It’s Donald Trump’s modus operandi: Vicious bullying and cruelty

Donald Trump

I suppose this was the only logical outcome. Britain’s ambassador to the U.S. has resigned.[1] Because Donald Trump threw a temper tantrum. But just as it was hard to argue with the private assessments offered by the ambassador to his home government,[2] it’s hard to argue with his assessment now that his position is untenable.[3]

EuroNews, “Sir Kim Darroch, the UK’s ambassador to the US, resigns after row over leaked Trump emails,” July 10, 2019, https://www.euronews.com/2019/07/10/sir-kim-darroch-the-uk-s-ambassador-to-the-us-resigns-after-row-over-leaked-trump-emails

Katelyn Polantz, Evan Perez, and Betsy Klein, “Appeals court hands Trump a victory over Democratic challenge to DC hotel,” CNN, July 10, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/10/politics/court-ruling-trump-hotels/index.html


Migration

This can’t really be a surprise either, given the horrific conditions of abuse previously reported. Some migrant kids are reporting sexual assaults and retaliation at the concentration camps.[4] To my knowledge this story has not been picked up by any one other than NBC News. And again, it is completely in line with what Philip Zimbardo would almost certainly have predicted.[5]

Jacob Soboroff and Julia Ainsley, “Migrant kids in overcrowded Arizona border station allege sex assault, retaliation from U.S. agents,” NBC News, July 9, 2019, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/migrant-kids-overcrowded-arizona-border-station-allege-sex-assault-retaliation-n1027886


  1. [1]EuroNews, “Sir Kim Darroch, the UK’s ambassador to the US, resigns after row over leaked Trump emails,” July 10, 2019, https://www.euronews.com/2019/07/10/sir-kim-darroch-the-uk-s-ambassador-to-the-us-resigns-after-row-over-leaked-trump-emails
  2. [2]Mark Landler, “Leaked British Cables Critical of Trump Lead to Diplomatic Uproar,” New York Times, July 8, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/08/us/politics/donald-trump-kim-darroch.html; Josh Rogin, “British ambassador’s leaked cables are far from ‘bombshells,’” Washington Post, July 8, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/07/08/british-ambassadors-leaked-cables-are-far-bombshells/; Steven Swinford, “Donald Trump attacks ‘stupid’ envoy and ‘foolish’ Theresa May,” Times, July 9, 2019, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/liam-fox-should-stop-kowtowing-to-donald-trump-say-envoys-allies-gg79r9cl6
  3. [3]EuroNews, “Sir Kim Darroch, the UK’s ambassador to the US, resigns after row over leaked Trump emails,” July 10, 2019, https://www.euronews.com/2019/07/10/sir-kim-darroch-the-uk-s-ambassador-to-the-us-resigns-after-row-over-leaked-trump-emails
  4. [4]Priscilla Alvarez, “Lawmakers, including Ocasio-Cortez, lash out over conditions following border facility tours,” CNN, July 2, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/01/politics/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-clint-texas-facility/index.html; Caitlin Dickerson, “‘There Is a Stench’: No Soap and Overcrowding in Detention Centers for Migrant Children,” New York Times, June 21, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/21/us/migrant-children-border-soap.html; Adam Harris, “An Astonishing Government Report on Conditions at the Border,” Atlantic, July 3, 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/07/government-report-details-inhumane-conditions-migrant-facilities/593242/; Miriam Jordan, “Judge Orders Swift Action to Improve Conditions for Migrant Children in Texas,” New York Times, June 29, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/29/us/migrant-children-detention-texas.html; Alejandro Lazo and Jacob Gershman, “Lawsuit Alleges Government Mistreatment of Migrant Children,” Wall Street Journal, June 27, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/lawsuit-alleges-government-mistreatment-of-migrant-children-11561608969; Sam Levin, “‘Happy hunting!’ Immigration agents swapped cheery messages about raids, records reveal,” Guardian, July 3, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/03/ice-us-immigration-messages-raids; Katie Mettler, Mike DeBonis, and Reis Thebault, “Border agents confiscated lawmakers’ phones. Joaquin Castro captured photo and video anyway,” Washington Post, July 2, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/07/02/ocasio-cortez-says-dispute-with-border-patrol-agents-started-after-one-tried-take-stealth-selfie/; Geneva Sands and Nick Valencia, “2nd Customs and Border Protection-connected secret Facebook group shows mocking images,” CNN, July 5, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/05/politics/cbp-second-facebook-group-images/index.html
  5. [5]Philip Zimbardo, The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil (New York: Random House, 2008).

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