The Donald Trump Score Card

Before Trump I would occasionally listen to Alex Jones if he had a good guest. Even then he was nuts but I looked past it. It's a different level now.

 

The U.S. Supreme Court begins hearings on the travel ban.

Trump withdrew the second version of his ban before the Supreme Court could hear it, apparently because he was afraid it would be overturned and he would be seen as a loser. Trump has a history in his businesses of settling privately in court so as to not appear to be a loser.

The third version that his people wrote is watered down in the hopes that it will be upheld by the Supreme Court so that Trump can declare a 'victory' for himself, like he declared victory when no players kneeled during the national anthem of the Super Bowl compared with some who did in previous games.


Trump’s Travel Ban Comes Before Supreme Court in Test of Presidential Power
By Greg Stohr
April 23, 2018, 4:00 AM EDT

Trump’s Travel Ban Comes Before Supreme Court in Test of Presidential Power

 

The migrant caravan reached the U.S. border, the one that Trump sees as disease agents that will infect him, like the trace of saliva on legal documents that were handed to him by a lawyer who licked her finger when paging through them that Trump was so upset about.


Migrant caravan reaches U.S. border despite Trump threats
"All we have is our stories, all we have are our memories and we are hoping that it’s enough," said one asylum seeker.
by Mariana Atencio, Annie Rose Ramos and Dartunorro Clark
Apr.24.2018 / 6:05 PM

Migrant caravan reaches U.S. border despite Trump threats

 

A 30-minute rant by Trump on Fox & Friends. Trump is starting to sound like Alex Jones after the bombing of Syria.

The rant got frantic in the last few minutes. Fox had to cut him off.

 

Ronny Jackson withdrew his nomination as VA secretary.

 

An interesting line from Trump in that interview rant about the Mueller investigation: “The message now is, ‘It’s a fix.’ I’ve been able to message it.” It's all about the "messaging"--i.e., spin.

 

Fox presents Trump. Hair and Unbalanced.

 

I think most Republicans are meth heads and Klansmen.

 

And he claims to hardly know Cohen...had very little to do with him...has lots of lawyers...does not know why Cohen uses Trump Organization stationary and letter head...must be about that crazy Stormy Daniels thingy?

 

Trump alone can fix it. Fix the fix related to Mueller.

Trump's fix-it man, Cohen, is in a fix right now. Trump needs to fix that fix too.

 

trump likes to play the victim. remember, he's the one who said the election was rigged. turns out, he was correct.

 

Aw poor Trumpy can't take the heat. Wah Wah. Guess he's gonna have to find someone to bomb now.

 

Sad thing is this ammendment relies on the goverment wanting change. They did not plan for Americans to hate each other enough to not care.

 

Hey, Hey, Boys and Girls, Trump just goofed big time. He was speaking on FOX and admitted that Cohen was representing him on the Stormy Daniels issue. Immediately the prosecutors pointed out that Cohen had said he negotiated the Stormy non-disclosure on his own and had taken a mortgage on his house for the $130 grand! This is a case of mouth engaged before brains!

 

For Many, Life in Trump’s Orbit Ends in a Crash Landing
By Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman
April 26, 2018

For Many, Life in Trump’s Orbit Ends in a Crash Landing

excerpts:

Over many decades, people who have entered Mr. Trump’s circle have discovered that they are bit actors in a movie he sees himself starring in.

“People are not people to him, they are instruments of his ego. And when they serve his ego, they survive, and when they don’t, they pass into the night,” said Tony Schwartz, the ghostwriter on “The Art of the Deal,” Mr. Trump’s first book. “Ultimately, the fate of anyone who casts their lot with Trump is — you are passing through. And I just can’t think of anybody for whom it is not true.”

Jack O’Donnell, the former president of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, and a vocal critic of his former boss, said many people have cycled through his world remarkably quickly without leaving much of an impression on Mr. Trump.

“This is an individual who completely lacks compassion and empathy, and therefore the recycling of people, people crashing and burning, it means nothing to him,” Mr. O’Donnell said. “He might put on a public frown for a day because he’s upset that, in his mind, the admiral got railroaded out. But Trump couldn’t care less about the admiral.”

“I think that loyalty has always been a one-way street with Trump, and he doesn’t really care about the wreckages he engenders as long as he comes out where he wants to be,” said Tim O’Brien, a biographer who was sued by Mr. Trump over a book reporting that Mr. Trump had inflated his net worth.

 

Whatever status Presidential candidates in the past may have had, some at least actually toured poverty regions. Today they hang out at luxury resorts and lush convention centers and talk about how much they supposedly care about the poor while they garner adulation like a rock star.


RFK's visit to Appalachia, 50 years later: How Kennedy country became Trump country
Rick Hampson, USA TODAY
Published 6:00 a.m. ET Feb. 12, 2018

RFK's visit to Appalachia, 50 years later: How Kennedy country became Trump country

excerpt:

"There’s bipartisan nostalgia for RFK. “I wish I’d have been here to meet him,’’ Fultz says. “He’d have been a great president. But he was an old-school Democrat. Democrats today aren’t like RFK and JFK.’’

How did Kennedy country become Trump country? The men would appear to share little more than a New York address and a Palm Beach tan.

Kennedy in 1968 promised to use government help people; Trump in 2016 promised to get government off their backs. Kennedy promised to help miners recover from what he described as the irreversible decline of coal; Trump promised to bring coal back.

Trump blamed others — immigrants, environmentalists, the Chinese — for America’s problems. Kennedy blamed Americans: “How can we allow this?’’ he asked of hunger here.

And neither would seem to be to the taste of mountain people, who, rendered cynical by many unmet political promises, “will tell you real quick to go kiss your ass,’’ says Steve Cawood, who as a young law student accompanied Kennedy.

But in 1968 and in 2016, these different politicians possessed — or projected — similar qualities that appealed to voters here, and in areas like it.

Celebrity. Although mountain people can be suspicious of outsiders, they felt they knew Kennedy before he came and knew Trump even though he came no closer than Huntington, W.Va. Their fame introduced them. “It was like meetin’ someone you know,’’ Jimmy Daryl Farler, a Barwick student, later recalled.

Authenticity. Each seemed to speak his mind — honestly, not eloquently. Kennedy had a high voice and could be tentative. Trump’s profanity offended Bible Belt ears, and he wandered off message. “They both seem unscripted’’ — and thus sincere, Dee Davis says.

Empathy. Despite their privileged backgrounds, each seemed to identify with the people of eastern Kentucky. “They didn’t view Kennedy as a liberal Democrat’’ or Trump as a conservative Republican, Tyler Ward says. “They viewed them as someone who cares about them.’’"

 

Boy, were they wrong! What Trump and the Kennedys had in common was a concern for for making Appalachia part of their political base. The article makes it seem like the personal characteristics of RFK and Trump were the important variables, mentioning specifically their celebrity and perceived sincerity. In Trump's case, I think his personal crudeness and lack of polish made him seem like one of them, although he has the "sincerity" of a real estate grifter. But economic conditions and partisan response to them were the crucial factors accounting for the switch in loyalties. In the 1960 presidential campaign, JFK came to the region to meet with governors and observe the impoverished conditions of the region. Following the Democrat New Deal/Fair Deal traditions of FDR and Truman, Kennedy sparked what became, under Lyndon Johnson, the Appalachian Regional Development Act which made Appalachia ground zero for Johnson's War on Poverty., resulting in billions of dollars going to the region in an effort to spark economic growth. So in that respect, the Democrats did seem to care more than the Republicans, but it was policies and material benefits that marked the practical difference.

That was before the environmental movement got into full swing--before the passage of the Clean Air Act of 1970. By putting the squeeze on coal, environmentalists seemed to be threatening the livelihood of the region, and even though the Republican Nixon Administration passed the critical legislation and the Bush 41 Administration that expanded it under the 1990 Amendments, it was liberal Democrats who became most zealous in pushing the cause. I think that was a good thing, but it cost them political support in Appalachia. In both the case of the Kennedys and Trump, it was primarily politics that drove policy. I may be cynical, but I seriously doubt altruism was primarily involved in either case. Hillary drove the final nail in the coffin when she made her unfortunate comment: “We’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.” No amount of subsequent apologies could mend the damage, and the region was lost to trump, who promised to bring coal back.

 

Trump has moved closer to saying he wouldn't be able to recognize Cohen in a room.

Quote by Trump about Cohen on Fox & Friends: “Well, he has a percentage of my overall legal work — a tiny, tiny little fraction. He represents me, like with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal, he represented me.”

Trump finally admitted that Cohen represented him in the Stormy agreement, which is opposite of previous denials. This helps throw him and Cohen under the bus. This is the same Trump who White House spokesperson Gadley said was "sharp as a tack."