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Our Dishonest President

  • PART IOur Dishonest President
  • PART IIMonday
  • PART IIITuesday
  • PART IVWednesday

It was no secret during the campaign that Donald Trump was a narcissist and a demagogue who used fear and dishonesty to appeal to the worst in American voters. The Times called him unprepared and unsuited for the job he was seeking, and said his election would be a “catastrophe.”

Still, nothing prepared us for the magnitude of this train wreck. Like millions of other Americans, we clung to a slim hope that the new president would turn out to be all noise and bluster, or that the people around him in the White House would act as a check on his worst instincts, or that he would be sobered and transformed by the awesome responsibilities of office.

Instead, seventy-some days in — and with about 1,400 to go before his term is completed — it is increasingly clear that those hopes were misplaced.

In a matter of weeks, President Trump has taken dozens of real-life steps that, if they are not reversed, will rip families apart, foul rivers and pollute the air, intensify the calamitous effects of climate change and profoundly weaken the system of American public education for all.

His attempt to de-insure millions of people who had finally received healthcare coverage and, along the way, enact a massive transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich has been put on hold for the moment. But he is proceeding with his efforts to defang the government’s regulatory agencies and bloat the Pentagon’s budget even as he supposedly retreats from the global stage.

“It is impossible to know where his presidency will lead or how much damage he will do to our nation.”SHARE THIS QUOTE

These are immensely dangerous developments which threaten to weaken this country’s moral standing in the world, imperil the planet and reverse years of slow but steady gains by marginalized or impoverished Americans. But, chilling as they are, these radically wrongheaded policy choices are not, in fact, the most frightening aspect of the Trump presidency.

What is most worrisome about Trump is Trump himself. He is a man so unpredictable, so reckless, so petulant, so full of blind self-regard, so untethered to reality that it is impossible to know where his presidency will lead or how much damage he will do to our nation. His obsession with his own fame, wealth and success, his determination to vanquish enemies real and imagined, his craving for adulation — these traits were, of course, at the very heart of his scorched-earth outsider campaign; indeed, some of them helped get him elected. But in a real presidency in which he wields unimaginable power, they are nothing short of disastrous.

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Although his policies are, for the most part, variations on classic Republican positions (many of which would have been undertaken by a President Ted Cruz or a President Marco Rubio), they become far more dangerous in the hands of this imprudent and erratic man. Many Republicans, for instance, support tighter border security and a tougher response to illegal immigration, but Trump’s cockamamie border wall, his impracticable campaign promise to deport all 11 million people living in the country illegally and his blithe disregard for the effect of such proposals on the U.S. relationship with Mexico turn a very bad policy into an appalling one.


In the days ahead, The Times editorial board will look more closely at the new president, with a special attention to three troubling traits:

1Trump’s shocking lack of respect for those fundamental rules and institutions on which our government is based. Since Jan. 20, he has repeatedly disparaged and challenged those entities that have threatened his agenda, stoking public distrust of essential institutions in a way that undermines faith in American democracy. He has questioned the qualifications of judges and the integrity of their decisions, rather than acknowledging that even the president must submit to the rule of law. He has clashed with his own intelligence agencies, demeaned government workers and questioned the credibility of the electoral system and the Federal Reserve. He has lashed out at journalists, declaring them “enemies of the people,” rather than defending the importance of a critical, independent free press. His contempt for the rule of law and the norms of government are palpable.

2His utter lack of regard for truth. Whether it is the easily disprovable boasts about the size of his inauguration crowd or his unsubstantiated assertion that Barack Obama bugged Trump Tower, the new president regularly muddies the waters of fact and fiction. It’s difficult to know whether he actually can’t distinguish the real from the unreal — or whether he intentionally conflates the two to befuddle voters, deflect criticism and undermine the very idea of objective truth. Whatever the explanation, he is encouraging Americans to reject facts, to disrespect science, documents, nonpartisanship and the mainstream media — and instead to simply take positions on the basis of ideology and preconceived notions. This is a recipe for a divided country in which differences grow deeper and rational compromise becomes impossible.

3His scary willingness to repeat alt-right conspiracy theories, racist memes and crackpot, out-of-the-mainstream ideas. Again, it is not clear whether he believes them or merely uses them. But to cling to disproven “alternative” facts; to retweet racists; to make unverifiable or false statements about rigged elections and fraudulent voters; to buy into discredited conspiracy theories first floated on fringe websites and in supermarket tabloids — these are all of a piece with the Barack Obama birther claptrap that Trump was peddling years ago and which brought him to political prominence. It is deeply alarming that a president would lend the credibility of his office to ideas that have been rightly rejected by politicians from both major political parties.


Where will this end? Will Trump moderate his crazier campaign positions as time passes? Or will he provoke confrontation with Iran, North Korea or China, or disobey a judge’s order or order a soldier to violate the Constitution? Or, alternately, will the system itself — the Constitution, the courts, the permanent bureaucracy, the Congress, the Democrats, the marchers in the streets — protect us from him as he alienates more and more allies at home and abroad, steps on his own message and creates chaos at the expense of his ability to accomplish his goals? Already, Trump’s job approval rating has been hovering in the mid-30s, according to Gallup, a shockingly low level of support for a new president. And that was before his former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, offered to cooperate last week with congressional investigators looking into the connection between the Russian government and the Trump campaign.

“Those who oppose the new president’s reckless and heartless agenda must make their voices heard.”SHARE THIS QUOTE

On Inauguration Day, we wrote on this page that it was not yet time to declare a state of “wholesale panic” or to call for blanket “non-cooperation” with the Trump administration. Despite plenty of dispiriting signals, that is still our view. The role of the rational opposition is to stand up for the rule of law, the electoral process, the peaceful transfer of power and the role of institutions; we should not underestimate the resiliency of a system in which laws are greater than individuals and voters are as powerful as presidents. This nation survived Andrew Jackson and Richard Nixon. It survived slavery. It survived devastating wars. Most likely, it will survive again.

But if it is to do so, those who oppose the new president’s reckless and heartless agenda must make their voices heard. Protesters must raise their banners. Voters must turn out for elections. Members of Congress — including and especially Republicans — must find the political courage to stand up to Trump. Courts must safeguard the Constitution. State legislators must pass laws to protect their citizens and their policies from federal meddling. All of us who are in the business of holding leaders accountable must redouble our efforts to defend the truth from his cynical assaults.

The United States is not a perfect country, and it has a great distance to go before it fully achieves its goals of liberty and equality. But preserving what works and defending the rules and values on which democracy depends are a shared responsibility. Everybody has a role to play in this drama.

This is the first in a series.

The problem with Trump

A series of Times editorials

  1. Our Dishonest President
  2. Coming Monday
  3. Coming Tuesday
  4. Coming Wednesday
Chief

 Is it possible Trump is so rich that he has gotten away with lots in the past and by his own doing it will be his downfall? Every negative asinine action taken by him is seen not only througout the country but the world over and no amount of riches can now save him. Perhaps this was always the plan and the only way that ..ahem...FILTHHEAD can be taken down.

cain
Tola posted:

Trump should extend his Mid East holiday and really enjoy it, because he might  not like what is waiting for him back home.

On second thought, maybe he should seek  asylum  in Russia and keep what is left of his good name.

I'm anxiously waiting to see how he handles a few issues, then y'all will see me cussing up like Nehru.  

FM
skeldon_man posted:
ksazma posted:

Ivanka is in the White House to ensure that Trump doesn't do anything stupid. The heat is going to get intensified and America does use the death penalty for treason. Trump is on very quick sand.

Ivanka is going to spy on the staff. When she finds a traitor, she will will go "I am telling daddy on you", nah nah nah b

oo boo".

   Do you see the folly of supporting an idiot like Trump now?

FM

All well and good but the worst parts of his agenda are perfectly in line with what Ryan and Pence will do.  The difference is that Trump is so incompetent that he will most likely not be able to implement this disaster.

An alliance between a President Pence and Paul Ryan would be the real disaster.  Let us hope that Trump's impeachment, or recall comes AFTER the Dems win back the House and the Senate, then they could then block a President Pence.

Do not remove the probability that Pence isn't in the background doing his best to ensure that Trump is removed, so he can implement his Christian Taliban agenda and Ryan can make his heroine Ayn Rand proud.

FM
caribny posted:

All well and good but the worst parts of his agenda are perfectly in line with what Ryan and Pence will do.  The difference is that Trump is so incompetent that he will most likely not be able to implement this disaster.

An alliance between a President Pence and Paul Ryan would be the real disaster.  Let us hope that Trump's impeachment, or recall comes AFTER the Dems win back the House and the Senate, then they could then block a President Pence.

Do not remove the probability that Pence isn't in the background doing his best to ensure that Trump is removed, so he can implement his Christian Taliban agenda and Ryan can make his heroine Ayn Rand proud.

You can be on to something Carib

Chief
ksazma posted:

Pence is beginning to look like damaged goods now so he may not survive this scandal either. But I agree that this can't blow up before the Dems take back the house and senate next year because Ryan isn't leaning too far out of Trump's Cliff.

Is he?  The constitution says that the VP replaces the President if the President is unable to serve his full term. 

In the interim the VP sits quietly and smiles.  Maybe this is deliberate to protect the constitution from having to deal with a double impeachment, or recall.

FM
Chief posted:
 

You can be on to something Carib

Any one who thinks that the Republicans are stupid fool themselves. I remember warning BEFORE the election that Hillary's victory wasn't assured and that there could have been a Midwest surprise.

The Dems never disappoint with their tendency to snatch victory out of their mouths.  Most Americans support their agenda and yet they have lost most areas of government, with Obama's victories being the only successes over the past 8 years.

FM
caribny posted:
ksazma posted:

Pence is beginning to look like damaged goods now so he may not survive this scandal either. But I agree that this can't blow up before the Dems take back the house and senate next year because Ryan isn't leaning too far out of Trump's Cliff.

Is he?  The constitution says that the VP replaces the President if the President is unable to serve his full term. 

In the interim the VP sits quietly and smiles.  Maybe this is deliberate to protect the constitution from having to deal with a double impeachment, or recall.

Suppose we find out that Pence also colluded with the Russians?

FM
ksazma posted:
 

Suppose we find out that Pence also colluded with the Russians?

Doubt it. Pence was brought in at the late stages to woo the Bible Thumpers over to Trump.  This was around the puzzy grabbing period when folks were worried about whether they would vote for a sinner like Trump,

He wasn't begging for a job, but a chance to implement his Christian Taliban agenda.  That was the deal that he and Trump worked out.

It is perfectly plausible that setting up Trump for a quick impeachment (or recall) would fit well into his plan. Just about now Trump is probably realizing that being president isn't as much fun as he thought. And he isn't going to be allowed to be a Putinesque dictator either.

FM
caribny posted:
ksazma posted:
 

Suppose we find out that Pence also colluded with the Russians?

Doubt it. Pence was brought in at the late stages to woo the Bible Thumpers over to Trump.  This was around the puzzy grabbing period when folks were worried about whether they would vote for a sinner like Trump,

He wasn't begging for a job, but a chance to implement his Christian Taliban agenda.  That was the deal that he and Trump worked out.

It is perfectly plausible that setting up Trump for a quick impeachment (or recall) would fit well into his plan. Just about now Trump is probably realizing that being president isn't as much fun as he thought. And he isn't going to be allowed to be a Putinesque dictator either.

Any replacement of Trump will be tantamount to a Putsch!  It could have dire consequences to the plotters and their agitators!

FM
Chief posted:

Trump seems like he is in trouble.

He asked quite a few to " make the Russia investigation to go away".

Trump is having a rude awakening that his crookedness in business, is not working for him as  President of the United States.

Even his billions cannot save him from the constitution. Power to ' We the People'.

Tola
Tola posted:
Chief posted:

Trump seems like he is in trouble.

He asked quite a few to " make the Russia investigation to go away".

Trump is having a rude awakening that his crookedness in business, is not working for him as  President of the United States.

Even his billions cannot save him from the constitution. Power to ' We the People'.

We the people?  I thought you preventing suicide in Guyana, or that ain't going too well?  Trump awakening, true deh, and you can relate as you see, suicide still tearing tail and BJ and the PPP long gone!

You need to share some of your wisdom on "limits of power" with [sleeping] DAG!!  He rass on flat tire every day!

FM

Jagdeo  and the PPP long gone to their millions  and mansions, but what they left behind, the people have to deal with. The damage is so severe, it might take generations to get anywhere  close to normal. If the trend of the present government is any indication, all dem Indians should return to India and you with them. BTW you gonna tell us why you had to leave ?  I got my own version from your colleagues.

Do you ever have anything positive to say, or does the cat pee in your dhal every morning.

You are always so critical of the present government. Don't you feel hypocritical to condemn, yet take de man millions in grant for your EC agency ?

In your mind you think you pick heroes, but to everyone else they are bunch of losers. Lets see if Trump will try to use his billions against the constitution of the USA, or his ass gonna get fried.   

Tola
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Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, during a briefing last month. CreditDoug Mills/The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, resigned on Friday morning, telling President Trump he vehemently disagreed with the appointment of the New York financier Anthony Scaramucci as communications director.

Mr. Trump offered Mr. Scaramucci the job at 10 a.m. The president requested that Mr. Spicer stay on, but Mr. Spicer told Mr. Trump that he believed the appointment was a major mistake, according to person with direct knowledge of the exchange.

Mr. Scaramucci, who founded the global investment firm SkyBridge Capital and is a Fox News Channel contributor, is known for his spirited on-air defense of Mr. Trump, but he also enjoys good relationships with journalists from an array of outlets, including those the president has labeled “fake news.”

Photo
 
Anthony Scaramucci at Trump Tower last year. Mr. Scaramucci, who founded the global investment firm SkyBridge Capital and is a Fox News contributor, is known for his spirited on-air defense of President Trump.CreditSam Hodgson for The New York Times

Mr. Spicer’s turbulent tenure as the president’s top spokesman was marked by a combative style with the news media that spawned a caricature of him on “Saturday Night Live.”

Continue reading the main story

 

His rumored departure has been one of the longest-running internal sagas in an administration brimming with dissension and intrigue. A former Republican National Committee spokesman and strategist, Mr. Spicer was a frequent target of the president’s ire — and correctives — during the first few months of the administration.

His resignation is a blow to the White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, the former Republican Party chairman who brought Mr. Spicer into the West Wing despite skepticism from Mr. Trump, who initially questioned his loyalty.

Mr. Scaramucci was to meet with Mr. Priebus on Friday, according to a West Wing official — and applause could be heard in the second-floor communications hallway when Mr. Scaramucci was introduced.

GRAPHIC

All Joking Aside, Here’s How Sean Spicer Shook Up the White House Press Briefing

Mr. Spicer typically calls on media organizations outside the mainstream before getting to more traditional news outlets.

 OPEN GRAPHIC

During the transition, Mr. Trump had planned to appoint Mr. Scaramucci, a 52-year-old Harvard Law graduate from Long Island, as director of his office of public liaison, but the offer was pulled at the request of Mr. Priebus over concerns about Mr. Scaramucci’s overseas investments.

His appointment Friday came two months after the previous communications director, Mike Dubke, stepped down. Mr. Trump was frustrated with Mr. Priebus over the slow pace of finding a replacement, according to a half-dozen people familiar with the situation.

Mr. Trump made the appointment over the objection of Mr. Priebus, who thought Mr. Scaramucci lacked the requisite organizational or political experience. But the president believed Mr. Scaramucci, a ferocious defender of Mr. Trump’s on cable television, was best equipped to play the same role in-house, and he offered him a role with far-reaching powers independent of Mr. Priebus’s.

<button class="button comments-button theme-speech-bubble-large" data-skip-to-para-id="">979COMMENTS</button>

Mr. Spicer flatly rejected the president’s offer of a position subordinate to Mr. Scaramucci, according to two administration officials familiar with the exchange.

The appointment of Mr. Scaramucci, a favorite of Mr. Trump’s earliest campaign supporters, was backed by the president’s daughter Ivanka, his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, the officials said.

Continue reading the main story
 
Chief

Americans has been toying with this infatuation that somehow a successful business person would do well in government totally ignoring the fact that a successful business person is programmed to retain as much income as possible at the expense of human needs while the government is primarily concerned with human needs and go about securing revenue to fulfil those needs. The experiment has finally been accomplished and I believe that because it will prove to be a failure, the infatuation will eventually die a slow death. 

FM
ksazma posted:

Americans has been toying with this infatuation that somehow a successful business person would do well in government totally ignoring the fact that a successful business person is programmed to retain as much income as possible at the expense of human needs while the government is primarily concerned with human needs and go about securing revenue to fulfil those needs. The experiment has finally been accomplished and I believe that because it will prove to be a failure, the infatuation will eventually die a slow death. 

Everyone is encouraged to remember the saying 'Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad'.... as a country, for what it has perpetrated on numerous peoples around the globe, America and its allies have much to atone for !

K
Chief posted:

Now I understand what is happening to Bibi , Nehru and the rest of the Ppp crew.

They are running mad because the God's want to destroy them . 

Thanks Keff!

Chief, each of us should take a few minutes to research and reflect on what the USA and its lapdogs did in Cuba, Grenada, Vietnam, Iraq, Libya, Egypt, etc. .... and even our own little Guyana ! They have openly and brazenly killed many hundreds of thousands of people to perpetuate their power and control of the resources of numerous other nations ! Vietnam was some years ago but substantially in excess of a million Vietnamese were killed; not only by the use of conventional weaponry but by various chemical agents as well. On the basis of a pack of lies, Iraq was invaded and, apart from the trillions of dollars worth of oil that was openly pilfered by the USA and England, more than a million Iraqis paid with their lives. Which decent human being can forget the venomous words of Madeline Albright when she was asked about the deaths of more than a million Iraqi children as a result of the infamous 'oil for food' program ? She brazenly said 'it was worth the price' ! To this day, they continue their tactics of bullying many other smaller nations. Now that you have that orangutan as your president, and particularly in view of the fact that his first overseas visit was to Israel, one does not have to guess what his foreign policy motives are. I have personally been to a number of these countries and, as a part of my own routine, I always make it a point to speak to the local people, particularly older folks ... it has  been mind-boggling to hear their sad stories of what was done to them !

K
Photo
 
Reince Priebus, seen in June, was forced out as the White House chief of staff on Friday.CreditAl Drago/The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff who failed to impose order on a chaos-wracked West Wing, was pushed out on Friday after a stormy six-month tenure, and President Trump replaced him with John F. Kelly, the secretary of homeland security and retired four-star Marine general.

Mr. Trump announced Mr. Kelly’s appointment on Twitter shortly before 5 p.m. and only afterward sent out another message thanking Mr. Priebus for his service. “We accomplished a lot together and I am proud of him!” Mr. Trump wrote.

Mr. Priebus’s ouster was the latest convulsion in a White House that has been whipsawed by feuds and political setbacks in recent days. The president became convinced that Mr. Priebus was not strong enough to run the White House operation and that he needed a general to take charge. Mr. Kelly, who has demonstrated strong leadership at the Department of Homeland Security, had become a favorite of Mr. Trump’s.

Just hours earlier, the president had heaped praise on Mr. Kelly at an event in Long Island talking about the battle against the violent MS-13 gang. “I want to congratulate John Kelly, who has done an incredible job of secretary of homeland security,” the president said. “One of our real stars. Truly one of our stars. John Kelly is one of our great stars.”

But some advisers to Mr. Trump were opposed to the choice, arguing that Mr. Kelly did not have the political background for the job. “The president needs someone who understands the Trump constituency as his chief of staff, someone who has both administrative skills and political savvy,” Roger Stone, Mr. Trump’s off-and-on adviser, said, anticipating Mr. Kelly’s selection before the announcement was made.

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Chief

Some time way way back,Trump said that he would hire the best people to work for him if he is elected president. All he managed to do is hire those people who stuck with him since the real best people didn't care to hang out with them since they were at the bottom of the food chain.

Trump is a train wreck. He doesn't even know how to act like he has been there before and actually acts like what we call in Guyana "never see, come to see".

Trump and everyone around him lies all the time. The press secretary, Sarah ***cabee Sanders lies all day with that ugly mug of a face. At least she is not mentioning Marie Antoinette. 

So Reince is out and Kelly has replaced him. Now the people over at Homeland Security are saying that they don't know who is their new boss since Trump hasn't tweeted anything about that. 

And as all of this is taking place Sean Hannity is trying to make sense of it but since Hannity is an idiot, he can't make sense of anything. So he ended up with this one. He said that it is very difficult for anyone to do anything at the White House because of all the forces against Trump. If I had the chance I would tell Hannity to stop crying like a lil sissy. It is the White House, not Disney World. If they can't take the heat, no one is stopping them from leaving. 

FM
ba$eman posted:
.

Any replacement of Trump will be tantamount to a Putsch!  It could have dire consequences to the plotters and their agitators!

Every day Trump makes more enemies. He attacks Sessions and now has fired Priebus.  McCain is a sworn enemy as are Rubio and Cruz.

This will be a palace coup especially if the GOP begins to fear that Trump's childish antics will destroy their hold of Congress. When bedlam ensues next year with health insurance who do you think will be blamed? People have forgotten about Obama so raising that bogey will only work with the core support base.  These aren't large enough.

Trump has FAILED to enact anything. Where is his infrastructure plan that has the potential for bipartisan support?

FM

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