Month: March 2017

Trump Lies to Undermine the Media

Buck Banks

And he lied, of course. And I don’t mean in the speech itself. He lied directly to the faces of the media muckety-mucks that afternoon, telling them that he was going to embrace some kind of immigration reform. For a few hours, much of the press duly reported this — until they heard the speech itself, which did no such thing. The lie, we were told, was a ‘misdirection,’ in order to get some favorable coverage from the media that afternoon. … But think about that for a minute. This wasn’t a trial balloon, delivered by some anonymous sources to see the impact of a potential policy. This wasn’t even a defensible fib, for national-security reasons. It was an outright lie from the president himself in order to delegitimize the press. If the New York Times or the evening news reports something completely untrue — indeed refuted just a few hours later — what happens to their credibility? Bannon is not kidding when he describes the free press as the opposition. For shameless demagogues, it always is. And this creepily authoritarian administration will happily lie to its face.

— Andrew Sullivan

‘Trumpism’ Defined

Buck Banks

The first thing we learned was that Trumpism is an utter repudiation of modern conservatism. For the last 40 years, the Republican Party has been a coalition of three tendencies [foreign-policy hawks, social conservatives, fiscal hawks]… Trump rejected or ignored all of them. … Trump’s speech … offered those of us who want to replace him an occasion to ask the big question: How in the 21st century should government unleash initiative and dynamism while also preserving order? Trump’s answer: Nationalize intimidation but privatize compassion. Don’t look to government to offer a warm hand; look to it to confront your enemies with a hard fist.

— David Brooks

Vets Decry Draft Dodger Donald’s Military Drag on War Ship

Jon Ponder
Tyrants love to dress up in uniforms
Tyrants love to dress up in uniforms

Donald Trump fled the Russiagate tempest swirling around his White House yesterday and gave a speech aboard the USS Gerald R.Ford in Virginia. The ship’s crew gave him an admiral’s cap that he wore along with a flight jacket — despite the fact that Donald dodged the draft during the Vietnam War, taking no less than five deferments.

USA Today noted that actual veterans were outraged by the so-called president’s playing dress-up in military attire.

[…]

10 Sources Say Yemen Raid Yielded no Intelligence

Buck Banks

10

“The Pentagon says Navy SEALs scooped up laptops, hard drives and cell phones in last month’s Yemen raid, but multiple U.S. officials told NBC News that none of the intelligence gleaned from the operation so far has proven actionable or vital — contrary to what President Trump said in his speech to Congress Tuesday. … Ten current U.S. officials across the government who have been briefed on the details of the raid told NBC News that so far, no truly significant intelligence has emerged from the haul.”