A post in which I proceed to blog about politics.
If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I’m very involved there with politics. But if you follow this blog, you know that I very seldom blog about it.
I’ll make my position clear here just once: I don’t like Donald Trump. I think he’s a conman who isn’t sincere about anything he promised his base during the campaign. I think his only goal as president is to make himself and his family richer by playing the system any way he can. I think that the only reason he’s a [supposed] billionaire is because he started life with millions he got from his father, consistently cuts project costs by not paying his contractors what he owes them, and has been bailed out after more than a few bad business decisions. For Pete’s sake, the guy has six bankruptcies under his belt — doesn’t that speak volumes? How people can trust and believe in a conman like this is beyond me.
I think he’s semi-literate, a guy with a tiny vocabulary who can’t be bothered to prepare for meetings or speeches because he thinks he can bluff his way through them — and everyone lowers their standards to make sure he does.
I also think he’s a crazy narcissist who needs constant ego stroking, a true man-child who can only focus on things that affect him personally. I think he’s delusional in the sense that he rewrites events in his own mind to fit the narrative he wants to tell about himself and then actually believes the new story. Simply said, he believes his own lies.
I think members of his staff likely did collude with Russia during the election — and maybe he did, too — and that Putin definitely has enough dirt on him to make him march to his tune. I think he’s hiding far more than he’s revealing and I’m sure that what he’s hiding is plenty to be ashamed of.
And no, I don’t want to debate it. So save your pro-Trump comments for some other blog.
And yes, I would like to see him removed from office. Impeachment would be nice. So would a resignation. Heck, I’d probably celebrate if he just dropped dead of a heart attack.
(Not that I think Pence is good for this country, but that’s a whole other story.)
But that doesn’t mean I’m one of the rabid left wing anti-Trump kooks that are making fools of themselves by believing every single Trump conspiracy theory thrown at them.
And I’m outraged by the people cooking up these theories and pushing them. While it’s possible that these people actually believe the nonsense they’re spouting, I think it’s a lot more likely that they’re trying to secure a position for themselves on the far left like Alex Jones’s position on the far right: offensive nut jobs who can turn a buck by building a following of gullible people on the left who are desperate for any hope that Trump will be removed from office in shame.
And I’m fed up with people who tweet and retweet these theories and then get upset with me when I advise them not to believe anything until it’s published by a credible news source. As if I’m somehow “the enemy” because I’m not as gullible and desperate as they are.
Seriously?
PAY ATTENTION, everyone. Think before you react. Check before you believe. And, for pete’s sake, CALM DOWN!
— Maria Langer �� (@mlanger) May 15, 2017
I recently changed the tweet pinned to the top of my Twitter profile page in an effort to advise people who are going nuts these days over what they’re seeing and reading and believing. Will it help? Probably not. But it’s my new mantra when it comes to politics: “PAY ATTENTION, everyone. Think before you react. Check before you believe. And, for pete’s sake, CALM DOWN!”
While there are similarities and differences between our current state of political affairs and the Watergate scandal that brought down Nixon, I have full confidence that the legal system will do the right thing when it comes to dealing with Trump.
Eventually.
Until then, I see no reason to blog about politics anymore. I have more interesting — and positive — things to write about.
—
Want to comment on this post? Comments are open — for now. But there are a few strings attached.
First, read the Comment Policy. You’ll find a very informative comic there about “free speech” that perfectly illustrates my thoughts on the matter. If your comment violates this policy in any way, it will be deleted before it even appears. Even I won’t read it.
Second, if your comment mentions Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama (or emails or Benghazi, etc.) as a reason for supporting Trump now, today, after all the shit that’s come down since the election, I will delete your comment. If you can’t make a 2017 argument for supporting Trump, you obviously haven’t thought much about what’s going on and have nothing worth sharing here. Go back to your Fox News bubble and leave the rest of us who actually care about the future of our country alone.
Third, don’t expect me to debate with you on the merits of Donald Trump. I won’t. No matter how nicely you present your argument, thus getting it past moderation, I will not reply. I’ve said everything I have to say above and you cannot convince me that I’m wrong about any of it.
If you want to respond to someone who has commented, keep that comment policy in mind. And keep it civil. If I don’t spend all of my time moderating this post’s comments, the comments will stay open. But if moderation becomes a chore, I’ll shut it down.
Seriously, I have better things to do with my time than deal with MAGA trolls.
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It’s my prediction that Trump will not allow an impeachment to happen. Once he sees his world is collapsing, he will resign citing that the fake press makes his governing the country an impossibility.
Before he even took office it was my prediction that the country would be engaged in a war somewhere in the world.
I don’t see good things ahead.
Yep, Jim. I’m also thinking that he’ll resign and blame others, whether the press or others who are out to get him. Ugh. We’ll see how this plays out.
I think your predictions are right on target, although I sure hope the one about war is wrong.
Me, too. With 2 egos like Trump’s and the N. Korean guy…..
It’s not just egos, either. I really think they’re both bordering on insanity. The kind of people who wound do anything to make a point, despite the consequences.
Jim,
I agree with the war prediction in your post but I doubt that Trump will resign as resignation implies surrender or guilt. Narcissists don’t do that. (See Maria’s accurate analysis, above.).
They blame someone else. Hilary, FBI Chiefs, Mexicans, Shia Muslims or women who decline to have their ‘pussies’ grabbed.
No, I think he might exit with a resignation, especially if jail time becomes a possibility for him and his family. (I’m thinking Kushner.) Then Pence can pardon and he can go back to Trump Tower to whine to his base about fake news and media full of bad people.
You may be right.
How about a small wager?
If you are correct and he resigns, I give you $20.
If he stays on or is impeached, you give me $20.
Fair bet?
I’ll take that bet. Payoff decision June 30, 2019? Or is 2 years too long to wait? (Keep in mind that it’s even longer for those of us who have to live with him.)
Two years is fine. I agree to your terms.
Meanwhile, you have my sincere commiserations.
Thanks.
I’m glad to see that logic and reason still prevail somewhere on the net.
Here and there. If you look hard enough, you’ll find some. :-/
Well said, Maria. I get so tired of all the nonsense as well as people believing whatever they read no matter what. I don’t engage with people who do that, either. Waste of time and energy, that’s for sure.
The “fake news” phenomena is hurting everyone. There are too many gullible people out there, believing what they want to believe is true and disregarding the rest — no matter what the source is. It’s part of what drove me off Facebook; I simply could not tolerate the way bullshit on the Internet was dividing us and turning us into hate machines. The same is true on Twitter, of course, but somehow it’s easier to tune out the imbeciles and trolls there.
Yeah, not much to say. After a while a person just begins repeating the same things. With me it started and ended with two words: “delusional ignoramus”.
But I saw a great image posted on “this isn’t happiness” that’s both equally succinct and even more expressive.
See https://68.media.tumblr.com/1f330452a2aa680817716666a8252041/tumblr_onc23ge6Yj1qz6f9yo1_1280.jpg
(There doesn’t seem to be a way to attach an image file, so we’re stuck with the URL I guess. Worth a peek.)
Thanks for being there.
That is a great image. They photoshopped it from a photo of him in a big rig truck. What a joke that was. The guy couldn’t act presidential for more than 15 minutes if his life depended on it.
The guy that wrote “The Art of the Deal” spent a lot of time with Trump while writing the book. He was interviewed last week. It’s his opinion that Trump will resign, and is most likely trying to figure out a way, right now, how to do so while still coming across as a hero.
He’ll blame the “lying mainstream media” for not being able to get anything done and use that as an excuse.
A friend of mine predicted that he will last one year, nine months. She based that on his history of starting media projects and then quitting in the middle when it gets either too complicated for his limited mental abilities or he just gets bored and tired of it. Here’s hoping.
I honestly don’t think he’ll last that long. I used a 2-year estimate simply because that’s how long it took the Watergate scandal to get Nixon to resign. Things move faster now. I think the only thing stopping him from resigning now is the way social media will blast him for being a quitter — and because there’s still opportunities for cashing in.
I think you nailed it with that last phrase…cashing in. I believe that the Trump presidency will be remembered primarily for it’s overwhelming taint of avarice and greed; by the people around him, the .01%ers that have driven his agenda, and most of all by Trump himself and his immediate family.
The use of high political office as an opportunity to line your personal pocketbook and enrich your family and clan through corruption and influence is a nearly universal feature of politics throughout most of the world, from tiny island nations to the enormous kleptocracy that spun off from the former the Soviet Union. I suppose it was only a matter of time until it became a feature of the executive branch here in the U.S. As to congress, well, it’s ALWAYS been a feature there,
I’ve done a bit of reading on ancient Rome over the last few years. I’m not one of those saying that the U.S. now is just like Rome then. It isn’t, but people still act the same.
Robert Harris the novelist and Mary Beard the historian pass along a lot of lessons from history in very readable form. The same old story is unfolding yet again but with less violence so far.
Recommended:
Robert Harris on the life and times of Cicero: “Imperium”, “Lustrum”, “Dictator”. (Review: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/18/dictator-robert-harris-review-cicero-remarkable)
Mary Beard: “SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome”.
There’s little doubt that the American Age of Empire is drawing to a close, likely to be eclipsed by China in particular, and Asia in general. The main question is whether we go through a gentile decline into second-tier irrelevance as per the English, or a devastating crash like ancient Rome. If the latter, we’ll likely take down much of the western world as collateral damage, so lets hope not.
As an irrelevant ‘second tier’ Brit
I thoroughly recommend a gentile decline.
Such a slide into insignificance is both gentle and genteel.