It was only a paper moon.
I don’t suppose any of the D, Trump supporters remember the Great Recession. There is no reason for them to do so. Their world apparently began with the inauguration of D.Trump in January 2017. At least that is what D.Trump thinks. How do I know that? Well lets read one of D.Trump’s latest tweets. Yesterday he wrote: “The media has not reported that the National Debt in my first month went down by $12 billion dollars vs a $200 billion increase in Obama first mo.”
If that is not the worst type of statement trying to con the people that you ever read coming from someone in the Oval Office, even including the night custodian, I do not know what is. Does D.Trump really believe that his followers forget that the Great Recession began under G.W. Bush and that Obama took over when the sky was falling in? Are people to forget that and pretend that both he and President Obama took office when the conditions were equal? I mean, seriously, D.Trump must think his followers are historical illiterates trying to pull the wool over their eyes in such a gross manner.
I’m sure there are some reading this who will find that D.Trump made an apt comparison. I would not be able to convince them that even were the conditions exactly the same when Obama and D.Trump took office the limited time the latter has been in office would have little if any effect on what happened to it. He has done nothing with respect to the National Debt to this point. It rises or falls depending on programs that have been in existence for long periods of time.
Finally, without beating a dead horse, there is another part of that tweet that is noteworthy. It intends to convey the idea that the media is intentionally hiding good things done by D.Trump. It works well with his “enemy of the American people” campaign.
That was not his only recent tweet. He is now trying to get people to come out on the streets to support him. Has there ever been a president that was so insecure that he asks those who voted for him to come out and have a rally? He wrote on the same day: “Maybe the millions of people who voted to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN should have their own rally. It would be the biggest of them all!”
Why, I ask, would the man who had a million to a million and a half people by his own count at his inauguration feel the need to have another such a crowd assemble again so soon after that historic turnout.
You must figure he will have the White House staff beating the bushes (not the Georges) trying to gin up support for this? I’d have to guess Fox News will give it all the publicity it needs. But I’m sure there are some clear-headed people who will try to beat down this idea pretty quickly knowing that it could cause a great embarrassment. They might give a rally and no one will show up.
It is the people who are aggrieved who rally; the people who are content remain ensconced on their couches. Right now the Trumpeteers seem content with the erratic direction the country is heading.
One more tweet from D.Trump noted: “I will not be attending the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!”
Apparently the president is roasted at the dinner — not literally — and Obama went and took the hits but also gave a few in return and one of his favorite targets was the man he called The Donald. He tagged him pretty accurately saying that now that The Donald has put the birth certificate issue to rest he: “can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter — like, did we fake the moon landing?” What really happened in Roswell? Where are Biggie and Tupac?”
Some would say D.Trump backed out because his extreme narcissism could not face the roasting. That would not be correct. He is a busy man. He has demanded the intelligence community come up with proof that the moon landing actually did take place on a paper moon. See the proof he has present, shown above, to support his claim.
I have been posting this video clip about the media for over 10 years
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ne-aUQ0KOnA
* verbal gaffes ( DAYTONA 500- multi-tasking 🙂 )
* The only president of the Harvard Law Review to never write an article in it .
C’mon RED, this is just fungoe practice in ” Cominskey ” Park. Too easy! The only president of the Harvard Law Review is a bright and personable guy, but he is a “Style” guy ; the intellectual content, which requires ” work ” is not there. He is a bullshitter. Trump is derided for his Everyman bluntness of speech and occasional venal gaffes, but he is I believe a Wharton Business School graduate, and distinguished himself in his métier. He is unaffected, direct, unpretentious and reassuringly matter of fact in the way he combats his pious snake foes. He is not a loose cannon, simply a very weathered and entirely trustworthy artillery piece. Anchors aweigh. The Ship Of State left port over a month ago. Time for the rear admirals to join the fleet. 🙂
Wa-llahi! Wharton! That’s bullshit. Trump was an undergrad at Penn who took some courses Wharton offered to undergrads. It’s in the academic records. Trump didn’t graduate from Wharton with an MBA. That’s all crap. He was a rich kid, a lackluster student, coasting through Penn, until, he could take over Daddy’s business. Keep it real.
Difficult to separate the real from the usual bs propaganda from his detractors. Well, Khalid, at least they remembered him at U Penn and Wharton. None of Barak Obama’s Columbia University ” classmates ” ever recall taking a single class with him. I am a logical positivist when it comes to wild eyed claims denouncing Trump. The usual extravagant bs or was he indeed an average student? Your claims await verification.
John: He’s full of shit. In today’s speech, he pulled that Wharton crap. Sick puppy. Obama was an A-student, that’s how he got to Columbia.
Trump should also learn to speak Austrian.
Perhaps, Bavarian. Trench-warfare purged him of his Austrian brogue. Not talking about Hitler? My bad.
Hi Matt, The minor fluctuation in the size of the national debt can more properly
attributed to actions taken by Obama, not Trump. It’s a ludicrous thing to claim credit for anyway, and it reflects Trump’s basic ignorance of the way things work. By the way, according to the Wall Street Journal, Obama signed more executive orders and memos in his first 30 days than Trump has in his first month. Obama also signed a $787 billion economic stimulus package that set the nation on the path to a sustained recovery from the Bush-Cheney disaster. Obama also dispatched 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. I thought this to be a mistake, but Obama believed it necessary to help prevent Afghanistan from going down the tubes. Right out of the gate, Obama was a serious chief executive who took actions of consequence. Now, compare that to Mr. Mar-a-Lago. Instead of ignoring the press and doing his job in a reasonably dignified manner (being presidential) Trump has decided to quarrel, endlessly it seems, with the media. And despite the smoke and mirrors, not much is getting done. It’s Trump’s job to run a great nation, not provide feel-good therapy for angry white men.
Interesting blog. I think Trump would be smart to visit all 57 of the United States.
That’s the Spirit! … He can use the
“Inter – Continental ” RR to do so. 🙂
Wa-llahi! Maybe, instead of attending the correspondents’ dinner, Glorious Leader should take a trip to Iraq. The folks doing the fighting for the rest of us could use a visit. It’s a real shit-storm in Mosul. People are getting killed pursuing US policy. President Jackass seems oblivious.
I’ve watched all the talking heads this Sunday morning. There was no mention of the fighting in Iraq, just crap about Trump. Media black-out?
Does the alt-right understand there’s a war going on? I wonder if Glorious Leader will pull a Bush type stunt, and, play down the return of flag draped coffins. The mortuary unit attached to US Forces Mosul has been very active over the last few days.
NC
Excellent post.
I’d like to add the following:
The Press is liberal and biased, exceedingly hostile to Trump and generally hostile to conservatives and Republicans.
A survey of White House Correspondents in 2016 found 27% registered as Democrats, 21% Independent, 60% not registered and NOT ONE registered as a Republican. Another survey of Campaign Reporters found registered Democrats outnumbering Republicans by nearly three to one. (General population Rs outnumber Ds).
When White House Correspondents were asked who they’d vote for President, only 20 answered: they chose a Democrat (Hillary or Sanders) by 5 to 1 (15 to 3) over a Republican; 12 chose Hillary, only 1 chose Trump. (3 Sanders, 2 Cruz; a couple Libertarians)
2. The Media generally treated Obama with Kidd gloves; so far they’ve treated Trump with sledgehammers.
3. Did the Media complain when Obama gave us 8 years of wars? “In 2016, US special operators could be found in 70% of the world’s nations, 138 countries – a staggering jump of 130% since the days of the Bush administration.” Under Obama, in 2016 the U.S. dropped 12, 000 bombs in Syria and 12,000 bombs in Iraq, and another thousand bombs in Libya, Somalia, Pakistan, Afghanistan. Another thousand drone strikes. Thousands of shells shot from cannon. Try to find out how may civilian casualties occurred under Obama. Wait and see how the Media covers America’s wars under Trump!
4. Spicer had a “press gaggle”, inviting “the press pool” and a few others, and excluding some. The Media’s response: “War on the Press!”
5. The FBI’s McCabe tells Priebus that a New York Times’ story is total BS! The Media’s response? Investigate the White House!
6. Obama deports 2 million; Scant Media talk about separating parents from children. Trump deports 670: The Media says the sky is falling!
Bill:
1. Sure the media is liberal but that does not make it the “enemy of the American people.”
2. I don’t suppose you read anything about the Clinton emails during the campaign. Hardly would that be described as kid gloves.
3. Obama cut back on our warring. Bush introduced the endless war to us. Special operations are necessary to limit greater wars and their increase should be welcomed. I’m sure we caused civilian casualties but it is the position of the U.S. military to do their best to avoid them unlike Trump’s friend Putin who targets hospitals and schools. By the way I do not see Trump cutting back on any of the wars that we are engaged in. I do expect he will be under great criticism if he wars like Putin and which he seems to favor given his fondness for torture. You seem to forget that we are in a war on terror that started under Bush after 9/11. You seem to think that we should stand down against ISIS and let them keep up their dastardly actions which are beyond anything seen in recent history. Your antagonism toward American military is somewhat remarkable since you seem to suggest it is a power for evil.
4. Spicer deliberately excluded the media he did not like. That is a war on the media when you try to punish and limit access to media outlets that you cannot control.
5. Two wrongs don’t make a right. McCabe if he did that should be kicked out of the FBI, Preibus going to the FBI and asking for public statements about an investigation should be admonished for doing that. Both should have known better but McCabe was leaking things to Preibus which is a clear violation of FBI rules, according to some it is criminal, so he should go. (I would suggest it is hypocritical for Trump to condemn leaks when he was using one to try to benefit himself.)
6. Just you wait until you see Trump’s deportation troops in action. Comparing 8 years with 1 month is like Trump claiming his budget victory after one month. You judge Obama by 8 years and Trump by 1 month. The meida is reacting to Trump’s proposals which he called a “military action.”
1. When the liberal Media endlessly spins the news liberally, it does a disservice to the American people; when they falsely report and falsely spin they are the enemy of the American peoples’ quest for truth, accuracy and understanding. How can anyone who’s grown up in Boston and seen the sometimes malicious and pernicious reporting of the Boston Globe, not concede that at times they’ve operated as the enemy of the truth, reason, fairness. How about the Media’s frenzied reporting on the Duke Lacrosse Case? I’d say the Leftist Media sometimes does such a grave disservice to the people, so abuses the freedom of the press, that they truly do become the enemy of the people.
2. I wrote they treated “Obama with Kidd (sic) gloves.” But, yes, they obviously favored Hillary, too. Look at the election night coverage. They hosts on CNN and MSNBC were heartbroken. Rachel Maddow said, “This is not a nightmare; you are not in Hell.” It was real. Trump was elected. The Horror!
3. You don’t dispute my facts: Obama expanded operations into 134 countries; (130% increase); he started bombing in Syria, Libya, Somalia, etc; 25,000 bombs dropped in 2016, from the Nobel Peace Prize winner.
3A. War is an evil; sometimes a necessary evil. The sooner we disengage from the Middle East wars the better. The lessen we should learn is to stop our inter-meddling. Our bombs cannot solve the world’s problems.
3B. I hope Trump knocks out ISIS and then withdraws.
3C. Don’t conflate the criticism of endless wars, with the criticism of the Military. Bush’s blunder got us into Iraq; not the military. Obama’s blunders got us into Syria, Libya, Somalia etc, not the military. LBJ’s blunders deepened our involvement in Vietnam. I don’t blame the Military.
3D. And yes, the US has hit hospitals (e.g. Doctors without borders.) It was a mistake. Does Russia target hospitals and playgrounds? Sorry, but I find that hard to believe. They make mistakes, too. And, sure, ISIS sometimes takes up positions in abandoned public buildings, in abandoned schools, abandoned hospitals, as I understand it.
4. Spicer has a different more plausible version of events. Even if that one time he “excluded” some in the Media, it’s grotesque hyperbole to call that “a war on the media.” Maybe he was just poking them in the eye or in the ribs. Headline: “Trump pokes the Media in the Ribs.”
5. The New York Times prints a total BS story; McCabe tells Priebus it is BS; Priebus says will you state that publicly; McCabe asks Comey; Comey says “No”, but that it’s OK if Priebus says he’s been informed the story is BS. Priebus says the NYT story is BS. Rather than condemning the NYT for printing a BS story, people condemn the FBI and White House. I say the NYT should be condemned. If the FBI didn’t tell Priebus, the American People once again would be deceived by the NYT. (the Leftist Media.)
6. Trump was using the term “military” as in the phrase “conducted with military precision.” Obviously, no military forces were used in the deportations. Immigration Laws must be enforced and illegals deported (start with criminal illegals, persons previously deported, and recent arrivals.) Trump has said he won’t deport “Obama’s dreamers.” Are you against enforcing the Immigration Laws?
7. Whatever happened to the first six months of a presidency when the Media was supposed to give the new President a “honeymoon”?
” I am sure we ( Read: US forces under Obama ) caused a lot of civilian casualties , but it is the position of the US Military to avoid them, unlike Trump’s friend Putin who targets hospitals and schools ” CLASSIC! …. This Matt Connolly legalistic legerdemain would be unduly honored by any other appellation than baldfaced fraudulent logic. How do you argue with someone who engages in rhetorical misdirection at best and farcical analogy at worst. The point open to … debate … was civilian casualties in the Obama era. Regardless of US Military protocols and intentions they certainly occurred. Responsibility by the Wunderkind President is glossed over with a statement of the obvious, US Military policy, and a statement of the irrelevant , a foreign leader’s military predilections. This is what can only be described at this stage as more ” Goofball Democratic Partisan Nonsense Talk! ” So sad , So very sad!
Matt :
Click your heels three times and perhaps you will wind up back in Kansas. Auntie Hill and Uncle Bill will be leaning, smiling like Kansas Heartlanders , over your four poster as you tearfully and joyfully awake. You will be chanting … ” It was only a dream … It was only a dream … ” WAKE UP, DOROTHY 🙂
Three arguments are made. The first one about tax receipts going up has validity. These would not reflect Trump policies. Trump is not the first politician to score a cheap point off of a factoid. Example, Obama boasted about unemployment going down. That factoid relies on workers who have stopped looking for jobs. Total employed went down. The particular number that the lügenpresse emphasizes varies with the party in power. The national accounting system is need of an overhaul as it poorly reflects reality because its samples are outdated.
The rant about Trump being insecure and seeking emotional affirmation by calling for demonstrations is invalid. It is a political move to counter the unprecedented animosity to an election by the puerile left. Large, well organized marches and riots have targeted his Presidency. This political theater is well financed by convicted felon George $oro$ and is aggressively pumped up by the media elite. A response is called for. The blue-haired pussy marchers’ false narrative of majority status needs to be refuted. If there is a psychiatric issue it has to do with the tantrum throwers who cannot accept what the American people said last November.
Lastly, there is the matter of the President passing up the opportunity to attend the correspondents’ gala. Trump has no problem with being skewered. He was made fun of at the Al Smith Dinner last year and received Obama’s barbs with good grace at a previous correspondents’ affair as our good host noted. He is not thin-skinned. He has chosen not to inflate the egos of the Washington/NYC elite of millionaire celebrity “journalists”. There is no reason why he should. The dinner has a fake importance only to fake reporters and fake news readers. It is meaningless to 99.9…% of the American people. His absence will in not stymie the real purpose of the evening in the least. They will dress up, be on camera, tell lame jokes and all get drunk without teetotaler Trump’s bored presence anyway.
TAdzio:
I knew the true believers would jump to the opportunity to defend the indefensible. I’m glad you recognize Trump is making false, inane comparisons.
Secondly, I feel a little cheated here. I marched but have not received any of the money that Soros is handing out. As far as riots, 99% of the protests have been peaceful but one can never stop the anarchists from acting up.
Finally, saying he is not thin skinned is sort of silly. There is no one more thin skinned that he is if you follow his tweets and constant obsession with the media. He is consumed by media coverage which he admits himself since he does not read and only can watch television from which he seems to form his foreign policy. As far as the Correspondence Dinner being worthless and a waste of time I agree with you.
* Correspondent’s Dinner, Matt ….Editor’s hat 🙂 ….Speaking of which, I am waiting for you to post a comment about Trump that is composed and constructive rather than choleric and contumacious. The overworn political trope of the ” Angry White Man ” is being re-worked in Democratic garb in your person and a host of your dissatisfied and outraged fellow travelers. Ironic. that ! So sad ! 🙂
* Correspondents’ Dinner 🙂 …Let’s keep the carriage of discourse on an even and honest grade, Matt. Look not for the Angry White Man in another’s eye, lest you see one in your own!
“I marched but have not received any of the money that Soros is handing out.” That is because you have not been promoted from Sheeple to Judas Goat. The organizers get paid, not the fools organized.
This blog should be rejoicing that we finally have a President who will stand up to the FBI. Wasn’t it reported here that all Presidents were afraid of Hoover and did what he wanted. Trump is completely independent and beholden to no one. Thus he points out the FBI’s failings in preventing and detecting leaks. This site frequently pointed out the sinister relationship between the Globe, the FBI and the Boston DOJ. How this cabal railroaded many innocents. Applause should be forthcoming to Trump for his daring to expose government wrongdoing and incompetence. Many Presidents and members of Congress are chilled by the power of the Deep State. They are afraid that the permanent entrenched bureaucracy will combine with the media to ruin them. Trump has become the whistle blower in chief. He is his own Inspector General. At long last we have an elected official with the moxie to oppose the power of the un elected insiders. This Deep State has given us twenty five years of pointless and endless wars in remote parts of the world that pose no threat to America and a no growth economy. It was time for change. Drain the swamp. 2. When the White House correspondents start telling the truth the President can grace their dinner. Ninety percent of them voted for Hillary. Why don’t they invite her? 3. Should Trump get credit for the positive business atmosphere he has created? The stock market is up 15% since he was elected. That may explain the better numbers on the debt. Washington, Adams and Jefferson all denounced the press. Trump is following their stellar example.
NC:
1. Stand up to the FBI is not asking the FBI in the middle of an investigation to some out with false information. Trump is not standing up to the FBI he is attempting to intimidate it and to interfere with if fearful that his sinister actions will be disclosed. I wish Trump was exposing “wrongdoings and incompetence” but I have yet to see it nor do I see it in his back door attempts to influence investigations.
I’d respect Trump more if he really was seeking to make the FBI a better outfit which would begin with trying to change its leadership. He has done nothing with respect to that except to give Comey a big call out. I’m not seeing the stuff that you seem to see when it comes to him changing things.
2. I never like the Correspondence Dinner. I thought it put the president in a lesser light when he felt it necessary to succumb to its foolishness. I’m sure most of the media there voted for Hillary.
3. Anyone skilled in understanding the debt seems to suggest that it rises and falls on what was done many months ago and it can change by the billions up or down on any day. It will rise during Trump’s days and the stock market will fall. It seems foolish for a person to crow about it although when it reverses itself Trump will not blame himself but the press. No president ever called the press the enemy of the people.
Last week Trump spent 75 minutes before the Press answering everyone’s questions. Obama usually took about 7 soft questions per conference and spent 5 prolonged minutes on each answer.
Trump cravenly backs out of the corespondents’ dinner. Glorious Leader proves gutless. No surprise there. He can dish it out, but, he can’t take it. What a sorry excuse for a man.