Can We Talk About Something Besides Trump?

At some point, maybe we should just take Trump's antics as a given

Can we get the 2020 presidential election underway, please? Like, right now?

Yes, yes—American presidential elections already are endless affairs, especially compared to the five-second-long events the Brits like to have at random intervals. Launching the next presidential contest more than two years before the vote would just make matters worse.

Still. Wouldn't it be lovely to spend a few minutes talking about something other than Donald Trump?

Consider the week just past, in which the principal news stories were:

1. The Trump/Russia Intrigue, Chapter 147: Reactions to responses to points raised by release of Nunes memo.
2. Stock Market Dives, Soars, Dives Again, and Look Who's Not Boasting About the Market Anymore (Trump, That's Who).
3. Trump Said Democrats Not Clapping for Him Is Treason, and Isn't That Just Awful?
4. Trump Wants a Military Parade, My God the Horror.
5. Trump Aide Resigns Over Wife-Beating Allegations.
6. The Trump/Russia Intrigue, Chapter 148: George W. Bush Says the Russians Meddled.
7. Trump's Approval Numbers Nudge Upward, Possibly Affecting Midterm Elections.
8. Hey, Check Out This Hilarious Video of Trump's Hair in the Wind!

And so on.

This is a bipartisan phenomenon, by the way. On Thursday, The New York Times opinion section included "Trump's Tool Kit Does Not Include the Constitution," "Trump's Worst Watcher," "Trump's Backward View of Immigration," and "President Trump, If You're Innocent, Why Act So Guilty?" Meanwhile, over at National Review, you could read "FISA-Gate Is Scarier Than Watergate," " 'Delegitimizing' Mueller? Don't Blame the Nunes Memo," "Was the FBI Out to Get Trump?" "A Defense of Evangelicals Who Support Trump," and "Why the 'Cult of Trump' Has Taken Hold," along with "The Prosecution Is Weakening," which argues that "Trump is gaining the trust of the people. His critics, not so much."

This isn't atypical. It's how the news cycle has looked day in, day out, for more than a year.

Granted: The president receives a great deal of coverage no matter who it is. Trump is an exceedingly unusual president, so one should expect an exceedingly unusual amount of attention would be paid to him.

Also granted: Trump's offhand comments about treasonous Democrats and his longing for a military parade are juvenile and asinine. No argument here. But their asininity is nothing new: Americans have known their president is a buffoon since before he assumed office. Even most of his supporters admit as much; they simply think his virtues outweigh his shortcomings.

At some point, perhaps we should just take Trump's antics as a given, instead of getting a case of the vapors every time he does something puerile or stupid. It's one thing to gape and point at the sunrise if you've never seen one before. After a few thousand sunrises, though, gaping and pointing starts to look a tad overwrought.

For some liberals, this is dangerous talk: It "normalizes" Trump, which only encourages him, and we must not let our guard down because he might, at any moment, declare martial law.

Possibly. On the other hand, it's also possible—and certainly more probable—that the country is simply going to muddle through another three years of a gawdawful historical mistake, the way someone muddles through a day at work with a bad hangover: sucking it up, grinding on, and reminding itself that however unpleasant the experience might be in the moment, This Too Shall Pass.

After all: Remember the dark warnings about what would become of America under George W. Bush. Respected and supposedly serious liberal intellectuals penned somber hand-wringers along the lines of "Fascist America, in 10 Easy Steps," protesters waved an endless supply of "Bush = Hitler" signs, and so on. Somehow, America survived.

The same thing happened when Obama took office: It was said (by some) that Obama would cancel the 2016 election, and conservatives would be rounded up and confined in FEMA concentration camps. Similar histrionics occurred during the Bill Clinton years; at one point the NRA even denounced federal agents as "armed terrorists" and "jack-booted thugs." Every administration is always the greatest threat to America since the one right before it.

No doubt: President Trump seems more likely to do something profoundly dangerous than any of his recent predecessors.

But until he does, maybe the whole country shouldn't act like it's stuck in an elevator with an angry cobra—one side warning that it could strike at any moment, the other side saying it would be worse to have been stuck in the elevator with Hillary—and change the subject.

Comments

[BestUsedCarSales]

No doubt: President Trump seems more likely to do something profoundly dangerous than any of his recent predecessors.

Don't speak.

[Marcus Aurelius]

I know just what you're sayin

[vek]

Is it wrong that this was the first thing that popped into my head too??? 🙁

[timbo]

They all love sending remote controlled bombs into the middle east so how can he be more dangerous.

[heke]

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[Aeschylus]

That is the elephant in the room and it is still stunning that we voted in the biggest security threat in the world today -- off his rocker, uninformed, and living in a moral vacuum.

If we survive this momentously bad decision (and what decision when Trump and Hillary are two sides of the same spoon; when "menacing and heartless" is an equally valid sobriquet for each of them), we'll need time and careful diplomacy before we live it down.

[Mickey Rat]

I don't know. Can you?

[mad.casual]

the other side saying it would be worse to have been stuck in the elevator with Hillary

If a sturdy pair of boots was all it took to resolve the Hillary problem, I wouldn't be complaining.

[Mickey Rat]

Concrete is pretty sturdy.

[Marcus Aurelius]

You know who else had sturdy boots?

[BestUsedCarSales]

Nancy Sinatra?

[Fk_Censorship]

Kim Kardashian? Oooooh, boots, not booty. My bad...

[Fk_Censorship]

Puss?

[vek]

Right Wing Death Squads FTW!

[shawn_dude]

As if we don't have a history full of right wing death squads. Look for guys in pointy white hats lynching black guys for an example. Things quieted down for a while with the odd shooting at a women's clinic or standoff with police over cattle grazing. Recently, though, we've got them marching in the streets again and running over protesters with cars. So there's that.

[vek]

Meh. The KKK was actually more left in their political views, what with being big government Democrats.

As far as the rest goes, left wing loonies have been causing way more trouble lately, and for maaany years versus the right. How many cities have been burned down by black riots in recent years? Over shootings that were probably justified 3/4 of the time. The other 1/4 should have been railroaded, because police abuse is not acceptable... But of course they're so fucking stupid they mostly burn down their own neighborhoods too! LOL Morons.

How many riots have there been where right wing mobs burn down entire neighborhoods? Torch cars? Break into shops and steal shit, and then burn them down? That's what I thought...

Then there are the intentional murders of cops just for being cops that have been done by the left as well. So YEAH, there are some right wing crazies out there, but they seem to be a lot less problematic than those on the left in recent years.

[Curt]

James Brown and P-Funk?

[DajjaI]

OK I'll start. I really enjoyed CNN's new series on the Patty Hearst kidnapping. The most amazing part so far (I've seen the first two episodes) is when Gov Reagan tells the populace not to accept the Hearst's donated food. But people go crazy for it and it's a circus. I wonder if that's because they are really hungry and desperate, or because it's just a fun free-for-all. I assume the latter. But another thing I liked is how they basically discredit and ridicule socialism. Last year CNN did a bunch of specials exposing other cults like "Holy Hell" which was about a religious cult.

[timbo]

If CNN actually and accurately discredit socialism, I'm sure their offered solution is not free market capitalism. From what I have seen in the last 10 years, no one in the media understands one thing about actual fee market capitalism.

[shawn_dude]

I'm not convinced the majority of commenters at Reason understand what socialism is. Venezuela is an example of socialism in action. The UK is an example of a social democracy.

Having said that, the biggest issue isn't that people don't understand free market capitalism, it's that they do understand it well enough to gauge its cost in terms of pure human misery and they opt for a tamed version instead. (Hence, the "social" part of a social democracy.)

[Rhywun]

at one point the NRA even denounced federal agents as "armed terrorists" and "jack-booted thugs."

The truth hurts.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

Yes, it does. For example, most gun nuts don't like to hear that they are authoritarian, stale-thinking, right-wing bigots.

[Rhywun]

I wouldn't know; I'm not a gun nut. But I don't see how anyone could have viewed the events which fueled that comment or the many instances of similar behavior by government agents that continue to this day and come away with any other opinion. Maybe the language is a little overheated but that tends to happen when your government throws its founding principles out the window and does appalling things.

[damikesc]

Funny because "gun nuts" like the NRA were the only ones protecting blacks from Democrats...back when racism was a serious problem and the Democrats were on the wrong side of it.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

You refer to the period during which Democrats shamefully housed (mostly southern) bigots in their party, before those bigots migrated to the Republican Party and became an indispensable and shameful element of the current Republican-conservative electoral coalition.

[damikesc]

You refer to the period during which Democrats shamefully housed (mostly southern) bigots in their party, before those bigots migrated to the Republican Party and became an indispensable and shameful element of the current Republican-conservative electoral coalition.

Given that I actually know this answer --- how many segregationist Democrats joined the Republican Party?

Again, I know the answer --- odds are, you do not.

[Migrant Log Chipper]

Artie poo is a troll who thinks he can turn a clever phrase....not worth a response.

[ImanAzol]

Like Klan member, lifelong racist and bigot Robert Byrd who the Republicans re-elected for life?

Oh, wait...

[ImanAzol]

Bigots who live in stone echo chambers shouldn't throw glasses.

[KevinP]

LOL, the classic Democrat defense: We supported slavery, Jim Crow and the KKK for hundreds of years, but those people are now Republicans!
New York Times: Demographic Delusions of the Democrats

???Begin quote???
The accepted wisdom is that the Democrats hamstrung themselves many years ago, when they passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and thereby lost the Solid South forever. It's a nice story, one that allows everyone to feel good: liberal Democrats, who would like to believe their party was martyred in as noble a cause as there could be, and Clinton-Obama Democrats, who have long cited it as proof that the party needs to move to the right and start appealing to conservative Southern whites again.

The only trouble is, it's not true.

...
Going into the 1994 elections [30 years after the Civil Rights Act], Democrats still held 16 of the 30 United States Senate seats from the 15 Southern states, and nearly two-thirds of the Southern seats in the House. On a state level, the figures were even more one-sided. Democrats held 12 of the 15 Southern governorships, and 29 of the 30 state legislative chambers.

It's only in the last two decades that these numbers flipped...

Democrats did lose the South, but they didn't lose it because of the Civil Rights Act.
??End quote??

[Elias Fakaname]

Arty, you are such a cliche that I question wether this is some kind of performance art.

[AD-RtR/OS!]

If it is (performance art) it should have closed on the road in New Haven.

[DesigNate]

How dare you denigrate Dr. King in such a way. Racist.

[Iheartskeet]

In other words, you know pretty much zero about gun owners.

[ImanAzol]

You mean like most "liberals" don't like to hear that they're racist, sexist, anti-poor bigoted fucks bent on a police state?

The difference being the above is true and your attempted slander is laughable?

[Iheartskeet]

As I watch the new "Waco" series, I have to agree. It hurts like a mofo, and I hope it keeps on hurting.

[timbo]

This dumb shit Rev. Arthur makes me glad I'm a gun nut. He is just the kind of person that likely needs a gun to his face to get him to shut the fuck up.

[AD-RtR/OS!]

The butt end to his forhead.

[Tony]

Yes, America survived Bush. What high standards we have. He may have instituted torture and the lawless Gitmo situation, started a war based on lies, and destroyed the global economy, but at least we're not a smoldering ruin!

[$park? leftist poser]

Trying to make sure you get all your nonsense in before Net Neutrality is finally stripped away and the Internet stops working?

[Tony]

"It's not as bad as it possibly could have been!"

Vote Republican 2018.

[$park? leftist poser]

"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!"

Vote Democrat 2018-Forever

[hello.]

"Think of the good old days of 14% unemployment and the extra 12 trillion dollars in debt we saddled your great-grandkids with"

Vote Democrat 2018.

[Tony]

Accusation totally unsupported by anything resembling fact or historical precedent.

[Elias Fakaname]

You stupid shit, yes it is. Obama piled on that debt and 14% is a conservative estimate of real unemployment under his regime.

[timbo]

Tony, you are a sad ignorant person. Yes, Bushed was aweful!!.

Tell me one thing Obama did that was any different. HE DID NOT DO ONE THING TO CURTAIL THE TERRIBLE CRAP THAT BUSH DID. IN FACT, HE SIMPLY ACCELRATED THE LUNACY AND STUPIDITY. WHY DO YOU LIKE OBAMA YET HATE BUSH? THEY ARE THE SAME PERSON.

"He may have instituted torture and the lawless Gitmo situation, started a war based on lies, and destroyed the global economy, but at least we're not a smoldering ruin!"
Obama did not close gitmo, he presided over 7 wars when he left office, and he implemented wasteful stimulus and horrific policies that strangled business. You are such a sad dumbass to not know they are all the same. That's what makes you such a hilarious pawn.

[Get To Da Chippah]

Democrats 2018: We Want Your Crumbs Back!

[Tony]

They'd settle for the Koch brothers' 1.5 billion crumbs.

[Rufus The Monocled]

lol. They're obsessed with Koch.

Soros is a true evil fuck, but he's their guy, right?

[Tony]

How is George Soros evil? Be specific.

[damikesc]

1) Crashed the British pound in 1992, making himself $1B in the process, but making an already bad recession markedly worse.

2) Helped crash the Malaysian economy in 1997.

3) Crashed the Thai economy in 1997 as well. Sure, he made a lot, but a lot of people lost their jobs and were impoverished.

4) Tried to crash the Hong Kong bank in 1998. He failed, but he seems to have a vendetta against Asians.

That's 4 right there. Caused significant pain and suffering to lots of people to make himself a killing.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Was he behind Argentina's collapse (in some capacity anyway) as well?

[Elias Fakaname]

He was also a collaborator during the war. Selling out other Jews for fun and profit.

[P. Templeton]

Currency speculators don't "bring down" a currency, you imbecile. They merely take a market position to profit off an existing monetary imbalance.

[damikesc]

Currency speculators don't "bring down" a currency, you imbecile. They merely take a market position to profit off an existing monetary imbalance.

Buying and selling and re-buying constantly. Hey, you might not mind people suffering because some people are sleazy. But if you want to know why some folks are willing to try Socialism, understand that those people don't like their livelihoods and jobs being fucked with so a shit like Soros can make billions.

[Colossal Douchebag]

You are so, so, so, so, so, so, so tiresome.

1. Bait with disparaging, partisan smear.
2. Wait for reply.
3. Demand facts, evidence and specifics.
4. Make accusation of not using facts or logic.

There. I've written it down for everyone. Can we move on to the next precious lesson?

[Elias Fakaname]

He also uses deflection tactics, then moves the goal posts.

[Rufus The Monocled]

lol. Tony is baiting. How cute.

You can't possibly be serious.

Even before I discovered Reason when I was broker it was known that anti-humanist scumbag was a nefarious player on the world scene. He profits off the misery of nations, for starters, like a pirate and then uses his money to produce more useful idiots like you. He also was a Nazi collaborator and is wanted in Hungary for his crimes. The shit he's done would make anyone with a properly calibrated moral and intellectual compass shiver in disgust. AND HE'S ALL YOURS TONY.

You would have to look long and impossibly hard to try and equate what the Kock brothers do next to that inhuman bacterial waste.

Jesus Christ are the left this burnt?

[Rufus The Monocled]

Koch. Ugh.

[BestUsedCarSales]

Kock brothers is a way better name anyway.

[Elias Fakaname]

Yes, and we need to force the progressives out.

[P. Templeton]

You must hate capitalists.

[Rufus The Monocled]

I'm not sure who this is directed to. Reason's thread lines can be confusing.

If to me, I think you bring up a fair point - what he did to the BofE was legal but it was immoral.

It may also neglect the fact it's been alleged Soros actually partakes in destabilizing countries in order to profit off them. And if I recall, does a little more than merely take a 'short position'.

At the very least, he does the very things the left often rail against. He preys on the weak and that's what makes him being behind progressive issues all the more bizarre.

See. I have nothing against capitalism. But Soros represents its most vile aspect.

[Don't look at me.]

Perhaps one day lightning will strike and you will realize nobody in the White House now or ever is worthy of adoration.

[Tony]

Saying they're all equally bad gets the worst ones off the hook.

[Citizen X - #6]

Sure, if you're not capable of thinking beyond simplistic dualities.

[Tony]

I was critiquing a singularity: all politicians suck (might as well vote for Hitler).

[BestUsedCarSales]

That's quite a subtext you read into there.

[Tony]

Well they are are all crooks, so what does it matter whom you vote for?

[Don't look at me.]

Didn't say that. None deserve adoration is not the same.

[Citizen X - #6]

So you're critiquing a position that no one is actually taking? That seems like a reasonable way to spend one's time.

[sarcasmic]

Tony is a master straw man slayer.

[Citizen X - #6]

It's barely even a straw man. He basically threw some dried grass on the ground, stepped on it, and claimed he won a fight. It's not even in the same universe as the concept of mastering anything.

[Marcus Aurelius]

Straw Man Slayer was my band's name in college.

[Elias Fakaname]

I think he is a bottom for straw men.

[DesigNate]

Well, it is Tony...

[Elias Fakaname]

Tony, there was never any torture. Water boarding is not torture. Torture is when they do things like taking a branding iron to you, or attaching live wires to your nut sack.

But none of that matters to you, right? It's all about protecting those poor Muslims and hurting America as much as possible for you.

[chemjeff]

That's right people. Either you support torturing Muslims, or you hate America!

[Elias Fakaname]

Water boarding isn't torture you weak little pussy. And sweating a few Al Queada bosses to save lives is just good business. Though I'm sure you wouldn't dare do more than put them in the comfy chair with the soft cushions after a light massage, right?

You should just stay out of the way while real men get the business of killing terrorists done.

[chemjeff]

No you're right. There are only two choices, torturing Muslims or giving them a nice massage. At least that's what real patriots believe!

[Elias Fakaname]

shitty strawman is shitty. But hey, you keep on coddling those Al Queda leaders. That will save lives.

[chemjeff]

Because "not torturing" equals "coddling". Got it!

[Elias Fakaname]

Moron, there was never any torture. Now you can go back to jerking yourself off to your Al Aueda heroes.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

The "real men" haven't won a war in 70 years. Mainly, they talk big, but settle for a series of vague draws with ragtag irregulars throughout the globe, despite an enormous advantage in (taxpayer-funded) resources.

Carry on, clingers. So far as your lousy educations, bigoted souls, and backwater towns can carry you, at least.

[Elias Fakaname]

Why don't you go down to your local VFW and tell them that. Word for word. See how those guys aren't 'real men' when you're shitting your own teeth for the next week.

[raphidae]

Sure, waterboarding isn't torture. You should watch someone that has it done to them, like Christopher Hitchens, and then hear their opinion instead of the opinion of people that have no idea how it feels.

Or find me a single person that has been waterboarded himself and still thinks that is not torture. It's easy to say "oh, that's not torture" when you have no idea of the effect but some dry summary...

[Elias Fakaname]

It isn't torture. There, now you the opinion of someone who has experienced it (military training). It sucks, but it isn't torture.

[The Last American Hero]

So it's not torture if it doesn't leave burn marks or blood?

That's an interesting way of viewing torture.

[Elias Fakaname]

It depends, but either way, water boarding is not torture.

[Zeb]

Of course water boarding is torture. You are causing extreme discomfort and fear. What the hell else are you going to call it?

Maybe torture is necessary sometimes. I don't think it is, but it's possible. So make that argument, don't just tweak definitions so you can avoid the whole question.

[Elias Fakaname]

You are causing extreme discomfort and fear. What the hell else are you going to call it?

You just described every speech ever given by Hillary Clinton. Those are legal too.

[Elias Fakaname]

Seriously though, by your description the following are all 'torture':

Sitting in an uncomfortable chair for any length of time
Being forced to stand for an uncomfortable length of time
Threats of extended incarceration
Any uncomfortable temperatures
Coercive statements of any kind
Any sleep,deprivation whatsoever

You get the idea. So under your logic we are limited to asking hardened terorists questions nicely and then leaving them alone if they don't feel like answering. In your mind, anything mor is equivalent to burning O'Neil,e a,ive, bull whipping, applying acid, electro genial torture, burying people alive, extended beatings, and other things far more horrific.

Do you understand, in context , how ridiculous you sound with the absurd false equivalencies?

[Don't look at me.]

It lacks the physical damage component that most people associate with torture. That's all.

[Elias Fakaname]

Which is the integral component of torture. Without which no torture takes place.

[Citizen X - #6]

That's not accurate.

[Elias Fakaname]

Words have meanings. By your definition torture becomes anything someone doesn't like. Which is not what torture is. Amd in context, waterboardong three Al Queda leaders for a few minutes each is not torture. If you're handwringing and oantshittong over that then you're not living in the real world.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ih3tTprwY04

[chemjeff]

"Torture is when they do things like taking a branding iron to you, or attaching live wires to your nut sack."

But hey, if it means more dead Muslims to keep America safe, it would all be worth it, isn't that right Elias?

[Elias Fakaname]

Dumbfuck, no one is torturing 'muslims'. The furthest anything was taken was come minor coercive techniques (water boarding, etc.) to three Al Queda leaders, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Yet you keep using phrasing like we waterboarded every Muslim walking through the door.

So you are either a come,etc moron, or a lying piece of shit. Which is it?

[ImanAzol]

I could argue your point, but first, let's discuss the concentration camps. No, the REAL concentration camps full of Japanese (and others, because all Asians look alike to you bigoted fucks) opened by the national socialist. No, the REAL national socialist, F Delano Roosevelt. You know, that textbook, revered Democratic bigot, racist, eugenicist and anti-semite who supported racism against all non-whites, including refusing to shake hands with Jesse Owens, endorsed eugenics, especially against Indians, and was happy to ban Jews from entering the US when they fled his butt-buddy Hitler?

It's a simple test: Does a Democrat speak glowingly of FDR? Then he is speaking glowingly of racism, eugenics, anti-semitism and national socialism, and is a bigoted fuck.

Statistically, every Democrat is a bigoted fuck.

[OpenBordersLiberal-tarian]

For some liberals, this is dangerous talk: It "normalizes" Trump, which only encourages him, and we must not let our guard down because he might, at any moment, declare martial law.

It's not just "liberals" who hold this view. I'm a left-libertarian and I believe Drumpf must be endlessly mocked and / or denounced right up until Mueller's investigation results in his removal from office. Consider the damage he's already done to the country:

Right-wing extremist Gorsuch on the Supreme Court.
Net Neutrality reversal.
A collapsing economy. (Krugman's prediction was correct in spirit, even if he got some details wrong.)
Undocumented Americans living in fear of deportation.
The "shithole" comment.
An emboldened white nationalist movement.

This. Is. Not. Normal. We must never downplay the fact that a white supremacist Putin puppet cheated his way to the presidency.

[Brett Bellmore]

The voters "normalized" Trump when they elected him. He needs no further normalization. It's just election losers trying to claim the winner is somehow illegitimate because they really don't like him.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

The pathetic yahoos in our can't-keep-up backwaters elected Trump. Our modern, successful communities, and the decent, accomplished people who inhabit them, are not nearly gullible, disaffected, or character-deficient to fall for Trump.

[Citizen X - #6]

Oh good, another clumsy parody.

[ImanAzol]

So, the racists voted against him?

[DajjaI]

I nominate you for Hitlary's Re-Education Czar.

[Ossicle]

Your hysteria greatly embarrasses me on your behalf. As for your list:

1. A conservative gets nominated and appointed to the Supreme Court. The horror. Could easily have happened under any Republican president.
2. Quite possibly bad, but no one knows yet. Could easily have happened under any Republican president, and some Democratic ones.
3. A collaps....? Ah, whatever.
4. Immigration laws are being very lightly enforced, finally.
5. Who cares?/Doesn't matter.
6. The numbers are minuscule.

None of the above is particularly abnormal, particularly unusual for any Republican president to cause, or particularly bad. (The possible exception being #3. IF Trump makes the "economy collapse," in some way that's different from how any other Republican president might, than you'll have a point. Prediction: it won't happen.)

And, there is no strong evidence of him being a white supremacist or a Putin puppet. Both are ridiculous ideas, in fact.

[$park? leftist poser]

Your hysteria greatly embarrasses me on your behalf.

When you really should just be embarrassed for arguing with satire.

[Elias Fakaname]

No, he's pretty much correct.

[Cynical Asshole]

Doesn't change the fact that Open Borders Liberl-tarian is a parody/ sock puppet account that someone created quite a while ago in order to troll and yet it seems almost everyday someone gets tricked into responding to it.

[Cynical Asshole]

Poe's Law looms large.

[ImanAzol]

Has Mueller found Trump's Russian birth certificate yet? It looks like he found Hillary's donation records.

[hello.]

Right after these 750 words I spend pissing and moaning about how president Trump is unquestionably our first fascist Nazi president and dismissing any criticism of his Democratic predecessors or contemporaries as histrionic shrieking, can we all just get over it and acknowledge and accept that he's a fascist Nazi and move on?

Well you probably could but it might take blowing your brains out since your entire self identity and purpose of your otherwise totally meaningless existence is wholly and completely wrapped up in your idiotic virtue signalling.

[Elias Fakaname]

The irony is that the first fascist president was Obama, with Hillary waiting 'her turn' to become Mao/Stalin in a pantsuit. However, as she is more of a pantload, her candidacy was a spectacular failure. To the delight of good Americans, and the horro of the traitor class.

[Eric]

I think it's cute how you think you're on the rational side of the argument Elias.

[Elias Fakaname]

It's even cuter that you believe you're right abut anything. Communist moron.

[chemjeff]

Hillary waiting 'her turn' to become Mao/Stalin in a pantsuit

So Hillary is equivalent to Mao or Stalin? You are fkn joking right? Look I disagree with her on almost every issue but calling her Stalin is where you just go off into la-la land. Or is this your version of "well, if they're going to call Trump Hitler, then I'll show them and call Hillary Stalin!"?

[Elias Fakaname]

Unrestrained she would be just as bad. She's already a murderer who protects her serial rapist husband and has competed at least one act of outright treason.

[chemjeff]

So Hillary would have been just as bad as Stalin. Got it.

You really are a moron.

[Elias Fakaname]

Jeff, my intellect easily eclipses your own by a minimum of a factor of ten. If you had an brains you might be capable of understanding such a fundamental fact, and you would also understand what a vicious clinical psychopath HRC truly is.

As it stands, you're too stupid for any of that. Best you just learn to obey. Best thing for you really, your commentary is going nowhere.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

You must have been quite a birther, Elias.

You should have chosen an education. Backwater religious schooling doesn't count.

[Elias Fakaname]

Birther? Yes, I favor being born. If you're referring to Obama, no I never really bought into that rumor that Hillary's 2008 campaign started out of desperation. As there was no reason at that time to go to the effort to fake a newspaper birth announcement. It didn't track.

[ImanAzol]

So exactly how much education, in what, from which institutions do you have, "Rev."?

And more importantly--how much do you earn flipping burgers?

[ImanAzol]

The first fascist was Wilson. The first National Socialist was FDR.

[lap83]

Hmm, nope.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Can We Talk About Something Besides Trump?

A good way to hear about something other than Trump-- in fact, it's the ONLY way I know, is to tune out from the news altogether.

[lap83]

Iowahawk's tweet is appropriate here

Reporter 1: this dog shit is delicious, try some
Reporter 2: mmm tasty, gimme seconds pls
Headlines next day: Dog Shit Eating Trend Sweeps Planet

? David Burge (@iowahawkblog) February 11, 2018

[Citizen X - #6]

By Iowahawk's logic, Nancy Grace keeps getting invited to rainbow parties, right? Which m[vomits uncontrollably]

Which means that a[vomits again]

[Elias Fakaname]

I favor more articles idles about hot chicks with big boobs. Can never go wrong with that.

[Tony]

If we ignore him, he won't go away. But he might nuke something to get our attention back.

[Rufus The Monocled]

What happens when he doesn't nuke anything?

[Tony]

You'll be here saying how great he is for not nuking anything.

[VinniUSMC]

And you'll still be here whining about how terrible he is.

[$park? leftist poser]

Because for Tony the possibility of Trump nuking something any day now won't end until Trump is no longer President.

[Rufus The Monocled]

The correct answer is 'more left-wing hyper-shrill howling that never came to pass'.

I've run out of red ink and skunk scented stickers for you Tony.

[Eric]

"You'll be here saying how great he is for not nuking anything."

It's called the Bigotry of Low Expectations, and it's Trump's best friend right now.

[Elias Fakaname]

He's far better than Obama, who blundered through every international dilemma. That Oran deal,might result in WW3 if the Iranians don't get around to overthrowing the mullahs.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I think you're not disproving Eric's point there.

[ImanAzol]

You make me hope the Death Camps (tm) are more than Dummycrap agitprop.

[Colossal Douchebag]

That's what I think about you every day.

[Elias Fakaname]

Obama was the one working round the clock to bring about World War 3. With his complete ineptitude and hatred for America.

[Cynical Asshole]

Can We Talk About Something Besides Trump?

Apparently not.

[damikesc]

A lot of readers have been asking for that for a year.

[Don't look at me.]

Let's talk about boobs. Everybody likes em , right?

[Citizen X - #6]

They're pretty good.

[$park? leftist poser]

My wife and I both agree that a nice rack is a beautiful thing.

[timbo]

photographic proof in that case.

[Marcus Aurelius]

Say, didn't you used to be Harvey Weinstein?

[Longtobefree]

Not the women who want to be men.

[Azathoth!!]

This was a serious article.

A serious piece.

It wasn't a self-deprecating reflection on the Reason 'if it's trump, it leads' policy.

Each time I think 'wow, this is it, this is the bottom. Reason can't make itself look any worse'--one of you has to go and prove me wrong.

It's probably only seconds till Hihn burbles up from his fecal swamp.

[Number 2]

Ironic that this blogpost comes only hours after Robby Soave posted yet another hyperventilating piece about a Trump tweet.

[Elias Fakaname]

Burbles up from a fecal swamp?

https://tinyurl.com/ydc2ae7t

[Domestic Dissident]

Yes, we know that you in the JournoList are deranged. This has been apparent for some time.

Own it. Accept it. Embrace it. We will to continue to laugh at you and mock you the whole way.

[Incomprehensible Bitching]

Why can't you shitstains just treat Trump exactly the way you do Hillary Clinton?

You know: the way democrats do?

[DesigNate]

Of the two, he's probably more of a "Clinton president" than Hillary would have been.

[The Last American Hero]

It's not about "not reporting on Trump". It's that the reporting has zero nuance, and articles about whether he wears a rug or dyes his hair get the same level of coverage and hysteria as him threatening to license the press. It's that reporters crow about tax cuts but ignore that the bill could have happened under President Rubio or President Cruz. It's that none of them seem to care about the 5.5 undeclared wars that we're fighting, but they get really amped over a military parade (an admittedly dumb idea). The press gets really excited over Trump's son meeting with Russians, but ignores Hillary paying the fucking Russians for Intel on Trump and leaking it to the press, and Obama using it as a pretext to spy on the opposition and feed info to Hillary.

The real problem is that in crying wolf and refusing to be anything other than absolute partisan hacks, the media is going to get ignored when Trump eventually does something truly damaging to the country.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I don't believe we should stop discussing Trump. He's President, as long as we continue to allow politicians to have tremendous control over our lives, the President is important to the follow. What needs to change is how he is reported on. Because I do believe that what he says at any given moment is without meaning or value. Nothing can be read from it of real significance.

[Elias Fakaname]

The funny thing is that for all the whining, Trump is on track to be the best president since Reagan.

[Rockabilly]

I was going through my fond memories...

I lived in Portland Oregon from around 1976 to 1982. This was before the communists took over the Rose City.

It was a small sleepy town at the time. Stores were closed on Sundays.

This was a time of sweet innocence when a clothing store could be called The Gay Blade, and no one would blink an eye. I even found an old ad on the internets.

http://www.stumptownblogger.co.....blade.html

[Rockabilly]

CROONER VIC DAMONE HAS DIED

http://www.stumptownblogger.com/entertainment/

[Egypt Steve]

From Reason, Feb. 21, 1318:

"Can't we stop talking about the bubonic plague? At some point, we should just take all the rats and corpses in the streets as a given."

[Socialmisfit]

We will stop talking about Trump after enough of the population including the media chattering class get their therapy to cure their Trump Derangement Syndrome.

[AD-RtR/OS!]

If he (DJT) isn't holding your eccentricities up for public ridicule, perhaps you should observe The Golden Rule, and not say anything about his.

[UnrepentantCurmudgeon]

To answer your question: Apparently not.

Which does not mean, however, that you cannot lead by example.

[JRuss]

We must resist because he and they are dangerous to our democratic republic. Remember they came for a stranger, I said nothing. Then they came for my neighbor, and I said nothing. Now they have come for me

[vek]

LOL

Trump isn't coming after anybody. He's barely even stepped up immigration enforcement, and surely isn't kicking down anybody elses doors. If you're not an illegal alien, you're a complete moron for thinking anybody is ever going to come after you.

[Elias Fakaname]

Which is generous considering there are legitimate causes to charge quit a few people with sedition these days.

[vek]

This is a fact.

[KevinP]

No doubt: President Trump seems more likely to do something profoundly dangerous than any of his recent predecessors.

Which would be ... ???

[vek]

Murdering children by removing even a single regulation on any industry? Or perhaps starving children because of a tax cut? Killing puppies just for fun??? I'm not entirely sure, and I doubt he is either. TDS is something to behold.

[TGoodchild]

"more likely to do something profoundly dangerous than any of his recent predecessors."

Hey now, he has yet to let a stooge SoS pave the road for Iran's nuclear aspiration with billions in "pretty please" money. The worst Trump has done has been to imply that KJU is short and fat.

[ernieyeball]

If there were a god there would be no Donald Trump.

[Elias Fakaname]

If there was a God every single progressive, Marxist, socialist, etc. would be burning in agony.

[ernieyeball]

So we agree. There is no god.

[rhkennerly]

Not sure i'm willing to sanction or normalize such aberrant behavior. He's a profoundly ignorant man in a disfunctional & mostly ignorant WH, being advised by absentee Cabinet.

[Longtobefree]

We can, but you evidently cannot.

[Mac61]

I would love to stop talking about Trump. But to do so the press must put him in context.

The guy is a real estate developer from Queens.

He's normal in Queens. Most Americans have no context for Queens.

George Washington led the Revolutionary Army to victory over the Brits. Thomas Jefferson penned the Derclaration of Independence and founded the University of Virginia. Dwight Eisenhower led the Allies to victory over Nazi Germany. And Donald J. Trump is a real estate developer from Queens.

If the next president is mafia boss from New Jersey, everyone's going to be up in arms again. Most people don't talk like mobsters. People need context. It's not about normalizing anyone. If you haven't had someone in Queens lean out a window and scream profaniities at you because they don't like the way you are parking, you don't understand Queens.

Actual Queens argument, outside bar, 3 a,.m. Man: "Get out of this neighborhood, you cunt!" Woman: "That's right! That's your problem, you cunt! You don't have a cunt! You need a cunt! That's why you'll never survive in this neighborhood!" Etc. Etc.

Hey, how about a fucking parade, for Christ's sake? And what's up with those shithole Democrats not applauding my speech? Treasonous motherfuckers.

I would be disappointed in anytihing less. Keep it real, DJT.

[vek]

LOL

That really does seem to be a lot of it. He does just genuinely talk like a normal human being... And the 100% scripted politicians and media class can't stand it! "OMG! He said something that 70% of normal Americans would say!!! It's the end of the world!!!!!!!!!!!!" It's ridiculous.

[shawn_dude]

Except he's not saying them as a "normal American" but as the chief foreign diplomat representing all 350 Million of us. He's doing it while "on duty" and in the public eye.

You flip off a guy on the street, no biggie. You flip off a guy at your job and you're fired.

Context matters.

[Elias Fakaname]

His foreign policy has certainly been more cohesive and effective than his predecessor so far. The problem is that most people got used to us being an international doormat when Obama was in charge.

[vek]

And what is wrong with saying what you mean? Our president has no obligation to kiss every other nation on earths ass. He has no obligation to do things that make them happy, or are in their benefit and against ours. I would rather be more disliked abroad, but actually do things that are in our interests. Not to the point of invading countries and murdering people or anything, but we don't have to be SUPER NICE all the time. Being tough but fair is what I want.

The truth is that some foreigners actually like the fact that he just says what he wants to. In China apparently a lot of the regular people love him for his brashness. They may not like his policies, but the appreciate he isn't a fake politician. I appreciate that about him too. I wish he would be a LITTLE more controlled in what he says, but I'd take him even as he is over all the other lying ass politicians.

[vek]

I really don't understand how anyone can freak out about Trump as hard as they all are. He hasn't done a damn thing that's all that out there. He's governing like a moderate Democrat from 20 or 30 years ago.

It is fun to watch them freak out over nothing, but it actually starting to get a bit tedious. Maybe I'm just getting tired of all the winning??? LOL

[buybuydandavis]

Not tired of winning yet!

[buybuydandavis]

Could the MSM take their TDS as given, and just give it a rest already?

[Elias Fakaname]

I as hoping for mass ritual suicide, but we can try that too I suppose.

[vek]

No, no, no! Let's stick with the mass ritual suicide idea! I like that one!!!

[naguyija]

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[roxex]

$89 an hour! Seriously I don't know why more people haven't tried this, I work two shifts, 2 hours in the day and 2 in the evening?And i get surly a chek of $1260......0 whats awesome is Im working from home so I get more time with my kids.
Here is what i did

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[skunkman]

Sorry but it won't happen. The radicals have taken over the Democratic party and much of the media has signed up too. They can't engage in legitimate discussion on issues because they have no idea. They can't even agree with the guy when he proposes things that they would normally like. If the democrats would jus pull their collective heads out and get some more moderate leaders they might be able to counteract the Trump phenomenon. I doubt they will.

[Priscilla King]

Any return to issues over people will be fine with me. I'm disappointed that others haven't posted this comment first...these comments read like a vote for more back & forth about people (whom the commenters don't even know).