2) Russians have made him a lot of money buying condos and investing in his bldgs and hosting his beauty pageant.That makes them his friends
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) April 1, 2017
Mark Cuban, genuine wealthy celebrity, may actually have the best perspective on the fake that is the President-Asterisk…
10) I think Putin recognized trumps greed and took advantage by back channeling coordinated misinformation in an attempt to influence voters
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) April 1, 2017
12)Because he didn't recognize or understand as it was happening he has no idea what to do now or how to respond. So he turns to Fox News
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) April 1, 2017
(Click on any of the tweets above to read the rest of the thread)
The Citron Catastrophe in the Oval Office is making the last Repub preznident’s minions feel better about their choices, though!
"This is a pretty bad combination: empty, vindictive, shallow, impatient, incompetent and morally small." https://t.co/XUSnP8B04x
— Michael Gerson (@MJGerson) March 31, 2017
I'm not sure what trump's play is here from a strategic point of view. Dems don't have incentive to work w him. and he's dumping on 30 Rs
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) March 30, 2017
His strategy is that he’s annoyed and he has a cell phone. https://t.co/NcJR661fMv
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) March 30, 2017
Shantanu Saha
Wow, I’m the first to comment!
Shantanu Saha
Mark Cuban is an asshole, but he knows fake when he sees it.
Corner Stone
@Shantanu Saha: And your diagnosis, Doctor?
WereBear
Oh gosh. If it weren’t fall all the lives in danger, this would be hilarious!
LAO
I read Cuban’s tweets yesterday, and it seems to me like a fairly plausible explanation. He may be an asshole, but I think he’s right.
Betty
Re:Cuban’s take, I would agree that Trump would not have led the conspiracy. I don’t agree that he was not aware of it though and do believe he was an active participant.
satby
@Corner Stone: hey, saw your comment in the cello thread from last night and thought of this. Because I agree.
different-church-lady
My take is Trump is dumb enough to do illegal things without realizing they’re illegal. Maybe Putin’s knowingly taking advantage of that, or maybe it’s just a plate of shrimp.
LosGatosCA
But 85% of the Republicans still support him even though Putin grabbed Trump’s p*ssy.
Mustang Bobby
“I had no idea this was going on” worked for Reagan because he never said he was the smartest man in the world and knew about everything going on. But when this blows up in Trump’s face, his minions will take the fall and he’ll say “Hey, did you know Putin is a dictator? Could have knocked me over with a feather.”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Shantanu Saha: A lot of assholes have trump’s number, and are loud about it: David Frum and Rick Wilson come to mind.
Mary G
Just opened my mail and found the passport I requested expedited 10 days ago, so some parts of the government are functioning well. I don’t know where I’d go if I left for good, maybe just cruise around the world after I win the lottery I don’t play. The lady at the post office looked like a scary Trump voter, but it turned out to be just annoyance with the family before us. She was super nice once she realized that we had all our information together correctly – I turned in my only old passport issued in 1975 and the pictures do not compare well at all. I asked her if anything had changed at her level under Trump and she rolled her eyes and said, “Not so far, but…”
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@satby:
Funny, I was just looking at their In the Hall of the Mountain King.
lollipopguild
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: You are correct but trump was elected in large part because he was such an effective public racist asshole.. The people who voted for him because of this expect him to deliver more of what he gave them during the election.
Barbara
The SF Giants just got their first HR of the season on opening day by . . . Madison Baumgartner, who has a perfect game throgh 4 innings. What a guy.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@different-church-lady: I always thought Putin was too smart to include trump in on whatever he’s doing
Corner Stone
@satby: I prefer cello to violin or most other similar instruments. And give me a cello and a double bass and I just lost about a half a day.
Barbara
@lollipopguild: Meanwhile, he has retreated to his virtual and actual cocoon. How long before he becomes too reclusive for them? Who do they turn to next?
lollipopguild
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Putin saw trump as a useful idiot some time ago.
trollhattan
@different-church-lady:
That covers part of it, the other part being he thought he could make stuff legal upon entering office. STUPID RULES!
Baud
Cuban is probably right. But I’m not currently interested in speculating why Trump may not be as guilty as he could be.
smintheus
I’ve no idea how well Cuban understands Trump, but this quote appears to be the core of his idea and it seems dumb. Dumb because Trump has pulled off a lot of elaborate frauds and cons in his life (Trump University was pretty elaborate), and dumb because Trump always relies on more-detail oriented people to make his scams work.
Also, dumb because most of the heavy lifting was done by the Russians; all they needed from Trump was his buy in, or his willingness to do what he was told.
lollipopguild
@Barbara: They turn to whomever says out loud what they want to hear. It would be nice if trump goes away for good since his rather traumatic encounter with reality seems to be shrinking him before our eyes.
Baud
@lollipopguild:
If this keeps up, his hands will seem proportional to his body.
debbie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I don’t think it would be too difficult for Putin to manipulate Trump. Trump has always considered himself as the brightest and smartest. He could never, ever admit he didn’t know what was going on.
SRW1
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Maybe Putin’s plan was more to have Trump come as close as possible and then contest his defeat for months.
And then the dog caught the car …
amk
But your honor, I am just a dumb criminal who happened to commit treason. I know nuthin’.
Villago Delenda Est
@different-church-lady: Donald thinks that anything he does is right. Anything. He can’t be wrong. He has no external frame of reference for his actions. He has not been properly socialized, because he’s never had to be properly socialized, because he’s had enough money to avoid any consequences for his actions.
He’s in a new arena now. One he’s never been in before. One where he has no control at all over the variables.
lollipopguild
@SRW1: I am sure that there are some members of the GOP who truly wish HItlerybeast had won because they would be impeaching her right now.
Mary G
Check out #FlowerReport on Twitter – people are posting pictures of their first spring flowers. It’s following the trend set by Ozark Hillbilly!
Villago Delenda Est
@trollhattan: Nute Gunray: “But my lord, is that legal?”
Darth Sidious: “I will MAKE it legal.”
Iowa Old Lady
@Betty: Nobody knew this was illegal! Nobody.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@Barbara:
Good question… Palin’s sell by date has long expired as has Santorum’s, Cain, Carson… maybe they’ll rally around Walker? Maybe some Fox News loon emerges to rattle their cages?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@debbie: trump has said out loud what it takes to get on his good side, “if someone is nice to me, I’m nice to them”, he doesn’t like “nasty” people. Putin sent him a gift! a beautiful gift! I still wanna know what that was. Caviar, a cross, a furry hat?
(As always, I’m fascinated by the paucity of his vocabulary, but he is, beyond that combination of arrogance and insecurity, a very simple man. There’s a long Financial Times (I think) interview with him published today that is getting a lot of twitter attention, and someone pointed out that he manages (needs) to work the word “strong” into almost every response, every issue.)
Baud
@Barbara:
Whoever hates us the most?
lollipopguild
@amk: Cue the scene from “Pirates of Penzance” where the pirates must be shown mercy because they are all orphans.
albertZ
So given the choice of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors, Cuban is taking treason off the board. OK.
Gindy51
@Mary G: We didn’t even have to expedite ours to get them in 2 weeks.
BBA
I’ve got to admit, he’s played this stinkin’ country like a harp from hell.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Yup, one of the reasons the Obama people didn’t want to make a bigger issue of it without bipartisan cover. And also why McConnell wouldn’t give it.
@West of the Rockies (been a while): Ben Sasse, Tom Cotton, Cruz will be back, Li’l Marco will try, Kasich may try again
clay
@smintheus:
This seems to be exactly Cuban’s point; I’m not sure why that makes him dumb.
For instance, it’s not too likely that Trump himself organized the particulars of Trump University. It’s more likely that backers came to him, told him that if he put his name on it then a lot of people would buy in. All Trump had to do was promote it. Since he doesn’t read, and only relies on what people tell him, and has no intrinsic understanding of education, he may very well have thought that he was going to help the ‘students’ get smart and rich. (Not that this lack of understanding makes him less culpable.)
Likewise, Cuban is saying that Putin and his enablers in the states wrote the script, and put it in front of Trump, and let him do what he does best: bloviate in public about things that sound appealing to those who are already inclined to listen.
amk
@BBA: yup.
Thru the Looking Glass...
@debbie:
Making him perhaps one of the easiest types to manipulate…
Trump’s just too smart to fall for that, see?
Barbara
@Baud: Maybe hate is what animates them most but I believe Trump’s appeal is also what I call aesthetic — being crass and brash and not dull. He is essentially a parrot and his strength was parroting his biggest supporters. He is still a parrot. Look at how readily he came on board with AHCA for the win.
sukabi
@different-church-lady: I think he knowingly does illegal shit because he thinks the rules don’t apply to him…and he’s gotten away with plenty of shady shit his entire life with 0 consequences. I don’t think he’s any kind of “mastermind” but rather a very willing participant.
different-church-lady
@BBA: Just barely enough of it. Perhaps every single person who was willing to be played.
Major Major Major Major
Yep. It seemed in the early days like it might be some sort of distraction strategy, or something to rile up “the base”, or… something. Then it seemed like it was some sort of strategy but very poorly executed. Now it just seems like they’re as stupid, incompetent, and crazy as they seem to be.
dww44
@Betty: I agree with you. While it is all about money and power, Trump is not the totally clueless “bidness” man that he comes off as in Cuban’s scenario.
Baud
@Barbara: Right. He clearly has some “skill” in terms of his ability to ham it up, and that shouldn’t be undersold.
different-church-lady
@sukabi: ToMAYto, toMAHto; perhaps “laws don’t apply to me” is why he thinks none of his actvites could be illegal. It’s quite clear he doesn’t have anything like a normal person’s sense of morality, and he’s been getting away with it for so long now that he thinks the law will never touch him.
Baud
@different-church-lady: We’re still the majority, but we have a real fight on our hands.
Thru the Looking Glass...
Excuse me if I cannot find it within myself to feel sorry for them…
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
I don’t think Trump led a conspiracy, but nevertheless, he was part of the conspiracy.
There were too many intercepts btwn both camps to think otherwise.
amk
@Major Major Major Major: To me, they always were stupid, incompetent, and crazy from day one. Just like he is and has always been.
WaterGirl
I’m still not over the fact that Trump apparently forgot he was at a signing ceremony and walked out without signing. Is it too much to hope that was discussed on all the sunday shows?
WaterGirl
They are all morally bankrupt. No mercy. No excuses.
amk
@WaterGirl: Not only did the twitler forget, when reminded by mike, the dense, he seemed to say fuck it all and still walked away.
sukabi
@albertZ: he might be worried, as a businessman, that some of his potential foreign deals might be considered in a different light if Drumpf and his many foreign deals appear to undermine US sovereignty…who knows how many other billionaires are doing much the same things in their businesses as Drumpf?
different-church-lady
@amk: But they were competent at one significant thing: finding and leveraging every single scrap of hatred in the American electorate.
It’s their only skill, but it’s a doozy.
zhena gogolia
@BBA:
Is “he” Trump or Putin?
amk
Gelfling 545
@Betty: I believe he was aware of it….well, I SAY aware, but … I just don’t think he had any notion of how or why it would be WRONG.
AnonPhenom
Nobody saying it. So I will. Putin wouldn’t have the balls to try a move like this without some serious backing in the West. He’s gotten it from the oil companies who are drooling over the oil reserves that Obama put sanctions on ( and the Keystone shit also). They made common cause & supported their stooge Trump because it was in their financial interests to do so.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Romney, too, may see himself as the savior of the party, the country.
More and more, I think Trump is in impending dementia territory.
gene108
@West of the Rockies (been a while):
It will be someone more off the rails than Trump.
I’ve been thinking about conservative voters and I think their desire to vote for Trump goes back to the Bush, Jr. Administration.
Damn near every right-winger interacted with thought Bush, Jr was the GREATEST PRESIDENT EVER by the summer of 2003. They just weren’t approving of him, they wanted to build monuments in his honor. They were serious about thinking he’s the greatest President ever.
Their whole world view, which had been traumatized by 9/11, has just been vibdicated by this one man and his victory over Saddam, i.e. the evil one.
And then by 2004, they glorious victory was looking less glorious, Abu Grahib picture were released, the in 2005 Katrina exposed their hero as being incompetent, and the financial crisis sealed the deal of thee demise of their independent great hero.
And instead of asking, was I wrong in supporting those things? Right-wing media rushed to tell them, “you were not wrong, your hero was a fake, a charlatan, an imposter and not a True Conservative. He was too liberal, so he failed”.
And they accepted this because otherwise would be to admit a mistake.
And then a black man decisively wins the Presidency and a bunch of mentally fragile snowflakes lose their motherfcuking minds.
And Trump comes along and reassures them in no uncertain terms that your fear and hatred of Muslims, Latinoes, etc. is just what I’m thinking.
Even if Trump crashes and burns, they will still demand another Trump. Another person, who aligns with their world view, because no matter what there are multi-billion dollar media outlets ready to reassure them “it is not you, it is them” and throw in evangelical churches preaching this stuff every Sunday, and all any ambitious Republican needs to do is copy Trurmp’s statements, and make sure their campaign staff has no ties to foreign governments that can come back to bite them.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@West of the Rockies (been a while): Other retreads: Rand Paul, Walker and Rick Santorum cause he’s got nothing else to do
Other newbies: Nikki Haley, Mark Sanford, Justin Amash’s profile is rising , and just cause I think she’d make things ugly for other R’s, Marsha Blackburn.
from what we know of his diet, physique and exercise routine (I use my hands when I talk!), I’d be surprised if he didn’t have roller coaster blood sugar levels
Doug R
@AnonPhenom: Speaking of Russian backing, the Koch Bros have previous ties to Russia and they are massive climate change deniers. Has this been their game all along?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Adam L Silverman
@LAO: This is still Cuban’s best reply to anyone asking him about his tweet storm:
debbie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I heard a few bits of that interview earlier today. Why does he have to say every single thing twice? Is he trying to make himself believe the crap coming out of his mouth?
rikyrah
Imani Gandy
✔
@AngryBlackLady
While Glenn Geeenwald goes all “Russian Lives Matter,” I can’t say I’ve ever seen him be this concerned about anti-Blackness.
Major Major Major Major
@LAO:
He is an asshole, but that in no way precludes one from being right.
Barbara
@WaterGirl: It made NPR yesterday, in quite a bit of detail.
WaterGirl
@amk: That’s because, no matter how small, he is incapable of admitting a mistake.
gene108
@Baud:
Yeah, but we’re all clumped together in cities and along the coasts.
In America, underpopulated areas get an outsized say in how things get done politically.
That’s the real nut Democrats need to figure out how to crack; how to be competitive in states like Oklahoma, Nebraska, etc, which used to have Democrats in elected office 20 or 30 years ago.
BBA
@Gelfling 545: I think this is Trump’s attitude towards lots of things that “normal” people would consider horrifyingly wrong. I don’t think he’s going to suspend the Constitution and proclaim himself Leader of America by the Grace of God, but I don’t think he’d understand why anyone would react negatively to it if he did.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Zinsky
The Mango Mussolini (a/k/a Cheeto Benito) couldn’t find his fat ass with both hands and a flashlight. Utterly incompetent, narcissistic beyond all comprehension and just plain mean and degenerate, I don’t think this shit-for-brains geriatric combover even knows what continent Russia is on!
Adam L Silverman
@AnonPhenom: @Doug R: Sort of. If you read carefully – as in are looking for it in the open source reporting and documentation – what you will find is that significant Russian interests have spent the better part of the last decade establishing connections to conservative groups and movements in the US. From the religious right to the NRA. That’s why the news reporting today on Torshin is so important. Torshin is a major political, economic, and organized crime player on behalf of Putin. He’s got significant connections to the US religious right, because Russia is now the bulwark for white Christianity. He’s got significant connections to the GOP, including one of the Freedom Caucus members Congressman Massie. He’s a life member of the NRA and the El Pais reporting suggests/indicates that the bank Torshin runs has provided funding for the NRA. This is significant in two ways: 1) it has long been suggested that the bulk of the NRAs 4 million life members have passed away, but because they won’t provide up to date lists, that number gets bandied about year in and year out and 2) it is known, though discounted/ignored by 2nd Amendment absolutists, that they NRA’s main sources of funding isn’t its members, as the NRA loudly responds whenever asked, but without providing evidence, rather it is outside groups – firearms manufacturers, the Shooting Sports Foundation, etc. If Torshin’s bank is providing funding for the NRA that’s huge. Through the NRA Torshin is connected to Milwaukee County Sheriff Clarke, which means he’s connected to the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA), which is the militia/patriot/sovereign citizen/white nationalist entryway into law enforcement leadership and a major destabilizing force in the Western US as we’ve seen with the Bundys.
Zee money, follow zee money! The money buys access and influence. Access and influence are a significant part of penetration at all levels.
zhena gogolia
@AnonPhenom:
правдоподобно
Adam L Silverman
@Mustang Bobby: That may fly as an attempted cover up for the CI side, but it won’t for the organized crime criminal investigations. But I don’t think it will, ultimately work for any of it. It will be tried, but this isn’t Reagan and Iran-Contra.
Adam L Silverman
@West of the Rockies (been a while): I used to have that as the ring tone for when my Dad called.
john fremont
@SRW1: This!!!
Adam L Silverman
@West of the Rockies (been a while): Won’t be Walker. He faded so quickly because of his inability to inspire the confidence that he could run any bigger scam than he’s already running.
smintheus
@clay: I don’t think that is what Cuban is saying. He’s trying to convince us that Trump did not know that his campaign was involved in working with Putin. Cuban’s argument is that Trump was a dupe of both the Russians and of the scummy people he surrounded himself with. I’m not buying that. Trump defended Putin to the hilt even as it became clear that it was a major liability to his election campaign.
As regards Trump University, people did go to him asking just to rent his name, but Trump decided to take over the thing himself because he spotted a lucrative con. He pushed the original scammers out of the picture and put his own people in charge of running the racket. He knew exactly what the fraud was that his people were supposed to perpetrate.
John Revolta
@WaterGirl: @amk: I’ve seen the video and if you ask me and nobody did, I think the guy had what I’ll politely call an “evacuatory event”.
@gene108: This is what scares me. Specifically, I’m afraid that the next guy that comes along might actually not be stupid.
Adam L Silverman
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: When did Houston relocate to
OntarioAlberta? That’s the only way it’s hometown for Cruz.SiubhanDuinne
@Betty:
I think he was aware of it on some level and was an active participant. I believe he was guided primarily by greed (and maybe fear). But I don’t think he is capable of the kind of long-range strategic thinking that would alert him to possible pitfalls or other consequences.
But whether stupidity or cupidity (or the extremely unlikely-to-vanishing-point possibility that he knew full well what was going on, made a reasoned and measured decision, and acted accordingly), this is in no way the person who should be at the helm of the Ship of State.
Goddammit, now I’m getting all angry and depressed again.
Adam L Silverman
@gene108: Yep, spot on.
WaterGirl
@John Revolta: I have never heard that term. What does it mean? He lost his mind?
SiubhanDuinne
@Mary G:
All over my Facebook feed as well, and Ozark was the very first thing I thought of!
NotoriousJRT
@dww44: That captures my problem with it.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
I think it means he lost control of his bowels.
Adam L Silverman
@WaterGirl: Lost yes, mind no. Think other bodily function.
sukabi
@WaterGirl: crapped his drawers
Baud
So someone is apparently claiming that the WSJ lied in reporting that Google placed YouTube ads next to Nazi videos. Reporting cost Google tons of ad revenue. Stay tuned.
SiubhanDuinne
@Adam L Silverman:
Cruz was born in Calgary, AB, not anywhere in ON.
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: @Adam L Silverman: @sukabi: He did have rather an odd walk, but I hardly ever see him – can’t bear to watch – and he did have that weird lurching thing he did when he stalked Hillary on stage.
Brachiator
I agree that Trump is too stupid to actively assist the Russians in any conspiracy. But the negative impact is real.
Pundits are still hoping that Trump can somehow rise to the occasion and actually become presidential. But his high level meetings seem to be empty and just for show, and the reality seems to be that he is circling the wagons using his family. He has the attention span of a gnat and is coasting along largely by rubber stamping an old GOP agenda. He does have two pet agendas, immigration and tax cuts, and has ICE to try to enforce the first and Congress to pick up the slack on the second item.
Apart from that, what we have consistently seen is a rigid, vindictive old man who lives for adulation. He has some surrogates, some who claim to have know him for a long time, claim that he will show us all that he knows what he is doing, but this is less and less convincing.
And yet, his core supporters hold on and continue to be impressed by Trump. Thursday or Friday, I heard some radio talking voice commentator earnestly say, “Jared Kushner is very rich, so he must be smart.”
Thor Heyerdahl
@Adam L Silverman: Your missed Cruz’s home province by 1-2 timezones…it’s Alberta (born in Calgary) and not Ontario.
Edit – SiubhanDuinne got there first
Doug R
@Adam L Silverman: @Thor Heyerdahl: Yup, Calgary, Alberta. But they do like to think of themselves as Texas North.
Adam L Silverman
@SiubhanDuinne: @Thor Heyerdahl: @Doug R: Sorry, I will go back and correct.
Adam L Silverman
@WaterGirl: I’m not suggesting he did. Just trying to clarify what was implied in the original comment.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
Every time I flash back to that debate, and the way he paced around the stage behind her — stalking, yes indeedy — I get incandescently furious with the news media all over again for not calling him out at the time.
I mean, WHO EVEN DOES THAT? It was creepy and ugly as all fuck. He is a sick, sick man, and needs to be in some kind of intensive care facility, not in the fucking WHITE HOUSE for fuck’s sake.
(‘Scuse me, I still get a little emotional now and then. Well, actually, pretty much daily since November 8, 2016.)
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne: You are not alone.
Thor Heyerdahl
@Doug R: Yeah but for a city running on oil, Calgary can be fairly progressive. Muslim mayor currently. 100 years ago home to some of the ‘Famous 5’ suffragettes. As well the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (later merged into New Democrats) founded there. And a couple of Canada’s largest consumer cooperatives are headquartered there.
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
I know. That’s why I choose to hang out with jackals.
germy
@Brachiator:
That would be a great third act for a movie. The president wakes up one morning, fires all the creeps around him and delivers a moving address to the nation, embracing a progressive populist agenda. Pro-worker, pro-environment, equal rights.
But this isn’t a movie. He’s doubling down on the stupid.
Aleta
@SiubhanDuinne:
What kills me is the number of women with personal experience with him who risked a lot to say exactly this to the public. What they said didn’t count. Not even to the leftists and liberals who oppose sexism and rape in principle but not enough to act against it by voting for HRC.
SiubhanDuinne
@germy:
Where have you gone, Aaron Sorkin?
A nation turns its lonely eyes to you,
Woo woo woo.
schrodingers_cat
Did this kind of defense work for the Nazi War Criminals? Oh, he was too stupid to do it knowingly.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@SiubhanDuinne
It was creepy when Gore stood beside Bush, too, and he sure got called on it. I guess it’s cool when you’re Repub.
SiubhanDuinne
@Aleta:
Yup. I don’t think I’m being hyperbolic when I note that it is (or at least has the potential to be) tragedy of Shakespearean dimensions.
Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn
I think we bring up age-related dementia at a peril to our arguments regarding the mental fitness of the president*. It smacks of ageism, and quite frankly implies Trump should not be held responsible for his actions. I’m *not* saying ARD can’t be a factor — sure, it could. But it really ought to be the very last rhetorical arrow in our quiver.
Consider the botched EO signing on Friday. Perfectly non-ARD explanations work for that scenario. He intro’s the two other goons with him (Pence being the third). They have their say. Trump steps up and has either a stupid moment (a dime a dozen for the president*) or maybe a “senior moment,” which actually can be an age-related memory issue that the person experiencing it is completely aware of, and starts to make like the show’s over cuz, fuggit. Pence goes to steer him back. But like a guy who trips over a section of totally flat ground and doesn’t want to look klutzy, he follows through as if he meant to leave at that moment. Remember, he can never let himself be proven to be wrong about a thing.
All unfolding in a handful of seconds, but that’s just life. He may be able to put on a good show for the bumpkins at a rally, but he sucks at the formal stuff, always has.
Anyhoo, I can’t think of anything the president* has done that gives the ARD theory much of a boost. It’s all fairly easily explained by narcissism, a mean temperament, unbridled greed, and an unremarkable, incurious intelligence that will always make him bellicose in his pronouncements/demonstrations that he’s the smartest man in the room/world.
To me, the thing to look for, if we actually are in ARD territory, would be weirder and weirder and more disconnected pronouncements and actions as the stresses of doing a gawdawful job build. That can tip people with age-related memory issues into dementia territory — provided the person is susceptible to it.
Debbie1
This person is looking for a “strategic point of view” from someone who responds to a question by saying, “I’m president and you’re not, [therefore, I win]”?
Feebog
@smintheus:
I agree with your analysis. Trump is ignorant and lazy, not stupid. He certainly directed the Trump University scam. His Atlantic City casinos were also scams, highly complex ones at that. Trump was more than just “aware” his campaign staffers were working hand in glove with the Russians. He is the one who brought Manafort on board as campaign manager, not the other way around. Even assuming, he was merely aware of the collusion instead of actively directing it, he was still in charge of the campaign and the beneficiary of the Russian ratfvcking. So, guilty as charged, and deserving of the longest, harshest sentence, because Harry Truman was right about male deer.
SiubhanDuinne
@West of the Rockies (been a while):
Yeah. Anybody invading another person’s space is creepy, and when it’s on a public stage it is infinitely more so.
Adam L Silverman
@SiubhanDuinne: Dios mio…
germy
@SiubhanDuinne:
I’m thinking Herman J. Mankiewicz, with W.C. Fields in the starring role. He always wanted to make a film called “The Great Man” but it never got done.
zhena gogolia
@Aleta:
Yup. That’s what pisses me off.
Adam L Silverman
@Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn: You make an excellent point. I would, however, recommend you read the transcripts of his speeches and interviews. Just read them. Don’t watch him give them.
Debbie1
@sukabi: Thanks, someone had to say it.
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: I’m with you. In a just world, not one single person who saw that debate would have voted for him. Except maybe rapists and perverts.
Gvg
I do think Trump does know he has done illegal things. I think he gets a thrill from braking rules and getting away with it. He hides too much, routinely as shown by his past and lawsuits against him. Remember his comment that he should shoot someone and get away with it? I think that is very revealing.
I also think he really did not get how much never ending attention of picky critics the President of the United States gets. He does not understand he can’t make the attention go away from everything he ever does and this would be true even if he wasn’t so controversial.
gene108
@John Revolta:
Yeah, a smarter guy could be dangerous, but at some level you still need to be able to govern, and pass laws that benefit ordinary people.
I do not see the Granny Starving Theocratic Unregulated Business ethos of the modern Republican Party as being conducive to actually governing the country.
And I hope they are so beholden to their special interest groups and billionaire sugar daddies that they can never step away from where they are now and learn to govern, until Democrats keep beating them in elections and force Republicans to move towards the political center.
geg6
@schrodingers_cat:
My thoughts exactly.
Miss Bianca
@Adam L Silverman: O/T – I just won’t have access to my desktop till tomorrow, so not ignoring correspondence, just technologically disadvantaged (for some reason, my phone has no problem with the BJ interface, but does with gmail. Go figure.)
Adam L Silverman
@Miss Bianca: Tracking.
Redshift
@Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn: Yeah. I can certainly see the whole surrounding himself with family members as being because they’re covering for an incapacity that they’re aware of, but u could also see it as tinpot dictator behavior.
Regardless, dementia would only affect his memory and capability; he’s been a vicious, vengeful, con artist his whole life; even if he had incipient dementia, it wouldn’t excuse any if that.
Chet Murthy
@clay: Unh-unh. I don’t believe Cuban for one simple reason: Rich guys who don’t check out the details, and get involved in cons, get fleeced. Fleeced badly and repeatedly. And yet, it seems that Trump actually made money from these cons. That alone should tell us that he was involved and cognizant.
Ella in New Mexico
Cuban’s thread is plausible in some respects, but gives far, far too little credit to Trump for his role in this whole thing.
He’s been associating with the fucking Mafia and Russian Mob for decades, coming up in the NYC development scene. He knows how these people operate, how they get their agenda accomplished. He knows who they are. He knew the people who worked for him in the campaign were cut from that cloth, regardless of the details–everything they suggested to him was exactly in the same, morally bankrupt and corrupt vein of conduct he’s always functioned in.
The fact that they had him saying and doing the things he did and that he had no objection are evidence alone of just how involved he was. Anyone else with a scrap of decency would have refused to lower themselves and the United States to that level. Not him. He LIKED it.
Sorry, Cuban, but any attempt to pretend Trump is somehow a patsy–not gonna fly.
John Revolta
@WaterGirl: I’m sorry for being kinda circumspect. I just think it would be irresponsible not to circumspeculate. ; )
WaterGirl
Look at how Barack Obama ran his campaign, who he chose for the campaign, who is surrogates were. Look at the people he surrounded himself with in the White House.
Now look at Donald Trump. Look at the people he surrounded himself with in the campaign, look at his surrogates. Look at who he has hired, who he has nominated, who he surrounds himself with.
End of Story.
clay
@SiubhanDuinne:
But they DID call him out. Every post-debate analysis I watched/read talked about it and how bad it looked for Trump. And SNL made a big deal about it in their sketch as well. It just didn’t matter.
That was the problem during the whole campaign. The media offered plenty of criticism of Trump, but it just. didn’t. matter. His supporters didn’t care, the “there’s just something about Hillary” types cared but not enough, and the media moved on to the next horrible thing Trump said.
prostratedragon
@Doug R: I’ve been wondering this too.
Baud
@clay: Right. The media was terrible, but it wasn’t like Bush/Gore. There was enough there that there is no excuse for the voters. That’s why this election changed everything.
SiubhanDuinne
@clay:
“It just. didn’t. matter.” is because the much-vaunted media countered every criticism of Trump with a “But her E-Mails!” or similar story. The “both-siderism” was strong throughout the campaign, from the NYTimes to CNN. I heard it incessantly on NPR, not just the national news programs but the locally-produced news coverage and interviews as well.
Chet Murthy
@clay: Who said (was it Amanda Marcotte?) that rapists rape b/c that’s the kind of sex they want ? His supporters like that he was a misogynist. They LIKED it.
different-church-lady
@WaterGirl: It is very possible this country has more rapists and perverts than we ever imagined.
different-church-lady
@WaterGirl: And yet, weirdly, the end result of both campaigns was the same.
different-church-lady
@Chet Murthy: Yup. That’s the depressing and scary part.
Villago Delenda Est
@Chet Murthy: It’s frightening, and it has the ring of truth to it. He appealed both to their racism and their misogyny. If it had been Bernie, he’d have appealed to their antisemitism. Also, Democrats care about people besides white protestants.
BellyCat
If you want a puppet government, you look for a dumb puppet.
TenguPhule
Will no one rid us of this odious Trump?!
Omnes Omnibus
@TenguPhule: Stop with the violence pr0n. Yeah, we recognize the misquote.
Sandia Blanca
@Ella in New Mexico: You might enjoy this twitter thread from Seth Abramson–his take is that Cuban is taking one fact (T is dumb) and over-extending it.
TenguPhule
@Omnes Omnibus: Its not pron. At this point, if you’re not asking that question, you’re not being honest.
Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn
@Adam L Silverman:
Yep. Word salad supreme. But he has a very non-linear, extemporaneous stump-speech style; it looks like so much grey sludge in print, but isn’t that far gone when you do watch the tapes. (My MIL and, to a lesser extent, my wife have speaking styles somewhat similar to the president*, so you can be following them in a chat, then something comes up seemingly totally unrelated, and I’m left, “Wait. What? When did that come up?”). But when you watch the tapes, the president* is playing to the crowds and riffing off their energy, which energy is most likely as ADD as the president* himself.
Also, Yukon Sarah issues wordlike noises from her yap in a similar way also (and, it could [weirdly!] be argued, might fare worse running the White House than the current Disaster in Chief). But we don’t go to the ARD card over it.