Donald Trump Is a Real President Now, Because Bombs

Nothing says "leader of the free world" like killing bad guys.

Hours after suggesting that "something should happen" in Syria, because "[Assad is] there, and I guess he's running things," President Donald Trump ordered a missile strike against a Syrian government military base from whence Tuesday's chemical weapons attack against Syrian civilians allegedly originated.

Donald Trump is a real president now.

"The Trump administration can truly be said to have started only now," Elliot Abrams writes in The Weekly Standard. "The president has been chief executive since January 20, but this week he acted also as Commander in Chief. And more: He finally accepted the role of Leader of the Free World." The New York Post's Ralph Peters concurs. "Incontestably, our president became…presidential." "Well done!"

Yes, Draco, well done.

CNN's Fareed Zakaria, a different person with a separate brain, agrees. "What changed last night?" CNN's Alisyn Camerota asked him this morning. "I think Donald Trump became President of the United States," Zakaria replied.

.@FareedZakaria on Syria strikes: "I think Donald Trump became President of the United States" last night https://t.co/dLipRu6SZu

— New Day (@NewDay) April 7, 2017

MSNBC's Brian Williams, meanwhile, is not so much in love with Trump's speedy abandonment of non-intervention in Syria as he is with the bombs themselves: "I am tempted to quote the great Leonard Cohen: 'I am guided by the beauty of our weapons.'"

As Alex Pareene noted after Trump's inaugural address to Congress, this kind of praise is not just gross, but dangerous. Trump follows applause like a cat after a laser pointer, and the first bit of bipartisan recognition he received came in response to a raid that got Americans (and foreign civilians) killed. You think he didn't watch his shows this morning? Didn't see anchors across every network applauding his presidential behavior? If he was ambivalent yesterday, I imagine he's far less so today.

Right on cue, congressional hawks are calling for more. Sen. John McCain thinks bombing the airfield should be but the first step and Sen. Marco Rubio would like to remove Bashar Hafez al-Assad.

Trump controls the bombs, bombs thrill the chattering class, the chattering class thrills Trump. That is a scary cycle. Buckle up.

Comments

[Hugh Akston]

I would have worn my poncho if I had known it was war-boner bukkake day.

[Citizen X - #6]

I am feeling pretty morally ambiguous about this banana i'm eating.

[Tony]

I should have known that waking up to Morning Joe would have required extra layers today.

[CooterBrown]

Stop watching MSNBC, cuck.

[sarcasmic]

Will he get a Piece Prize?

[Crying Zelda Morning Link]

More of an Appease Prize.

[Trigger Warning]

I'd rather have an Appice Prize, cuz that fucker is still tits on the skins.

[Crying Zelda Morning Link]

I'll have a bite of that Man-Chu.

[loveconstitution1789]

Peas prize? People do need to eat more vegetables.

[Not a True MJG]

"I am tempted to quote the great Leonard Cohen: 'I am guided by the beauty of our weapons.'"

I take it this was actually a Bob Dylan quote.

[Longtobefree]

Either way, who wants to follow "news reporters" who quote musicians instead of military/political leaders?
Why not stick with "where have all the flowers gone?"

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Where is my John Wayne?
Where is my prairie song?
Where is my happy ending?

[Diane Merriam]

The cowboys took the week off to golf at Mar-a-Lago.

[BYODB]

Welp, WW3 with Russia was inevitable no matter who became President it would appear. Hopefully this doesn't escalate things, but I'm afraid that it might.

[timbo]

Nationalism and class warfare are the vestiges of failed politics.

I knew it was going to be entertaining to watch this shit implode but who knew the sheep would all clap like seals for trump just because he lobbed a few distraction bombs, ala Clinton, on some whackos in huts?

I thought surely the leftist would go back to acting like peaceful hippies. Boy was I wrong.

[Dai wie]

Dumbass. It was a military airfield, not remotely close to "huts". You have a problem with killing muslims? 'Cause they have no problem killing you.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Trump follows applause like a cat after a laser pointer...

As long as he avoids all over Reuters shots of children dead from US military action, he's definitely going to keep this up. What possible incentive does he have to stop? Who's whispering in his ear for thoughtful restraint? Ivanka might be your only hope for peace.

[Crusty Juggler aka "Chad"]

Ivanka might be your only hope for peace.

I actually think this is true.

[Alan Vanneman]

Talking Heads Luv Blood!

[Crying Zelda Morning Link]

More War Songs About Destroyed Buildings And Lack Of Food

[Tony]

He did read from that teleprompter real good. I feel like there was something about reading from teleprompters that used to be a bad thing... oh well, we bombed shit!

[DesigNate]

Said no one here.

[Trigger Warning]

Tony likes to respond to the libertarians in his head, who are a mutant hybrid of McCain, Ayn Rand, Unit 731, and David Duke.

[CooterBrown]

I personally believe Tony found this site and fancies himself a libertarian because he thinks it's a portmanteau of "liberal"/"authoritarian".

[marshaul]

Tony is the least liberal person on earth.

[Juice]

And here's Hillary Clinton voicing her support.

[Zeb]

And I thought Trump was terrible because he just says whatever comes into his mind and doesn't filter and prepare everything he says.

[Ken Shultz]

If Trump had done nothing, the MSM be going after him for that, too.

I'm against what Trump did for strategic and humanitarian reasons, but for whatever it's worth, he demonstrated basic competency far superior to what Obama did in the same situation.

Obama's mouth made "red-line" threats unnecessarily and then he failed to follow through on his threats. Making empty threats is an excellent sign of incompetent leadership. Assad may have felt freer to use chemical weapons on his own people because of Obama's incompetent leadership in the past.

Even though I disagreed with Trump's action, it can be worse to make the threat and then fail to follow through.

Trump didn't make any threats about what he would do beforehand if Assad stepped over such and such a line. He just did it. If you're going to ignore the Constitution and do something like this, that's the way to do it.

Let's hope this doesn't escalate.

[Tony]

Obama dared Republicans to have the exact principles they claimed to have with respect to military action, and they of course failed to do so. You can say Obama was cynical to ask for congressional approval before bombing Syria, but you can't do so and be a libertarian!

[Ken Shultz]

I didn't fault Obama for asking Congress for an authorization, I faulted him for making an empty threat.

He should have kept his stupid mouth shut in the first place.

[JFree]

you could say the same thing about Trump. He gave Assad a green light that he is safe in power - and Assad sent an internal message to his opponents that no one is going to save you. Yes Trump followed through on his bloviating but that is hardly a justification for his bloviating in the first place.

Course no modern President can achieve what Calvin Coolidge aspired to - The things I don't say never get me into trouble. but its about time the President of the World just STFU and stopped forcing the US to respond in order to save his face.

[Tony]

I've heard such an opinion from such foreign policy luminaries as Sean Hannity.

[Tony]

I'm saying Republicans would sooner watch children die by sarin than give a Democrat even a single day's worth of positive news coverage, because they are evil.

But it is heartening that you've discovered pragmatism just in time to such Republican dick.

[Ken Shultz]

Wow, you really hate Republicans!

So what?

[Tony]

You shouldn't love them so much?

[timbo]

Tony, you're foolish enough to think there is a difference between a republican and democrat.

The only real difference between the two is that most smart business owners are republican in that they identify with what used to be a party's allegiance to smaller government and business friendly policies which included less regulation and less marxism.

From a federal government perspective, both parties are exactly the same.

[Diane Merriam]

You know, if you want to attack Republicans, there are many far more Republican sites than this one, so I'm confused as to why you waste so much time here.

[Zeb]

I'm saying Republicans would sooner watch children die by sarin than give a Democrat even a single day's worth of positive news coverage, because they are evil.

That may be true, but it works when you switch the parties too.

[Juice]

The way people think. Man, wtf?

[Crying Zelda Morning Link]

I don't get it either. I get the feeling impulsiveness is seen as strength, and restraint is seen as weakness. Is it really so hard, given the precedent of the last 60 years, to bomb the developing world?

Maybe it's how I was raised, but impulsive belligerents responding to emotional appeals and facing no consequences isn't a picture of leadership.

What if, through some magic, we weren't able to find out who bombed the airfield, and government's couldn't take credit? I think it may actually deter war. Humanitarian retaliation isn't seen as a necessary evil, or an evil at all.

[Trigger Warning]

So all the leftards who oppose war are going to suddenly remember that they oppose war, right?

[Square = Circle]

In fairness, I know a number of leftards who have been opposing war the whole time. It's the media that only pays attention when it's a Republican in the White House.

Of course, they all supported Clinton. I'm not saying they're smart - just that they exist.

[Trigger Warning]

I dunno, O's kill list didn't seem to bother too many of them. But whatever, you're right. I look forward to Code Pink coming out of retirement*.

*ok, not really.

[loveconstitution1789]

Yeah. Where are all those ladies in pink?
Where are the war protesters?
Where are all the people that said Trump is a puppet of Russia?

I am against this military action in Syria and all the other BS military adventures over the last 16 years. If war is that important, declare war and win!

Trump is clearly listening to his generals who want military adventures in the Middle East. These military brass jackasses don't care about long term consequences of fucking around in the ME. Frankly, its not their job to.

[Brian]

We hate fascism, but we love a strong president.

[Trigger Warning]

In human terms, tRump is about as strong as a wad of cotton candy.

[CooterBrown]

Jimmy Carter could kick his ass today.

[Lord_at_War]

Sure...A "killer rabbit" kicked Peanut Brain's ass almost 40 yrs ago.

[Lord_at_War]

Peanut Brain couldn't even kick a "killer rabbit's" ass almost 40 yrs ago! I doubt he could handle the ferret Trump wears on his head...

[Brandybuck]

what a bunch of subhumans

[ChipToBeSquare]

Obamacare is still here, and now we're on a collision course towards war with Russia. Are we sure Trump actually beat Hillary?

[timbo]

Excellent point.

[Philippe Lemoine]

In case someone is interested, I wrote a very detailed blog post, in which I examine the evidence about the recent chemical attack and compare the situation with what happened after the chemical attack in Ghouta in August 2013. I argue that, in that previous case, the media narrative had rapidly unravelled and that, for that reason, we should be extremely prudent about the recent attack and not jump to conclusions. It's more than 5,000 words long and I provide a source for every single factual claim I make. I really believe it's the most through discussion of the allegations against Assad with respect to his alleged use of chemical weapons out there. Please share it if you thought it was interesting.

[Robert]

I'd still rather have a president who's swayed by the chattering classes (who don't actually exist; they're just a dysphemism for vocal opposition to whoever's referring to them) than a true believer.

Americans, chattering or otherwise, have gotten used to thinking this is what America, as a state, does. It could take a few more generations before that idea fades away, but meanwhile it's self-reinforcing. It doesn't need external justif'n, it's just "what `we' do".

[josh]

To quote a president from a mediocre movie I saw once...."You just saw me do the least presidential thing I do" (in regards to a situation much like this one)

[gegut]

Do you know everybody can make $500 to $600 per day for just easiest work from home. I have made $634 Today and $18623 last month by just doing an easy job online from home. I am vey happy that I have this job now and am able to earn Thousands Dollars online. Every person can join this job now by just click on the link given below
_+++++++++++++++++++++++++ https://www.paybuzz7.com

[DarkHelmet]

Oh, grow up, people. Superpowers project power for a variety of reasons including geopolitical threats, humanitarian concerns and threatening misbehavior by second class powers such as the use of chemical weapons. Sometimes wisely, sometimes stupidly, sometimes because it's the least bad of a series of bad options. Time will tell whether this was wise or foolish. But if you are expecting the US to stop acting like a superpower any time soon you will be perpetually disappointed.