I'm so glad you actually transcribe Trump's word salad. I wish all the press would do that, instead of trying to pick out a sensible phrase or sentence, and acting like he is saying something coherent.
Vermont Girl, it's dementia. I am more concerned that so many people are OK with this man's nonsense and want him to be president again, which means he will need puppet masters because he can't think through anything anymore. That's really scary because his handlers are not good people and do not want good for this nation.
I agree, it is Progressing Dementia... That makes DJT a Perfect Puppet for the Dark Siths... Regards the upcoming Election, the problem is that Democrats use Logic & Reason... The Trumpster's, and GOPers use Emotion... Fox News, uses simple 'Lizard Brain' Emotional Propaganda... That is Superior Messaging for DJT's 40%... They will not be Shaken, or Reasoned with... Yesterday, the U.S. DOJ, filed Charges against the Russian RT News Service for Election Manipulation... So now DJT has the Dark Siths, Russian Election Meddling, Chinese Election Meddling, Netanyahu, AIPAC, Iranian Election Meddling, and DJT's own viciousness on his side in this Election... A.I is not being Our Friend... We DO Need a Grassroots Wave... I Talk to many People who are fed-up with what they feel is a Hopeless Political Climate.. They Feel like the Downtrodden Masses' in a Real Life 'Game-Of-Thrones'... I just saw DJT's Speech at the NY Economic Club... He is looking very Angry.. He will Lash Out... Be Prepared...
And his most exceptional ability is to lie! Incessantly. I've never known anyone to lie as much as he does. He has lost the ability to distinguish between reality and this other plane of existence he lives in. Along with his mental deterioration, he is unmoored and wildly out of control. There will be a breaking point, and it will be a site to behold. If loving, conscientious people surrounded him, they would be working on getting him the help he needs.
I'm shocked that the GOP just ignores the lying and word salad. Where are the John McCains of this world? Have they all just scuttled off to their hidy holes in the Tetons with prayers that Harris will win but they won't get their hands dirty? Chickens.
Kathy J, I suspect that no amount of loving people surrounding him would be able to change him because he sees no need to change. It’s the rest of the world that needs to change. That is the nature of unfettered narcissism.
Trump certainly sees himself as a professional victim. To hear him talk, he’s never responsible for anything and he’s being targeted by others. Trump’s personality disorders make it impossible for him to realize he’s the cause of his own problems. Unfortunately, Trump’s groupies believe what he tells them.
Many of Trumps “groupies” are Russian operatives who’ve been in sleeper cells in this country since the ‘70’s. Thousands of them waiting for Putin to put a useful idiot in place, he always knew that idiot would be Trump. Hand picked for his stupidity and arrogance and willingness to be bribed by some pretty gross pornography among other crimes.
Trump had F’ed everything up he touched 6 ways to Timbuktu. Putin knew this narcissist could be easily manipulated to do anything no matter how abhorrent and happy to do so.
I believe when Lindsay Graham lost his way, he’d been made aware he’s been watched for years in both his personal and public life.
Along with the Fourth of July 2018 trip to Moscow included 7 Republican Senators and one House member; Richard Shelby, (AL) Steven Daines,( MT) John Kennedy, (LA) John Thune, (SD) Jerry Moran, (KS) John Hoeven, (ND) and Rep. Kay Granger, (TX).
They were there to smooth over any concerns about Russia Today’s interference in the 2016 election. Trump was to have summit with Putin to clear him of any suspicion of interference in his election. (Which you had to be a complete moron not to figure that out immediately after Trump “won” Russia was most definitely involved).
Putin had some serious dirt on everyone past and present. Not to mention his seated operatives like MTG, Shouty McShirtsleeves Jordan, Matt Gaetz, Mike Johnson to name a few.
I did watch Active Measures on Prime Video last night.
A documentary that explains how Putin and powerful oligarchs have influenced and infiltrated our media and society.
Lot’s of answers. I finally feel better knowing my suspicions were correct all along, but concern now to stop it from going any further.
It was suggested to me by another Substack member, Thanks Christine.
DARVO refers to a reaction perpetrators of wrong doing, particularly sexual offenders, may display in response to being held accountable for their behavior. DARVO stands for "Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender." The perpetrator or offender may Deny the behavior, Attack the individual doing the confronting, and Reverse the roles of Victim and Offender such that the perpetrator assumes the victim role and turns the true victim -- or the whistle blower -- into an alleged offender. This occurs, for instance, when an actually guilty perpetrator assumes the role of "falsely accused" and attacks the accuser's credibility and blames the accuser of being the perpetrator of a false accusation.
Put this image in your mind. An alpha male chimpanzee, in the midst of performing a dominance display, comes across a large tree branch lying on the ground, picks it up, and starts banging it on the ground and hitting trees while all the rest of the troop watches in fear, admiration, or just to get out of his way. Now think of how donOld rRump, in the midst of performing a dominance display, uses words.
Didn't Jane Goodall state that DJT at the 1st Hillary Debate reminded her of a Alpha Male Chimp, they are vicious by the way, performing a Dominance Dance?
Frustration and Anger can often be products and symptoms of dementia. I have observed that men are more likely to become angry when confronted with their dementia word salad nonsense. The next two months will add countless stressors to Trump's life. Sentencing for crimes, impositions of large fines, a press core becoming more challenging, the threat of more trials ahead, shrinking crowd size at his phony town halls, more and more revelations about the Russian hoax not being a hoax.
And if the Orange Menace actually has the courage and foolish pride to appear with VP Harris on the "debate" stage, I suspect we will see a demonstration of why some families park their elders in institutions.
Many MAGA rats will leave the sinking ship as the alignment with Russia disillusions millions of Americans. I could be wrong. It happens all the time. But I think that three issues will give us that Blue Tsunami: Dobbs, dementia and Russia. Of course, JD (Just Duh) Vance may also be the anchor that MAGA can't free itself of as the waters rise. Glub, glub, glub.
JD announced that school shootings are just a fact of life. He doesn't have dementia, but my oh my, what comes out of that guy's mouth. Glub, glub, club, indeed.
Michele, the problem with Vance is that he is one of those guys who will blow with the wind. I have no idea if he actually has any values of his own, you know, a moral compass, but he has a loud mouth and is smart enough to hold up his finger to see from which direction the wind is blowing so he can frame his appalling remarks to go wherever it leadeth. He is constantly running test balloons to see which lines and comments get the most attention. He does not repeat the ones that don't connect but will jump on the ones where even a few of his audience clap for him. I can't help but wonder if he and the rest of the Ivy League MAGAs learned their warped antidemocratic techniques at their high-brow colleges that complain so much that different perspectives are not permitted. We know from watching and listening to them and seeing how they live their lives, there must be a wide range of attitudes present and taught at those schools, particularly Yale and Harvard.
How is he wrong? We could be like the UK and confiscate guns. That could eliminate school shootings but perhaps then we could have mass casualty stabbings? Or like Rebecca Cheptegei be set on fire and have school causalities that way? Guns are not the problem. Simple minded snarky responses don’t help either- glub, glub, club
Let's see if the Small-Donor Donations Dry-Up.... DJT doesn't have a 'Ground-Game', because those Donations go towards his Legal Bills & Fines... DJT knows that he needs to just get close enough in the Electoral College to Steal-The-Election, or send it to the House run by Mike Johnson...
Weren’t you a pretty much all in for Joe just this past February? Like Buttigieg and morning Joe who just days and weeks prior to Bidens’s ousting were claiming Joe was sharper and more on top of his game than ever. I am not sure of your medical credentials, but even if you were board certified MD your observations of Trump now is questionable at best after your obvious misjudgement of Biden. Wishful thinking is perhaps clouding your judgement on this?
Apache, it is true that feelings are paramount for Trumpers and Trumpettes. Perhaps, Dems could release a few ads that talk about how it feels to live in a nation where there is freedom only to live with interference by people who don't care about you and want you to live only in one particular way, the way they say, and it is not the way you would choose to live. "Kamala Harris does not want that to happen to you; she believes in freedom for you and your family." It might touch something in them, but maybe not. It is worth a try.
Almost everything is wrong with him. He is a vacuous racist with a 4th grade vocabulary and a massive, but laughably fragile ego, paper-thin skin, and DEEP insecurities. Having been pampered all his life, he thinks everyone else is to blame for anything he doesn’t like, and whines like the cowardly snowflake that he is . . . And that’s not even scratching the surface.
He needs to be publicly mocked and taunted on a regular basis since the only thing that works on a bully is to hit back. His fragile ego can’t take mocking, and his feeble and failing intellect will be clearly on display when he attempts to respond. . .
On his own, trump is nothing, a paper figure throwing shadows with a candle. Without the support he gets from various institutions, governments and political allies he would have crashed and burned years ago - like his businesses and and his tv program.
His "base" is baseless. They have no depth nor a bottom. They are essentially without foundation, and so it becomes extraordinarily challenging to call them out and make them feel the shame. Regardless, the world, I believe, is evolving towards decency. One can't turn a super tanker on a dime in a hurricane. That, I believe, is where we are now. We simply need to let natural death take its course with these folks and work for a better climate.
Imagine the political ad/s Dems/Lincoln Project could make of his word salad "stream of consciousness" vs what economists and major financial operators are saying of his across the board tariff proposals. Somehow this is what 40% of America relishes? Lemmings off the proverbial cliff.
George, yes, Trump has problems with every aspect of his life and I think that, along with his dementia are taking a toll on him. His handlers, though are feeding him all kinds of lies and statements to keep him going, hoping they can get him through the election because if he wins, they will be able to take over, using him as the puppet he has been from the day he did the escalator ride. Then they will be grooming Vance to be the Hitler they want in power and Vance will definitely oblige. The task is to stop them. I keep thinking Trump is wearing a wire, earpiece, something through which his handlers are conveying information. I doubt they will even check before the debate, but should.
People believe what they want to believe and they don’t want to be confused with facts. It’s always been this way. I suppose it’s a form of self preservation but I doubt it. It isn’t easy to listen to an argument that demonstrates clearly one is wrong. It’s even more difficult for one to take that argument to heart and have a change of heart. A change of heart is the stuff of romance novels not generally real life.
There are lots of people who are not very well informed about today’s issues. It’s hard for people who read Prof. Cox Richardson’s Letter to keep up with the current political environment. People like us! We must try to keep as well informed as we can and be determined and articulate, yet kind and non-alienating to get our point across. It’s a fine line to tread but, as the saying goes, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar!
It is Natural to want to stay in One's Comfort Zone... The Trick is to continue to Evolve, and be Open to New Ideas... To Be Zen... One Must be willing to re-examine Old Assumptions... Growth, Renewal, Can Be Painful... Notice How Many Trumpsters are old, and are comfortable with a High School Education or less... I agree that the Torrent Of Information Available is Overwhelming... Today, Ignorance is a Choice... OBW: It seems that DJT believes that Tariffs are like Membership Fees to Mar-a-Lago... His Ignorance is Impregnable....
Exactly!! The Groper-in-Chief's MAGA loyalists use their own deliberate ignorance to facilitate their White Resentment and to totally believe the Groper-in-Chief's promise to Make America White Again.
Betsy B., I can't help emphasizing your wise words, "People believe what they want to believe and they don’t want to be confused with facts. It’s always been this way. I suppose it’s a form of self-preservation but I doubt it. It isn’t easy to listen to an argument that demonstrates clearly one is wrong." Unfortunately, this applies to many of my intelligent friends who pride themselves on being informed, just, and generous.
It may be dementia, but I think he’s gotten away with these word salads his entire life. I've had a few arrogant, uninformed students in the past who wrote utter bullshit tomes like this and who vigorously ( bullishly) defended them by pointing out the 'words' they wrote down. See? I talked about child care! See? I mentioned the numbers! One even went so far as to file a complaint with my Dean and submitted his written papers as evidence of my unfairness. The Dean thought my 'F' was generous and wondered aloud about thought disorders.
To the group reading this post, Trump's bs is so egregious it smacks of brain dysfunction. But to too many people who don't listen or process complete sentences anyway, it doesn't matter. The sound bite is all that matters. And I fear it's only going to get worse. Chaos is an instrument of control….create enough of it and you can do whatever the hell you feel like doing. You don't have to convince any one of anything; you just have to get enough of the distracted ones to react.
Agree and agree, but he's been spouting utter nonsense for decades with apparent impunity. And the purveyors of 'news' and gossip who persist in repeating his lies have enabled him to attain 'celebrity' which he has morphed into power. The moneyed interests behind him seem to think they are using him as a tool to get what they want…unfettered control of whatever they want control of. What they fail to understand is that the tool itself is totally out of control…and is uncontrollable. My hope is that, as he implodes in front of millions upon millions of viewers, 9/10 will be as eye opening about his danger to the world as 9/11 was.
“ dementia “ perhaps? But I suspect it is unbridled arrogance. He has come to believe that any thought or feeling he has is pure gold. And why would he think otherwise. He surrounds himself with pathetic people desperate for hope and with mean and petty “ leaders “ desperate to hang on to their influence and wealth who have no trouble punching down.
You have said a mouthful Ruth. The people behind him, are diabolically ruthless without moral compass. Just look at those authors of Project 2025 and the money people behind them and it. That is the scariest to me. So again, my message continues to be VOTE BLUE up and down the ballot in November and put the brakes on this. It will save democracy now in order to continue our work to a more perfect union.
He's never had to think through anything 'cause up til now he could always buy his thinkers and his dad and his enablers bailed him out. Now he's owned by the Russians and I think they are only bailing him out to influence WORLD politics.
Ruth & VermontGirl57, yes he is showing signs of dementia and yet he has ALWAYS talked in a gush of semi-nonsense (gish-gallop anyone?).
He is first and foremost a huckster trying to say whatever he imagines will sell you. Add to that is his profoundly narcissistic view of the world around him (and his world DOES revolve around him) and you get his constant stream of “lies” which are only his effort to paint the picture he believes will sell you or scare you into going along.
Agreed. Witness his pledge to retaliate - to persecute his political opponents if he wins. A bully is bad. A frightened bully is worse. I think we are watching the implosion of a demented, desperate, unloved little boy in an old body. He is disintegrating and he is angry about it.
If our souls were written on our faces, they would all be in some high security prison - and some of us would lose a lot of friends!
But they're not - see the picture of that child who shot four in Georgia - he looks like he could have modeled for one of Michelangelo's angels.
It takes a lot of hard work and thousands of years to evolve from something that crawled out of the slime into a half way decent human being. Most of us are still trying - Trump's enablers have just given up and are enjoying the mud.
If what you say is true, I hope it is progressing fast because he can be excused from trials thus not ending up in a prison. I do not wish a former president jailed.
Yeah.. and tossed in a dumpster somewhere in Newark. Somebody let Waste Management know, so that load can go to a trash compactor, prior to loading it on the garbage-barge. Better yet.. head it straight to the incinerator so he can celebrate eternity with his pals. And, forgo any obituary.., pulease! We've had it!
The problem is that he and his followers refuse to see he legitimately lost the election, so now the GQP is running around making it harder for people who oppose Trump to vote. In Trump’s mind and in those of his groupies, he’s the “real” president. That is why he is the first president to ever try to obstruct a peaceful transfer of power. I’m concerned Trump will encourage his followers to engage in violence whether or not he wins, and public officials need to be prepared for it.
Former president???? He never was a president, he is an outright ruthless dictator. I wish the former dictator jailed, or put under a jail. The arrogant freak shouldn't even be allowed to run for anything, not even dog catcher. I want to see this horrific criminal to go down just like Adolf Hitler!
his progressive dementia will be handled by hand picked operatives selected by Putin and powerful oligarchs.
His supporters are egged on by the likes of Steve Bannon, Roger Stone, Mark Levin to name a few. Why these obvious scumbags have any relevance is beyond me.
There is no explanation for why the DOJ has not bothered to investigate and indict the sitting members of congress who were involved in not certifying the election on January 6th 2021.
This is treason. Why are they still permitted to sully our democratic institutions with their presence? In any other country they’d have been quickly brought to trial and severely dealt with.
Our DOJ has not been forthcoming with any explanation for delaying justice for American citizens who suffer from fear of losing our democracy and PTSD from 9 years of Trump’s insane/corrupt/authoritarian plan to overturn democracy and hand us over to Putin.
The DOJ is doing nothing to protect us from these seated traitors up for re-election AGAIN!
We know the courts will not save us, so we are actively working to protect ourselves. We are working so hard and rising to the occasion with grassroots support and an incredible amount of volunteers canvassing, phone calls, and sending post cards are activating non-voters, disillusioned voters and registering our young adults to participate in this election. By reaching out for their support through podcasts, emails, and other social networking sites, they’re realizing what is at stake for their future.
Trump can no longer effectively communicate (the only thing Trump ever effectively communicated was his lust for his daughter). He talks in circles insisting the USA will be a hellscape disaster if he loses.
J.D. Vance is a solid disaster who is a backward minded man unable to develop any sort of rapport with MAGA.
former supporters peel away from Trump, rolling up their flags, hats, shirts, shoes and any other Trump grift they were
Oops, I accidentally touched the post arrow. I was going to finish with Trump’s grift of his supporters by dressing them up like circus clowns and painting his name on their homes are beginning to look like what it is, marks, patsies, groomed to be his “army”.
He embarrassed some MAGA members by dressing them up with cheap over priced bling from China. When these MAGA members realize what been done, they’re walking away while tossing their silly purchases in the trash bin. They just won’t vote. Only hard core MAGA, and they’re greatly outnumbered.
Trump’s progressive dementia may very well totally incapacitate him by November leaving MAGA without a candidate days before the election. Thanks for reading my long post.
Did you see the panelists clap after he answered this? And the audience joined in with cheering when he said "Make America great again!" Lawrence O'Donnell called them "New York's stupidest rich people." https://youtu.be/t-Wf5VT-Pwk?si=Ia0DeZVZTTZtP-ft
Trump does likely suffer from dementia, but the 'word salad' aspect of his speech can be attributed to untreated ADHD and the psychological stress narcissists go through when their view of themselves is meaningfully challenged. Dementia tends to have plateaus followed by periods of relatively rapid decline. We may be seeing a period of decline now. Narcissistic wounding, however, is what makes Trump dangerous. As the reality of his indictments and losing this election close in, he will become more and more unhinged and dangerous. Buckle up.
I said it before, I'll say it again. It's dementia but it's helped along by the stroke he had in '18. Remember the mysterious early morning visit to Walter Reed that was never explained and shortly after he started shuffling down ramps with help. Obviously stroke and the drugs have kept him semi-lucid ever since but the enablers can't control everything and so..........
I fear so as well. Right now Trump/Maga et al are sailing of a hyperinflationary political maelstrom of their own making. To merely reasonable people, they can only wonder how long this can possibly last, this "much ado nothing" that has taken so many Americans by storm and threatens so much. Oh, for a breath of normality...
What will likely happen if Trump gets his hackles up during the debate? What is the best strategy which will allow the public to hear the issues and not be caught in a hopeless game of throwing insults?
Just in case you missed it, Dr. Allan Lichtman has made his prediction as to who will win the Presidency this fall. Dr Lichtman created the Keys to the White House model in 1981. The model uses 13 true/false criteria to predict whether the presidential candidate of the incumbent party will win or lose the next election. Using this model, Lichtman has accurately predicted the outcome of all U.S. presidential elections since 1984. No real surprise, it is Kamala and Tim, the next president and vice president of the United States. We still have to make it happen, GOTV and lets work to make this happen.
Because their world view is determined by what the man in the front of the church tells them it is, and often (when said man goes galavanting into "forbidden pastures" it's OK because it was "God's will".) Pre-event classical conditioning.
What I wish is that someone interviewing him would have the courage to say "Sir, you haven't answered the question and what you are saying makes no sense."
i am hopeful that in the debate, Kamala will turn to him and say "ANSWER the question, Donald!" because he didn't answer any against Biden, so you know he'll try to keep turning everything into Immigrants/border.
And also, turn to him and say "what was that word salad you just tossed supposed to mean?"
DARVO refers to a reaction perpetrators of wrong doing, particularly sexual offenders, may display in response to being held accountable for their behavior. DARVO stands for "Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender." The perpetrator or offender may Deny the behavior, Attack the individual doing the confronting, and Reverse the roles of Victim and Offender such that the perpetrator assumes the victim role and turns the true victim -- or the whistle blower -- into an alleged offender. This occurs, for instance, when an actually guilty perpetrator assumes the role of "falsely accused" and attacks the accuser's credibility and blames the accuser of being the perpetrator of a false accusation.
My God. There should be no reason we can’t elect a super majority in both houses. I ask any and all who are able to volunteer to work in a battleground state. I will leave blue Connecticut for eastern Pennsylvania to help out on Election Day as well as the day before. Let’s get this done.
It’s because of Republican gerrymandering of the states. Senators and governors are elected statewide, but gerrymandering does affect who turns out to vote and has an indirect effect on statewide offices. It also leads the GQP to turn the states they control into laboratories of authoritarianism.
And, sadly, forced Dems into mirroring this strategy. If the Dems can get a trifecta esp with a few more senators, ditch the filibuster and force election reform through, and, somehow, take on the Supreme Court.
I have an ex-partner who talks exactly like Trump does. Just asking him a direct question - any direct question activates his "rant button". At that point, I can quietly put the phone down and walk away without him even noticing for some time.
It's a common strategy to misdirect a conversation when it is clear there is no honest or real answer, or the questioner has identified an inconsistency. But he does more than misdirect.
LOL, as a lowly mortgage clerk many years ago, I did exactly just that with one irate late payor. Eventually he realized his blunder, and actually apologized.
"Senator Marco Rubio, and my daughter Ivanka was so impactful. . . . .child care in this country you have to have it. . . . . .I’m talking about by taxing foreign nations at levels that they’re not used to . . . . . . . it’s not going to stop them from doing business with us. . . . . I look forward to having no deficits within a fairly short period of time, coupled with the reductions that I told you about on waste and fraud and all of the other things that are going on in our country, We’re going to be taking in trillions of dollars, . . . . . .We’re going to make this into an incredible country that can afford to take care of its people, and then we’ll worry about the rest of the world. Let’s help other people, but we’re going to take care of our country first. This is about America first. It’s about Make America Great Again, we have to do it because right now we’re a failing nation, so we’ll take care of it.”
Much of the burble just goes straight over their head, plus he throws in a few amorphous threats ("waste and fraud" "all of the other things that are going on in our country, " "FAiling nation") - all they hear are the dog whistles.
If Harris/Walz succeed in November, one of their priorities should be the education system.
Thank, you, Ally. That's a very good song to quote as an analogy. They have "squandered their resistance for a pocket full of mumbles, all lies and jest - lie lie lie lie, lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie. . . "
Frustrates me beyond belief that to this day, the Press *refuses* to give Trump the same microscopic attention to every slip, every meandering nonsensical response as they did to Biden.
Biden was coherent and intelligent; if you looked at a transcript of what he said, it all made perfect sense, it shows he had complete grasp of very complicated issues. Biden was very sure of himself, too, he certainly didn't lack confidence, shot sharp humorous comments across the bow pretty frequently.
But none of that mattered, because Biden was soft spoken and had a slight stutter and was showing his age when he walked. Then Trump, in that 'old man yelling at the clouds' way, booms away with word salad nonsense in carefully crafted engagements with his acolytes, and the Press portrays him as virile and robust because he is LOUD, cocks his head, seems confident. So the Press rarely publishes his word salad word for word, they carefully re-constitute it into something that seems like English.
I think it is a guy thing, part of that toxic masculinity that has infused American society, much to our detriment. They did it to Hillary, and now they've done it to Biden, but they refuse to do it to Trump because he's their kind of guy.
I have had highly intelligent journalists, giants in the industry, argue vociferously with me that they are covering Trump exactly as they should. When I ask about the clear bias, point out the comparisons between how they treat Biden versus Trump, they admit Trump's idiocy, but say they cannot portray it that way because it is 'old news', or 'Oh, that's just Trump'. Journalists today also do less and less of their own on-the-ground interviews and investigations, going to original sources; they rely way too much on social media (which as we see, is riddled with foreign influence) and press releases.
In short, our Press are now so full of BS they cannot smell their own fertilizer.
Their hypocrisy has become so obvious, I have lost respect for the industry. Even the old gray lady of NY Times, WaPo and New Yorker have written perfectly ridiculous pieces that are indefensible. The only outlet that seems reliable and serious anymore is ProPublica, which still does serious investigative journalism.
Agreed. The NYT report on the same speech cuts out all the blather and avoids telling the obvious truth that tariffs are not a solution for the cost of child care.
Despite HCR's kind attempt to wring a drop of "meaning" from the word vomit (calling it a salad denigrates salad) by claiming his answer is about tariffs, I challenge anyone to find any meaning at all in any of his pronouncements. He also claims he has "friends who are English Professors" who believe him to be "brilliant". I can guarantee that he. does. not.
When i read TUMP's word salad in this post, i actually thought i was having one of my dreaded, horrible migraine spells. That was some mixed up crap he said. And so many idiot people actually vote for a deranged psychopath like him! If he had an MRI on his rotten brain it would most likely look like a tangled mass of spider webs.
I wonder what would happen if an interviewer quoted one of his word salads, without attribution, and asked Trump for a response. Would he recognize his own words? If he assumed they were someone else's words what would he say? Would he recognize it as nonsense?
The worst things about that word salad were the applause it garnered from people who should know better, and the “sane-washing” of the media to make it sound almost normal.
I wouldn't have a Tesla even if someone offered to pay me to take one of his rattletrap junkmobiles. My bitter dislike for MUSK is almost on the level of my dislike for TUMP!
Yes they really are. It disturbs me that so many people here in the United States fawn over and worship these most horrible excuses for human beings. Most of them are so ignorant that they believe every lie they tell as the gospel truth. Donald TUMP is the worst pathological liar that has ever existed.
Bill, after getting my Prime account royally hacked in Dec ‘22 and not being able to get it restored despite many attempts w/ customer service (they were always really nice, but would never let me speak to anyone on the “escalation team”—the folks who do the actual fixing); had to do fraud alerts and have 2 credit cards & 2 debit cards reissued. Eventually found that, while not as “trendy” & slick a website as Amazon, Walmart (I know,I know!) offers something similar, often w/ free shipping. Amazon uses UPS to deliver & my dogger really misses the delightful UPS driver Dan (always has dogger treats & knows the dogger’s names on his route).
When appropriate, I compare prices on Walmart, HD, Lowes, Best Buy etc. And I use the Barnes and Noble Nook app for reading. Small efforts to not give "everything" to Amazon.
Many mixed emotions about that company. Too big. Drives small brick and mortar stores out. Employee abuse. Squeeze their sellers. Sounds just like big box retail !
But...internet shopping was to be inevitable. Amazon offers astounding selection. The price for free shipping is only part of the deal if you stream video, its a bargain. I hear Walmart is gaining and when I can I buy there. But that company isnt exactly benevolent either. Oy. The Waltons donate to the GQP.
Sorry you got scammed. Been there. We use different cards for online vs in person. And reserve others just for auto payments. What a world! Computers were supposed to make life easier!!!
Yeah, Bill, the person, Claudia from Columbia, was the only one @ Amazon who actually did anything proactive—she refunded me my prorated Prime fee because I could no longer access my account, tho the hacker could! I prefer to buy locally, even at a bit of a higher price, but live in a rural area and drive many miles through 3 towns stores—pretty much takes me a full day of schlepping to try and find what I am after & often come up empty….sigh, so online I go! Do miss the Prime vids tho!
Actually, the past two years Tesla is getting outstripped by the competition, and they are coming up very fast.
VW ID4, Ioniq6, lots of alternatives that are less costly are popping up. There is even a cute little car out of California that can use solar cells mounted on its roof and hood to charge up completely, believe it or not.
Tesla made a real miscalculation in how they decided to pursue that self-driving function; there are far better, cheaper alternatives developing right now in Chinese EVs (China is already nearing the 30% mark as they've encouraged their population to switch out of gas cars, they have hundreds of new start-ups experimenting with possibilities).
Biden is blocking those EVs landing here for now because they would overwhelm our car industry much as the Japanese did in the 70s with their wonderfully built, cheap cars. But in the end, Tesla is toast, because Musk made some very bad business decisions and pissed away his lead. This guy is no genius.
Yes! I did a quick check just now and found several used Ionic hybrids -- but I'm not up to speed on the model designations, 5 or 6. We decided to keep our 2013 Prius Plug-in hybrid. It's been well-maintained and is in good condition. It's worth far more to us, relative to what the dealer would have given us for a trade-in. It's a bit lavish to have both cars. We almost never need two cars, as we're both retired. Part of our thinking is that we are watching the build-out of (reliable) charging stations, and we were thinking we might take the Prius on vacation instead of the new EV. And we're paying insurance on a basically idle car. The Prius has more cargo space than the Ioniq -- I can carry several 8-foot 2X4s, or 10-footers sticking out the back a foot or so, with the Prius's back hatch-door bungied to something on the underside of the car. Before we bought the Ionic I wished it didn't cost so much, but after driving it for about five minutes I am completely happy with it. It also has All Wheel Drive -- the on-board computer decides when to run in AWD -- we live in Wisconsin, so if we ever get winter conditions again, the sure-footed AWD should add a level of comfort.
Oooh, David, thx. I've been looking at plug in hybrids that have come up for sale and wondering if they can be used like a regular hybrid since I will never have a place to plug it in...I think I should stick to looking at a regular hybrid, tho..??
I have a Chevy Bolt. I have been happily driving it since december 2017. There were some original problems but they were repaired under warranty. My husband installed a charger in our garage and I haven’t looked at a gas station in years. The up keep is also less. Here in California they are looking at ways to put chargers in apartment buildings to spread availability. Plus the feeling of not polluting and having a quieter car are heavenly. I should call Chevy and make a commercial, okay gotta go make that phone call.
Treason only applies when we're at war, I recently found out. I mention it because DJT throws the word around and we have to be better than that! I understand the sentiment, though!
May this country wake up to the false prophet and send the Republican Party into oblivion.
I'm hoping that Trump is given a long rope during the debate, time to ramble further and further off topic, while Kamala responds in positive, informative and short messages.
Problem is, the way the pundits and commentators frame it will determine who ’wins’ the debate. There is no dispassionate entity that can evaluate the level of stupidity or intelligence and provide a rational answer. Someone has to have the nuggets to read back one of Rumpty’s blatherings and call it what it is. And give Kamala a fair airing of the important things she is going to say. Hearing a sane literate person read back the effluent from Rumpet’s pie hole really ‘clarifies’ how insane it is. And Rump hasn’t become this way recently. It’s just a more extreme version of the same incoherence that started it all at the bottom of the escalator.
Mark, that reminds me to remind everyone of the upcoming "Major All-Day 'Dangerous Case of Donald Trump' Leadership Fitness Conference in Washington D. C." Organized by the World Mental Health Coalition. Conference date is Friday, September 27.
For information on the conference, including highlights from the conference, go to www.bandylee.com.
Hits the heart of it! A no win situation brewing in a predictable scenario. Requires strong skillful means to access stillness in order to be able to engage with the situation without succumbing to sheer terror and chaos (elemental rage). Mental health and spiritual teachings include a healthy dose of mindfulness in today’s world, but there’s the old adage about leading a horse to water. One is left praying and often quaking in their boots.
It's true, you can lead a horse to water, and you can't make them drink, but what if they do? And even if they don't, that still leaves you with useful information.
Thank you for addressing tariffs as a tax not on foreign governments but a tax of imported goods. The idea of a 100% tariff on all Chinese goods means that those consumers who are currently buying Chinese products because they are much cheaper will see a 100% inflation on those items if the importers choose to pass along the cost. Image prices on 70-80% of items at your local Walmart doubled? How will a family that is already stretched handle 100% inflation?
Unfortunately, this is true of almost every aspect of our economy. Does Trump know how much child care costs? Does he know how much preschool teachers earn? Has he ever shopped at a grocery store? Does he know how much a CEO's salary has increased compared with that of someone who buys bread and milk and eggs? Even worse than his not knowing is the fact that he doesn't care about knowing. When you only care about yourself, how can you understand anyone else's situation?
Believe it. Donald doesn't care and he's naturally incurious.
What you see on display is the actual person.; damaged - distant from reality, fearful of what he doesn't understand, emotionally stunted, incapable of relating to anybody else's needs or concerns, and not very bright. While he can be clever, his narrow perceptions keep him from connecting to most facets of 'real life'.
Betsy, in reality, the only person Trump can even imagine needing or experiencing anything is himself. Those minions are just there to cheer for whatever he says and to vote for him. He has told them he does not care about them, only wants their votes. They laugh and keep supporting the jerk. It is impossible for him to even contemplate those excellent situations you cited. They are not even anywhere within his capacity to imagine. How can someone like that even be considered to be president? That is just plain nuts!
In a recent "event" meant to highlight inflation he stood in front of a table of breakfast food and claimed that the price of bacon had gone up by 5 or 6 times in 3 years ... which would make bacon around $30 a pound. He doesn't know anything about prices, wages, household budgeting, or childcare. His concept of how tariffs work is totally bonkers.
A 100 percent tariff on Chinese made EVs was announced by the Biden administration this past May. I’m of two minds about it. More people would be inclined to purchase an EV if the price was lower. Most EVs coming into the country are built elsewhere, and it’s often a long wait to take delivery. It seems to be only Chevy that is producing a homegrown EV. Perhaps more manufacturing of EVs will now occur, which I hope is the intent of the tariff.
China is at least trying to do more about adapting to Climate Change and (slowly), working towards carbon neutrality by 2060, according to reports like:
"...Adaptation over mitigation - Unlike its Western counterparts, though, China’s climate change policies have since the early 2000s accorded greater priority to adaptation than to mitigation. Consequently, its key mitigation targets, to peak greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, are not very ambitious given its ability to focus resources and centralize decision making and implementation..."
Counter productive levels of tariffs and past sell off of our IP and impact on our manufacturing capabilities means, to me, that we are failing to be able to not only in adaptation, but to fall seriously and needlessly short in ability to increase the rate at which we can become carbon neutral.
As the biggest polluters by far, we both need to pick up the pace, so we both need to be able to use the best technology and industrial development of material and human resources within our own countries. To me, balances in who produces more or less can occur but the capabilities to produce critical portions needs to be distributed so failures in any single country can be mitigated by making sure we don't end up without any at least backup capability here.
In general, I also worry that carelessly cutting off supplies of what we produce that is critical to other countries can backfire by them simply putting in the extra effort to learn how to produce the items themselves. Once they can do that, we can lose that market advantage (and strategic benefits).
We developed so much in the way of solar panels and super-magnet production, for example, but never followed through with enough production and too often end up with none of the competitive production capacity (or worse production capability, and well trained human resources in science, development, or quality production).
It reminds me of my old instructor's quip, "If you can't keep up, take notes." To that, I'd add your notes should include results of watching to see what the other students are learning, that you should be learning.
I personally don’t believe we have the existing infrastructure to support EVs, I am more for a slow and steady transition via the Hybrid and building to an EV population.
I didn't read the whole post because my first reaction is disgust. Of course the Russians are behind this. Of course MAGA heads ignore news out of Biden's DoJ. This is so tiring.
Yes, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell showed the orange felon making that exact answer to a very well-articulated question on child care. It was painful to listen to.
Yes! Lawrence O’Donnell also specifically pointed out the enormous applause T got after that batch of word salad. Did anyone notice the names on the dais: the man on the far left back row name was Ed Cox. I’m old enough to remember Ed Cox as Tricia Nixon’s husband—Googled him—yep, that’s him and boy did he applaud that “answer!” Really saddened to see and hear that so-called response from the New York Economic Club😱. O’Donnell said just because someone is rich, doesn’t mean they are smart, and some are just “stupid.” Indeed,45 is proof of that, but to quote a Seinfeld episode: “he fell ass-backwards into money.”
The reason it so disjointed is that Trump really, hasn't, isn't and won't think or do anything about child care. He hasn't thought it out because like so many other things that fall out of his mouth they are empty and fatuous and he never expected anyone to ask a reasonable question about it. He just trying to be someone he isn't to pander for some votes in the media-scape.
Trump’s dialogue on childcare sounds like something an unprepared college student might say on a test. Naturally the professor would cover it in red ink! Once the bullshit detector is plugged in, it’s quite obvious that Trump has no idea what he’s talking about! Maybe he had too much disinfectant during COVID! Damn, come on MSM!
Anthony, it’s obvious that, like grocery shopping, Trump has never experienced dealing with childcare. If he hasn’t personally experienced a painful experience, then it doesn’t merit any effort to solve the problem.
Correct Mary & specific reporters regardless of their professional employer can be easily be "followed" and/or strike up direct communications with byline authors in areas in which you -- yes that means you Reader-- have expertise and/or extremely valuable local facts.
It's 2024 folks digitally design your news feeds skillfully
I don’t like taring a full swath in one brush stroke. It’s not fair or accurate. Republicans ARE endorsing the Harris-Walz ticket so saying all Repubs are bad or wrong isn’t accurate. I, too, get frustrated with the “even handed” treatment practiced be some of the media outlets I follow. We need to be alert and practice our best insights by not swallowing anything whole without examining it no matter who is serving it! If we want to rise above the fray we must be diligent and careful and rise above it under our own energy.
Please, just tar away at will. Everyone, including the tiny fraction of Republicans who have seen the light, will know who you’re talking about. Besides, you will be 99% correct, which is damn good accuracy in political discourse.
All Republican POLITICIANS are bad. Liz Cheney is voting for Harris, which is great, but other than her condemning treason, on policy there is basically no separation between her and Trump.
Republican politicians would get nowhere without the devoted support of roughly 60% of white Americans. If their support drops to 50% of white Americans, the Republican Party will collapse.
Washington Post wrote a big story and gave it big play. Also hinted that more charges may be coming. I don't subscribe to the Times, but I saw the gave it big play, too. And for better or worse, a lot of other U.S. news outlets take their cues from what the Times (and, to a lesser extent, the Post) do with stories.
Thank you for that serving of "Trump word salad." If the MSM would publish a few of those, it would at least put on the record what bad shape he is in. Saying he is "for" something in the way the MSM does it is really a joke---how can you take anything he says seriously. (In contrast, take Project 2025 very seriously). Thanks too for clarifying "tariffs"---I continue to be amazed how many people don't understand that AMERICANS pay tariffs!!!! And the MSM are no help---they just repeat T's verbiage with no commentary!! Oh well---I repeat myself about the MSM and the Orange Menace. Both terminally stupid.
If you haven't, check Meidas Touch Network, on YouTube, their own website and also on FB. They've been reporting on 45's lunacy and quoting him directly for months, if not years. Reporting at the intersection of law and politics.
I find myself too impatient with the talking heads. “Get to the point” resonates through my brain. Skipping ahead is a PIA. I guess that’s why I still prefer print to video.
Boy, you said a mouthful. Blather and more blather. That’s why I loved Walter. Just the facts, ma’am. My tolerance is about zip by this time in an election.
Perhaps you'll enjoy this interview done on one of the many Meidas Touch Network shows (The Weekend Show, hosted by Anthony Davis) done 9 months ago with HCR. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRBUREMUjVk&t=138s
There are many great interviews on MTN. I'm a subscriber to the network, not a booster or employee, by the way. : )
Thank you Dr, Richardson. I wish basic economics was taught in high school, maybe then people would understand the difference between a tariff and a tax. But then again, maybe not.
No wonder the trump team wants the mics muted for Tuesday's debate. That response you transcribed was pure gibberish. If that's how his mind has always worked it's no wonder he was a failure as a businessman and a wannabe president. My daughter made more sense at age 3
I'd like to see any Trump supporter try to read that transcript to a small audience of other Trump supporters, and require them to explain what he meant in each group of words that could be in any way they thought made any sense.
Can you imagine what Tim Russert could do if he interviewed Trump?
"...Behind the desk at Meet The Press, Tim Russert had a knack for shredding even the savviest of politicians. Whether stumping gubernatorial candidate David Duke with a basic economic question in 1991, grilling President Bush on non-existent weapons of mass destruction 11 months after the invasion of Iraq, or tripping up Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on gun control last year, Russert earned his reputation as a TV tough guy..."
And many thought Biden had diminished mental acuity after the first debate. What about that incoherent answer Trump delivered on how he would make childcare affordable?
It was shocking — even for Trump. Made no sense whatsoever. He’s deteriorated and the corporate media, his cult, and oligarchs are ignoring it. The medical community also claims this and that ethical responsibility about commenting without examination but they too are shirking any responsibility and staying silent instead of providing a warning. Hopefully American voters have more common sense on Nov 5.
Actually, he did answer the question. His answer is that he sees no problem with child care costs. He thinks he is going to make America Great again for rich people and that your child care costs do not matter.
Dufus Donald has absolutely no sense of humor, especially as it relates to him. However, this Numbers Muddled Maven has triggered numerous belly laughs.
Skipping his being the most beautiful and his being a ‘stable genius,’ his economics cause me numerous guffaws.
1) A massive tax cut for fat cats would have a ‘trickle down’ effect for the great majority of Americans. Reagan’s“supply side economics” has been demonstrated fraudulent, as documented by David Stockman, his Director of the Budget Office. [The only thing that trickled down is pee.]
2) He was going to build a wall between Mexico and the US that Mexico would pay for. NOT A PESO. Money was taken from the military budget and elsewhere to construct a few miles of the ‘Trump wall’ which has proved ineffective.
3) He is thinking of replacing the income tax with massive global tariffs (‘which would be paid by exporter countries’). HUH? These tariffs would be paid by American consumers. Experts calculate that the average annual cost to middle class Americans would be between $2-3,000, with the wealthy being the only beneficiaries.
4) While Trump publicly is aghast at American inflation and price gorging, recently he has increased the membership fee at Mar a Lago from $700,000 to $1,000,000 (over 40%).
Now he is proposing an ‘efficiency committee’ to eliminate ‘trillions of dollars of misspending.’ This would be run by his new buddy, Elon Musk. I imagine that ‘social expenses,’ including health care and Social Security, would be their primary target.
Musk has demonstrated much of Trump’s me-me-me fiscal brilliance. With Tesla he is seeking $55 billion as compensation for his past financial fiddling. He bought Twitter for $44 billion, created X, stiffed banks who provided funding, and so far has lost at least $20 billion.
Oh yes, Musk has featured Trump in an ‘interview’ on X and may have promised $45 million monthly for Trump’s presidential campaign.
THIS IS LIKE PUTTING A FOX IN A CHICKEN COOP
Historically, we have a precedent for appointing a blue ribbon commission to assess the efficiency of US government and to recommend significant changes, The first was in 1947, when President Truman appointed ex-President Hoover to head the Hoover Commission. Major results were implemented by Truman and Eisenhower.
In 1953 President Eisenhower created another Hoover Commission, which again significantly improved government operations.
Trump/Musk improving government operations? HA HA HA!
P. S. Might Musk have a slight conflict of interest with Tesla and Space X?
Musk has not been above rumormongering and deepfake videos on Xitter. I don’t blame Lula da Silva from wanting to keep Musk’s dishonesty out of his nation. We’ve seen with Facebook that social media can be used maliciously, as it was used to fuel Myanmar’s 979 movement and the attacks, killing, rapes and exiling of the Rohingya people in Myanmar. No one has really been held accountable for this.
JL Spot on! Also, another guffaw as Trump seeks to use the sharp rise in tariffs under President McKinley in the 1890s to support his knuckle-headed, massive tariff ‘salvation’ today. Economically he is as wrong headed as ‘supply side economics.’
Keith, you are being much too kind and generous in saying the only thing that trickled down was pee. At a minimum it was a thick brown slush and realistically big brown turds!!!
I think Heather is perfectly aware that, as she writes things like this, a steady macabre humor runs on.
The Russian bots, the far-right U.S. agents for Putin and other dictators, D.C. Republicans -- all of them in the House of Representatives, almost all in the Senate, and those even more outlandishly for monarchy and immunity from U.S. law on the corrupt Clarence court -- keep fulfilling clown show predictability. Or out-doing themselves, falling over themselves for sinking further in that spiral Heather kindly calls a "worldview."
Kamala and Tim, meanwhile, speak common sense for most Americans. So I love the contrast.
But remember, these Republicans may be ridiculously incompetent, egregiously liars, but they do cohere with the U.S. billionaires and their floods of dark money. They are still growing the wealth gap that Kamala and Tim address. But it ain't over. Absolute evil intends to keep widening that wealth gap. Intends further to demean, demoralize, and destroy American public education. And to keep paying as Musk and so many others do to foist that clown show on us, to end our democracy as that corrupt Clarence court has already been ruling to do.
Unfortunately, in addition to billionaires, Trump has upwards of 74 million devotees, including a majority of white Americans. The 74 million are the real problem and will continue to be thr problem even if Trump is defeated.
This is one white American who has loathed Trump from the beginning. I’ve never voted for any Republican presidential candidate since I was first able to vote in a presidential election in 1984. If you put lipstick on a pig, the pig is still a pig. There is also something negatively porcine about Trump’s greedy behavior.
I first became aware of fpotus when he gacked the USFL. I've hated him ever since.
My first presidential vote was cast in Oregon's Democratic May primary in 1976. The only times I have not voted Democratic was in primarys where I could not bring myself to vote for Clinton, and in the elections of 1980 and 1984 when the election was called prior to my ability to vote at the polls. I have never voted Republican, and have no plans to do so.
But if "The 74 million are the real problem," what about the schools that produced them?
Who taught these 74 million to enjoy criminals in high office, to enjoy one who brags of grabbing women, who gets found legally liable for sex abuse, who mocks the disabled, who campaigns with thumbs up in Arlington National Cemetery, who pals around with Putin, Orban, Kim, Mohammed bin Salman, Modi, Netanyahu, and Sisi, who inflicts a mob on the U.S. Capitol, who gets convicted by a jury of 34 felony counts, who praises Nazis, who boasts of taking away women's rights to make their own most personal decisions, and who, according to the Washington Post, lied over 30,000 times while four years in high office?
There's more, of course, Rex. And these 74,000,000 got outvoted in the last national election. But you worry about them, what about the U.S. schools that produced so many so copacetic with criminality, vulgarity, demagoguery, categorical hatreds, and worse?
I saw some brief video of a woman on that channel, JD.
She was quite well calling him crazy, specifying his various positions she called bonkers.
I think it'll be a tidal wave, and more and more from that side will break with him as his lunacy grows too grotesque for more and more from there to ignore.
I just heard the same thing you wrote here on the Lawrence O'Donnell show. Trump made no sense and didn't answer the questions. People clapped and they are just as stupid! I hope he talks like this during the debate!
That baffling weird word salad on child care said so much nothing in so many words! And yet the “respectable” media tries to equate the two candidates and treat Trump as a “normal” candidate for fear of being accused of liberal bias (I’m looking at you, NPR). Thank Heaven for Heather and other writers here on Substack who tell the truth. We have work to do to get that truth out to voters!
I'm so glad you actually transcribe Trump's word salad. I wish all the press would do that, instead of trying to pick out a sensible phrase or sentence, and acting like he is saying something coherent.
I can’t find the words to describe his jabber about childcare - what’s wrong with him???
Vermont Girl, it's dementia. I am more concerned that so many people are OK with this man's nonsense and want him to be president again, which means he will need puppet masters because he can't think through anything anymore. That's really scary because his handlers are not good people and do not want good for this nation.
I agree, it is Progressing Dementia... That makes DJT a Perfect Puppet for the Dark Siths... Regards the upcoming Election, the problem is that Democrats use Logic & Reason... The Trumpster's, and GOPers use Emotion... Fox News, uses simple 'Lizard Brain' Emotional Propaganda... That is Superior Messaging for DJT's 40%... They will not be Shaken, or Reasoned with... Yesterday, the U.S. DOJ, filed Charges against the Russian RT News Service for Election Manipulation... So now DJT has the Dark Siths, Russian Election Meddling, Chinese Election Meddling, Netanyahu, AIPAC, Iranian Election Meddling, and DJT's own viciousness on his side in this Election... A.I is not being Our Friend... We DO Need a Grassroots Wave... I Talk to many People who are fed-up with what they feel is a Hopeless Political Climate.. They Feel like the Downtrodden Masses' in a Real Life 'Game-Of-Thrones'... I just saw DJT's Speech at the NY Economic Club... He is looking very Angry.. He will Lash Out... Be Prepared...
Looking angry because he is Professionally Angry just like he’s a Professional Victim.
And his most exceptional ability is to lie! Incessantly. I've never known anyone to lie as much as he does. He has lost the ability to distinguish between reality and this other plane of existence he lives in. Along with his mental deterioration, he is unmoored and wildly out of control. There will be a breaking point, and it will be a site to behold. If loving, conscientious people surrounded him, they would be working on getting him the help he needs.
I'm shocked that the GOP just ignores the lying and word salad. Where are the John McCains of this world? Have they all just scuttled off to their hidy holes in the Tetons with prayers that Harris will win but they won't get their hands dirty? Chickens.
Kathy J, I suspect that no amount of loving people surrounding him would be able to change him because he sees no need to change. It’s the rest of the world that needs to change. That is the nature of unfettered narcissism.
Not an ability, it's a disability.
Loving, conscientious people....really!
Give one example of a LIE?
Trump certainly sees himself as a professional victim. To hear him talk, he’s never responsible for anything and he’s being targeted by others. Trump’s personality disorders make it impossible for him to realize he’s the cause of his own problems. Unfortunately, Trump’s groupies believe what he tells them.
Many of Trumps “groupies” are Russian operatives who’ve been in sleeper cells in this country since the ‘70’s. Thousands of them waiting for Putin to put a useful idiot in place, he always knew that idiot would be Trump. Hand picked for his stupidity and arrogance and willingness to be bribed by some pretty gross pornography among other crimes.
Trump had F’ed everything up he touched 6 ways to Timbuktu. Putin knew this narcissist could be easily manipulated to do anything no matter how abhorrent and happy to do so.
I believe when Lindsay Graham lost his way, he’d been made aware he’s been watched for years in both his personal and public life.
Along with the Fourth of July 2018 trip to Moscow included 7 Republican Senators and one House member; Richard Shelby, (AL) Steven Daines,( MT) John Kennedy, (LA) John Thune, (SD) Jerry Moran, (KS) John Hoeven, (ND) and Rep. Kay Granger, (TX).
They were there to smooth over any concerns about Russia Today’s interference in the 2016 election. Trump was to have summit with Putin to clear him of any suspicion of interference in his election. (Which you had to be a complete moron not to figure that out immediately after Trump “won” Russia was most definitely involved).
Putin had some serious dirt on everyone past and present. Not to mention his seated operatives like MTG, Shouty McShirtsleeves Jordan, Matt Gaetz, Mike Johnson to name a few.
I did watch Active Measures on Prime Video last night.
A documentary that explains how Putin and powerful oligarchs have influenced and infiltrated our media and society.
Lot’s of answers. I finally feel better knowing my suspicions were correct all along, but concern now to stop it from going any further.
It was suggested to me by another Substack member, Thanks Christine.
What’s there is an unbelievable insanity. It’s truly weird.
He DARVOs.
DARVO refers to a reaction perpetrators of wrong doing, particularly sexual offenders, may display in response to being held accountable for their behavior. DARVO stands for "Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender." The perpetrator or offender may Deny the behavior, Attack the individual doing the confronting, and Reverse the roles of Victim and Offender such that the perpetrator assumes the victim role and turns the true victim -- or the whistle blower -- into an alleged offender. This occurs, for instance, when an actually guilty perpetrator assumes the role of "falsely accused" and attacks the accuser's credibility and blames the accuser of being the perpetrator of a false accusation.
Put this image in your mind. An alpha male chimpanzee, in the midst of performing a dominance display, comes across a large tree branch lying on the ground, picks it up, and starts banging it on the ground and hitting trees while all the rest of the troop watches in fear, admiration, or just to get out of his way. Now think of how donOld rRump, in the midst of performing a dominance display, uses words.
Didn't Jane Goodall state that DJT at the 1st Hillary Debate reminded her of a Alpha Male Chimp, they are vicious by the way, performing a Dominance Dance?
The alpha male chimp would terrify death star who is a coward among many other things.
Easy effect: lowered brows, lowered bottom lip. Right fist raised.
Frustration and Anger can often be products and symptoms of dementia. I have observed that men are more likely to become angry when confronted with their dementia word salad nonsense. The next two months will add countless stressors to Trump's life. Sentencing for crimes, impositions of large fines, a press core becoming more challenging, the threat of more trials ahead, shrinking crowd size at his phony town halls, more and more revelations about the Russian hoax not being a hoax.
And if the Orange Menace actually has the courage and foolish pride to appear with VP Harris on the "debate" stage, I suspect we will see a demonstration of why some families park their elders in institutions.
Many MAGA rats will leave the sinking ship as the alignment with Russia disillusions millions of Americans. I could be wrong. It happens all the time. But I think that three issues will give us that Blue Tsunami: Dobbs, dementia and Russia. Of course, JD (Just Duh) Vance may also be the anchor that MAGA can't free itself of as the waters rise. Glub, glub, glub.
Don't forget there's "Little Sub man" Musk in the entourage.
JD announced that school shootings are just a fact of life. He doesn't have dementia, but my oh my, what comes out of that guy's mouth. Glub, glub, club, indeed.
Michele, the problem with Vance is that he is one of those guys who will blow with the wind. I have no idea if he actually has any values of his own, you know, a moral compass, but he has a loud mouth and is smart enough to hold up his finger to see from which direction the wind is blowing so he can frame his appalling remarks to go wherever it leadeth. He is constantly running test balloons to see which lines and comments get the most attention. He does not repeat the ones that don't connect but will jump on the ones where even a few of his audience clap for him. I can't help but wonder if he and the rest of the Ivy League MAGAs learned their warped antidemocratic techniques at their high-brow colleges that complain so much that different perspectives are not permitted. We know from watching and listening to them and seeing how they live their lives, there must be a wide range of attitudes present and taught at those schools, particularly Yale and Harvard.
How is he wrong? We could be like the UK and confiscate guns. That could eliminate school shootings but perhaps then we could have mass casualty stabbings? Or like Rebecca Cheptegei be set on fire and have school causalities that way? Guns are not the problem. Simple minded snarky responses don’t help either- glub, glub, club
Let's see if the Small-Donor Donations Dry-Up.... DJT doesn't have a 'Ground-Game', because those Donations go towards his Legal Bills & Fines... DJT knows that he needs to just get close enough in the Electoral College to Steal-The-Election, or send it to the House run by Mike Johnson...
Weren’t you a pretty much all in for Joe just this past February? Like Buttigieg and morning Joe who just days and weeks prior to Bidens’s ousting were claiming Joe was sharper and more on top of his game than ever. I am not sure of your medical credentials, but even if you were board certified MD your observations of Trump now is questionable at best after your obvious misjudgement of Biden. Wishful thinking is perhaps clouding your judgement on this?
Apache, it is true that feelings are paramount for Trumpers and Trumpettes. Perhaps, Dems could release a few ads that talk about how it feels to live in a nation where there is freedom only to live with interference by people who don't care about you and want you to live only in one particular way, the way they say, and it is not the way you would choose to live. "Kamala Harris does not want that to happen to you; she believes in freedom for you and your family." It might touch something in them, but maybe not. It is worth a try.
I would like to see ads repeating his word salads, his flip-flops, and his obvious lies (like the latest series re Arlington).
You could also run an Ad that shows DJT's Statement in Vegas that doesn't care if they Die, all DJT wants is their Vote...
Republicans have no logic, and the sooner Democrats understand that the better!
Almost everything is wrong with him. He is a vacuous racist with a 4th grade vocabulary and a massive, but laughably fragile ego, paper-thin skin, and DEEP insecurities. Having been pampered all his life, he thinks everyone else is to blame for anything he doesn’t like, and whines like the cowardly snowflake that he is . . . And that’s not even scratching the surface.
He needs to be publicly mocked and taunted on a regular basis since the only thing that works on a bully is to hit back. His fragile ego can’t take mocking, and his feeble and failing intellect will be clearly on display when he attempts to respond. . .
It's even more important to attack those who finance him, here and abroad.
Yes.
On his own, trump is nothing, a paper figure throwing shadows with a candle. Without the support he gets from various institutions, governments and political allies he would have crashed and burned years ago - like his businesses and and his tv program.
It's not trump that keeps "Trump!" afloat.
It's a pity his base can't see that.
Well, it's also a bunch of billionaires like Miriam Adelson and Peter Thiel who view him as their pet, their useful idiot.
His "base" is baseless. They have no depth nor a bottom. They are essentially without foundation, and so it becomes extraordinarily challenging to call them out and make them feel the shame. Regardless, the world, I believe, is evolving towards decency. One can't turn a super tanker on a dime in a hurricane. That, I believe, is where we are now. We simply need to let natural death take its course with these folks and work for a better climate.
Sycophantic loyalty indeed.
Imagine the political ad/s Dems/Lincoln Project could make of his word salad "stream of consciousness" vs what economists and major financial operators are saying of his across the board tariff proposals. Somehow this is what 40% of America relishes? Lemmings off the proverbial cliff.
He reminds me of Dudley Dursley from the Harry Potter books - spoiled, vain, stupid.
Name calling doesn’t help.. votes against him count..
Exactly!
George, yes, Trump has problems with every aspect of his life and I think that, along with his dementia are taking a toll on him. His handlers, though are feeding him all kinds of lies and statements to keep him going, hoping they can get him through the election because if he wins, they will be able to take over, using him as the puppet he has been from the day he did the escalator ride. Then they will be grooming Vance to be the Hitler they want in power and Vance will definitely oblige. The task is to stop them. I keep thinking Trump is wearing a wire, earpiece, something through which his handlers are conveying information. I doubt they will even check before the debate, but should.
People believe what they want to believe and they don’t want to be confused with facts. It’s always been this way. I suppose it’s a form of self preservation but I doubt it. It isn’t easy to listen to an argument that demonstrates clearly one is wrong. It’s even more difficult for one to take that argument to heart and have a change of heart. A change of heart is the stuff of romance novels not generally real life.
There are lots of people who are not very well informed about today’s issues. It’s hard for people who read Prof. Cox Richardson’s Letter to keep up with the current political environment. People like us! We must try to keep as well informed as we can and be determined and articulate, yet kind and non-alienating to get our point across. It’s a fine line to tread but, as the saying goes, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar!
It is Natural to want to stay in One's Comfort Zone... The Trick is to continue to Evolve, and be Open to New Ideas... To Be Zen... One Must be willing to re-examine Old Assumptions... Growth, Renewal, Can Be Painful... Notice How Many Trumpsters are old, and are comfortable with a High School Education or less... I agree that the Torrent Of Information Available is Overwhelming... Today, Ignorance is a Choice... OBW: It seems that DJT believes that Tariffs are like Membership Fees to Mar-a-Lago... His Ignorance is Impregnable....
"Ignorance is a Choice"
Exactly!! The Groper-in-Chief's MAGA loyalists use their own deliberate ignorance to facilitate their White Resentment and to totally believe the Groper-in-Chief's promise to Make America White Again.
Fox rules the fools.
Murdoch has a lot to answer for. May he rot in hell.
I guess the devil will have to do it, we don’t seem able to. Although the Brits kicked his arse, as did a few others. But he has evil spawn.
Soon
lol alliteration, that yours?
Truth in few words..
Betsy B., I can't help emphasizing your wise words, "People believe what they want to believe and they don’t want to be confused with facts. It’s always been this way. I suppose it’s a form of self-preservation but I doubt it. It isn’t easy to listen to an argument that demonstrates clearly one is wrong." Unfortunately, this applies to many of my intelligent friends who pride themselves on being informed, just, and generous.
Propaganda works with intelligence as well as morons. We surely have enough proof.
A most sensible comment.
It may be dementia, but I think he’s gotten away with these word salads his entire life. I've had a few arrogant, uninformed students in the past who wrote utter bullshit tomes like this and who vigorously ( bullishly) defended them by pointing out the 'words' they wrote down. See? I talked about child care! See? I mentioned the numbers! One even went so far as to file a complaint with my Dean and submitted his written papers as evidence of my unfairness. The Dean thought my 'F' was generous and wondered aloud about thought disorders.
To the group reading this post, Trump's bs is so egregious it smacks of brain dysfunction. But to too many people who don't listen or process complete sentences anyway, it doesn't matter. The sound bite is all that matters. And I fear it's only going to get worse. Chaos is an instrument of control….create enough of it and you can do whatever the hell you feel like doing. You don't have to convince any one of anything; you just have to get enough of the distracted ones to react.
Well said, Carolyn. I'm not sure fpotus's mental state isn't the result of his personality disorders combined with late-stage syphilis.
Agree and agree, but he's been spouting utter nonsense for decades with apparent impunity. And the purveyors of 'news' and gossip who persist in repeating his lies have enabled him to attain 'celebrity' which he has morphed into power. The moneyed interests behind him seem to think they are using him as a tool to get what they want…unfettered control of whatever they want control of. What they fail to understand is that the tool itself is totally out of control…and is uncontrollable. My hope is that, as he implodes in front of millions upon millions of viewers, 9/10 will be as eye opening about his danger to the world as 9/11 was.
Yes Carolyn, the entertainment factor is long gone. Eight years plus is enough.
Excellent little article by Philip Bump in WaPo, analysing the childcare word salad.
“ dementia “ perhaps? But I suspect it is unbridled arrogance. He has come to believe that any thought or feeling he has is pure gold. And why would he think otherwise. He surrounds himself with pathetic people desperate for hope and with mean and petty “ leaders “ desperate to hang on to their influence and wealth who have no trouble punching down.
You have said a mouthful Ruth. The people behind him, are diabolically ruthless without moral compass. Just look at those authors of Project 2025 and the money people behind them and it. That is the scariest to me. So again, my message continues to be VOTE BLUE up and down the ballot in November and put the brakes on this. It will save democracy now in order to continue our work to a more perfect union.
He's never had to think through anything 'cause up til now he could always buy his thinkers and his dad and his enablers bailed him out. Now he's owned by the Russians and I think they are only bailing him out to influence WORLD politics.
Ruth & VermontGirl57, yes he is showing signs of dementia and yet he has ALWAYS talked in a gush of semi-nonsense (gish-gallop anyone?).
He is first and foremost a huckster trying to say whatever he imagines will sell you. Add to that is his profoundly narcissistic view of the world around him (and his world DOES revolve around him) and you get his constant stream of “lies” which are only his effort to paint the picture he believes will sell you or scare you into going along.
Trump thinks he's gonna pull a fast one on the rest of the world. Griftonomics.
And the MSM don't call him out on it . . . unlike Biden's age. (Or Hillary's emails.)
"because his handlers are not good people and do not want good for this nation."
I don't believe trump himself is "malign" - spiteful, greedy, vengeful - yes - but not "malign".
But you are right - some of his handlers are stone cold evil.
Unfortunately, I think Trump actually is malign, as are his big bucks backers.
Agreed. Witness his pledge to retaliate - to persecute his political opponents if he wins. A bully is bad. A frightened bully is worse. I think we are watching the implosion of a demented, desperate, unloved little boy in an old body. He is disintegrating and he is angry about it.
Yes. Look into those puffy narrowed eyes, and that's what you see.
"stone" cold evil alright!!
I've always thought that the red person with horns and a tail don't exemplify Satan, I imagine someone looking very much like Roger Stone!
Stone certainly displays most of what I've read about Satan.
Good morning, Ally!
Hope you have a good weekend.
If our souls were written on our faces, they would all be in some high security prison - and some of us would lose a lot of friends!
But they're not - see the picture of that child who shot four in Georgia - he looks like he could have modeled for one of Michelangelo's angels.
It takes a lot of hard work and thousands of years to evolve from something that crawled out of the slime into a half way decent human being. Most of us are still trying - Trump's enablers have just given up and are enjoying the mud.
If what you say is true, I hope it is progressing fast because he can be excused from trials thus not ending up in a prison. I do not wish a former president jailed.
I wish to see adjudged criminals jailed.
No one should be above the law. Especially traitors. Don't be so squeamish.
Bots don't have morals. They'll take money from anyone and do anything to get it.
Why not, Hiro?
I agree with you Craig. You're asking a reasonable question.
Waiting for Hiro to reply…
Because he should be in a fucking straight jacket.
Yeah.. and tossed in a dumpster somewhere in Newark. Somebody let Waste Management know, so that load can go to a trash compactor, prior to loading it on the garbage-barge. Better yet.. head it straight to the incinerator so he can celebrate eternity with his pals. And, forgo any obituary.., pulease! We've had it!
Our spaz of a puppy bot is name Hiro.
And he was truly a president, he was a conman and is now also a donvict.
No one is above the law and he should face the consequences like any another American.
The problem is that he and his followers refuse to see he legitimately lost the election, so now the GQP is running around making it harder for people who oppose Trump to vote. In Trump’s mind and in those of his groupies, he’s the “real” president. That is why he is the first president to ever try to obstruct a peaceful transfer of power. I’m concerned Trump will encourage his followers to engage in violence whether or not he wins, and public officials need to be prepared for it.
Violence is all he knows to get his own way!
Orange jumpsuit with accompanying silver bracelets works for me.
A 34-time convicted felon, an adjudicated rapist, civil fraudster, liar, thief, racist, misogynist, and all-around crappy person.
Yeah, prison works. He has totally dishonored the office. No form of punishment is too low for him.
Former president???? He never was a president, he is an outright ruthless dictator. I wish the former dictator jailed, or put under a jail. The arrogant freak shouldn't even be allowed to run for anything, not even dog catcher. I want to see this horrific criminal to go down just like Adolf Hitler!
I truly wish there was a thumbs down button for your comment.
Ruth, your post couldn’t be more spot on!
If Trump wins in November,
his progressive dementia will be handled by hand picked operatives selected by Putin and powerful oligarchs.
His supporters are egged on by the likes of Steve Bannon, Roger Stone, Mark Levin to name a few. Why these obvious scumbags have any relevance is beyond me.
There is no explanation for why the DOJ has not bothered to investigate and indict the sitting members of congress who were involved in not certifying the election on January 6th 2021.
This is treason. Why are they still permitted to sully our democratic institutions with their presence? In any other country they’d have been quickly brought to trial and severely dealt with.
Our DOJ has not been forthcoming with any explanation for delaying justice for American citizens who suffer from fear of losing our democracy and PTSD from 9 years of Trump’s insane/corrupt/authoritarian plan to overturn democracy and hand us over to Putin.
The DOJ is doing nothing to protect us from these seated traitors up for re-election AGAIN!
We know the courts will not save us, so we are actively working to protect ourselves. We are working so hard and rising to the occasion with grassroots support and an incredible amount of volunteers canvassing, phone calls, and sending post cards are activating non-voters, disillusioned voters and registering our young adults to participate in this election. By reaching out for their support through podcasts, emails, and other social networking sites, they’re realizing what is at stake for their future.
Trump can no longer effectively communicate (the only thing Trump ever effectively communicated was his lust for his daughter). He talks in circles insisting the USA will be a hellscape disaster if he loses.
J.D. Vance is a solid disaster who is a backward minded man unable to develop any sort of rapport with MAGA.
former supporters peel away from Trump, rolling up their flags, hats, shirts, shoes and any other Trump grift they were
Oops, I accidentally touched the post arrow. I was going to finish with Trump’s grift of his supporters by dressing them up like circus clowns and painting his name on their homes are beginning to look like what it is, marks, patsies, groomed to be his “army”.
He embarrassed some MAGA members by dressing them up with cheap over priced bling from China. When these MAGA members realize what been done, they’re walking away while tossing their silly purchases in the trash bin. They just won’t vote. Only hard core MAGA, and they’re greatly outnumbered.
Trump’s progressive dementia may very well totally incapacitate him by November leaving MAGA without a candidate days before the election. Thanks for reading my long post.
I assume the 25th amendment would have to be invoked at some point which makes, GUESS WHO the President. Agh. Vote Blue America top to bottom.
That's not dementia, it's panic. His old tricks aren't working, and it's all too complicated for him to cope with.
Did you see the panelists clap after he answered this? And the audience joined in with cheering when he said "Make America great again!" Lawrence O'Donnell called them "New York's stupidest rich people." https://youtu.be/t-Wf5VT-Pwk?si=Ia0DeZVZTTZtP-ft
Trump does likely suffer from dementia, but the 'word salad' aspect of his speech can be attributed to untreated ADHD and the psychological stress narcissists go through when their view of themselves is meaningfully challenged. Dementia tends to have plateaus followed by periods of relatively rapid decline. We may be seeing a period of decline now. Narcissistic wounding, however, is what makes Trump dangerous. As the reality of his indictments and losing this election close in, he will become more and more unhinged and dangerous. Buckle up.
The next three weeks should prove to be very stressful for him.
Sept 10. Debate with Harris
Sept 16. NY election interference. Presidential immunity decision
Sept 18. NY election interference. Sentencing -- MOVED TO NOVEMBER
Sept 20. Truth Social shares lock out end. How much of his holdings will he sell off? and its effect on the future of Truth Social stock price.
Sept 26. DC election interference. Jack Smith's team releases a brief describing his actions in detail about the Jan 6th insurrection.
And layer on the Russia, Russia, Russia factor.
I said it before, I'll say it again. It's dementia but it's helped along by the stroke he had in '18. Remember the mysterious early morning visit to Walter Reed that was never explained and shortly after he started shuffling down ramps with help. Obviously stroke and the drugs have kept him semi-lucid ever since but the enablers can't control everything and so..........
Word salad.
Wow! Never thought of that!
Interesting thought, Montana. It could serve to explain a lot of things...
I fear so as well. Right now Trump/Maga et al are sailing of a hyperinflationary political maelstrom of their own making. To merely reasonable people, they can only wonder how long this can possibly last, this "much ado nothing" that has taken so many Americans by storm and threatens so much. Oh, for a breath of normality...
What will likely happen if Trump gets his hackles up during the debate? What is the best strategy which will allow the public to hear the issues and not be caught in a hopeless game of throwing insults?
Just in case you missed it, Dr. Allan Lichtman has made his prediction as to who will win the Presidency this fall. Dr Lichtman created the Keys to the White House model in 1981. The model uses 13 true/false criteria to predict whether the presidential candidate of the incumbent party will win or lose the next election. Using this model, Lichtman has accurately predicted the outcome of all U.S. presidential elections since 1984. No real surprise, it is Kamala and Tim, the next president and vice president of the United States. We still have to make it happen, GOTV and lets work to make this happen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okYUg_Dx1iU
I hope that this true... Has Dr. Alan Lichtman updated his Model to reflect the Influence of the Evil Siths, Foreign Inflences, and A.I.?
We still have time to outregister the barbarians. Still millions of unregistered women who trend Democratic.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/fund-the-mission
Trump's entire vision of child-care is: "hire a nanny"
Only if she’s hot.
Otherwise it’s
Ivana…er
Marla…er
Melania…..
So true. Tell me again why the evangelicals love him?
Because their world view is determined by what the man in the front of the church tells them it is, and often (when said man goes galavanting into "forbidden pastures" it's OK because it was "God's will".) Pre-event classical conditioning.
“Ramblin’Babblin’ Man
What’s wrong with him? Everything!
DonOLD knows nothing and never has.
He is just being himself! Nothing has changed! He just makes noise using his mouth!
Lewis Carroll said it was jabberwocky, so you were close.
What I wish is that someone interviewing him would have the courage to say "Sir, you haven't answered the question and what you are saying makes no sense."
Yes! I wish the people who have actual degrees in journalism would employ the principles of journalism in their work.
i am hopeful that in the debate, Kamala will turn to him and say "ANSWER the question, Donald!" because he didn't answer any against Biden, so you know he'll try to keep turning everything into Immigrants/border.
And also, turn to him and say "what was that word salad you just tossed supposed to mean?"
Abby, those "actual degrees" mean nothing in today's unfettered media "news" environment. Even for "actual" journalists.
But we all know his response would not clarify anything. He would whine that he’d never been treated so badly by anyone.
That's not a reason to ask, though. Not asking because he can't string together a coherent answer is the press covering for him.
And that the reporter was nasty and a bad reporter.
Or he would say”that is a stupid question” you are a bad person for asking such a stupid question
Then I’d counter it, Nancy, with “oh, so you CAN’T or WON’T answer the question?”……keep pushing him on it. He really does not like push-back!
Of course he would! But that wouldn’t matter. At least he’d be called out. And call him out on his infantile response, too !
He DARVOs -
DARVO refers to a reaction perpetrators of wrong doing, particularly sexual offenders, may display in response to being held accountable for their behavior. DARVO stands for "Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender." The perpetrator or offender may Deny the behavior, Attack the individual doing the confronting, and Reverse the roles of Victim and Offender such that the perpetrator assumes the victim role and turns the true victim -- or the whistle blower -- into an alleged offender. This occurs, for instance, when an actually guilty perpetrator assumes the role of "falsely accused" and attacks the accuser's credibility and blames the accuser of being the perpetrator of a false accusation.
They have, and get brushed aside with bombast and redirect, the most common political rebuttal strategy out there.
My God. There should be no reason we can’t elect a super majority in both houses. I ask any and all who are able to volunteer to work in a battleground state. I will leave blue Connecticut for eastern Pennsylvania to help out on Election Day as well as the day before. Let’s get this done.
It’s because of Republican gerrymandering of the states. Senators and governors are elected statewide, but gerrymandering does affect who turns out to vote and has an indirect effect on statewide offices. It also leads the GQP to turn the states they control into laboratories of authoritarianism.
And, sadly, forced Dems into mirroring this strategy. If the Dems can get a trifecta esp with a few more senators, ditch the filibuster and force election reform through, and, somehow, take on the Supreme Court.
Go for it, Bill, and whoever goes with you.
I have an ex-partner who talks exactly like Trump does. Just asking him a direct question - any direct question activates his "rant button". At that point, I can quietly put the phone down and walk away without him even noticing for some time.
Glad for you that he’s an ex. Stay safe.
Hang up and block.
lol, Marian, wish WE could do that to TFFFG!!!
Good decision to make that ex an ex
Atta way !!!
😂…America should use this technical tactic , Talia on TFG😉 My first laugh today TGIF…Thanks
So sorry. That has to be hard. Also explains the "ex" part of that sentence.
It's a common strategy to misdirect a conversation when it is clear there is no honest or real answer, or the questioner has identified an inconsistency. But he does more than misdirect.
LOL, as a lowly mortgage clerk many years ago, I did exactly just that with one irate late payor. Eventually he realized his blunder, and actually apologized.
But it makes sense to his base.
And I don't say that jokingly.
They hear what they want to hear:
"Senator Marco Rubio, and my daughter Ivanka was so impactful. . . . .child care in this country you have to have it. . . . . .I’m talking about by taxing foreign nations at levels that they’re not used to . . . . . . . it’s not going to stop them from doing business with us. . . . . I look forward to having no deficits within a fairly short period of time, coupled with the reductions that I told you about on waste and fraud and all of the other things that are going on in our country, We’re going to be taking in trillions of dollars, . . . . . .We’re going to make this into an incredible country that can afford to take care of its people, and then we’ll worry about the rest of the world. Let’s help other people, but we’re going to take care of our country first. This is about America first. It’s about Make America Great Again, we have to do it because right now we’re a failing nation, so we’ll take care of it.”
Much of the burble just goes straight over their head, plus he throws in a few amorphous threats ("waste and fraud" "all of the other things that are going on in our country, " "FAiling nation") - all they hear are the dog whistles.
If Harris/Walz succeed in November, one of their priorities should be the education system.
Excellent assessment and analysis, Lady Elsworth. "A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest."
Thank, you, Ally. That's a very good song to quote as an analogy. They have "squandered their resistance for a pocket full of mumbles, all lies and jest - lie lie lie lie, lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie. . . "
Rabid ideology trumps saccharine style civics in school. No pun intended.
Perfect! Thanks .this is exactly what happens!
Frustrates me beyond belief that to this day, the Press *refuses* to give Trump the same microscopic attention to every slip, every meandering nonsensical response as they did to Biden.
Biden was coherent and intelligent; if you looked at a transcript of what he said, it all made perfect sense, it shows he had complete grasp of very complicated issues. Biden was very sure of himself, too, he certainly didn't lack confidence, shot sharp humorous comments across the bow pretty frequently.
But none of that mattered, because Biden was soft spoken and had a slight stutter and was showing his age when he walked. Then Trump, in that 'old man yelling at the clouds' way, booms away with word salad nonsense in carefully crafted engagements with his acolytes, and the Press portrays him as virile and robust because he is LOUD, cocks his head, seems confident. So the Press rarely publishes his word salad word for word, they carefully re-constitute it into something that seems like English.
I think it is a guy thing, part of that toxic masculinity that has infused American society, much to our detriment. They did it to Hillary, and now they've done it to Biden, but they refuse to do it to Trump because he's their kind of guy.
I have had highly intelligent journalists, giants in the industry, argue vociferously with me that they are covering Trump exactly as they should. When I ask about the clear bias, point out the comparisons between how they treat Biden versus Trump, they admit Trump's idiocy, but say they cannot portray it that way because it is 'old news', or 'Oh, that's just Trump'. Journalists today also do less and less of their own on-the-ground interviews and investigations, going to original sources; they rely way too much on social media (which as we see, is riddled with foreign influence) and press releases.
In short, our Press are now so full of BS they cannot smell their own fertilizer.
Their hypocrisy has become so obvious, I have lost respect for the industry. Even the old gray lady of NY Times, WaPo and New Yorker have written perfectly ridiculous pieces that are indefensible. The only outlet that seems reliable and serious anymore is ProPublica, which still does serious investigative journalism.
Would love to see a good selection of people who never watch or listen to the speeches but just compare transcripts.
‘virile and robust’? I would like to see him on a ‘SpecOps’ Team… Not… He would cower & become incontinent…
OMG, my brain is spinning, my teeth are chattering, my eyes are glazed over! What in god’s name is he talking about?
Agreed. The NYT report on the same speech cuts out all the blather and avoids telling the obvious truth that tariffs are not a solution for the cost of child care.
Despite HCR's kind attempt to wring a drop of "meaning" from the word vomit (calling it a salad denigrates salad) by claiming his answer is about tariffs, I challenge anyone to find any meaning at all in any of his pronouncements. He also claims he has "friends who are English Professors" who believe him to be "brilliant". I can guarantee that he. does. not.
When i read TUMP's word salad in this post, i actually thought i was having one of my dreaded, horrible migraine spells. That was some mixed up crap he said. And so many idiot people actually vote for a deranged psychopath like him! If he had an MRI on his rotten brain it would most likely look like a tangled mass of spider webs.
I wonder what would happen if an interviewer quoted one of his word salads, without attribution, and asked Trump for a response. Would he recognize his own words? If he assumed they were someone else's words what would he say? Would he recognize it as nonsense?
Why isn't the media focusing on trump's mental status?
I agree - it shows how demented he is and that, while he has "lots of words. ALL the best words" he says nothing.
I totally agree! I watched the video of Trump saying these words, and hoo boy, was it disturbing. Seeing the word salad spelled out is even worse.
The worst things about that word salad were the applause it garnered from people who should know better, and the “sane-washing” of the media to make it sound almost normal.
Outstanding..."sane-washing". Covers up the crazy, just like whitewash.
I wish I could take credit, but I read it on Twitter.
Yes! it's a brilliant tactic. The unvarnished truth anti-social. All those orphan pronouns.
Anyone else remembering Musk suggesting Ukraine should cede territory to end the invasion? And several of the other points...
Don’t buy a Tesla.
I wouldn't have a Tesla even if someone offered to pay me to take one of his rattletrap junkmobiles. My bitter dislike for MUSK is almost on the level of my dislike for TUMP!
I find it hard to say which one I dislike more...
I would say that i despise both of them almost equally, and throw in Adolf Hitler with those creatures for good measure. Vladimar Putin, Victor Orban?
Well, they are all very much on the same level of despicableness.
Yes they really are. It disturbs me that so many people here in the United States fawn over and worship these most horrible excuses for human beings. Most of them are so ignorant that they believe every lie they tell as the gospel truth. Donald TUMP is the worst pathological liar that has ever existed.
He’s the Space Nazi. And an absolute lunatic. Full of bitter vitriol.
You are so right, ABC23!
"Space Nazi"... That's a good one!
Wise advice for lots of reasons!!
Idea: All other brands of EVs are crap. BUT who wants to give money to Musk? Thus buy a used Tesla, spend some money refurbishing it?
Nope. We have a Chevy Bolt. It is an outstanding ride. Love it.
I wouldn't drive a Tesla if you paid me big bucks to do it. I would be embarrassed.
But who among us is a purist, eh? If I lived all my beliefs and put them to work with boycotts, I would dump my Amazon Prime membership...
You can do it, Bill... step away from the A****n shopping cart...
I hear you, Bill.
Bill, after getting my Prime account royally hacked in Dec ‘22 and not being able to get it restored despite many attempts w/ customer service (they were always really nice, but would never let me speak to anyone on the “escalation team”—the folks who do the actual fixing); had to do fraud alerts and have 2 credit cards & 2 debit cards reissued. Eventually found that, while not as “trendy” & slick a website as Amazon, Walmart (I know,I know!) offers something similar, often w/ free shipping. Amazon uses UPS to deliver & my dogger really misses the delightful UPS driver Dan (always has dogger treats & knows the dogger’s names on his route).
When appropriate, I compare prices on Walmart, HD, Lowes, Best Buy etc. And I use the Barnes and Noble Nook app for reading. Small efforts to not give "everything" to Amazon.
Many mixed emotions about that company. Too big. Drives small brick and mortar stores out. Employee abuse. Squeeze their sellers. Sounds just like big box retail !
But...internet shopping was to be inevitable. Amazon offers astounding selection. The price for free shipping is only part of the deal if you stream video, its a bargain. I hear Walmart is gaining and when I can I buy there. But that company isnt exactly benevolent either. Oy. The Waltons donate to the GQP.
Sorry you got scammed. Been there. We use different cards for online vs in person. And reserve others just for auto payments. What a world! Computers were supposed to make life easier!!!
Yeah, Bill, the person, Claudia from Columbia, was the only one @ Amazon who actually did anything proactive—she refunded me my prorated Prime fee because I could no longer access my account, tho the hacker could! I prefer to buy locally, even at a bit of a higher price, but live in a rural area and drive many miles through 3 towns stores—pretty much takes me a full day of schlepping to try and find what I am after & often come up empty….sigh, so online I go! Do miss the Prime vids tho!
Dunno. I know several happy long time owners of non-musked EVs
Actually, the past two years Tesla is getting outstripped by the competition, and they are coming up very fast.
VW ID4, Ioniq6, lots of alternatives that are less costly are popping up. There is even a cute little car out of California that can use solar cells mounted on its roof and hood to charge up completely, believe it or not.
Tesla made a real miscalculation in how they decided to pursue that self-driving function; there are far better, cheaper alternatives developing right now in Chinese EVs (China is already nearing the 30% mark as they've encouraged their population to switch out of gas cars, they have hundreds of new start-ups experimenting with possibilities).
Biden is blocking those EVs landing here for now because they would overwhelm our car industry much as the Japanese did in the 70s with their wonderfully built, cheap cars. But in the end, Tesla is toast, because Musk made some very bad business decisions and pissed away his lead. This guy is no genius.
Our new Ioniq 6 is not crap. Lots of good reviews. Fun to drive.
Is there also a hybrid Ionic? I'm looking for a good used hybrid!
Hi, Pax
Yes! I did a quick check just now and found several used Ionic hybrids -- but I'm not up to speed on the model designations, 5 or 6. We decided to keep our 2013 Prius Plug-in hybrid. It's been well-maintained and is in good condition. It's worth far more to us, relative to what the dealer would have given us for a trade-in. It's a bit lavish to have both cars. We almost never need two cars, as we're both retired. Part of our thinking is that we are watching the build-out of (reliable) charging stations, and we were thinking we might take the Prius on vacation instead of the new EV. And we're paying insurance on a basically idle car. The Prius has more cargo space than the Ioniq -- I can carry several 8-foot 2X4s, or 10-footers sticking out the back a foot or so, with the Prius's back hatch-door bungied to something on the underside of the car. Before we bought the Ionic I wished it didn't cost so much, but after driving it for about five minutes I am completely happy with it. It also has All Wheel Drive -- the on-board computer decides when to run in AWD -- we live in Wisconsin, so if we ever get winter conditions again, the sure-footed AWD should add a level of comfort.
Oooh, David, thx. I've been looking at plug in hybrids that have come up for sale and wondering if they can be used like a regular hybrid since I will never have a place to plug it in...I think I should stick to looking at a regular hybrid, tho..??
I have my 2nd EV Hyundai, Ioniq6. It is beautiful to drive and ride. And beutifully designed from hood to trunk (think Porsche)
No Tesla here, ever.
My 1st EV Hyundai was an adorable KONA; beloved by our local police as safe, affordable and EV.
I have a Chevy Bolt. I have been happily driving it since december 2017. There were some original problems but they were repaired under warranty. My husband installed a charger in our garage and I haven’t looked at a gas station in years. The up keep is also less. Here in California they are looking at ways to put chargers in apartment buildings to spread availability. Plus the feeling of not polluting and having a quieter car are heavenly. I should call Chevy and make a commercial, okay gotta go make that phone call.
And you'll still be locked in to their onerous service agreement.
Especially a "cybertruck". Have you seen those?
🤦🏻♀️ yeah, it’s a joke (and hazard!) on wheels!
Darth Musk is a Putin lover and should be on trial for treason. Not giving Ukraine access to his satellites is unforgivable.
Hard to believe that Musk's vainglorious meddling is not at odds with some manner of national security legislation.
Vainglorious is an apt word to describe Musk. So are amoral and sociopathic. Musk is more intelligent than Trump and has real money..
You can easily add narcissistic... And that, all in all, may make him more dangerous than Rump.
Kathy, you can add “natalist” too, one reason he has so many kids by several women. Ugh!
I'm wondering about that, too...
Treason only applies when we're at war, I recently found out. I mention it because DJT throws the word around and we have to be better than that! I understand the sentiment, though!
Meanwhile, NASA is dependent on SpaceX to rescue the astronauts stuck on the station, and our military is dependent on Starlink. Yay!
The US should nationalize both. Why are we allowing oligarchs to perform government functions? This feels like the 1890s.
Agreed….I think it is a dangerous path to go down.
Which is just what Trump wants.
May this country wake up to the false prophet and send the Republican Party into oblivion.
I'm hoping that Trump is given a long rope during the debate, time to ramble further and further off topic, while Kamala responds in positive, informative and short messages.
Problem is, the way the pundits and commentators frame it will determine who ’wins’ the debate. There is no dispassionate entity that can evaluate the level of stupidity or intelligence and provide a rational answer. Someone has to have the nuggets to read back one of Rumpty’s blatherings and call it what it is. And give Kamala a fair airing of the important things she is going to say. Hearing a sane literate person read back the effluent from Rumpet’s pie hole really ‘clarifies’ how insane it is. And Rump hasn’t become this way recently. It’s just a more extreme version of the same incoherence that started it all at the bottom of the escalator.
Mark, that reminds me to remind everyone of the upcoming "Major All-Day 'Dangerous Case of Donald Trump' Leadership Fitness Conference in Washington D. C." Organized by the World Mental Health Coalition. Conference date is Friday, September 27.
For information on the conference, including highlights from the conference, go to www.bandylee.com.
Hits the heart of it! A no win situation brewing in a predictable scenario. Requires strong skillful means to access stillness in order to be able to engage with the situation without succumbing to sheer terror and chaos (elemental rage). Mental health and spiritual teachings include a healthy dose of mindfulness in today’s world, but there’s the old adage about leading a horse to water. One is left praying and often quaking in their boots.
It's true, you can lead a horse to water, and you can't make them drink, but what if they do? And even if they don't, that still leaves you with useful information.
One can only hope. I think she is composed enough to keep her cool under tffg’s word salads!
Yes
Thank you for addressing tariffs as a tax not on foreign governments but a tax of imported goods. The idea of a 100% tariff on all Chinese goods means that those consumers who are currently buying Chinese products because they are much cheaper will see a 100% inflation on those items if the importers choose to pass along the cost. Image prices on 70-80% of items at your local Walmart doubled? How will a family that is already stretched handle 100% inflation?
https://www.americanmanufacturing.org/press-release/fact-sheet-walmarts-made-in-america-pledge/
Mary, the thing is, Trump has no idea what a tariff is and can't remember what he said it was either. Scary!
Unfortunately, this is true of almost every aspect of our economy. Does Trump know how much child care costs? Does he know how much preschool teachers earn? Has he ever shopped at a grocery store? Does he know how much a CEO's salary has increased compared with that of someone who buys bread and milk and eggs? Even worse than his not knowing is the fact that he doesn't care about knowing. When you only care about yourself, how can you understand anyone else's situation?
Believe it. Donald doesn't care and he's naturally incurious.
What you see on display is the actual person.; damaged - distant from reality, fearful of what he doesn't understand, emotionally stunted, incapable of relating to anybody else's needs or concerns, and not very bright. While he can be clever, his narrow perceptions keep him from connecting to most facets of 'real life'.
Betsy, in reality, the only person Trump can even imagine needing or experiencing anything is himself. Those minions are just there to cheer for whatever he says and to vote for him. He has told them he does not care about them, only wants their votes. They laugh and keep supporting the jerk. It is impossible for him to even contemplate those excellent situations you cited. They are not even anywhere within his capacity to imagine. How can someone like that even be considered to be president? That is just plain nuts!
I guarantee that Trump is not the slightest bit interested in childcare.
In a recent "event" meant to highlight inflation he stood in front of a table of breakfast food and claimed that the price of bacon had gone up by 5 or 6 times in 3 years ... which would make bacon around $30 a pound. He doesn't know anything about prices, wages, household budgeting, or childcare. His concept of how tariffs work is totally bonkers.
I doubt the man has ever been inside a grocery store.
Oh my…Betsy, you nailed it perfectly! I so agree.
It's, like, forcing other people to give you money. That's the long and sort of it for Trump.
A 100 percent tariff on Chinese made EVs was announced by the Biden administration this past May. I’m of two minds about it. More people would be inclined to purchase an EV if the price was lower. Most EVs coming into the country are built elsewhere, and it’s often a long wait to take delivery. It seems to be only Chevy that is producing a homegrown EV. Perhaps more manufacturing of EVs will now occur, which I hope is the intent of the tariff.
China is at least trying to do more about adapting to Climate Change and (slowly), working towards carbon neutrality by 2060, according to reports like:
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/unpacking-chinas-climate-priorities/
"...Adaptation over mitigation - Unlike its Western counterparts, though, China’s climate change policies have since the early 2000s accorded greater priority to adaptation than to mitigation. Consequently, its key mitigation targets, to peak greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, are not very ambitious given its ability to focus resources and centralize decision making and implementation..."
Counter productive levels of tariffs and past sell off of our IP and impact on our manufacturing capabilities means, to me, that we are failing to be able to not only in adaptation, but to fall seriously and needlessly short in ability to increase the rate at which we can become carbon neutral.
As the biggest polluters by far, we both need to pick up the pace, so we both need to be able to use the best technology and industrial development of material and human resources within our own countries. To me, balances in who produces more or less can occur but the capabilities to produce critical portions needs to be distributed so failures in any single country can be mitigated by making sure we don't end up without any at least backup capability here.
In general, I also worry that carelessly cutting off supplies of what we produce that is critical to other countries can backfire by them simply putting in the extra effort to learn how to produce the items themselves. Once they can do that, we can lose that market advantage (and strategic benefits).
We developed so much in the way of solar panels and super-magnet production, for example, but never followed through with enough production and too often end up with none of the competitive production capacity (or worse production capability, and well trained human resources in science, development, or quality production).
It reminds me of my old instructor's quip, "If you can't keep up, take notes." To that, I'd add your notes should include results of watching to see what the other students are learning, that you should be learning.
I personally don’t believe we have the existing infrastructure to support EVs, I am more for a slow and steady transition via the Hybrid and building to an EV population.
I didn't read the whole post because my first reaction is disgust. Of course the Russians are behind this. Of course MAGA heads ignore news out of Biden's DoJ. This is so tiring.
Of course our msm ignores this,
It actually was a story on NBC News with Lester Holt.
Big story all day on MSNBC.
Yes, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell showed the orange felon making that exact answer to a very well-articulated question on child care. It was painful to listen to.
Yes! Lawrence O’Donnell also specifically pointed out the enormous applause T got after that batch of word salad. Did anyone notice the names on the dais: the man on the far left back row name was Ed Cox. I’m old enough to remember Ed Cox as Tricia Nixon’s husband—Googled him—yep, that’s him and boy did he applaud that “answer!” Really saddened to see and hear that so-called response from the New York Economic Club😱. O’Donnell said just because someone is rich, doesn’t mean they are smart, and some are just “stupid.” Indeed,45 is proof of that, but to quote a Seinfeld episode: “he fell ass-backwards into money.”
Tricia's husband? Wow. I remember when she invited the Turtles to play at the White House.
Greed. Sad and simple.
The reason it so disjointed is that Trump really, hasn't, isn't and won't think or do anything about child care. He hasn't thought it out because like so many other things that fall out of his mouth they are empty and fatuous and he never expected anyone to ask a reasonable question about it. He just trying to be someone he isn't to pander for some votes in the media-scape.
Got that right Susan.
Trump’s dialogue on childcare sounds like something an unprepared college student might say on a test. Naturally the professor would cover it in red ink! Once the bullshit detector is plugged in, it’s quite obvious that Trump has no idea what he’s talking about! Maybe he had too much disinfectant during COVID! Damn, come on MSM!
Anthony, it’s obvious that, like grocery shopping, Trump has never experienced dealing with childcare. If he hasn’t personally experienced a painful experience, then it doesn’t merit any effort to solve the problem.
Correct Mary & specific reporters regardless of their professional employer can be easily be "followed" and/or strike up direct communications with byline authors in areas in which you -- yes that means you Reader-- have expertise and/or extremely valuable local facts.
It's 2024 folks digitally design your news feeds skillfully
I don’t like taring a full swath in one brush stroke. It’s not fair or accurate. Republicans ARE endorsing the Harris-Walz ticket so saying all Repubs are bad or wrong isn’t accurate. I, too, get frustrated with the “even handed” treatment practiced be some of the media outlets I follow. We need to be alert and practice our best insights by not swallowing anything whole without examining it no matter who is serving it! If we want to rise above the fray we must be diligent and careful and rise above it under our own energy.
Please, just tar away at will. Everyone, including the tiny fraction of Republicans who have seen the light, will know who you’re talking about. Besides, you will be 99% correct, which is damn good accuracy in political discourse.
All Republican POLITICIANS are bad. Liz Cheney is voting for Harris, which is great, but other than her condemning treason, on policy there is basically no separation between her and Trump.
Lex, yes, she voted with Trump 99% of the time.
Republican politicians would get nowhere without the devoted support of roughly 60% of white Americans. If their support drops to 50% of white Americans, the Republican Party will collapse.
I live in N.C., Rex. I'm well aware of this. :-)
Washington Post wrote a big story and gave it big play. Also hinted that more charges may be coming. I don't subscribe to the Times, but I saw the gave it big play, too. And for better or worse, a lot of other U.S. news outlets take their cues from what the Times (and, to a lesser extent, the Post) do with stories.
Thank you for that serving of "Trump word salad." If the MSM would publish a few of those, it would at least put on the record what bad shape he is in. Saying he is "for" something in the way the MSM does it is really a joke---how can you take anything he says seriously. (In contrast, take Project 2025 very seriously). Thanks too for clarifying "tariffs"---I continue to be amazed how many people don't understand that AMERICANS pay tariffs!!!! And the MSM are no help---they just repeat T's verbiage with no commentary!! Oh well---I repeat myself about the MSM and the Orange Menace. Both terminally stupid.
If you haven't, check Meidas Touch Network, on YouTube, their own website and also on FB. They've been reporting on 45's lunacy and quoting him directly for months, if not years. Reporting at the intersection of law and politics.
YouTube is not my go to but will check it out. Doubt that many will
I find myself too impatient with the talking heads. “Get to the point” resonates through my brain. Skipping ahead is a PIA. I guess that’s why I still prefer print to video.
Boy, you said a mouthful. Blather and more blather. That’s why I loved Walter. Just the facts, ma’am. My tolerance is about zip by this time in an election.
Perhaps you'll enjoy this interview done on one of the many Meidas Touch Network shows (The Weekend Show, hosted by Anthony Davis) done 9 months ago with HCR. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRBUREMUjVk&t=138s
There are many great interviews on MTN. I'm a subscriber to the network, not a booster or employee, by the way. : )
Her appearance with Politics Girl was also excellent.
Oh, I like Leigh McGowan a lot, but I missed her interview of HCR. Thanks for mentioning, I'll look it up.
Amen. Watching video is way too often a waste of time.
Meidas Touch now has over 3 million subscribers and is the fastest growing independent news network in the world.
They offer articles at their website, for those who prefer print.
Thanks, I’ll check how much
Thank you Dr, Richardson. I wish basic economics was taught in high school, maybe then people would understand the difference between a tariff and a tax. But then again, maybe not.
No wonder the trump team wants the mics muted for Tuesday's debate. That response you transcribed was pure gibberish. If that's how his mind has always worked it's no wonder he was a failure as a businessman and a wannabe president. My daughter made more sense at age 3
I actually was required to take Econ in high school. Opposite semester was government. Liked it enough to take it as an elective in college.
I'd like to see any Trump supporter try to read that transcript to a small audience of other Trump supporters, and require them to explain what he meant in each group of words that could be in any way they thought made any sense.
Can you imagine what Tim Russert could do if he interviewed Trump?
See this old 2008 article at:
https://people.com/celebrity/video-tim-russert-remembered/
"...Behind the desk at Meet The Press, Tim Russert had a knack for shredding even the savviest of politicians. Whether stumping gubernatorial candidate David Duke with a basic economic question in 1991, grilling President Bush on non-existent weapons of mass destruction 11 months after the invasion of Iraq, or tripping up Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on gun control last year, Russert earned his reputation as a TV tough guy..."
And many thought Biden had diminished mental acuity after the first debate. What about that incoherent answer Trump delivered on how he would make childcare affordable?
It was shocking — even for Trump. Made no sense whatsoever. He’s deteriorated and the corporate media, his cult, and oligarchs are ignoring it. The medical community also claims this and that ethical responsibility about commenting without examination but they too are shirking any responsibility and staying silent instead of providing a warning. Hopefully American voters have more common sense on Nov 5.
Shall we say the Trump at least presents "the appearance" of a cruel malignant narcissist? He seems to have the same de facto effect.
I’m not a psychiatrist or neurologist and honestly wonder what we might be observing.
Actually, he did answer the question. His answer is that he sees no problem with child care costs. He thinks he is going to make America Great again for rich people and that your child care costs do not matter.
Or any one of the answers/lies that he said during the debate.
It was the same question he dodged in the debate, launching into an unrelated topic. Tapper and Bash just let it go.
I’ll take the super deluxe Convicted Felon Word Salad with a side of Russian dressing to go, please.
Care for a side order of lies with that?
That side order is free (NOT).
😆
TRUMP’S INADVERTENT SENSE OF HUMOR
Dufus Donald has absolutely no sense of humor, especially as it relates to him. However, this Numbers Muddled Maven has triggered numerous belly laughs.
Skipping his being the most beautiful and his being a ‘stable genius,’ his economics cause me numerous guffaws.
1) A massive tax cut for fat cats would have a ‘trickle down’ effect for the great majority of Americans. Reagan’s“supply side economics” has been demonstrated fraudulent, as documented by David Stockman, his Director of the Budget Office. [The only thing that trickled down is pee.]
2) He was going to build a wall between Mexico and the US that Mexico would pay for. NOT A PESO. Money was taken from the military budget and elsewhere to construct a few miles of the ‘Trump wall’ which has proved ineffective.
3) He is thinking of replacing the income tax with massive global tariffs (‘which would be paid by exporter countries’). HUH? These tariffs would be paid by American consumers. Experts calculate that the average annual cost to middle class Americans would be between $2-3,000, with the wealthy being the only beneficiaries.
4) While Trump publicly is aghast at American inflation and price gorging, recently he has increased the membership fee at Mar a Lago from $700,000 to $1,000,000 (over 40%).
Now he is proposing an ‘efficiency committee’ to eliminate ‘trillions of dollars of misspending.’ This would be run by his new buddy, Elon Musk. I imagine that ‘social expenses,’ including health care and Social Security, would be their primary target.
Musk has demonstrated much of Trump’s me-me-me fiscal brilliance. With Tesla he is seeking $55 billion as compensation for his past financial fiddling. He bought Twitter for $44 billion, created X, stiffed banks who provided funding, and so far has lost at least $20 billion.
Oh yes, Musk has featured Trump in an ‘interview’ on X and may have promised $45 million monthly for Trump’s presidential campaign.
THIS IS LIKE PUTTING A FOX IN A CHICKEN COOP
Historically, we have a precedent for appointing a blue ribbon commission to assess the efficiency of US government and to recommend significant changes, The first was in 1947, when President Truman appointed ex-President Hoover to head the Hoover Commission. Major results were implemented by Truman and Eisenhower.
In 1953 President Eisenhower created another Hoover Commission, which again significantly improved government operations.
Trump/Musk improving government operations? HA HA HA!
P. S. Might Musk have a slight conflict of interest with Tesla and Space X?
Musk has not been above rumormongering and deepfake videos on Xitter. I don’t blame Lula da Silva from wanting to keep Musk’s dishonesty out of his nation. We’ve seen with Facebook that social media can be used maliciously, as it was used to fuel Myanmar’s 979 movement and the attacks, killing, rapes and exiling of the Rohingya people in Myanmar. No one has really been held accountable for this.
And of course, other countries would never stoop to raising tariffs on our exports
JL Spot on! Also, another guffaw as Trump seeks to use the sharp rise in tariffs under President McKinley in the 1890s to support his knuckle-headed, massive tariff ‘salvation’ today. Economically he is as wrong headed as ‘supply side economics.’
Thank you for this, my thoughts expressed well
Keith, you are being much too kind and generous in saying the only thing that trickled down was pee. At a minimum it was a thick brown slush and realistically big brown turds!!!
Anne Marie I wrote ‘pee’ in deference to sensitive Heather subscribers.Your explicitness is more flush with accuracy.
I think Heather is perfectly aware that, as she writes things like this, a steady macabre humor runs on.
The Russian bots, the far-right U.S. agents for Putin and other dictators, D.C. Republicans -- all of them in the House of Representatives, almost all in the Senate, and those even more outlandishly for monarchy and immunity from U.S. law on the corrupt Clarence court -- keep fulfilling clown show predictability. Or out-doing themselves, falling over themselves for sinking further in that spiral Heather kindly calls a "worldview."
Kamala and Tim, meanwhile, speak common sense for most Americans. So I love the contrast.
But remember, these Republicans may be ridiculously incompetent, egregiously liars, but they do cohere with the U.S. billionaires and their floods of dark money. They are still growing the wealth gap that Kamala and Tim address. But it ain't over. Absolute evil intends to keep widening that wealth gap. Intends further to demean, demoralize, and destroy American public education. And to keep paying as Musk and so many others do to foist that clown show on us, to end our democracy as that corrupt Clarence court has already been ruling to do.
Unfortunately, in addition to billionaires, Trump has upwards of 74 million devotees, including a majority of white Americans. The 74 million are the real problem and will continue to be thr problem even if Trump is defeated.
This is one white American who has loathed Trump from the beginning. I’ve never voted for any Republican presidential candidate since I was first able to vote in a presidential election in 1984. If you put lipstick on a pig, the pig is still a pig. There is also something negatively porcine about Trump’s greedy behavior.
I first became aware of fpotus when he gacked the USFL. I've hated him ever since.
My first presidential vote was cast in Oregon's Democratic May primary in 1976. The only times I have not voted Democratic was in primarys where I could not bring myself to vote for Clinton, and in the elections of 1980 and 1984 when the election was called prior to my ability to vote at the polls. I have never voted Republican, and have no plans to do so.
Yes, we will still have to find a way to live with them even if Trump goes down in flames
Deport Rupert and ditch his spokesmodels
You’d also have to deport Lachlan Murdoch, Rupert’s son who runs Fox.
The siblings are in a battle for control. Bill Barr is representing Rupert and Lachlan.
Boy, the evil attracts evil.
He replaced James who screwed up in the UK, as I recall.
Yes, Rex.
But if "The 74 million are the real problem," what about the schools that produced them?
Who taught these 74 million to enjoy criminals in high office, to enjoy one who brags of grabbing women, who gets found legally liable for sex abuse, who mocks the disabled, who campaigns with thumbs up in Arlington National Cemetery, who pals around with Putin, Orban, Kim, Mohammed bin Salman, Modi, Netanyahu, and Sisi, who inflicts a mob on the U.S. Capitol, who gets convicted by a jury of 34 felony counts, who praises Nazis, who boasts of taking away women's rights to make their own most personal decisions, and who, according to the Washington Post, lied over 30,000 times while four years in high office?
There's more, of course, Rex. And these 74,000,000 got outvoted in the last national election. But you worry about them, what about the U.S. schools that produced so many so copacetic with criminality, vulgarity, demagoguery, categorical hatreds, and worse?
How will Rupert interpret chump’s brilliance. Cut and paste, or will somebody break rank and call it crazy.
I saw some brief video of a woman on that channel, JD.
She was quite well calling him crazy, specifying his various positions she called bonkers.
I think it'll be a tidal wave, and more and more from that side will break with him as his lunacy grows too grotesque for more and more from there to ignore.
If Fox can make more money elsewhere, maybe. Won’t bet the farm on it.
2nd reply, JD. Have since seen that her name is Jessica Tarlov, co-host of Fox's "The Five."
An outlier on Fox, how very bizarre
TFG is rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
He IS the Titanic. And Kamala Harris is his iceberg about to disembowel him.
I certainly hope so!
sheesh...that is one heckuva "weave". mind-bending gymnastics to make sense of that one...or anything he says.
Rule number one: Don't try to make sense of nonsense. Just call it out for what it is.
Especially when it's a patent pile of lies.
JL, I'm stuck on "sea of mendacity" : ---)
The Artless Dodger
I just heard the same thing you wrote here on the Lawrence O'Donnell show. Trump made no sense and didn't answer the questions. People clapped and they are just as stupid! I hope he talks like this during the debate!
That baffling weird word salad on child care said so much nothing in so many words! And yet the “respectable” media tries to equate the two candidates and treat Trump as a “normal” candidate for fear of being accused of liberal bias (I’m looking at you, NPR). Thank Heaven for Heather and other writers here on Substack who tell the truth. We have work to do to get that truth out to voters!
Thank you Dr Richardson for being so clear.
It makes such a difference—at least for me and others I think.