The False Prophet recently claimed that Putin will prevail in Ukraine because Russia wins wars.
How about its war in Afghanistan? What a win they experienced there.
Then there are World War II and the Cold War. In 1939, Stalin (the Russian figure with whom Putin most strongly self-identifies) signed a treaty with Hitler. By 1945, that treaty had resulted in over 20,000,000 Russian deaths. The Soviet Union, a coalition partner with the U.S. and Western Europe, completely defeated Hitler and Nazi Germany. U.S. materiel support to the USSR significantly assisted the Soviet war effort.
Vances' obvious lack of conviction or consistency on..anything..makes him a danger. If he succeeds Trump as the leader of the MAGA movement, every issue/policy decision will be a free for all with "victory" going to the highest bidder. And that will wind up being the definition of "Trumpism".
Will Saletan's piece is a depressing example of what we face with Trump - a petulant, vindictive, amoral, thin-skinned, idiot with no sense of history, honor, national security or really anything other than himself. How did we get to a place where this is a true sentence about an ally whose country is under attack in a land grab by a foe of western democracy with eyes on other European neighbors: "Zelensky understands that Trump’s personal animus, combined with Trump’s isolationism, puts Ukraine in grave danger."
How many times and in how many different ways can we say that this is a grossly unfit and dangerous man who should never be let near the presidency? When I read this stuff, I'm so damn weary of being lectured at showing more compassion and understanding for the poor misunderstood Trump supporters while the world teeters on the brink.
This will never make any scholarly journals, but there is a reverse psychology at play. What we think is kryptonite in any normal world, is akin to Popeye eating spinach. Trump and the GOP antics should be kryptonite and destroy them in the eyes of normal, honest thinking people of integrity. But the worse they are, the more they misbehave, the more popular they become in the eyes of their supporters. Like Popeye eating spinach, they grow more and more popular/stronger. I'm sure an entire graduate social psychology course could be developed around this. And in fact, there is lots of history out there that serves as cautionary tale that we see playing out in the US and around the world right now. The spell of cult and autocracy will not be broken with any reasonable means unfortunately. And so much of our political system is broken.
I was thinking about the whole personal animus thing last night as I watched reporting about the hurricane wreaking havoc on Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina etc. and knew Biden would be right there supporting whatever federal assistance might be needed, as of course he should be and wouldn't even cross my mind as out of the ordinary before 2016. But if Trump returns to the Oval Office and an earthquake or tsunami or whatever decimates areas of California, Oregon or Washington State, or for that matter any urban area in America, my bet is he'll be ordering his Congressional sycophants to torpedo any aid. Or suggesting George Soros pay for it.
I too am fed up with attempts to “understand “ Trump supporters. Hillary got it right the first time out. A basket of deplorables. There is no way that support for Trump is grounded in human decency and respect for reason. Rather greed, self centeredness, mean spiritedness
I think “Trumpian” has already entered the general vocabulary of the United States (and perhaps of other countries as well, although I’m not familiar with the situation elsewhere). I hear “Trumpian” much more often than “Clintonian”. Part of that may be recency bias, but I remember the Clinton years, and I don’t think “Clintonian” was used as frequently then as “Trumpian” is now.
The one thing that is different with the DNC hack story was there was a huge amount of swirl over HRC’s private email server. Given all the investigations and press on her perceived recklessness if not outright criminality, the hack played right into the psyche of voters. I do not agree with how the MSM is covering the latest hack, but it likely will not be as potent without the private server story.
"The hackers may have intentionally included disinformation in the version posted by Klippenstein. The hackers have their own agenda in both obtaining and disseminating the document. The document published by Klippenstein also may not be the final version; it’s possible that a subsequently produced file did include the cat lady comment."
I have no recollection of any such disclaimer in 2016 about ANY of the information released on the Clinton campaign. Just another example of the difference in the way the MSM has treated republicans.
The idea that "Trumpian" becomes the go-to adjective for the strategy of total denial on the part of a public figure accused of malfeasance seems a bit far-fetched. That's been pretty standard fare for many years. If anything, the Clinton approach was an innovation, as these things go. Public figures tend to deny everything right up to the point where they resign tearfully or are led away in handcuffs. And it's also worth remembering that neither the Adams nor the Trump story is over, so the idea that "Trumpian" implies that the strategy will be successful is also suspect. It's true that Trump has successfully delayed any clear reckoning for his misdeeds (some would say for decades, depending on which misdeeds one is focused on) but compared to the average American his odds of being imprisoned are likely two standard deviations above the mean. Adams has far fewer levers to pull in executing a "Trumpian" strategy than Trump himself does; most notably, he has no pardon powers or executive authority over the prosecuting entity. If the betting markets are paying attention, my guess is that they put Adams's chances of serving the remainder of his term in the single digits and his odds of imprisonment at well over 50%. Whether that ends up being "Trumpian" or not remains to be seen.
The False Prophet recently claimed that Putin will prevail in Ukraine because Russia wins wars.
How about its war in Afghanistan? What a win they experienced there.
Then there are World War II and the Cold War. In 1939, Stalin (the Russian figure with whom Putin most strongly self-identifies) signed a treaty with Hitler. By 1945, that treaty had resulted in over 20,000,000 Russian deaths. The Soviet Union, a coalition partner with the U.S. and Western Europe, completely defeated Hitler and Nazi Germany. U.S. materiel support to the USSR significantly assisted the Soviet war effort.
The False Prophet , his sycophants, and MAGA apparently blame Russia's invasion and war against Ukraine against...Ukraine! Why? Because Ukraine exists? Putin's claim in February 2021 that his invasion was justified is hogwash (https://www.pathkeeper.net/curmudgeon-s-corner/special-military-operation.html).
Vances' obvious lack of conviction or consistency on..anything..makes him a danger. If he succeeds Trump as the leader of the MAGA movement, every issue/policy decision will be a free for all with "victory" going to the highest bidder. And that will wind up being the definition of "Trumpism".
As far as I'm concerned, Trump is 0 for 1 at ending wars. In "negotiating" with the Taliban, did he agree they could kill more American soldiers?
Will Saletan's piece is a depressing example of what we face with Trump - a petulant, vindictive, amoral, thin-skinned, idiot with no sense of history, honor, national security or really anything other than himself. How did we get to a place where this is a true sentence about an ally whose country is under attack in a land grab by a foe of western democracy with eyes on other European neighbors: "Zelensky understands that Trump’s personal animus, combined with Trump’s isolationism, puts Ukraine in grave danger."
How many times and in how many different ways can we say that this is a grossly unfit and dangerous man who should never be let near the presidency? When I read this stuff, I'm so damn weary of being lectured at showing more compassion and understanding for the poor misunderstood Trump supporters while the world teeters on the brink.
This will never make any scholarly journals, but there is a reverse psychology at play. What we think is kryptonite in any normal world, is akin to Popeye eating spinach. Trump and the GOP antics should be kryptonite and destroy them in the eyes of normal, honest thinking people of integrity. But the worse they are, the more they misbehave, the more popular they become in the eyes of their supporters. Like Popeye eating spinach, they grow more and more popular/stronger. I'm sure an entire graduate social psychology course could be developed around this. And in fact, there is lots of history out there that serves as cautionary tale that we see playing out in the US and around the world right now. The spell of cult and autocracy will not be broken with any reasonable means unfortunately. And so much of our political system is broken.
I was thinking about the whole personal animus thing last night as I watched reporting about the hurricane wreaking havoc on Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina etc. and knew Biden would be right there supporting whatever federal assistance might be needed, as of course he should be and wouldn't even cross my mind as out of the ordinary before 2016. But if Trump returns to the Oval Office and an earthquake or tsunami or whatever decimates areas of California, Oregon or Washington State, or for that matter any urban area in America, my bet is he'll be ordering his Congressional sycophants to torpedo any aid. Or suggesting George Soros pay for it.
He's already warned Gov Newsom in CA that as president he would provide wildfire relief only if Newsom signs a statement supporting Trump's policies.
I too am fed up with attempts to “understand “ Trump supporters. Hillary got it right the first time out. A basket of deplorables. There is no way that support for Trump is grounded in human decency and respect for reason. Rather greed, self centeredness, mean spiritedness
Off topic, but ... Zelensky's face during his press gaggle with Trump just now!
Would make a great matched pair with Kamala's face during the debate.
But seriously, what that man (Z not T) has to put up with is mind-blowing. T was in full thug mode.
I think “Trumpian” has already entered the general vocabulary of the United States (and perhaps of other countries as well, although I’m not familiar with the situation elsewhere). I hear “Trumpian” much more often than “Clintonian”. Part of that may be recency bias, but I remember the Clinton years, and I don’t think “Clintonian” was used as frequently then as “Trumpian” is now.
Who said the "childless cat lady" was in the dossier. He said that about Harris after she became the candidate, didn't he?
No he said it in 2021 when he was running for Senate
The one thing that is different with the DNC hack story was there was a huge amount of swirl over HRC’s private email server. Given all the investigations and press on her perceived recklessness if not outright criminality, the hack played right into the psyche of voters. I do not agree with how the MSM is covering the latest hack, but it likely will not be as potent without the private server story.
I give up. Lifelong Democrat, but Bulwark has the most balanced commentary. Who would have thunk it?
It's amazing, isn't it?
How is Fox News playing Adams vs Robinson? I’ve been afraid to look.
"The hackers may have intentionally included disinformation in the version posted by Klippenstein. The hackers have their own agenda in both obtaining and disseminating the document. The document published by Klippenstein also may not be the final version; it’s possible that a subsequently produced file did include the cat lady comment."
I have no recollection of any such disclaimer in 2016 about ANY of the information released on the Clinton campaign. Just another example of the difference in the way the MSM has treated republicans.
The idea that "Trumpian" becomes the go-to adjective for the strategy of total denial on the part of a public figure accused of malfeasance seems a bit far-fetched. That's been pretty standard fare for many years. If anything, the Clinton approach was an innovation, as these things go. Public figures tend to deny everything right up to the point where they resign tearfully or are led away in handcuffs. And it's also worth remembering that neither the Adams nor the Trump story is over, so the idea that "Trumpian" implies that the strategy will be successful is also suspect. It's true that Trump has successfully delayed any clear reckoning for his misdeeds (some would say for decades, depending on which misdeeds one is focused on) but compared to the average American his odds of being imprisoned are likely two standard deviations above the mean. Adams has far fewer levers to pull in executing a "Trumpian" strategy than Trump himself does; most notably, he has no pardon powers or executive authority over the prosecuting entity. If the betting markets are paying attention, my guess is that they put Adams's chances of serving the remainder of his term in the single digits and his odds of imprisonment at well over 50%. Whether that ends up being "Trumpian" or not remains to be seen.
Trumpian: adj., 1) Complete and utter inability to speak truthfully; 2) What Andrew said.
Those cookies are kinda cute.
They really are! The artist did a great job.
“Mark Robinson? Never heard of him.”
"As to why the Trump campaign’s researchers didn’t include that the cat lady remarks, aides aren’t saying....."
Deep state operative plant on the Trump campaign?
"Just because you are paranoid does not mean they are not following you."
/s