Super-Spreader-Event

 

Let's face it.  ANY time you're around Trump, it's a Super Spreader Event since he doesn't know how or when to shut up and sucks all of the oxygen out of the air.

 

The Art Of The No-Deal

Donald Trump came to the White House promising that he would make deals the likes of which the country and the world never seen.

He nears the end of his first term in Washington on Wednesday by abruptly ending the possibility of a deal to provide more money into the economy as it seeks to dig out from a massive hole created by the coronavirus pandemic.

"I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business," Trump tweeted Tuesday afternoon. It was a massive shock -- coming less than 24 hours after Trump had been released from Walter Reed medical center after being hospitalized with coronavirus -- and immediately sent the stock market tumbling.

Official Washington was stunned by the news, with Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who had been engaged in ongoing stimulus negotiations with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, speculating that Trump's move might have something to do with the medicine he had been receiving to treat Covid-19.

"Believe me, there are people who think that steroids have an impact on thinking," Pelosi told House Democrats on a call organized after Trump's announcement, according to CNN's Phil Mattingly. "So I just don't know."

Regardless of the reasons behind Trump's sudden decision to call off the talks, the practical effect will be to ensure there is no further stimulus money allocated by Congress before the end of its current term. And for Trump personally, the lack of a deal represents a remarkable failing of one of the central promises of his presidency: That he could make deals that other longtime Washington politicians could only dream about.

The seminal text of Trumpism -- to the extent a cohesive worldview exists -- is the billionaire businessman's "Art of the Deal." In the introduction to that book, he writes:

"Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully or write poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That's how I get my kicks."

In announcing his presidential campaign in the summer of 2015, Trump put his deal-making prowess center stage. "Now, our country needs -- our country needs a truly great leader, and we need a truly great leader now," he said. "We need a leader that wrote 'The Art of the Deal.'"

Throughout the 2016 campaign, he leaned on the idea that the only solution to a broken Washington was an out-of-the-box business leader who understood the leverage needed to make deals.

In the White House, that rhetoric continued.

"With deals -- that's what I do, is deals," Trump said in May 2018 in regards a China trade deal. He added around that same time: "I've made a lot of deals. I know deals, I think, better than anybody knows deals. You never really know."

But viewed broadly, Trump's first term has been defined by the deals he didn't do. Trump promised to force Mexico to pay for the construction of the southern border wall. He said he would renegotiate the Iran nuclear deal. That he would make a peace deal between Israel and Palestine. That he would pass a new health care bill. That he would pass a new gun control measure.

And Trump has also pulled America out of a number of international coalitions -- including the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Paris Climate Accords. He's also cut American funding for the World Health Organization and the United Nations.

Trump has, as he did on Tuesday, blamed these deal failures on bad actors -- domestically and internationally -- who actively undermine compromise. "Nancy Pelosi is asking for $2.4 Trillion Dollars to bailout poorly run, high crime, Democrat States, money that is in no way related to COVID-19," Trump tweeted. "We made a very generous offer of $1.6 Trillion Dollars and, as usual, she is not negotiating in good faith."

Which, well, OK. But remember: Deals were very hard to come by prior to Trump's arrival in Washington. Partisans with very different priorities as to what Congress should do -- and how they should do it -- are nothing new. And Trump cast himself as the one person with the resume, experience and skill set to break these logjams.

By any -- and every -- measure, Trump has failed to make good on that promise. His shutdown of stimulus negotiations on Tuesday are simply an exclamation point on that failure.

From CNN.com

 

Sometimes You Just Don't Want Your Darkest Fears Confirmed

His life, over the past 5 years, has played out in all its ugliness, hate-filled speech, narcissistic behaviors, racism, and so on. Laziness, too. Aside from the carnival sideshow hair and makeup, he's not only damaging us here in the United States.  He's also destroying allied relationships that have taking several generations to create and nurture.  

Pretty sure the only thing he's ever nurtured is his incredibly delicate ego. 

And so it goes with the release of Mary Trump's new book, "Too Much and Never Enough", wherein she outlines how her family, The Fred Trumps, created the most dangerous man in the world.  (Her words, not mine)

Every time we hear Donald Trump talk about how something is the greatest, the best, biggest (or bigly), most tremendous (implying that He mad them that way), we need to remember that he is still speaking, essentially, as the same little boy who felt inadequate and that He will be destroyed by that inadequacy.  He's still speaking to his long dead father, Fred Trump.

He simply refuses to even acknowledge that He's ever made a mistake and that nothing is His fault.

He's incapable of acknowledging the suffering of others, or any threat, internal or external, because to do so would indicate weakness.  (Mustn't do that!)

Taking responsibility would open him up to the blame-game.

Instead, what does the fat, bloated, orange one do?

Withdraw to his warm-fuzzy comfort zones -- Twitter, Fox News, chit-chatting with friends and allies on the phone, casting blame here and there.

He can never escape the fact that he is and will always be that frightened, scared, terrified little boy, desperately seeking his daddy's attention.

 

We Have 4 Centuries Of History To Rewrite In Order To Correct The White-Washing Of The Past

Keystone, South Dakota, in the shadow of Mount Rushmore, President Donald Trump on Friday, July 3, 2020, railing against what he called a "merciless campaign" by his political foes to erase history by removing monuments some say are symbols of racial oppression.

"As we meet here tonight there is a growing danger that threatens every blessing our ancestors fought so hard for," Trump warned.  He added, "Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values and indoctrinate our children." 

Seriously, dude? Do you really want future generations or even the current one, to continue to live with the white-washing of the United States?  400 years of slavery, denigration of indigenous peoples, that’s not enough?  Really?? 

Have you not been paying attention to the Black Lives Matter protests in May, June and July 2020?  That’s a rhetorical question, since, of course he doesn’t pay attention to anything not related to Him looking good. 

Just a reminder – Our first President George Washington was a slave owner while in office; Thomas Jefferson was also a slave owner while in office; Theodore Roosevelt believed Asians and ‘colored people’ were immoral, among other things; Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves, although committed mass murder of indigenous people. (Yes, it’s a very brief history lesson.)

And for some reason, President Donald Trump wants to remember and celebrate those events. 

He couldn’t understand why fireworks have been banned at the monument for the past two decades.

“It’s all stone.  Where’s the environmental impact?”, he told a radio host recently.

Meanwhile, the entire state of South Dakota is on high alert, firefighters, paramedics and all, just for a few hours of incredibly stupid, arrogant behavior on the part of the leader of the free world and his minions, er, faithful followers.  How does that saying from the Bible go, “Like lambs to the slaughter?” 

Yes, yes it IS pretty re-donk-ulous.

One of the problems here, and there are many, is that with this particular monument (on Indigenous land) it’s description of who our founding fathers were needs a serious edit in order to point out and call attention to the contributions of Blacks, Asians, Hispanics and Indigenous peoples.  With other much smaller statues and monuments, most can be removed and replaced with more current people or symbols that represent our current, updated, upgraded history.

That’s a long, local level, state-by-state endeavor that should happen before the end of 2020.  Otherwise, it will absolutely get swept under the rug because that’s what lazy white people do… procrastinate… among other things. 

This one quote in particular stands out as strikingly misinformed:
"Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values and indoctrinate our children."

No. No one is talking about “wiping out history”, only editing it in order to reveal the stark, ugly truth:  Slaves were introduced to America in 1620.  The history books tend to gloss over that part because, again, it’s a painful truth.

“Defaming our heroes”, well, I’m not sure how heroic it is to own slaves in a white controlled government and country. 

“Erase our value”, ugh…. This is becoming repetitive, but necessary.  Slavery, enslavement, etc.  Is that really a value you want to project, protect and own?   No need to answer right now, just maybe take several hundred years to do nothing and think about it. 

“Indoctrinate our children”, again, we’re pretty good at that.  Been doing it for 400 hundred years.  And not only with politics and daily life – what about religion?  Seems pretty tame there, right?  Think about that one for just a moment.  Regardless of which religion you subscribe to, aren’t you learning and passing along those beliefs to your children?  

*loud gasps from the crowd* 

I know. I know.  Yes, that sacrilege.  But is it?  If we’re so afraid to even talk about religion, we need to think about why that’s a bad thing.  Indoctrination is embedded into who we are in America. 

“The American Dream”, two cars in the garage, 2.5 children, a home, a wife and a dog.  A white picket fence, Formica countertops, plastic wrapped sofas… you get the idea.  It’s an antiquated, pipe dream of an idea from the post-World War II era that never included or considered Blacks, Asians, Hispanics or Indigenous people.  It was never their dream.

Right now in 2020, 20% into a new century, those old thought patterns need to change and be replaced with the here and now, reflecting the multi-cultural, multifaceted people we’ve evolved into, for future generations.

And, yes, some of those old antiquated institutions need to go as well:

The KKK, the NRA, White Supremacists, hate speech, and on and on.  (I’d actually love to hear about more groups that you feel belong on that list.)

Inclusion, not exclusion.

Free speech, not hate speech.

Progress, not perfection.

This is not about erasing any history, only correcting and editing history to reflect the facts about how those groups were actually treated by White people.

Nobody Likes Me, Everybody Hates Me

Nobody likes me, everybody hates me,
Think I’ll go eat worms!
Long thin slimy ones,
Short fat fuzzy ones,
Ooey gooey gooey gooey worms!

Down goes the first one, down goes the second one,
Oh how they wiggle and squirm!
Up comes the first one, up comes the second one,
Ooey gooey gooey gooey worms!

I bite off the heads, and suck out the juice,
And throw the skins away!
Nobody knows how fat I grow,
On worms three times a day!

Nobody likes me, everybody hates me,
Think I’ll go eat worms!
Long thin slimy ones,
Short fat fuzzy ones,
Ooey gooey gooey gooey worms!

(That’s how I remember it, but there are tons of variations of it available online!)

--------------------------------------------

It’s a fun little children’s song, one that I used to teach preschoolers a bazillion years ago in the 1980s.

Coincidentally, it’s also a tune that the sad, bloating, orange white man in the White House is singing a lot lately in regards to his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic here in the United States and its effects around the world. 

This from CNN:  "Nobody likes me," he said, confounded at how his administration's health experts could be receiving accolades while he is accused of ignoring and denying the raging public health crisis.

"It can only be my personality," Trump said, "that's all." 

And do you think that even for a second there was any self reflection?  Of course not.

Far from a mere difference of "personality," the examples of "nobody liking" Trump this week suggested a President actively isolating himself in his own bubble of conspiracy theories and questionable science, with fewer and fewer people willing to step inside to join him.

Speaking Thursday, July 30, 2020, Trump appeared resigned to the fact that coronavirus case counts will continue spiking, and said it's probably not anyone's fault, least of all his.

"That's just the way it is," he said. 

Sure.  Why should he take any responsibility for it?  It was ALL Obama’s fault.  And ALL China’s fault.  And ALL those liberal, do-nothing Democrat’s fault.  Darn them-there-people. 

Failing in the national and local polls across the board, he even floating the idea of delaying the November 3^rd election in order to avoid, “… wide spread voter fraud and potentially counterfeit ballots.  Millions and millions of them. Who’s signing them?  Where are they coming from?”  Un-effing-believable. 

One of the major problems with that strategy, if you can call it that, is that most Republicans on the ballot this year are pushing for vote-by-mail or absentee ballots amid the Covid-19 pandemic crisis.  That conspiracy theory is putting his own constituents, other Republicans, in a very precarious position to have to distance themselves from him for the first time in his presidency.  So, of course, it’s no wonder he feels all alone.  Poor, poor, pudgy, orange, gooey Donald.  Awww. 

It’s like, “Oops!”

Trump’s threatened to shut down Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and even banning TikTok from the U.S.  Personally, he could shutdown Twitter but then he’d have to rely on broadcast television news coverage, live, which he regularly refers to as “Fake News”.

He’s more concerned about his TV ratings than stepping-up, leading and actually taking a real, fact-based stance against Covid-19.

Again, “Oops!”                       Or, maybe, “D’Oh!!!”

Nobody likes me, everybody hates me,
Think I’ll go eat worms!
Long thin slimy ones,
Short fat fuzzy ones,
Ooey gooey gooey gooey worms!

...and then there's this:

...because it's ALL ABOUT keeping his Royal Orange Fatness happy.

Trump: Tower Of Mush

For all of his Twitter tirades, screaming in the Oval Office, demanding more troops, more guns, and bigger, BIGGER bang for our buck, what does the widdle-fat-manchild do?

Retreats to his bunker underneath the White House, and NO, not for "an inspection", but for  his personal protection, and has active duty members of his (as he calls them) armed forces patrol the streets of The District of Columbia (D.C.) quieting down and removing demonstrators.  Of course, during those removals, things devolved into riots.  

Trump, so brave inside his "fortress".  And no, you can't see Lafayette Park (the one across the street from the White House), so he had no idea what he'd caused in encouraging troops to go up against civilians.   

The city's status as a district, not a state, allows the President, and in turn the federal government, more leeway. Combined, at least 5,800 troops, agents, and officers have taken to the streets of the District.  

Among them are personnel from the national guard, US Secret Service, US Park Police, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Drug Enforcement Administration, US Marshals Service, Bureau of Prisons, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Federal Protective Service and the Transportation Security Administration. 

He's grasping at straws now, frightened, afraid, cowering, dying a little inside and at the same time raging about to pop a vein in his neck.  For all his bluster, arrogance, entitlement and frustration with the swamp/the system, he hasn't done anything to try and learn how to work within it.

Safe to say that, yes, his time is coming to an end he's not happy about it.  The rest of the country, the rest of the world, however, we can't take another 4 years of him and his policies and executive orders.  He's done enough damage for several generations to come.

 

Trump Becoming A Shining Example Of A Human Being?

What makes people think that the p*ssy-grabber, immigrant bashing, racist, homophobic, xenophobic orange slime ball in the White House (Trump, in case there was any confusion) will suddenly, miraculously, magically turn into some shining example of a decent human being, let alone anything close to resembling "presidential" ?
We've known who Donald Trump is for decades and yet, apparently, The United States was okay with Him being in charge of the country?
Not all of us, not even most of us.  
Remember the Mueller Report?  Seems like years ago instead of just over 1 year.  In his report he didn't indict the president, because he couldn't according to the Justice Department rules ("You can't indict a sitting president), but he did find massive Russian interference in our elections in the form of intrusive political ads on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.   
MASSIVE interference, and all the while, the Cry-baby-in-Chief whining about, "Rigged elections.  They're coming!"  That's code for - No way I'll win again without MORE outside help.
And now, some fun images of Mr. Crybaby.  Enjoy!

#BunkerBoy

Ugh! Donnie, just shut up.

So now, May 7, 2020, you're blaming/shaming meat plant workers for getting sick?  Seriously?
Is it because, well, they're not as tough, fierce, stupid as you, Donnie?  Is it?  These people that work to put food on YOUR table, who actually work for a living?
The bullsh*t  coming from that mouth is astonishing.  Oh, and do you EVER take responsibility for anything?  Or is your entire life, your enter being, just a fluke of nature?

For most of us... YES.  A loud, resounding Yes.

On May 6, 2020, in "celebration", or Trump's version of a celebration, he invited a group of nurses, nurse practitioners and other healthcare workers into the Oval Office for a meet-and-greet.  You know where this is heading.

Trump contradicted a nurse he was honoring in the Oval Office, insisting there are no personal protective equipment, PPE, shortages in the U.S. despite her account that availability could be "sporadic" at best.
An on-the-ball reporter asked the nurses attending the National Nurse Day event if their PPE supplies are where they need to be right now, during the pandemic, and many nodded in agreement.
Sophia Thomas, president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners said this, "I mean, I talk to my colleagues around the country.  Certainly there are pockets around the country where PPE is not ideal, but this is an unprecedented time."  She went on the say that she's been reusing a single N95 mask for "a few weeks now."
"We are nurses and we learn to adapt and do whatever we can do for our patients to get the job done and the care provided, and that's what we will continue to do as Covid-19 continues."  

And what does Supreme Leader/Overload Donnie Trump say:
"Sporadic for you but not sporadic for a lot of other people."  Unbelievable.

Pictures, as evidence, don't lie:  

When Nurse Sophia Thomas first speaks about PPE availability

Trump turns his head, as though he hears a noise. No eye contact.

Hmm. Interesting. More noise. Note the arms crossed. He's closing up.

And we have splashdown!  He's heard enough.  Isn't having it. NOT. MY. FAULT.  Completely shut down Nurse Thomas' comments.  Note the folded arms.

This is his typical stance, sitting, when he's heard enough. Conversation over. We're done here.

Pouty, whiny, sad, pathetic little man, Donnie J. Drumpf

 

 I wish, I really do, that Trump, Pence and that whole gang of his enablers in and out of the White House, would get this virus, fast and hard, so that just maybe, they'll change their tune and thinking.  

*Note:
Laurie Garrett, "The Coming Plague".  This book lays out in stunning detail what life will look like after a pandemic, such as Covid-19.  Ms. Garrett has studied this particular issue, viruses, for decades.  Seems like someone our leaders in D.C. (YES, Trump) should be paying attention to right now.