebroken, April 29, 2017, https://disunitedstates.org/2017/04/29/on-violence/
  7. [7]Jelani Cobb, “The Antifa Protests Are Helping Donald Trump,” New Yorker, August 29, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-antifa-protests-are-helping-donald-trump; Paige St. John and James Queally, “‘Antifa’ violence in Berkeley spurs soul-searching within leftist activist community,” Los Angeles Times, August 29, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-far-left-violence-20170829-story.html
  8. [8]Julia Conley, “No Mention of the Victims, But ‘What a Turnout!’ Trump Declares in Texas,” Common Dreams, August 29, 2017, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/29/no-mention-victims-what-turnout-trump-declares-texas
  9. [9]Josh Dawsey, “Trump relishes role as chief executive of Harvey response,” Politico, August 29, 2017, http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/29/trump-texas-hurricane-harvey-242148
  10. [10]Jessica Chasmar, “Dianne Feinstein on Trump: ‘He can be a good president,’” Washington Times, August 30, 2017, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/30/dianne-feinstein-calls-for-patience-on-donald-trum/
  11. [11]Jonathan Landay and Jeff Mason, “Top advisers in more displays of disagreement with Trump,” Politico, August 30, 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-advisers-idUSKCN1BB075
  12. [12]Seth McLaughlin, “Draft Bernie activists implore Vermont Sen. Sanders to consider leading new party,” Washington Times, August 31, 2017, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/30/bernie-sanders-asked-grass-roots-activists-lead-ne/
  13. [13]Aaron Blake, “Trump claimed he witnessed Harvey’s devastation ‘first hand.’ The White House basically admits he didn’t,” Washington Post, August 31, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/08/31/trump-claimed-he-witnessed-harveys-devastation-first-hand-the-white-house-basically-admits-he-didnt/
  14. [14]Josh Dawsey, “Trump relishes role as chief executive of Harvey response,” Politico, August 29, 2017, http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/29/trump-texas-hurricane-harvey-242148
  15. [15]Dave Boyer and David Sherfinski, “Trump’s pardon of Arpaio sends strong messages to immigrant advocates, Mueller team, loyalists,” Washington Times, August 27, 2017, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/27/joe-arpaios-pardon-a-donald-trump-message/
  16. [16]Laura King, “Tillerson appears to distance himself from Trump on racism and ‘values,'” Los Angeles Times, August 27, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-updates-tillerson-appears-to-distance-self-from-1503847245-htmlstory.html; Amber Phillips, “Are some of Trump’s key Cabinet members thinking about abandoning him?” Washington Post, August 28, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/08/28/are-some-of-trumps-key-cabinet-members-thinking-about-abandoning-him/
  17. [17]Lisa Mascaro, “Speaker Ryan ‘does not agree’ with Trump’s pardon of Arpaio,” Los Angeles Times, August 27, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-updates-speaker-ryan-does-not-agree-with-1503856893-htmlstory.html
  18. [18]Amber Phillips, “Are some of Trump’s key Cabinet members thinking about abandoning him?” Washington Post, August 28, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/08/28/are-some-of-trumps-key-cabinet-members-thinking-about-abandoning-him/
  19. [19]Leon Panetta, quoted in Jonathan Landay and Jeff Mason, “Top advisers in more displays of disagreement with Trump,” Politico, August 30, 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-advisers-idUSKCN1BB075
  20. [20]Jonathan Landay and Jeff Mason, “Top advisers in more displays of disagreement with Trump,” Politico, August 30, 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-advisers-idUSKCN1BB075
  21. [21]Sarah Sanders, quoted in Jonathan Landay and Jeff Mason, “Top advisers in more displays of disagreement with Trump,” Politico, August 30, 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-advisers-idUSKCN1BB075
  22. [22]Jonathan Landay and Jeff Mason, “Top advisers in more displays of disagreement with Trump,” Politico, August 30, 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-advisers-idUSKCN1BB075
  23. [23]David Benfell, “Forecasting Donald Trump’s demise,” Not Housebroken, August 19, 2017, https://disunitedstates.org/2017/08/19/forecasting-donald-trumps-demise/
  24. [24]Robert Reich, “How to Remove Trump,” August 20, 2017, http://robertreich.org/post/164425401240
  25. [25]Robert Reich, “How to Remove Trump,” August 20, 2017, http://robertreich.org/post/164425401240

No pink underwear for Joe Arpaio: Daily Bullshit, August 25, 2017

Joe Arpaio

Jesse Byrnes and Jonathan Easley, “Trump pardons former Sheriff Joe Arpaio,” Hill, August 25, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/348061-trump-pardons-arpaio


Charlottesville

Jon Queally, “As Calls Grow, Former Adviser Warns of Armed ‘Insurrection’ If Trump Impeached,” Common Dreams, August 24, 2017, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/24/calls-grow-former-adviser-warns-armed-insurrection-if-trump-impeached


Under siege at home, Donald Trump ramps up an occupation abroad: Daily Bullshit, August 22-23, 2017

In case you missed it, a total of four new blog posts emanated from the last issue. Head on over to Not Housebroken to catch up.

Also, as sickeningly awful as this president is proving to be, pundits and folks on the Left would do well to remember that he defeated the Democratic Party nominee. And it probably won’t be enough to claim he’s proving much, much worse than anyone anticipated, though that’s probably true.


Updates

  1. August 22, 9:07 pm:
    • Donald Trump’s “new”[1] strategy was subject to “rigorous debate,” according James Mattis.[2] No, seriously. He really did say it. Really! (Afghanistan)
  2. August 23, 3:43 am:
    • Generals conned Donald Trump into yet another surge.[3] And yes, I believe the American Conservative on this one. (Afghanistan)
    • James Fallows piles on with an explanation of how Donald Trump’s speech on Afghanistan is more of the same,[4] which pretty much confirms that Trump was sold a bill of goods—and used ones at that.
  3. August 23, 2:35 pm:
    • Donald Trump is still an ass.[5] (Charlottesville)
    • Investors are trying to figure out what will happen to Uber’s business as it reduces the subsidies it now prices into rides.[6]
  4. The U.S. government has settled a lawsuit filed by three former Guantanamo detainees for Torture. Terms were not disclosed.[7]

Afghanistan

Cynicism aside, yet another “surge”[8]—and I’m sure glad I’m not the only one who fails to see anything new in this policy[9]—should help to bolster support from Donald Trump’s base, mostly authoritarian populists, and might help to distract those #NeverTrump neoconservatives for a while.

James Fallows, “Trump’s Depressingly Normal Speech About Afghanistan,” Atlantic, August 21, 2017, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/amal-speech-about-afghanistan/537555/

Gordon Lubold, Eli Stokols, and Peter Nicholas, “Trump Takes New Tack in Afghanistan Fight,” Wall Street Journal, August 21, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-ups-the-ante-in-afghanistan-fight-1503360382

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, “‘Rigorous’ Debate Led To New U.S. Strategy For Afghanistan, Mattis Says,” Global Security, August 21, 2017, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2017/08/mil-170821-rferl02.htm

Dawn, “‘We must reject being made scapegoats for US policy failures,'” August 22, 2017, https://www.dawn.com/news/1353189/we-must-reject-being-made-scapegoats-for-us-policy-failures

Mark Perry, “How the Brass Talked Another President Into a Losing Strategy,” American Conservative, August 22, 2017, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/how-generals-talked-another-president-into-losing-strategy/


Charlottesville

Fair warning: It takes a strong stomach to read about Donald Trump’s speech in Phoenix.

Jonathan Easley, “Trump unloads in defense of his Charlottesville response at Phoenix rally,” Hill, August 23, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/347592-trump-unloads-in-defense-of-his-charlottesville-response-at-phoenix


Uber

Taxis start to look a lot more competitive if you take away the subsidies that Uber (and Lyft) riders are getting.[10] But in my experience, taxis are rarely properly cleaned—you’re actually probably safer on a bus which at least gets hosed out at the end of the day—and even taxi drivers rarely see a livable income.

Heather Somerville, “True price of an Uber ride in question as investors assess firm’s value,” Reuters, August 23, 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-profitability-idUSKCN1B3103


Torture

Philip Giraldi, “Two CIA Contractors Successfully Sued for ‘Black Site’ Torture,” American Conservative, August 23, 2017, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/two-cia-contractors-successfully-sued-for-black-site-torture/

  1. [1]Gordon Lubold, Eli Stokols, and Peter Nicholas, “Trump Takes New Tack in Afghanistan Fight,” Wall Street Journal, August 21, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-ups-the-ante-in-afghanistan-fight-1503360382
  2. [2]Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, “‘Rigorous’ Debate Led To New U.S. Strategy For Afghanistan, Mattis Says,” Global Security, August 21, 2017, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2017/08/mil-170821-rferl02.htm
  3. [3]Mark Perry, “How the Brass Talked Another President Into a Losing Strategy,” American Conservative, August 22, 2017, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/how-generals-talked-another-president-into-losing-strategy/
  4. [4]James Fallows, “Trump’s Depressingly Normal Speech About Afghanistan,” Atlantic, August 21, 2017, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/amal-speech-about-afghanistan/537555/
  5. [5]Jonathan Easley, “Trump unloads in defense of his Charlottesville response at Phoenix rally,” Hill, August 23, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/347592-trump-unloads-in-defense-of-his-charlottesville-response-at-phoenix
  6. [6]Heather Somerville, “True price of an Uber ride in question as investors assess firm’s value,” Reuters, August 23, 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-profitability-idUSKCN1B3103
  7. [7]Philip Giraldi, “Two CIA Contractors Successfully Sued for ‘Black Site’ Torture,” American Conservative, August 23, 2017, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/two-cia-contractors-successfully-sued-for-black-site-torture/
  8. [8]Gordon Lubold, Eli Stokols, and Peter Nicholas, “Trump Takes New Tack in Afghanistan Fight,” Wall Street Journal, August 21, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-ups-the-ante-in-afghanistan-fight-1503360382
  9. [9]Dawn, “‘We must reject being made scapegoats for US policy failures,'” August 22, 2017, https://www.dawn.com/news/1353189/we-must-reject-being-made-scapegoats-for-us-policy-failures; James Fallows, “Trump’s Depressingly Normal Speech About Afghanistan,” Atlantic, August 21, 2017, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/amal-speech-about-afghanistan/537555/; Mark Perry, “How the Brass Talked Another President Into a Losing Strategy,” American Conservative, August 22, 2017, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/how-generals-talked-another-president-into-losing-strategy/
  10. [10]Heather Somerville, “True price of an Uber ride in question as investors assess firm’s value,” Reuters, August 23, 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-profitability-idUSKCN1B3103

Trump is an ass, Charlottesville edition, August 14-19, 2017

If you’re thinking I might have recycled my headline, you might be thinking of “Donald Trump is an ass, London edition: June 5-9, 2017.” And award yourself a gold star.

There is a new blog entry that I’d written while the news was boring, entitled “Why techies consistently get the social sciences wrong.”


Updates

  1. Originally published, August 16, 3:47 am.
  2. August 16, 7:00 pm:
    • When I initially published this entry, I forgot to mention my latest blog entry, entitled “Why techies consistently get the social sciences wrong.” It’s actually a few days old now because I just haven’t had much else to publish here.
    • Hillary Clinton, her supporters, and so-called “centrist” Democrats: We have you to thank for the term “alt left.” May you all rot in hell.[1] (Charlottesville)
    • Corporate executives who had hoped to help shape a pro-corporate agenda are re-evaluating the costs and benefits of participation in White House councils.[2] (Charlottesville)
  3. August 16, 9:45 pm:
    • It might be safe to say the corporate executives’ verdict on Donald Trump’s advisory councils is in: The reputational cost is high, the benefits are meager, and the councils have decided to disband.[3] (Charlottesville)
    • If Donald Trump follows through on his threat to cut off Obamacare cost-sharing payments, premiums would jump twenty percent, according to the Congressional Budget Office.[4] (Obamacare).
  4. August 17, 7:39 am:
    • At Congressional Quarterly Roll Call, Lindsey McPherson poses the question I had already answered below (see #5) and offers a broadly similar answer.[5] (Charlottesville)
    • I’ve added some overnight thoughts to my commentary (see #4) on Charlottesville.
  5. August 18, 5:01 pm:
    • Patrick Buchanan, a paleoconservative, defended the Confederate statues that the Left seeks to tear down.[6] (Charlottesville)
    • Israeli Prime Minister Binjamin Netanyahu is facing criticism for a tepid response to the antisemitism in Charlottesville.[7]
    • I don’t know Jon Michaels, but his article in Foreign Affairs denying the existence of the “Deep State” in the U.S.[8] suggests to me that the “Deep State” is in fact up to something, which is to say that Donald Trump should be very worried for his personal safety. (Donald Trump’s (un)fitness)
    • Some white Southerners apparently remain in denial of that the South fought in the Civil War to preserve slavery and white supremacy, continued to pursue the latter afterwards,[9] and are outraged at the linkage between their cause and groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis.[10] (Charlottesville)
    • Even Robert E. Lee opposed Civil War monuments.[11] (Charlottesville)
    • At least for now, Donald Trump is backing away from a fight over Obamacare subsidies.[12]
  6. August 18, 10:41 pm:
    • Steve Bannon, who unexpectedly called up the Leftist Prospect and gave them an interview,[13] has been removed from his White House post,[14] enabling me to add more to my analysis under Charlottesville (see #1).
    • The headline on John Bennett’s story, “Trump Is Quickly Running Out of GOP Factions to Alienate,” seems a bit exaggerated, as the story itself indicates,[15] and as I discuss under Charlottesville (see #5).
    • Steve Bannon gave the neoconservative Weekly Standard an interview in the wake of his departure from the White House.[16] (Charlottesville)
  7. August 19, 4:55 am:
    • The ghostwriter behind Donald Trump’s Art of the Deal thinks he will resign by the end of the year.[17] (James Comey)
    • A Black historian challenges a prevailing narrative that Blacks will eventually overcome racism in the United States.[18] (Race)
  8. August 19, 1:20 pm: A couple of points I made under Charlottesville have been moved to new blog entries and more will follow. The new blog entries are “Authoritarian Populists, Paleoconservatives and Donald Trump” and “Forecasting Donald Trump’s demise.”
  9. August 20, 10:00 am: Another point I made under Charlottesville has been moved to a new blog entry, “The Left may be about to claim a Pyrrhic victory.”
  10. August 22, 12:23 am: The last of my analysis under Charlottesville has been incorporated in a new blog entry, “Endorsing Cascadia secession.”

Charlottesville

A few comments are in order:

  1. This text has been moved to a new blog entry, “Authoritarian Populists, Paleoconservatives and Donald Trump.”
  2. This analysis has been incorporated in a new blog entry, “Endorsing Cascadia secession.”
  3. This text has been incorporated in a new blog entry, “The Left may be about to claim a Pyrrhic victory.”
  4. This text has been incorporated in a new blog entry, “The Left may be about to claim a Pyrrhic victory.”
  5. This text has been moved to a new blog entry, “Forecasting Donald Trump’s demise.”

Joe Heim, “Recounting a day of rage, hate, violence and death,” Washington Post, August 14, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/local/charlottesville-timeline/Robin Wright, “Is America Headed for a New Kind of Civil War?” New Yorker, August 14, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/is-america-headed-for-a-new-kind-of-civil-war

Noah Bierman, “‘Alt-left’ charged at ‘alt-right,’ Trump says, again placing blame for Charlottesville violence on ‘both sides,'” Los Angeles Times, August 15, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-updates-trump-blames-both-sides-for-1502828835-htmlstory.html

Vanessa Fuhrmans, “CEOs Rethink Alliances With White House,” Wall Street Journal, August 15, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/two-more-corporate-executives-quit-trump-advisory-council-1502830739

Jeet Heer, “Trump’s Racism and the Myth of ‘Cultural Marxism,’” New Republic, August 15, 2017, https://newrepublic.com/article/144317/trumps-racism-myth-cultural-marxism

Jeffrey Toobin, “Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, and Charlottesville,” New Yorker, August 15, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/donald-trump-steve-bannon-and-charlottesville

Emily Glazer, Sarah Krouse, and Elena Cherney, “Trump’s Business Councils Disband After CEOs Defect,” Wall Street Journal, August 16, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-business-advisory-council-to-disband-1502904005

Sarah Jones, “Liberals Helped Create Trump’s New Bogeyman, the ‘Alt-Left,’” New Republic, August 16, 2017, https://newrepublic.com/article/144361/liberals-helped-create-trumps-new-bogeyman-alt-left

Robert Kuttner, “Steve Bannon, Unrepentant,” Prospect, August 16, 2017, http://prospect.org/article/steve-bannon-unrepentant

Lindsey McPherson, “Will GOP Divergence From Trump Over White Supremacist Comments Last?” Congressional Quarterly Roll Call, August 17, 2017, http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/will-gop-divergence-from-trump-over-white-supremacist-comments-last

Times of Israel, “Criticism mounts over Netanyahu’s response to US neo-Nazism,” August 17, 2017, http://www.timesofisrael.com/criticism-mounts-over-netanyahus-response-to-us-neo-nazism/

Fred Barbash, “Robert E. Lee discouraged monuments. They ‘keep open the sores of war,’ he wrote,” Washington Post, August 18, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/08/18/robert-e-lee-discouraged-monuments-they-keep-open-the-sores-of-war-he-wrote/

John T. Bennett, “Trump Is Quickly Running Out of GOP Factions to Alienate,” Congressional Quarterly Roll Call, August 18, 2017, http://www.rollcall.com/news/trump-gop-factions-alienate/

Peter J. Boyer, “Bannon: ‘The Trump Presidency That We Fought For, and Won, Is Over,’” Weekly Standard, August 18, 2017, http://www.weeklystandard.com/bannon-the-trump-presidency-that-we-fought-for-and-won-is-over./article/2009355

Patrick J. Buchanan, “America’s Second Civil War,” American Conservative, August 18, 2017, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/buchanan/americas-second-civil-war/

Jay Reeves, “Southern anger: Nazis, KKK ‘hijacking’ Confederate debate,” Times of Israel, August 18, 2017, http://www.timesofisrael.com/southern-anger-nazis-kkk-hijacking-confederate-debate/

Michael C. Bender and Peter Nicholas, “Steve Bannon, Controversial Aide to Trump, Exits White House Staff,” Wall Street Journal, August 18, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/steve-bannon-leaves-white-house-staff-1503075345


Joe Arpaio

Stephen Dinan, “Trump ‘seriously considering’ pardon for Sheriff Arpaio,” Washington Times, August 14, 2017, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/14/trump-seriously-considering-pardon-sheriff-arpaio/


North Korea

In which Kim Jong-un displays greater impulse control than Donald Trump.[19]

British Broadcasting Corporation, “N Korea leader ‘briefed’ on Guam plan but opts to wait,” August 15, 2017, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-40931775


Obamacare

Stephanie Armour, “Health Exchange Premiums Would Rise 20% in 2018 If Subsidies Ended, CBO Estimates,” Wall Street Journal, August 15, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/health-exchange-premiums-would-rise-20-in-2018-if-subsidies-ended-cbo-estimates-1502821843

David Lauter, “Trump administration agrees to continue healthcare subsidy for now,” Los Angeles Times, August 16, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-healthcare-payments-20170816-story.html


Donald Trump’s (un)fitness

Jon D. Michaels, “Trump and the ‘Deep State,’” Foreign Affairs, August 15, 2017, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2017-08-15/trump-and-deep-state


James Comey

“The circle is closing at blinding speed,” [Tony] Schwartz tweeted. “Trump is going to resign and declare victory before Mueller and congress leave him no choice.”

In a follow-up tweet, he added: “Trump’s presidency is effectively over. Would be amazed if he survives till end of the year. More likely resigns by fall, if not sooner.”[20]

CNN, “Tony Schwartz: Trump will resign,” WPIX, August 18, 2017, http://pix11.com/2017/08/18/ghostwriter-for-trumps-art-of-the-deal-says-president-will-resign/


Race

Donald Collins argues that “[f]or all the examples of African American success and American racism reduced, blacks are as far away from the ‘Promised Land’ as their great-great-grandparents were 150 years ago.”[21] I am poorly placed to challenge his essay and I don’t think I would be inclined to do so anyway. I will say two things: First, I share his frustration. Second, I think the question we ought to be asking even without necessarily embracing his thesis is, What do we do about it?

At more than a little risk of perverting Collins’ essay to support my own thesis (see Charlottesville, #2 above), I think a question is whether we accept a status quo in which, as Collins argues, the end will inevitably fall short of social justice[22] or we create a space where progress may be possible. My argument has been that progress is impossible when it is imposed and that the contention Collins sees as intractable[23] can only end where that end is freely chosen.

Which is to challenge the outcome of the Civil War. The curious point about that war is that it is possible to argue that both sides were wrong: The South was wrong to seek to preserve its “peculiar institution” and the North was wrong to seek to preserve the Union. I think the truth that underlies the denial that the South fought to preserve slavery[24] is that for the South, the end of slavery was not a free choice, that its participation in the Union is not a free choice, and indeed that white Southerners are a conquered people. I’m not sure that those of us in the rest of the country can ever fully grasp the impact of that. But I think the truth that co-exists with that reality is of an ongoing resistance to conquest that appears only most blatantly in right-wing militia groups and in right-wing terrorism. And no, I simply do not see how it is possible to overcome that resistance or how it is possible to make progress against that resentment.

Which is why I think we must undo that part of the Civil War’s outcome that said the Union will be preserved. Because that union (with a lower case “u”) might exist in law as the Union (with an upper case “U”), but I think it can never exist in people’s hearts.

Donald Earl Collins, “Have black historians been wrong all along?” Al Jazeera, August 16, 2017, http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/08/black-historians-wrong-170816071925403.html


  1. [1]Sarah Jones, “Liberals Helped Create Trump’s New Bogeyman, the ‘Alt-Left,’” New Republic, August 16, 2017, https://newrepublic.com/article/144361/liberals-helped-create-trumps-new-bogeyman-alt-left
  2. [2]Vanessa Fuhrmans, “CEOs Rethink Alliances With White House,” Wall Street Journal, August 15, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/two-more-corporate-executives-quit-trump-advisory-council-1502830739
  3. [3]Emily Glazer, Sarah Krouse, and Elena Cherney, “Trump’s Business Councils Disband After CEOs Defect,” Wall Street Journal, August 16, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-business-advisory-council-to-disband-1502904005
  4. [4]Stephanie Armour, “Health Exchange Premiums Would Rise 20% in 2018 If Subsidies Ended, CBO Estimates,” Wall Street Journal, August 15, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/health-exchange-premiums-would-rise-20-in-2018-if-subsidies-ended-cbo-estimates-1502821843
  5. [5]Lindsey McPherson, “Will GOP Divergence From Trump Over White Supremacist Comments Last?” Congressional Quarterly Roll Call, August 17, 2017, http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/will-gop-divergence-from-trump-over-white-supremacist-comments-last
  6. [6]Patrick J. Buchanan, “America’s Second Civil War,” American Conservative, August 18, 2017, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/buchanan/americas-second-civil-war/
  7. [7]Times of Israel, “Criticism mounts over Netanyahu’s response to US neo-Nazism,” August 17, 2017, http://www.timesofisrael.com/criticism-mounts-over-netanyahus-response-to-us-neo-nazism/
  8. [8]Jon D. Michaels, “Trump and the ‘Deep State,’” Foreign Affairs, August 15, 2017, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2017-08-15/trump-and-deep-state
  9. [9]David W. Blight, “The Civil War Isn’t Over,” Atlantic, April 8, 2015, http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/04/the-civil-war-isnt-over/389847/; Ta-Nehisi Coates, “What This Cruel War Was Over,” Atlantic, June 22, 2015, http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/what-this-cruel-war-was-over/396482/; Prachi Gupta, “Lynyrd Skynyrd decides it’s finally time to stop using the Confederate flag,” Salon, September 21, 2012, http://www.salon.com/2012/09/21/lynyrd_skynyrd_decides_its_finally_time_to_stop_using_the_confederate_flag/; Tony Horwitz, “150 Years of Misunderstanding the Civil War,” Atlantic, June 19, 2013, http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/06/150-years-of-misunderstanding-the-civil-war/277022/; Glenn W. LaFantasie, “How the South rationalizes secession,” Salon, December 19, 2010, http://www.salon.com/2010/12/19/lafantasie_south_secession/; Andrew O’Hehir, “Welcome to the new Civil War,” Salon, January 5, 2013, http://www.salon.com/2013/01/05/welcome_to_the_new_civil_war/; Jonathan Terbush, “Lynyrd Skynyrd calls Confederate Flag racist, prompts fan revolt,” Raw Story, September 22, 2012, http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/09/22/lynyrd-skynyrd-calls-confederate-flag-racist-prompts-fan-revolt/; Tracy Thompson, “The South still lies about the Civil War ,” Salon, March 16, 2013, http://www.salon.com/2013/03/16/the_south_still_lies_about_the_civil_war/; Chris Willman, “Lynyrd Skynyrd Backtracks On Comments, Proudly Lets Confederate Flag Fly,” Yahoo!, September 24, 2012, http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/stop-the-presses/lynyrd-skynyrd-backtracks-comments-proudly-lets-confederate-flag-003332446.html
  10. [10]Jay Reeves, “Southern anger: Nazis, KKK ‘hijacking’ Confederate debate,” Times of Israel, August 18, 2017, http://www.timesofisrael.com/southern-anger-nazis-kkk-hijacking-confederate-debate/
  11. [11]Fred Barbash, “Robert E. Lee discouraged monuments. They ‘keep open the sores of war,’ he wrote,” Washington Post, August 18, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/08/18/robert-e-lee-discouraged-monuments-they-keep-open-the-sores-of-war-he-wrote/
  12. [12]David Lauter, “Trump administration agrees to continue healthcare subsidy for now,” Los Angeles Times, August 16, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-healthcare-payments-20170816-story.html
  13. [13]Robert Kuttner, “Steve Bannon, Unrepentant,” Prospect, August 16, 2017, http://prospect.org/article/steve-bannon-unrepentant
  14. [14]Michael C. Bender and Peter Nicholas, “Steve Bannon, Controversial Aide to Trump, Exits White House Staff,” Wall Street Journal, August 18, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/steve-bannon-leaves-white-house-staff-1503075345
  15. [15]John T. Bennett, “Trump Is Quickly Running Out of GOP Factions to Alienate,” Congressional Quarterly Roll Call, August 18, 2017, http://www.rollcall.com/news/trump-gop-factions-alienate/
  16. [16]Peter J. Boyer, “Bannon: ‘The Trump Presidency That We Fought For, and Won, Is Over,’” Weekly Standard, August 18, 2017, http://www.weeklystandard.com/bannon-the-trump-presidency-that-we-fought-for-and-won-is-over./article/2009355
  17. [17]CNN, “Tony Schwartz: Trump will resign,” WPIX, August 18, 2017, http://pix11.com/2017/08/18/ghostwriter-for-trumps-art-of-the-deal-says-president-will-resign/
  18. [18]Donald Earl Collins, “Have black historians been wrong all along?” Al Jazeera, August 16, 2017, http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/08/black-historians-wrong-170816071925403.html
  19. [19]British Broadcasting Corporation, “N Korea leader ‘briefed’ on Guam plan but opts to wait,” August 15, 2017, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-40931775
  20. [20]CNN, “Tony Schwartz: Trump will resign,” WPIX, August 18, 2017, http://pix11.com/2017/08/18/ghostwriter-for-trumps-art-of-the-deal-says-president-will-resign/
  21. [21]Donald Earl Collins, “Have black historians been wrong all along?” Al Jazeera, August 16, 2017, http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/08/black-historians-wrong-170816071925403.html
  22. [22]Donald Earl Collins, “Have black historians been wrong all along?” Al Jazeera, August 16, 2017, http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/08/black-historians-wrong-170816071925403.html
  23. [23]Donald Earl Collins, “Have black historians been wrong all along?” Al Jazeera, August 16, 2017, http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/08/black-historians-wrong-170816071925403.html
  24. [24]David W. Blight, “The Civil War Isn’t Over,” Atlantic, April 8, 2015, http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/04/the-civil-war-isnt-over/389847/; Ta-Nehisi Coates, “What This Cruel War Was Over,” Atlantic, June 22, 2015, http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/what-this-cruel-war-was-over/396482/; Prachi Gupta, “Lynyrd Skynyrd decides it’s finally time to stop using the Confederate flag,” Salon, September 21, 2012, http://www.salon.com/2012/09/21/lynyrd_skynyrd_decides_its_finally_time_to_stop_using_the_confederate_flag/; Tony Horwitz, “150 Years of Misunderstanding the Civil War,” Atlantic, June 19, 2013, http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/06/150-years-of-misunderstanding-the-civil-war/277022/; Glenn W. LaFantasie, “How the South rationalizes secession,” Salon, December 19, 2010, http://www.salon.com/2010/12/19/lafantasie_south_secession/; Andrew O’Hehir, “Welcome to the new Civil War,” Salon, January 5, 2013, http://www.salon.com/2013/01/05/welcome_to_the_new_civil_war/; Jonathan Terbush, “Lynyrd Skynyrd calls Confederate Flag racist, prompts fan revolt,” Raw Story, September 22, 2012, http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/09/22/lynyrd-skynyrd-calls-confederate-flag-racist-prompts-fan-revolt/; Tracy Thompson, “The South still lies about the Civil War ,” Salon, March 16, 2013, http://www.salon.com/2013/03/16/the_south_still_lies_about_the_civil_war/; Chris Willman, “Lynyrd Skynyrd Backtracks On Comments, Proudly Lets Confederate Flag Fly,” Yahoo!, September 24, 2012, http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/stop-the-presses/lynyrd-skynyrd-backtracks-comments-proudly-lets-confederate-flag-003332446.html

Who will be downwind from North Korea fall out? Daily Bullshit, August 8-11, 2017

Updates

  1. August 10, 2:46 am:
    • Donald Trump appeared to make his apparent threat to use nuclear weapons against North Korea a little less implicit[1] and Defense Secretary James Mattis joined in.[2]
  2. August 11, 1:15 am:
    • Donald Trump sought to tamp down any reassurances from his own administration that he might not launch nuclear war against North Korea, “saying his warning of ‘fire and fury’ against the rogue nation ‘may not be tough enough,’”[3] and I think the word ‘maybe’ might never have quite the same meaning ever again after his presidency.
  3. August 11, 11:57 am:
    • Donald Trump now says that “that ‘military solutions’ [are] ‘in place, locked and loaded’ should Pyongyang ‘act unwisely,’”[4] as if he was one to speak of wisdom. (North Korea)
    • Sami Karam argues that ‘cronyism,’ by which I think he refers to neoliberalism, was the true victor of the Cold War.[5] (Berlin Wall)

North Korea

I’ve had little to say on North Korea. I’ve tended to think the wisest course of action would be to ignore it, to (I probably need to be more careful with this metaphor) ignore the toddler throwing a temper tantrum, to recognize that strategy deployed so far has failed to mitigate the threat—assuming there is indeed a threat that actually amounts to more than some particularly over-the-top posturing that I guess serves some obscure purpose.

But then Donald Trump threatens to—I think this is a reasonable interpretation—turn the place into a nuclear puddle.[6] And North Korea promptly responds with—you guessed it—another threat, albeit one that may have been written the previous day.[7] So, ummm, yeah, I’m scared now.

On Thursday, Mr. Trump dismissed the idea he would broadly signal his intentions, telling reporters who had asked him about the possibility of a pre-emptive strike on North Korea: “I’m not like the other administration that would say we’re going into Mosul in four months. I don’t talk about it. We’ll see what happens. But I can tell you that what they’ve been doing and what they’ve been getting away with is a tragedy, and it can’t be allowed.”[8]

But scary as all these threats and counter-threats are, the whole situation still looks to me like a pissing contest.

Jordan Fabian, “Trump: North Korea ‘will be met with fire and fury’ if it threatens US,” Hill, August 8, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/345777-trump-warnsth-korea-it-will-be-met-with-fire-and-fury-if-it

Zachary Cohen and Euan McKirdy, “North Korea threatens strike on Guam,” CNN, August 9, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/08/politics/north-korea-considering-guam-strike-trump/index.html

Ellen Mitchell, “Mattis warns North Korea of ‘destruction of its people,'” Hill, August 9, 2017, http://thehill.com/policy/defense/345908-mattis-warnsth-korea-of-destruction-of-its-people

Rebecca Savransky, “Trump intensifies rhetoric against North Korea,” Hill, August 9, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/345847-trump-nuclear-arsenal-far-stronger-and-more-powerful-than-ever-before

Jordan Fabian and Max Greenwood, “Trump: Maybe threat on North Korea wasn’t ‘tough enough,’” Hill, August 10, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/346087-trump-maybe-threat-onth-korea-wasnt-tough-enough

Ben Kesling and Louise Radnofsky, “Trump Warns North Korea ‘Military Solutions’ Are ‘In Place, Locked and Loaded,’” Wall Street Journal, August 11, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-warnsth-korea-military-solutions-are-in-place-locked-and-loaded-1502453110


Berlin Wall

Sami J. Karam, “Capitalism Did Not Win the Cold War,” Foreign Affairs, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/world/2017-07-19/capitalism-did-not-win-cold-war” target=”_blank”>https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/world/2017-07-19/capitalism-did-not-win-cold-war

  1. [1]Rebecca Savransky, “Trump intensifies rhetoric against North Korea,” Hill, August 9, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/345847-trump-nuclear-arsenal-far-stronger-and-more-powerful-than-ever-before
  2. [2]Ellen Mitchell, “Mattis warns North Korea of ‘destruction of its people,'” Hill, August 9, 2017, http://thehill.com/policy/defense/345908-mattis-warnsth-korea-of-destruction-of-its-people
  3. [3]Jordan Fabian and Max Greenwood, “Trump: Maybe threat on North Korea wasn’t ‘tough enough,’” Hill, August 10, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/346087-trump-maybe-threat-onth-korea-wasnt-tough-enough
  4. [4]
  5. [5]Sami J. Karam, “Capitalism Did Not Win the Cold War,” Foreign Affairs, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/world/2017-07-19/capitalism-did-not-win-cold-war” target=”_blank”>https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/world/2017-07-19/capitalism-did-not-win-cold-war
  6. [6]Specifically, Trump said further North Korean threats “will be met with fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before,” which would seem to threaten something more severe than any of the horrific bombings of World War II. Quoted in Jordan Fabian, “Trump: North Korea ‘will be met with fire and fury’ if it threatens US,” Hill, August 8, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/345777-trump-warnsth-korea-it-will-be-met-with-fire-and-fury-if-it
  7. [7]Zachary Cohen and Euan McKirdy, “North Korea threatens strike on Guam,” CNN, August 9, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/08/politics/north-korea-considering-guam-strike-trump/index.html
  8. [8]Ben Kesling and Louise Radnofsky, “Trump Warns North Korea ‘Military Solutions’ Are ‘In Place, Locked and Loaded,’” Wall Street Journal, August 11, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-warnsth-korea-military-solutions-are-in-place-locked-and-loaded-1502453110

The vultures are circling over Donald Trump’s White House: Daily Bullshit, August 3-5, 2017

I should hasten to qualify my headline. Yes, I think Donald Trump’s days as president number far fewer than the full number in the length remaining in his term, and probably now less than a year’s worth. I am no longer seeing his presidency as viable—there’s simply much too much shit coming down and Trump’s style is simply too radical a departure from the norm to be defensible. But when I say the vultures are circling, that does not necessarily mean they will feed; it merely means they see something dying, in this case, the Trump presidency. It could be that the much-anticipated but increasingly unlikely ‘pivot’ actually happens and Trump starts behaving sensibly. And I suppose it still might be possible that Robert Mueller’s investigation will come to nothing. And it might be, in those cases, that he survives and the vultures fly off in search of other carrion. I just don’t think so.

And I should also hasten to add that I still have no clear idea of how the end comes. The 25th amendment remains a personal favorite,[1] now to be orchestrated by John Kelly, Trump’s new chief of staff. Which of course means that Trump’s removal takes on a distinct flavor of a military coup. I don’t think I see an impeachment emerging from this Congress unless Republican congresspeople reach a consensus that they are unable to pursue their agenda with Trump in office and that their ends would be better served with a President Pence. It’s also hard for me to see Donald Trump resigning. But in any of these scenarios, much depends on the limits of Trump’s self-delusions: Does he appeal a 25th amendment ouster to Congress? I think he would likely prevail but in this scenario he no longer has any credibility. Does he resign when confronted with impeachment or out of sheer frustration? I’m not sure his ego would allow it. Will, as a therapist suggested to me, his self-delusion enable him to spin a resignation as vindication or some sort of success? Or does the dissonance between his own grandiose or malignant narcissistic self-image[2] lead to suicide?

I just don’t see how this can go on. And the one lesson of my life is that if it doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t make sense, and it cannot last. I think Trump’s presidency is no longer tenable.


Updates

  1. August 3, 10:39 pm:
    • Robert Mueller is following the money.[3]
    • The Republican-controlled Senate is restraining the Republican President Donald Trump from making recess appointments.[4] (Congress)
  2. August 5, 11:48 am:
    • David Lauter takes on the matter of Donald Trump’s relationship with Congress.[5] (Congress)

Robert Mueller

Evan Perez, Pamela Brown, and Shimon Prokupecz, “One year into the FBI’s Russia investigation, Mueller is on the Trump money trail,” CNN, August 3, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/03/politics/mueller-investigation-russia-trump-one-year-financial-ties/index.html

Jeff Stein, “There’s now a bipartisan bill to protect Mueller’s investigation from Trump,” Vox, August 3, 2017, https://www.vox.com/2017/8/3/16090436/mueller-trump-bill-senate

Murray Waas, “Top FBI officials could testify against Trump,” Vox, August 3, 2017, https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/8/3/16084246/mueller-obstruction-case-stronger-trump-surrogates

Del Quentin Wilber and Byron Tau, “Special Counsel Robert Mueller Impanels Washington Grand Jury in Russia Probe,” Wall Street Journal, August 3, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/special-counsel-mueller-impanels-washington-grand-jury-in-russia-probe-1501788287


Unauthorized Migrants

Greg Miller, “Trump urged Mexican president to end his public defiance on border wall, transcript reveals,” Washington Post, August 3, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/you-cannot-say-that-to-the-press-trump-urged-mexican-president-to-end-his-public-defiance-on-border-wall-transcript-reveals/2017/08/03/0c2c0a4e-7610-11e7-8f39-eeb7d3a2d304_story.html


Uber

Douglas MacMillan and Newley Purnell, “Smoke, Then Fire: Uber Knowingly Leased Unsafe Cars to Drivers,” Wall Street Journal, August 3 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/smoke-then-fire-uber-knowingly-leased-unsafe-cars-to-drivers-1501786430


Congress

David Lauter’s newsletter[6] is absolutely worth reading in full but a lot of this really is that conservatives are not an ideological monolith, a point I beat into the ground with my dissertation,[7] but which folks across the political spectrum continue to refuse to heed.

Jordain Carney, “Senate blocks Trump from making recess appointments over break,” Hill, August 3, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/345261-senate-blocks-trump-from-making-recess-appointments-over-break

David Lauter, “GOP Congress and Trump: Can this marriage be saved?” Los Angeles Times, August 3, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-essential-politics-20170804-story.html


  1. [1]David Benfell, “A scholar tries to reprise Sokal’s hoax. And mostly fails,” (Supposedly) Daily Bullshit, May 21, 2017, https://parts-unknown.org/reading/2017/05/21/a-scholar-tries-to-reprise-sokals-hoax-and-mostly-fails-daily-bullshit-may-20-21-2017/; David Benfell, “Donald Trump is an ass, London edition,” (Supposedly Daily Bullshit, June 9, 2017, https://parts-unknown.org/reading/2017/06/09/donald-trump-is-an-ass-london-edition-june-5-2017/
  2. [2]Evan Osnos, “How Trump Could Get Fired,” New Yorker, May 8, 2017, http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/05/08/how-trump-could-get-fired; George Simon, “Understanding and Dealing with Narcissistic Rage,” Counseling Resource, July 24, 2017, http://counsellingresource.com/features/2017/07/24/understanding-narcissistic-rage/
  3. [3]Evan Perez, Pamela Brown, and Shimon Prokupecz, “One year into the FBI’s Russia investigation, Mueller is on the Trump money trail,” CNN, August 3, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/03/politics/mueller-investigation-russia-trump-one-year-financial-ties/index.html
  4. [4]Jordain Carney, “Senate blocks Trump from making recess appointments over break,” Hill, August 3, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/345261-senate-blocks-trump-from-making-recess-appointments-over-break
  5. [5]David Lauter, “GOP Congress and Trump: Can this marriage be saved?” Los Angeles Times, August 3, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-essential-politics-20170804-story.html
  6. [6]David Lauter, “GOP Congress and Trump: Can this marriage be saved?” Los Angeles Times, August 3, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-essential-politics-20170804-story.html
  7. [7]David Benfell, “Conservative Views on Undocumented Migration” (doctoral dissertation, Saybrook, 2016). ProQuest (1765416126).

Donald Trump keeps on misfiring: Daily Bullshit, August 1, 2017

Obamacare

The Senate will instead be working on short-term fixes for Obamacare.[1]

Ricardo Alanso-Zaldivar, “Trump on tricky legal ground with ‘Obamacare’ threat,” Seattle Times, August 1, 2017, http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation-politics/trump-on-tricky-legal-ground-with-obamacare-threat/

Jordain Carney, “Senate Republicans brush off Trump’s healthcare demands,” Hill, August 1, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/344697-senate-republicans-brush-off-trumps-healthcare-demands

Rachel Roubein, “Senate panel to hold bipartisan hearings on healthcare,” Hill, August 1, 2017, http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/344811-senate-panel-to-hold-bipartisan-hearings-on-healthcare


Golden Showers

Ashley Parker, Carol D. Leonnig, Philip Rucker, and Tom Hamburger, “Trump dictated son’s misleading statement on meeting with Russian lawyer,” Washington Post, July 31, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-dictated-sons-misleading-statement-on-meeting-with-russian-lawyer/2017/07/31/04c94f96-73ae-11e7-8f39-eeb7d3a2d304_story.html


Climate Change

Chris Mooney, “We only have a 5 percent chance of avoiding ‘dangerous’ global warming, a study finds,” Washington Post, July 31, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/07/31/we-only-have-a-5-percent-chance-of-avoiding-dangerous-global-warming-a-study-finds/


  1. [1]Rachel Roubein, “Senate panel to hold bipartisan hearings on healthcare,” Hill, August 1, 2017, http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/344811-senate-panel-to-hold-bipartisan-hearings-on-healthcare