Mid-Week Mayhem! Inauguration day, Jan. 20, 2025!

 

NOW WHAT?

 

Was Donald Drumpf a good president?

Here’s the biggest myth that Republican candidate Donald Trump is trying to sell to Americans and to the world: that he was a good president.

Trump’s continuously repeated falsehoods about his record as president have convinced many people who find him to be a horrible person, but nevertheless support him because of what Trump says about his term in office.

“Yes, I know, he’s 78, he’s not as sharp as he used to be, he lies all the time, he has cheated on his wives, he makes racist comments, he is a convicted felon, and he tried to carry out a coup after he lost the last elections. But he was a good president,” a Republican friend told me recently.

Let me share with you some facts to help fight political amnesia. In fact, Trump was one of the worst presidents in recent history. Here are the facts:

A larger deficit

On the economy, Trump left the biggest deficit in U.S. history.

Under Trump, the national debt grew much faster than during his successor Joe Biden. Like most populists, Trump cut taxes and spent as if there were no tomorrow, leaving a national debt that will have to be paid by our children and grandchildren for decades.

The national debt rose by almost $7.8 trillion to $28 trillion during Trump’s four years in office, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The debt has kept growing since, but at a significantly slower pace.

As for the country’s economic growth, the U.S. economy under Trump grew by an overall 6.8%. By comparison, it grew by 8.4% in the Biden years.

On the jobs’ front, Trump left office with 3 million fewer jobs than there were when he entered the White House. Granted, that was largely because of the pandemic, but Biden has added nearly 16 million jobs since then.

Granted, inflation was lower under Trump than under Biden. The pandemic disrupted supply chains from China and made consumer prices soar in America in 2021 and 2022. But inflation has since fallen to 2.4%, close to its pre-pandemic levels.

A weakened democracy

On democracy, Trump undermined democratic institutions and the rule of law like no other American president in recent memory. He is the first U.S. president I can remember who tried to stage a coup d’etat to stay in power.

Trump falsely claims to this day that he won the 2020 election, even after more than 60 courts and the conservative-majority Supreme Court found his objections to be unsubstantiated.

Then, he tacitly tried to incite rebellion on Jan. 6, 2021, when he waited for hours before trying to stop a pro-Trump mob from invading the U.S. Capitol in hopes of overturning the election result. He continues to praise the violent rioters who injured more than 100 police officers, calling them “patriots” and government “hostages.”

Emboldening dictators

On foreign policy, Trump weakened America’s standing in the world by picking fights with the closest U.S. allies while at the same time embracing dictators such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Accord and threatened to abandon the U.S.-European NATO military alliance. Trump’s threats to leave NATO significantly damaged the group’s unity and probably encouraged Putin to plan his 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Trump deserves credit for the Abraham Accords to help establish diplomatic ties between Israel and some Arab countries. But if you look at the world in terms of superpower-led blocs, Trump left power in 2020 with a weaker Western alliance and a stronger China and Russia.

Reproductive rights

On abortion, Trump appointed three conservative Supreme Court judges who played a crucial role in overturning Roe v. Wade, a ruling that had made abortions legal in the country for nearly 50 years. As a result, some states banned abortions, and some women reportedly died because they could not get proper medical care to end their pregnancies.

More hatred

On crime, hate crimes increased by 28% during Trump’s term and hate-motivated murders, mainly committed by white supremacists, reached their highest number in 28 years, according to FBI statistics.

Trump has exacerbated racial hatred in the country since he started his 2016 campaign falsely declaring that most Mexican undocumented immigrants are “rapists” and are “bringing crime” to America. In 2017, he said that there were “very fine people” among white supremacists and the anti-racism demonstrators who were protesting against them in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Trump’s racist statements have worsened since. He recently falsely claimed that Haitian immigrants are eating the pets of Americans in Springfield, Ohio. In an Oct. 7 radio interview, Trump said that unauthorized migrants who committed violent crimes have “bad genes,” a language reminiscent of Adolf Hitler’s efforts to dehumanize Jews.

Also, in 2020, the last year of the Trump presidency, there was the biggest one-year increase in the number of murders since the 1960s, according the Politifact fact checking website. In addition to the pandemic and the George Floyd riots, Democrats attribute the 30% rise in murders to the relaxation of gun control laws under Trump.

False border promises

On immigration, Trump never completed the border fence nor got Mexico to pay for it, as he had promised in his 2016 campaign. Trump now claims to have built much of the current 654 miles of border wall, but most of it was already in place and repaired or upgraded during his years in office, according to Customs and Border Protection data.

On the COVID-19 Pandemic, Trump scorned face masks and at one point asked Americans to inject themselves with disinfectant to fight the virus. Scientists say many of the 400,000 Covid deaths during his presidency could have been averted if he had exhorted people to get vaccinated.

The list of Trump administration failures goes on and on. So if you are planning to vote for Trump because of something specific he has promised, and you are willing to believe a compulsive liar, go ahead. But please don’t tell me he was a good president: he was a disaster on virtually all fronts!

By Andres Oppenheimer

INTERESTING TIMES, KIDS.... INTERESTING TIMES!

 

(No comment!)

Saturday Morning Confusion: DRUMPF!

 

What is... and what never should be done! (With apologies to Led Zep!)

 As a Canadian, I am obligated to act as an "Honest Broker" in matters of U.S. politics... that's why I had to post THIS... when I ran across it today!

D R U M P F !

 

January 20th, 2025...!

 

DRUMPF!

SUNDAY MORNING FUNNIES: PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE!

Well, kids, you might not know it but the Presidential Debate between Drumpf and Biden took place this weekend so that they could tape it and then make any adjustments they felt would be necessary! Fortunately, the Perspective Research Department managed to get a rough copy of the debate and we now present it here........!

Drumpf II

 

Drumpf!

Welcome Home!

Allan: 

I am a Canadian who took advantage of a job opportunity and moved to the USA in the mid-1980s, on an H1 visa. 

I eventually became a US citizen. 

But the USA is now on a path I want no part of. 

Given my values, opinions and political views, I am a far better fit in Canada. 

I moved back to Ontario a few months ago and bought into a small business.

I read history, and I think the US is going to continue to deteriorate, and there will be many people wishing they could leave for another country. 

I would not consider moving (back) to the USA.

***

Here's something "The Mrs. Herself" sent me!!!!!!! 

Saturday Morning Confusion: Drumpf!

STILL DON'T BELIEVE THAT TRUMP IS THE "ANTI-CHRIST?"

(Good thing I'm not the least bit religious!)

 

***

BONUS: We reversed the polarity on the "Way Back Machine" and took this picture of Kim Kardashian 20 years from now!

Mid-Week Mayhem!

 The Pope and trump are on the same stage in Yankee Stadium in front of a large crowd.

The Pope leans towards Trump and says: “Do you know that with one little wave of my hand, I can make every person in this crowd go wild with joy?

This joy will not be a momentary display but will go deep into their hearts and they will forever speak of this day and rejoice!

Trump replied; “I seriously doubt that!”

“With one little wave of your hand?”

“Show me!”

So the pope backhanded him and knocked him off the stage, AND THE CROWD ROARED AND CHEERED WILDLY, and there was happiness throughout the land!

(Pope Francis is about to hit Drumpf on the head to shut him up!!!!)

Happy Easter From Drumpf!

 

And then there were none!

 

Oh Shit! (again)

Allan: 

What is happening in the hearts of former President Donald Trump’s supporters?

As an anthropologist who studies peace and conflict, I went to the annual meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, to find out. I wanted to better understand the Make America Great Again faithful – and their die-hard support for Trump.

The event began on Feb. 21, 2024, in National Harbor, Maryland, with Steve Bannon’s routine, untrue banter about how President Joe Biden stole the 2020 election, and it peaked with an angry speech from Trump three days later. In between, I sat among the MAGA masses listening to speaker after speaker express outrage about American decline – and their hope for Trump’s reelection.

Everywhere I turned, people wore MAGA regalia – hats, pins, logos and patches, many with Trump’s likeness. I spent breaks in the exhibition hall, which featured a Jan. 6 insurrection-themed pinball machine featuring “Stop the Steal,” “Political Prisoners” and “Babbitt Murder” rally modes and a bus emblazoned with Trump’s face. Admirers scribbled messages on the bus such as, “We have your back” and “You are anointed and appointed by God to be the President.”

Those on the left who dismiss the CPAC as a gathering of MAGA crazies and racists who support a wannabe dictator do not understand that, from this far-right perspective, there are compelling and even urgent reasons to support Trump. Indeed, they believe, as conservative politician Tulsi Gabbard stated in her CPAC speech on Feb. 22, that the left’s claims about Trump’s authoritarianism are “laughable.” This is because CPAC attendees falsely perceive President Joe Biden as the one who is attacking democracy.

Here are my top three takeaways from CPAC about Trump supporters’ current priorities and thinking.

1. There’s a Reagan dinner – but CPAC is Trump’s party

Former President Ronald Reagan runs in CPAC’s DNA. Reagan spoke at the inaugural CPAC in 1974 and went on to speak there a dozen more times.

In 2019, the conservative advocacy group the American Political Union, which hosts CPAC, published a book of Reagan’s speeches with commentary by conservative luminaries. In the preface, Matt Schlapp, the head of the American Political Union, says he often asks himself, “What would Reagan do?”

CPAC’s pomp gala, held Friday, is still called the “Ronald Reagan Dinner.” But Reagan is otherwise hardly mentioned at the conference.

Reagan’s ideas of American exceptionalism have been supplanted by Trump’s populist story of apocalyptic decline. Reagan’s folksy tone, relative moderation and clear quips are long gone, replaced by fury, grievance and mean-spirited barbs.

2. There’s a method to the madness

Many commentators and critics, including groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center, view CPAC as a frightening or bizarre gathering of white nationalists who have a nativist agenda.

In 2021, commentators said the CPAC stage was shaped like a famous Nazi design called the Othala Rune, which is a hate symbol. Schlapp denied this claim and said that CPAC supports the Jewish community, but various commentators took note of the uncanny resemblance.

This year, CPAC refused to give press credentials to various media outlets, including The Washington Post, despite the organization’s emphasis on free speech.

Some speakers, including Trump, have been known to regularly voice support for white nationalism and right-wing extremism, including speakers who promote the false idea that there is a plot to replace the white population. I discuss this idea in my 2021 book, “It Can Happen Here: White Power and the Rising Threat of Genocide in the US.”

Indeed, the U.S.-Mexico border was a constant topic at this year’s CPAC, which included controversial anti-immigrant speakers such as the head of Spain’s far-right Vox party and a representative of Hungary, whose leader stated at the 2022 CPAC that Europeans should not become “mixed-race.” Hungary will also host a CPAC meeting in April 2024.

Many of the sessions have alarming titles like, “Burning Down the House,” “Does Government Even Matter” and “Going Full Hungarian.” There are right-wing, populist speakers like Bannon and U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz.

Overall, the program is informed by a conservative logic that largely boils down to God, family, tradition, law and order, defence and freedom.

Of these, God looms largest. As a result, CPAC’s hardcore conservative Christian orientation is anti-abortion rights, homophobic and oriented toward traditional family structure and what it considers morality.

Schlapp co-wrote a book in 2022 that warns of the dangers of “evil forces” – what he considers to be progressives, the radical left and American Marxists. Schlapp’s book title even dubs these forces “the desecrators.” Such inflammatory language is frequently used at CPAC, including by Trump during his Saturday speech.

3. Trump believers think he is their saviour

CPAC’s love of Trump is shocking to many on the left. But at CPAC, Trump is viewed as America’s saviour.

According to his base, Trump delivered on abortion by appointing Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. They believe that, despite evidence of mixed results, Trump had wide successes at securing the border and creating jobs. For example, during Trump’s time as president, the U.S. economy lost nearly 3 million jobs, and apprehensions of undocumented migrants at the border rose.

Trump’s CPAC speech, like his campaign speeches, harped on such supposed achievements – as well as Biden’s alleged “destruction” of the country.

Conservatives roll their eyes at liberal fears of Trump the despot. Like all of us, they acknowledge, that Trump has flaws. They say that some of his comments about women and minorities are cringeworthy, but not evidence of an underlying misogyny and hatefulness, as many critics contend.

Ultimately, CPAC conservatives believe Trump is their best bet to defeat the radical-left “desecrators” who seek to thwart him at every turn – including, as they constantly complained at CPAC, social media bans, “fake news” takedowns, rigged voting, bogus lawsuits, unfair justice, and lies about what they call the Jan. 6, 2021, “protest”.

Despite these hurdles, Trump battles on toward the Republican nomination for presidential candidate – the hero whom CPAC conservatives view as the last and best hope to save the USA.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing facts and analysis to help you make sense of our complex world.

It was written by: Alexander Hinton, Rutgers University - Newark.

(Wrong Finger Drumpf!)

Drumpf!

 

       



                          

   

DRUMPF!

 BREAKING: A reporter who has covered Donald Trump for two decades sounds the alarm about his profound cognitive decline and predicts that he's about to get even worse.

The media has been so fixated on all of Trump's court cases that they've failed to notice his mind is completely falling apart...

MSNBC's Jonathan Lemire was speaking with Morning Joe's Joe Scarborough, who stated that: "I think it's going to be harder and harder for the campaign to manage this guy who in just my opinion looks like he's in a serious state of decline and seriously is so confused."

Before their conversation, Scarborough mocked Trump at length for once again mixing up Barack Obama and Joe Biden during a Fox News interview.

"He's still thinking about the guy that he started the birther conspiracy theory about back in 2011," said Scarborough.

"Yeah, I mean I was a Metro reporter with the New York Daily News and covered Trump from time to time, fifteen, twenty years ago," Lemire said. "And it's very clear he's not the same guy he was then and that post about presidential immunity also had the great Trump tell of this era, which is when he goes to all-caps."

"When he goes to all-caps, and it is an all-caps screed, particularly about his legal predicaments, you know it is a window into how upset and anxious he is," he went on. "And that was the night where he had been posting overnight repeatedly about E. Jean Carroll and other, quote 'witch hunts' and then yesterday morning went so far as to say this, to have needing that 'full immunity' for even events that cross the line."

"This is something that feels like not only, of course, a scary projection of what could come in a second Trump term where he would say, 'I could do whatever I want and can't be prosecuted,'" he added.

Scarborough jumped in to say "this will happen" if Trump wins another term. He and Lemire then both agreed that Trump has basically confessed to crimes by admitting that he "crossed the line" and needs immunity.

There can really be no arguing here. Donald Trump is in obvious cognitive decline. Simply watching any one of his recent interviews or rambling speeches will confirm that fact.

The man belongs in a mental facility, not in the Oval Office.

Saturday Morning Confusion: Need more Drumpf?

 

BONUS!