The Commentariat -- August 26, 2019

Afternoon Update:

Toluse Olorunnipa, et al., of the Washington Post: "A global summit between President Trump and other leaders ended [in Biarritz, France,] without significant progress on any of the world's most pressing issues, laying bare the widening gulf between the United States and other nations as they struggle to address issues like trade and climate change. French President Emmanuel Macron said leaders at the Group of Seven summit agreed to endorse just a one-page document of issues and then to continue working on a variety of other challenges that have proved elusive, including trade imbalances, climate change and Iran, among other things.... Macron said that the three days of talks here had a 'lot of tension and we had a lot of conflicts,' but he considered it a success that they were even able to produce a one-page document." This is an update of a story linked below. ...

After skipping the climate-change meeting, Trump said at his press conference he was an environmentalist. Oddly, the room did not break out in derisive laughter. I guess the world's press is accustomed to Trump's whoppers. ...

... From the Guardian's liveblog: "Throughout his press conference, Trump avoided offering details on a number of pressing issues, including the climate crisis, Iran and his trade war with China. On combating climate change, Trump dubiously argued that confronting the crisis would threaten the country's economy. 'I feel the US has tremendous wealth ... I'm not going to lose that wealth on dreams, on windmills - which, frankly, aren't working too well,' Trump said. He added, 'I think I know more about the environment than most.'... When asked about inviting Vladimir Putin to the G7 summit, Trump repeated the falsehood that the Russian president was previously excluded from the gathering because he 'outsmarted' Barack Obama. PBS Newshour's Yamiche Alcindor responded by correcting Trump that Putin was actually excluded after annexing Crimea, but the president stood by his original position. He also mentioned that he was sure Alcindor, who is black, did 'like' Obama.... One of the few matters where he did elaborate was on his Florida resort, Trump National Doral Miami, hosting the 2020 G7 summit. He went on at length about how the resort's 'magnificent buildings' and proximity to the airport made it the perfect site, while dismissing out of hand any implication that he could personally profit from holding the summit there." ...

... Zeke Miller & Darlene Superville of the AP: "Brushing off concerns about global economic instability..., Donald Trump defended the way he is trying to squeeze a trade deal out of China on Monday, saying it's a style that worked for him as a businessman. Trump was challenged on a negotiating style in which he praises Chinese President Xi Jinping one day and castigates him the next. Allies are complaining that that's contributing to instability problems for them and other nations, a reporter noted at a news conference closing out Trump's participation in the Group of Seven summit. Sorry, it's the way I negotiate,' he said. The president said layers of U.S. tariffs have hurt China so badly that it will have no choice but to make a trade deal with the United States. His trade war has been blamed for a global economic slowdown and has sown fears of an economic recession in the U.S.... 'What's bad for the world economy is uncertainty,' Macron said, speaking in English. 'The quicker an agreement is arrived at, the quicker that uncertainty will dissipate.'" This is an update of a story linked below. Mrs. McC: Flailing around, lying, backtracking, threats, recriminations, etc., are such excellent negotiation tactics.

Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Monday dismissed as 'ridiculous' a report that he proposed detonating nuclear bombs inside hurricanes to weaken the storms before they make landfall along U.S. shorelines. 'The story by Axios that President Trump wanted to blow up large hurricanes with nuclear weapons prior to reaching shore is ridiculous,' Trump tweeted, referring to himself in the third person. 'I never said this. Just more FAKE NEWS!'" Reporters Jonathan Swan & Margaret Talev said they stood by every word their story. Mrs. McC: According to the Axios report, Trump brought up the matter during at least two formal meetings. I doubt Evereybody But Trump is lying.

Will Sommer of the Daily Beast: "... Rudy Giuliani promoted discredited conspiracy theories about murdered Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich on Twitter early Monday morning, further fueling the baseless speculation that has anguished Rich's grieving family. Giuliani quote-tweeted a tweet from conspiracy theorist Matt Couch, whose fevered claims about Rich's 2016 murder provoked a defamation lawsuit from Rich's brother.... In text messages with The Daily Beast, Giuliani insisted his tweet wasn't meant to promote any conspiracy theories but merely to ask questions about Rich's murder, which has remained unsolved."

Politico: "Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) will resign from Congress at the end of September, the most recent in a string of Republicans who have decided against running for re-election. Duffy, who was elected in 2010 during a GOP wave, said he and his wife are expecting a child in late October who will 'will need even more love, time, and attention due to complications, including a heart condition.'"

James Arkin of Politico: "Massachusetts Rep. Joe Kennedy confirmed Monday he's considering running for Senate next year, setting up a potential blockbuster Democratic primary against Sen. Ed Markey." Mrs. McC: This is stupid; Kennedy should run for President Elizabeth Warren's unexpired term. (Massachusetts' Republican governor will certainly seat a Republican, & -- tho the Massachusetts legislature keeps changing the terms of filling unexpired Senate terms to suit its political interests -- I think there would be a Senate race.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Don't Get You-Know-Who Mad." Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Ever so gingerly, as if determined not to rouse [Donald Trump]'s well-known temper, the other Group of 7 leaders sought to nudge him toward their views on the pressing issues of the day, or at least register their differences -- while making sure to wrap them in a French crepe of flattery, as they know he prefers. It was far from clear the messages were received, or in any case at least welcome.... For his part, Mr. Trump largely stuck to diplomatic niceties, refraining from hate-tweeting his colleagues and leaving aside his caustic complaints.... While the president relishes confrontation, he tends to avoid conflict in person, saving his vitriol for long-distance social media blasts."

Angelique Chrisafis of the Guardian: "... Emmanuel Macron has condemned what he called 'extraordinarily rude' comments made about his wife, Brigitte, by the far-right Brazilian leader, Jair Bolsonaro, escalating their diplomatic clash.... Over the weekend Bolsonaro personally expressed approval online for a Facebook post implying that Brigitte Macron was not as good-looking as his own wife, Michelle Bolsonaro."

Mrs. McCrabbie: At 9:15 am ET, Trump & Macron's news conference is coming up "shortly." That's when I turn off the teevee.

Angelique Chrisafis: “Donald Trump did not attend Monday's crucial discussion on climate and biodiversity at the G7 meeting of international leaders in Biarritz, missing talks on how to deal with the Amazon rainforest fires as well as new ways to cut carbon emissions.... Trump was later asked by reporters covering a meeting with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, whether he had attended the climate session. He replied: 'We're having it in a little while.' He did not appear to hear when a reporter told him it had just taken place." Mrs. McC: Is Trump pretending not to know what's going on, or does he not know?

Still Time for a Biarritz Trumpertantrum. AP: "... Donald Trump and [G7] summit host French President Emmanuel Macron will finish off the three-day summit with a joint news conference Monday. But first the leaders of the Group of Seven rich democracies -- the U.S., France, Britain, Germany, Japan, Canada and Italy -- are holding a string of meetings on climate change, how digitalization is transforming the world and other issues." ...

... Toluse Olorunnipa, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump began his final day at the Group of Seven summit complaining about the media but offering scant evidence that he and other world leaders gathered in France had made any progress on tackling major global challenges ranging from a slowing economy to nuclear proliferation.... 'In France we are all laughing at how knowingly inaccurate the U.S. reporting of events and conversations at the G-7 is,' Trump tweeted early Monday. 'These Leaders, and many others, are getting a major case study of Fake News at it's finest! They've got it all wrong, from Iran, to China Tariffs, to Boris!'... Negotiators from each country talked trade and other issues late into the night, but the U.S. delegation blocked any consensus, a senior European official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door discussions.... [Trump] signaled on Monday that trade deals were in motion -- although both China and Japan quickly undercut elements of his claims. 'China called,' Trump said. 'They want to make a deal.' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he was 'not aware' of any weekend phone call.... [Trump] also sought to boost what he called a trade deal 'in principle' with Japan.... Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Takeshi Osuga said Monday that talks were still at a more preliminary stage." ...

... Peter Baker of the New York Times is liveblogging the G7 meeting. Baker relies on Trump's assertion that China called to restart trade negotiations. ...

     ... Emoluments Update: "President Trump suggested that next year's G7 meeting could held at one of his own properties, the Trump National Doral, near Miami." Mrs. McC: Yes, because everyone wants to go to Miami in August. On the other hand, world leaders probably want to enjoy Trump-style nouveau luxe. ...

     ... (The NYT liveblog has now been updated to include a mini-report on Trump's Doral proposal: "The idea of his using one of his resorts to host an international summit meeting would raise many questions, including whether and how much the government would pay for the premises, and how much Mr. Trump would profit from it.") ...

     ... Update 2: "The Group of 7 agreed on a $20 million aid package to help Brazil and its neighbors fight the fires raging in the Amazon rain forest, President Emmanuel Macron of France said on Monday." Mrs. McC: Of course Trump didn't show up for the meeting. According to CNN, the White House says his absence was caused by his having other meetings with Angela Merkel & Narenda Modi, but they both managed to attend the climate-change meeting.

     ... Update 3: "Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India on Monday declined President Trump's offer to mediate the escalating dispute with Pakistan over the territory of Kashmir, saying that he did not want to involve any other country in the matter." Mrs. McC: Another missed chance for that elusive Nobel Peace Prize!

... Zeke Miller & Darlene Superville of the AP: "... Donald Trump, under pressure to scale back a U.S.-China trade war partly blamed for a global economic slowdown, claimed Monday that the two sides will begin serious negotiations soon. Trump said his trade negotiators had received two 'very good calls' from China Sunday.... World leaders had encouraged Trump all weekend to deescalate the conflict with China, he clashed with French President Emmanuel Macron over new France's digital services tax, and he broke with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in not forcefully condemning North Korea's recent ballistic missile launches. But Trump on Monday claimed the reports of disagreements were overblown, starting with the ... visit [by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif]. Uncharacteristically silent Sunday while Zarif was in France, Trump insisted that Macron had asked his 'approval' before asking Zarif to attend, as he looks to lower tensions in the Persian Gulf.... 'I spoke to President Macron yesterday and I knew everything he was doing and I approved whatever he was doing and I thought it was fine,' Trump said of the Zarif talks." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: So now we know for sure that the Chinese never called, or they called once, or they called twice. And we also know that Trump gave his approval to Macron for the Zarif visit, as if a U.S. president* can tell a French president who-all can come to France. But, according to media reports, the "White House" was blindsided by Zarif's visit, so either (1) both Trump and White House staff were surprised, or (2) Trump didn't bother to tell staff about Zarif's visit, or (3) all the appropriate U.S. staff were aware of the visit & they told reporters otherwise. I am looking forward to the day when we have a real president who doesn't just automatically lie about every little thing; you know, if the president says (A) & somebody else says (Not-A), you assume (A). ...

     ... Update: CNN has been trying to "get some clarity" or whether or not phone calls took place, & they can't get a straight answer. So one has to guess that's a no. No link.

... Julian Borger of the Guardian: "... Donald Trump has said it is 'too soon' to hold talks with Iranian officials but confirmed he agreed to a French decision to invite Iran's foreign minister for talks in Biarritz during the G7 summit. In another sign that the French-led effort to defuse tensions between US and Iran may be making progress, the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, declared himself open in principle to meeting the US president.... [Iran's foreign mininster Mohammad Javad] Zarif said he had spent four hours in talks in Biarritz, including an hour with Macron, as 'some points needed to be clarified or negotiated more, especially banking and oil issues that were discussed in an intensive talks by experts.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: That's funny because one of our favorite senators, the budding diplomat Rand Paul, invited Zarif in mid-July to meet with President Trump, "with President Trump's blessing." (Link is to a New Yorker story by Robin Wright.) So if it's "too soon" to meet with Iran's top guys in late August, it's pretty clear the State Department was not prepared for even a ten-minute photo-op on the sidelines of the G7 event. Could it be because Zarif's appearance in Biarritz "blindsided" State & White House officials? ...

... "RussiaGate," Ctd. Julian Borger of the Guardian: "Donald Trump has rowed with his fellow G7 leaders over his demand that Russia be readmitted to the group.... The disagreement led to heated exchanges at a dinner on Saturday night inside the seaside resort's 19th-century lighthouse. According to diplomatic sources, Trump argued strenuously that Vladimir Putin should be invited back, five years after Russia was ejected from the then G8) for its annexation of Crimea. Of the other leaders around the table, only Giuseppe Conte, the outgoing Italian prime minister, offered Trump any support, according to this account." --s

Yesterday's Commentariat links stories about the G7 meeting, more-or-less in most-recent-first order. ...

... A Man Hears What He Wants to Hear ... Peter Nicholas of the Atlantic: "At the Group of Seven meeting in Biarritz, France, there are, in effect, two different summits under way -- one that's happening in ... Donald Trump's mind, and another that is actually happening on the ground.... To hear Trump tell it, predictions that the weekend summit would be contentious were all wrong. Only the 'Fake and Disgusting News' would conclude that his relations with the other leaders meeting in the coastal resort were 'very tense,' he tweeted, when in fact, they were 'getting along very well.' His counterparts, he insists, are coming forward and agreeing with him that it's a good idea to readmit Russia to the group, he said today.... He's hearing broad support for his trade dispute with China and a lunch visit yesterday with Emmanuel Macron was the best he's had yet with his French counterpart, he said. In none of these instances does Trump's version of events hold up." ...

Reporter: Mr. President, any second thoughts on escalating the trade war with China?

President Trump: Yeah, sure. Why not?

Reporter: Second thoughts? Yes?

Trump: Might as well. Might as well.

Reporter: You have second thoughts about escalating the war with China?

Trump: I have second thoughts about everything.

Mrs. McCrabbie: The White House said Trump didn't hear the question. Really? Three times?

... Heather Hurlburt of New York: "The 2017 G-7, in retrospect, probably told us all we needed to know when world leaders took a walk in Sicily and Trump followed along in a golf cart. At the 2018 meeting, Trump lost control in a session and threw Starburst candies at Angela Merkel, then un-endorsed the agreed-upon summit document, and hate-tweeted at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau while flying away. So far at this year's G-7..., the sheer volume of Trump's reversals are getting the most global attention."

Jonathan Swan & Margaret Talev of Axios: "President Trump has suggested multiple times to senior Homeland Security and national security officials that they explore using nuclear bombs to stop hurricanes from hitting the United States, according to sources who have heard the president's private remarks and been briefed on a National Security Council memorandum that recorded those comments.... During one hurricane briefing at the White House, Trump said, 'I got it.... Why don't we nuke them?' according to one source who was there. 'They start forming off the coast of Africa, as they're moving across the Atlantic, we drop a bomb inside the eye of the hurricane and it disrupts it. Why can't we do that?' the source added, paraphrasing the president's remarks.... The briefer 'was knocked back on his heels,' the source in the room added. '... People were astonished. After the meeting ended, we thought, "What the f---? What do we do with this?"'... The idea keeps resurfacing in the public even though scientists agree it won't work. The myth has been so persistent that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ... published an online fact sheet for the public under the heading Tropical Cyclone Myths Page.' The page states: 'Apart from the fact that this might not even alter the storm, this approach neglects the problem that the released radioactive fallout would fairly quickly move with the tradewinds to affect land areas and cause devastating environmental problems. Needless to say, this is not a good idea.'" ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Trump also ordered NASA to explore mining Earth's moon for blue cheese. U.S. trade rep Peter Navarro immediately suggested slapping a tariff on Roquefort.

Ken Vogel & Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "A loose network of conservative operatives allied with the White House is pursuing what they say will be an aggressive operation to discredit news organizations deemed hostile to President Trump by publicizing damaging information about journalists. It is the latest step in a long-running effort by Mr. Trump and his allies to undercut the influence of legitimate news reporting. Four people familiar with the operation described how it works, asserting that it has compiled dossiers of potentially embarrassing social media posts and other public statements by hundreds of people who work at some of the country's most prominent news organizations. The group has already released information about journalists at CNN, The Washington Post and The New York Times -- three outlets that have aggressively investigated Mr. Trump.... the material publicized so far, while in some cases stripped of context or presented in misleading ways, has proved authentic, and much of it has been professionally harmful to its targets." ...

     ... Ken Meyer of Mediaite summarizes the Times report. Slate also has a summary. Mrs. McC: I don't care if Maggie Haberman is schtupping Jim Acosta in the press room; if I think the "news" comes from Trump & Co., you won't read about it here.

Zack Coleman of Politico: "More than 100 storage sites for coal-burning power plants' toxic leftovers lie in areas that federal emergency managers have labeled a high risk for flooding, according to Politico's examination of government and industry data.... [C]oal ash -- a multibillion-dollar liability problem for communities across the country -- may become an even greater danger because of heavier rains triggered by climate change.... Meanwhile, the Trump administration is moving to weaken an Obama-era regulation meant to prevent a repeat of past coal ash disasters.... The ash ... contains arsenic, selenium, lead, mercury, boron and other contaminants known to cause cancer, neurological damage or heart ailments." --s

Harmeet Kaur of CNN: "The Cherokee Nation announced Thursday that it intends to appoint a delegate to the US House of Representatives, asserting for the first time a right promised to the tribe in a nearly 200-year-old treaty with the federal government. It was a historic step for the Oklahoma-based Cherokee Nation and its nearly 370,000 citizens, coming about a week after Chuck Hoskin Jr. was sworn in as principal chief of the tribe. The Cherokee Nation says it's the largest tribal nation in the US and one of three federally recognized Cherokee tribes. The move raises questions about what that representation in Congress would look like and whether the US will honor an agreement it made almost two centuries ago.... The Cherokee Nation's right to appoint a delegate stems from the [Treaty of New Echota of 1835] that the US government used to forcibly remove the tribe from its ancestral lands", sending them on the Trail of Tears. ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Gee, maybe this will cause Trump to lose his fondness for Andrew Jackson.

Presidential Race 2020

Sahil Kapur of Bloomberg: "Elizabeth Warren drew the largest crowd of her presidential campaign Sunday in Seattle, as an estimated 15,000 people turned out to support what she calls a movement for change. When touting her wealth tax of 2 cents on every dollar of assets above $50 million, Warren drew chants of '2 cents! 2 cents!' The loudest applause came when she called for overturning the Supreme Court's ruling that lifted campaign finance restrictions."

Mrs. McCrabbie: I linked yesterday to a brief profile of Trump's right-wing "challenger" Joe Walsh. Here's another by Aaron Blake of the Washington Post. Walsh should have gone for an acting Cabinet post instead; he's just the kind of disreputable character who would appeal to Trump but who is unlikely to get through a Senate confirmation.

MEANWHILE, in a Local Race to the Bottom ... Owen Daugherty of the Hill: Joe Arpaio, a year after Donald Trump pardoned him for being a cruel, racist xenophobe, announced he will run to get his sheriff's job back.

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Richarde Luscombe of the Guardian: "In a controversial move that has outraged environmentalists and also raised questions with authorities responsible for the health and vitality of the [Floridian Santa Fe] river, [Nestlé] is seeking permission to take more than 1.1m gallons a day from the natural springs to sell back to the public as bottled water.... [T]he fragile river ... is already officially deemed to be 'in recovery' ... after years of earlier overpumping.... [C]ompany officials concede in letters to water managers supporting the permit request that its plans would result in four times more water being taken daily than Seven Springs' previously recorded high of 0.26m gallons" --s

Way Beyond the Beltway

U.K./E.U. Brexit Woes. Jennifer Rankin of the Guardian: "The European Union would refuse to negotiate a trade deal with the UK if the government reneged on the Brexit bill, EU sources have said. At the G7 summit in Biarritz, Boris Johnson said it was a 'simple statement of reality' that the UK would withhold much of the £39bn financial settlement agreed by Theresa May, in the event of a no-deal. Brussels sources have warned that future trade talks would be blocked until the UK agreed to a settlement."

Comments

[Bobby Lee]

Ah yes, nuke them hurricanes. Return to those days of innocence when the US Army trained with troops in nuclear test areas. The days of the "Atoms for Peace" program which touted subterranean blasts to "dig" a sea level canal across Nicaragua for one. Times have changed, we know a little more, but some people won't give up.

[Akhilleus]

Notes from the third grade

Never say you’ve seen or heard it all when talking about the Orange Menace. Nuking hurricanes?? This is something a third grader might come up with. A not very bright third grader. I happened to mention the idea to my third grader. At first he thought it would be cool. Then he quickly backtracked. “But what about radiation?” he asked, “And fallout?”

Exactly.

But guess which not so bright third grader never thought of those slightly important things?.

Exactly.

The point here is not that Trump is stupid. We know that. The problem is, he’s stupid on our dime and stupid about issues that are vitally important to our country and to the world. He goes to France for a summit and spends his time whining that he’s not being treated like a king by the press back home. He makes up stories about fabulous deals he’s making when in fact he’s doing nothing.

It was one thing when he was stupid with his own money (or rather, his investors’ money). “I got it! Let’s buy an airline! Let’s sell steaks, mortgages, vodka, corn dogs with my picture on them...” Let’s have a university!” “I got it! A casino! With my picture on it!” All scams, losing propositions, and boondoggles.

And I don’t wanna hear that someone in the Eisenhower administration thought of this crazy “nuke the hurricanes” idea 70 years ago. 70 years ago, as Bobby Lee points out, the best minds in the military were sitting on Adirondack chairs 20 miles from an atom bomb blast with sunglasses for protection.

So while this latest “I got it!” moment might be cause for more eye rolling, it’s just another example of how incredibly dense this idiot is.

So, ready? All together now, “Nancy and Chuck! Are you listening?”

[Marie Burns]

@Akhilleus: One thing we seem to be learning about Trump's arrested development is that post-second grade, he never learned another thing. So "let's buy Greenland" is consistent with an idea Harry Truman had (at a time that prospect was probably quasi-feasible). Nuking hurricanes, as @Bobby Lee points out, is consistent with "ideas" that came up during the Eisenhower administration. For that matter, the idea that trade wars & other economic protectionist measures were desirable is a product of that period, too. And climate change? Back in those day, the conventional wisdom was that global warming was a fake "problem" cooked up by wild-eyed treehuggers. King Coal? Same thing. Racism & xenophobia? Yeah, Harry Truman was a bigot at heart (but he also racially-integrated the armed services). We never thought a 21st-century U.S. president would promote such views. And so forth.

The costs of Trump's 1950s ideas are incalculable. From the relatively small amounts we have to spend on federal employees "looking into" Trump's retro ideas (on the nuking hurricanes thing, all they had to do was photocopy the NOAA "insane myths" page & maybe draw some show-and-tell stick figures keeled over in a nuclear cloud) to the horrendous environmental & economic costs of Trump's refusal to embrace any measures that improve Earth's climate, while pushing ideas that appreciably harm it.

The world cannot afford RetroTrump.

[Akhilleus]

Pixilation

The constant lies from Trump, the White House, and the pooper scoopers who follow him around has gotten way beyond tiresome. It's now in the realm of the barking mad.

Everything is a lie for Trump. Everything is fake news. Even that epicenter of Trumpian propaganda, Fox "News", is on notice that they'd better toe the line or they'll be labeled fake news too. He talked to the Chinese. The Chinese say no he didn't. It must be fake news. Everyone goes to a G7 meeting except Trump. Oops. He had a meeting with other world leaders. Except they were all at the meeting that he blew off. Fake news. It doesn't matter what it is. If he doesn't like it, it must be "disgusting fake news".

Back in the 30's director Frank Capra made a series of wonderful films. Among them is "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town". In it, free spirit Gary Cooper is railroaded into a courtroom by unscrupulous characters trying to have him declared insane. As evidence, the district attorney brings a couple of spinster sisters from Mr. Deeds' little hometown in Vermont into court and puts them on the stand to testify about Deeds' strange ways. In their judgment, he's "pixilated", in other words, he sees pixies, he's mad. This seems to put Deeds behind the eight ball until he asks the sisters what they think of the district attorney. "Oh", they say, "He's pixilated too". And the judge? "Very pixilated". In fact, in their estimation, everyone is pixilated. Except for them.

This is Trump. Apparently everyone is a liar except for him. The irony assumes historic levels.

Yet, even in the movies, this is the sign of a madman.

Or a congenital liar.

Maybe both. In any event, he could be our first (and hopefully last) pixilated president*.

Nancy, please to de-pixilate the White House. Pretty please?

[Ken Winkes]

The conumdrum at the nation's heart, a comment on today's Charles Blow's NYTimes column:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/25/opinion/donald-trump.html?

"As many have commented, Mr. Trump NEVER cared about the country, only himself.

I thank Mr. Blow for eloquently stating the obvious.

What may not be obvious is that while none of this is a surprise, millions supported him and far too many still do.

So the question most interesting to me (and I'd hope to many others) is why? What's his appeal to them?

Does a large minority of the country (roughly 40%) think you can have an effective government of and for the people based solely on self-interest? As the last 40-50 years have once again shown, you can't even run a functional economy on that principle.

Once upon a time, lo! many years ago, there used to be something called public service and those who were called to it and practiced it were often held in high esteem. The Albert Schweitzers, the Florence Nightingales, and the Martin Luther Kings were looked up to as heroes. Children were often encouraged to emulate them.

Many did. They became teachers, doctors, nurses and social workers. Some found other avenues, through their churches or other social groupings, to pursue the ends of public service. For them, their reward was not money or material possessions. It was the satisfaction of doing good.

Mr. Trump and his presidency is that model's antithesis.

And yet millions apparently still think public institutions can serve the public when they are in the hands of people who care only about themselves.

Even Adam Smith* would be flummoxed."

*The author of "A Theory of Moral Sentiments"

[Marie Burns]

I had to turn off the teevee because the Macron-Trump press conference started. It began late because Trump was doing his hair or looking for Fox "News" or something (a real president would be getting brief by advisors, but we know that's not what was going on). Someone remarked that instead of being the leader of the G7, as past U.S. president have been, the other members put their energy into trying to humor him so he would behave himself.

CNN had to kind of fill waiting for Trump for an hour-plus, & it was remarkable: the whole discussion was about Trump's lies & trying to figure out what was true or might be true & what was Trump's manipulating the markets or self-aggrandizing or both.

A markets reporter said Wall Street didn't believe the phone call(s)-from-China story, but was mollified somewhat by the idea that Trump was at least trying to come up with a positive spin, even -- as some believed -- that he was doing it to financially benefit himself or friends.

This is what we've come to.

[Ken Winkes]

Climate change, the implications of the continuing digital revolution, the complexities of international trade?

I cannot think of any world leader less qualified to give serious thought to or talk intelligently about any of these subjects.

Those sessions with the Pretender must have been extraordinarily embarrassing for everyone else present.

They were for me, and I wasn't even there.

[Keith Howard]

Ken,
I think Matt Taibbi has a pretty persuasive idea of why DJT's supporters are impervious to arguments from principle or science:

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/taibbi-trump-2020-be-very-afraid-872299/

[Akhilleus]

Keith Howard,

The Taibbi piece is more painful than a root canal without anesthesia.

Moronic thugs screaming "Fuck you" to people they hate has become the apogee of political discourse on the right in the Age of Trump.

How proud they must be.

[Ken Winkes]

Keith,

Yeah. That's some of the answer.

Taibbi's headline writers wanted me to be afraid, but I didn't need the encouragement Taibbi provided.

I was and am.

What I was implying if not stating pretty directly in my Blow comment was the turn a good share of the nation has taken toward short-sighted selfishness as a way of life.

It used to be a bad thing. Now we have a good (bad) part of the nation wallowing in it so deeply they are pleased and proud to praise its most visible representative.

[Akhilleus]

Trump an environmentalist? Hahahahahaha....since when? I bet he can't even spell it.

He might as well have claimed to be a professor of ecclesiastical Latin. Professor emeritus, no less.

[Bobby Lee]

@ Ken Winkes. As to shortsighted self interest: Pardon me if I've said this before but it used to be if workers in a business got a benefit the attitude of their peers was "Great, how do we get that"? Today it's a whiny "I don't have that, why should they"?

[Marie Burns]

@Akhilleus: This is a mind-fucking game Trump is playing. If Trump is an environmentalist, then the word "environmentalist" has no meaning whatsoever. Having lost his mastery of the "best words," he is now robbing the English language of its substance. He strings together English-language words, often incoherently, but even when he makes a proper sentence, the words -- because they are most apt to form lies -- are just sounds an English-speaking person makes. Thus you get headlines like this one in today's WashPo: "After Trump claims first lady has ‘gotten to know’ Kim Jong Un, White House clarifies they’ve never met." "Getting to Know You" used to be a lovely, sentimental Rogers & Hammerstein song; now the lyrics are just a string of words.

He is best at inverting word meanings: this, a climate denier becomes an "environmentalist"; "fake news" turns out to be, by the common understanding of the term, "real news." This is akin to his projections: "Crooked Hillary" is a way of deflecting the reality of "Crooked Donald"; "Sleepy Joe" is a nod to Trump's hatred of & failure to perform the work a real president does. Xi is the "enemy" one day; days later he's a "great leader."

We know Trump is in general a destructive person, a bull in every China shop he enters. And that is true of his destruction of the Meaning of Anything & Everything. This is pathological nihilism of the first order.