The VSG is getting really scary

He really sent this to Turkish president Erdogan.

It reads like it was written by an eighth grader riddled with insecurities and delusions about what the world is going to find impressive.

So many signature Trumpisms. The exclamation mark. The "deal" perspective. The not-so-veiled threat. The posturing of himself as someone who nobly does others' heavy lifting.

And then there's this unworkable comparison between the PKK and ISIS:

There are respectable arguments in favor of the pullback of U.S. troops in northeastern Syria. I don’t find them persuasive, but they are serious.

Unfortunately, President Trump persists in making ludicrous arguments. One of them, the fact that the Kurds didn’t help us with the Normandy invasion, I discussed here.

I hoped that this argument was a throwaway — a one-off. No such luck.

Now, Trump is claiming that the PKK, which forms part of the fighting force the Turks are attacking, is more of a terrorist threat than ISIS in many ways. This is true if you are Turkish. But it’s preposterous if you are American, especially if your slogan is “America first.” 

The PKK poses no threat to the U.S. ISIS poses a serious one. It is responsible for attacks on America and its allies. That’s why we sent troops to attack ISIS, an effort in which we were aided substantially by local forces including those associated with the PKK.

ISIS remains a serious threat even though its caliphate in Iraq and Syria has been destroyed. ISIS fighters and adherents still have the ability to launch terrorist attacks against Americans and American interests. Moreover, it’s far from clear that ISIS will be unable to regain some of its lost territory, especially given the cessation of the fight against it in Syria caused by Trump’s pullback.

The pullback has resulted not only in that cessation, but also in the escape of ISIS fighters from captivity in the region. Trump claims that the Kurds are releasing these prisoners “for effect” — that is, to create pressure on him to intervene militarily. 

This claim appears to be unsupported by credible evidence. Given the speed with which our forces are pulling back, I’m not sure how the U.S. would know about the circumstances of ISIS prisoner escapes. Maybe Turkey is feeding Trump this line. 

Trump has already shrugged off concern about ISIS prisoners escaping, noting that the escaped terrorists will be coming to Europe, not the U.S. Thus, it’s clear to all that letting these prisoners escape would not influence Trump’s policy, the alleged motive here. He doesn’t care much if they escape. 

I know of one friend - Facebook and real-life - I've already lost over the issue of Donald Trump. I'm talking about a conservative friend. We regularly sent each other stuff to read and watch. He was a big fan of this blog and the Barney & Clyde podcast. Also shared such common interests as music and pets. He is now gone from my daily life, and it's because he's angry that I have not swallowed the Kool-Aid.

I'm a sane adult human being. There's no way I can swallow this Kool-Aid.

The Very Stable Genius is unravelling before our eyes.

It gives me no comfort to assert as much.

I pray for some kind of escape route from what appears to be the options we're going to face in thirteen months.

What I stand for is getting a tragically negligible airing.