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

 

Trump Moved To Walter Reed Medical Center

 5:43 PM EST, Friday, October 2, 2020

The White House, Washington D.C.

President Donald Trump is transferred from the White House residence to the Walter Reed Medical Center out of an abundance of caution for his worsening condition.

Obviously, no one wants the President dead, virus or otherwise, but as he did ignore numerous medical professionals and experts over the past several months, it suggests that Trump is getting what he asked for -- the virus that he said he repeatedly downplayed.

We wish him a speedy recovery.

Official White House Portrait:  President Donald J. Trump

"Fake Pandemic"

The 2020 Presidential Campaign is in its final few weeks, with mail-in and absentee ballots being cast in record numbers, hundreds of millions potentially.  
The US Postal Service being undermined and minimized by the current Post Master General and Trump-flunkie-donor Louis DeJoy.
Donnie Drumpf continues to hold campaign rallies, yes, even in the midst of a global pandemic, the Covid-19, coronavirus.
Face masks and social distancing are key factors that public health professionals continue to push as deaths are reaching toward 200,000 in the U.S.
And then there are scenes like this, from Trump's supporters:

"It's a fake pandemic."

 It is also notable that there are NO Blacks, Asians, Hispanics/Latinx or Indigenous people among his supporters.

What does that say about Trump or his supporters?  

Think about that and the nation in which we now live.

Make America Great Again.... Again

 

So, when exactly was America "great" for Black people?  Let's take a tiny little look back:

1619 -- the first Africans are brought to America, in slave ships, from the African continent.

Enslaved, indentured servants, property, until 1865.

1865 -- The 13th amendment, which formally abolished slavery in the United States, passed the Senate on April 8, 1864, and the House on January 31, 1865. On February 1, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln approved the Joint Resolution of Congress submitting the proposed amendment to the state legislatures. The necessary number of states ratified it by December 6, 1865. The 13th amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." 

But were Black Americans really free?

Monuments to the Civil War sprung up, far and wide. And widespread denial of everything from voting rights, to housing, to where Blacks could live within cities... and on and on.

1964 -- The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (enacted July 2, 1964) is a landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, and racial segregation in schools, employment, and public accommodations.
Initially, powers given to enforce the act were weak, but these were supplemented during later years. Congress asserted its authority to legislate under several different parts of the United States Constitution, principally its power to regulate interstate commerce under Article One (section 8), its duty to guarantee all citizens equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment, and its duty to protect voting rights under the Fifteenth Amendment. 
2020 -- Black Lives Matter protests and its movement, continued murders of Black people, mostly Black men, at the hands of primarily White police officers.

So, again, for the past 400 years,  

when exactly was America great for Black people?

Chadwick Boseman Has Died

Actor Chadwick Boseman, who brought the movie "Black Panther" to life with his charismatic intensity and regal performance, has died.

Boseman has battled colon cancer since 2016 and died at home with his family and wife by his side, according to a statement posted on his Twitter account. He was 43.

"A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you so many of the films you have come to love so much," the statement said.

"From Marshall to Da 5 Bloods, August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and several more, all were filmed during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy."

With his role as King T'Challa in the boundary-breaking film "Black Panther," he became a global icon and an inspiring symbol of Black power. That role was the "honor of (Boseman's) career," the statement said. 

A South Carolina native, Boseman graduated in 2000 from Howard University, a historically Black college in Washington, DC. While there, he also attended the British American Drama Academy at Oxford in 1998.

"It is with profound sadness that we mourn the loss of alumnus Chadwick Boseman who passed away this evening. His incredible talent will forever be immortalized through his characters and through his own personal journey from student to superhero! Rest in Power, Chadwick!" University President Wayne A. I. Frederick said in a statement.

Boseman's breakout performance came in 2013 when he played Jackie Robinson in the film "42." Boseman's passing was announced the day Major League Baseball honored Jackie Robinson Day, an annual commemoration delayed by several months due to the pandemic.

"His transcendent performance in '42' will stand the test of time and serve as a powerful vehicle to tell Jackie's story to audiences for generations to come," Major League Baseball tweeted Friday about the actor.

Boseman made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in 2016 as T'Challa/Black Panther in "Captain America: Civil War. Black Panther then got his own stand-alone movie that released in 2018, which broke box office records. Marvel Studios president had previously announced the second movie of the "Black Panther" saga would debut in theaters in May 2022.

The actor starred in other films, including playing James Brown in "Get On Up" and Thurgood Marshall in "Marshall." 

Boseman returned to his alma mater in 2018 to give the commencement speech. He told the graduates about his early days acting on soap operas, saying he was fired from an unnamed production after he questioned what he felt was its stereotypical portrayal of Black characters.

"The struggles along the way are only meant to shape you for your purpose," he said at the time.

He concluded with his iconic "Wakanda Forever" salute.

Boseman "brought history to life" with his roles, Martin Luther King III said.

"As Black Panther, he was also a superhero to many," he wrote on Twitter. "And despite his 4 year long battle with cancer, he kept fighting and he kept inspiring. He will be missed."

The NAACP also paid tribute to the actor, saying Boseman showed "us how to conquer adversity with grace."

"For showing us how to 'Say it Loud!' For (showing) us how to walk as a King, without losing the common touch. For showing us just how powerful we are," their Instagram statement said. "Thank you #ChadwickBoseman."

Sen. Kamala Harris, who also attended Howard, said she was heartbroken over Boseman's death.

"My friend and fellow Bison Chadwick Boseman was brilliant, kind, learned, and humble," she tweeted. "He left too early but his life made a difference. Sending my sincere condolences to his family."

Actor Mark Ruffalo, who starred aside Boseman in the Marvel movies as the Hulk, said the death adds to the growing list of tragedies in 2020.

"What a man, and what an immense talent," Ruffalo tweeted. "Brother, you were one of the all time greats and your greatness was only beginning. Lord love ya. Rest in power, King."

 

 

#WakandaForever

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.