Well, let's see . . .

. . . in the past week , there's been 

The National Prayer Breakfast

at which Trump called Thomas Massie a moron who "loves voting no"

and rehashed for the zillionth time the 2020 election, served up in a word-salad meander about his ego

and employed  his signature usage of brand-burnishing third-person reference to himself to serve up a little totalitarianism with the faithful's hash browns, saying, "If you do say something bad about Trump, I will change my mind and I will have your tax-exempt status immediately revoked."

The standoff between Poland and post-America

in which US ambassador Tom Rose cut ties with lower-house-of-Parliament speaker Vlodzimier Czarzasty to placate the loyalty-demanding Very Stable Genius, who got hurt feelz because Czarzasty didn't support the nomination of the VSG for the Nobel Peace Prize

The Obamas-as-apes video

made by the same guy who did the airplane-dumping-poop-on-a-No-Kings-rally video a while back.

The revelation that

[t]he Trump administration asked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for the Washington region’s Dulles International Airport and New York’s Penn Station to be named after President Donald Trump in exchange for releasing the federal funds required to build a long-delayed tunnel between New York and New Jersey, multiple sources told NBC News.

Guess the Kennedy Center and the Institute for Peace didn't satiate his appetite for self-glorification.

Dizzying, I know. But do not become inured. This is way outside the parameters of anything we could define as having experienced before.  

 

 

This morning's snapshot of where we are as a civilization

 I let so many of these come across my radar screen and go on out the other side without remarking on them. The world does not need another outlet where the content is uninterrupted alarm at our cultural and spiritual deterioration. You stop by LTID for something a little more comprehensive and nuanced.

But for cryin' out loud. The Navy? 

The United States Navy has turned to a drag performer in its efforts to reach younger recruits on digital platforms and social media.

Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley, whose stage name is Harpy Daniels, announced on TikTok in November that he would be the Navy's first 'digital ambassador,' highlighting his journey from performing on board beginning in 2018 and growing to become an 'advocate' for those who 'were oppressed for years in the service.'

Kelley, who identifies as non-binary, was one of just five active sailors to participate as 'digital ambassadors' for the Navy in its 'efforts to reach a wide range of potential candidates,' a spokesperson told Daily Caller.

The digital-ambassador campaign ended it March. "Officials are now working to assess its effectiveness," doncha know.

The most essential function of our federal government - keeping the nation secure against hostile forces, of which there are always some on deck - is in such desperate straits that it feels that it has worn out its ability to appeal to citizens interested in committing a period of their lives to that function. That function requires a degree of selflessness and team ethos that in turn requires those on the team to have a basic understanding of who everyone is. Until five minutes ago, that meant, overwhelmingly, young heterosexual men. Now, we're inviting self-styled freaks to bring their sense of entitlement - their sense that the military exists to accommodate their narcissism and the middle finger they've given to the basic architecture of the universe - to this very serious function.

This doesn't make our society more just or equitable or any of the crap that a critical mass of post-Americans considers the most exalted of values. 

Let alone more secure.

 

The Republican Party must be entirely replaced if actual conservatism is to have any shot at viability - today's edition

 The prospects for each of post-America's two major political parties remain what they were when I wrote the introductory paragraphs to this post on November 16:

I don't doubt the findings of a Washington Post/ABC News poll showing Republicans having the widest margin of advantage over Democrats in a generic poll concerning how respondents would vote re: their districts' House candidates. 

Not surprising at all. Democrats are increasingly recognized as the party of wealth redistribution, climate alarmism and wokeness. And there are even more than a few progressives who are put out with the administration for being completely inept at seeing through its leftist aims. Mediocrity and incompetence characterize the way it operates. Voters know it.

So it's all wrong for the nation and doesn't deserve your vote.

But, you see, this is exactly why I long ago (as in mid-2016) eschewed the binary-choice argument. 

The Republican Party's status as a cult can't be reversed. Its leadership has either convinced itself of the rigged-election narrative or signed on to the we-need-to-move-on-and-be-about-a-forward-looking-agenda set of talking points. In any event, there's no room for the only remaining Republicans who refuse to indulge the delusion. 

That was well-established already, but with the 38-page memo now in the hands of the public, the dangerousness of this cult should be plain to every citizen who is not caught up in it:

A 38-page plan for overturning President Joe Biden's electoral victory reportedly involved declaring a nationwide national security emergency and invalidating all electronically-cast ballots.

Mark Meadows shared a PowerPoint presentation dated January 5 with the Capitol riot committee, titled 'Election Fraud, Foreign Interference & Options for 6 JAN,' as part of the trove of documents he was compelled to hand over in the House's ongoing probe.

Its existence was revealed by Committee Chair Rep. Bennie Thompson, the lone Democrat representing Mississippi in Congress, in a letter informing Meadows' lawyer that the panel had 'no choice' but to move forward with a criminal referral for the ex-White House Chief of Staff for refusing to appear for a deposition.

This thing leaves no room for doubt that comparisons of  the final lineup of Trump-administration personnel to Latin American strongman operations is no exaggeration. 

Portions of that presentation shared by The Guardian reporter Hugo Lowell detail a series of 'recommendations,' apparently for Trump, to follow ahead of the planned electoral vote certification the next day.

They include declaring a national security emergency over accusations that China 'gained control over our election system,' claiming US electronic voting systems were 'under foreign influence and control,' and briefing federal lawmakers on the alleged 'foreign interference.'

It also calls for Trump to declare all electronically-cast ballots invalid and instructing Congress to undergo a 'legal & genuine' count of paper ballots or other 'Constitutional remedy.'

Another slide features three recommendations for ex-Vice President Mike Pence, who it's now known told Trump on January 5th that he wanted no part of his efforts to overturn Biden's win:

'VP Pence seats Republican Electors over the objections of Democrats in states where fraud occurred,' the first point states.

'VP Pence rejects the electors from States where fraud occurred causing the election to be decided by remaining electoral votes.

'VP Pence delays the decision in order to allow for a vetting and subsequent counting of the all the legal paper ballots.'

It appears to be in line with a memo written by John Eastman, a law professor who advised Trump on how to overturn the election and was also subpoenaed by the committee. 

Eastman took part in a January 4 Oval Office meeting where participants debated whether Pence had the authority to not accept votes certified by states that ultimately made Biden president when Congress met to count votes on January 6. 

Another slide in the PowerPoint allegedly linked to Meadows refers to all non-paper ballots as 'counterfeit.'

It claims that electronic voting machines 'are shifting votes from Trump to Biden' and therefore only paper ballots could be counted, which would 'almost certainly' hand victory to Trump. 

By eliminating mail-in ballots, a majority of which went to Democrats in 2020, 'US Senators, US House Races, State, and Local races now turn to Republican,' the presentation states.

It also appears to call for all urban-area votes to be rendered invalid, claiming without evidence that foreign actors changed votes 'in traditionally Republican strongholds in order to deliver a Biden win because they could jam no more into the major cities (fraud votes).' 

The purported plan goes on to outline a recount scenario in which the remaining paper ballots would be 'locked and physically protected' by Trump's government and the vote count would happen under the National Guard's watch.

'A Trusted Lead Counter will be appointed with authority from the POTUS to direct the actions of select federalized National Guard units and support from DOJ, DHS and other US government agencies as needed to complete a recount of the legal paper ballots for the federal elections in all 50 states,' the presentation details. 

Thompson's Tuesday letter to Meadows' lawyer reveals the Trump ally was exchanging emails about the lengthy presentation up until the day before the Capitol attack and it was intended for presentation 'on the hill.'

The letter also revealed further bombshell details about communications that the former North Carolina congressman did send over to the committee. 

One of the most damning appears to be a text exchange between Meadows and an unnamed federal lawmaker that took place after the November 2020 election.

The letter refers to a 'November 6, 2020, text exchange with a Member of Congress apparently about appointing alternate electors in certain states as part of a plan that the Member acknowledged would be "highly controversial" and to which Mr. Meadows apparently said, "I love it"...'    

If, God forbid, he were to win the 2024 election, think about what the whole world would know right off the bat about the value system, if you want to call it that, that informs Trumpist foreign policy. During his 2016-2020 term, he was rightly lauded for overseeing a pro-Israel foreign policy, and he reveled in having established a buddy relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu. But what's transpired regarding that bond over the course of this year reveals two things: one, that Trump is truly nuts and believes this whole scenario he's concocted in his head. and, two, he hadn't the slightest understanding or regard for the reason for the US-Israel alliance: Israel is the only Western nation in the Middle East and the only one with a diversified, advanced economy. For the Very Stable Genius, it was all about personal loyalty and betrayal. He had no use for Netanyahu when the latter took the same view of the US election that 60 courts where Trump zombies filed lawsuits did. 

Don't doubt this:

Former President Trump accused Benjamin Netanyahu of disloyalty after the former Israeli prime minister congratulated President Biden on his presidential win earlier this year. 

"I haven’t spoken to him since," Trump said, according to comments released from an interview taken by Israeli journalist Barak Ravid. "F--k him," he added.

Trump accused Netanyahu of speaking up too quickly following what the former president has still yet to concede was a legitimate election. 

"Nobody did more for Bibi. And I liked Bibi. I still like Bibi," he said, referring to the former prime minister by his nickname. "But I also like loyalty. The first person to congratulate Biden was Bibi. And not only did he congratulate him, he did it on tape."

Despite Trump’s condemnation of Netanyahu, the then-prime minister was not amongst one of the first world leaders to congratulate Biden for securing the presidential win.

Netanyahu waited roughly 12 hours after the election had been called to congratulate Biden on his election. 

Okay, so there's a - what? - 15 percent chance the VSG won't run. There are a few variables that could dictate a different turn of events from what is likely. 

Who gets the mantle? Some drool-besotted throne sniffer like this?

• NIKKI HALEY finally landed a one-on-onewith DONALD TRUMPafter he rejected her request for a sit-down in February, following her condemnation of his actions on Jan. 6. While Haley faced the prospect of being one of Trump’s sworn enemies ahead of a potential 2024 presidential campaign, she praised him during a recent speech in Iowa and said she won’t challenge him in a primary (something Florida Gov. RON DESANTIS hasn’t done). 
• So last week, nearly 10 months after the first snub, Trump finally granted her a visit to Mar-a-Lago to kiss the ring. “He doesn’t see the point in making enemies,” a source close to Trump said, adding that the former president is still skeptical of Haley because of her back-and-forth statements about him. “He likes teasing people,” another aide said.

 

 

It will have to be, won't it? Won't the vast majority of Pub voters demand it? 

By a 74%-to-25% margin, Republicans and Republican-leaning independent voters (who we'll call potential Republican primary voters) say that Biden didn't win enough votes to win the 2020 election legitimately. 

But it's not just that there are a lot of them. They look to be the ones who are going to be the most likely to cast a ballot next year. 

The margin grows to 86% to 13% that Biden didn't win legitimately among potential Republican primary voters who are extremely enthusiastic about voting next year. Compare that to Republicans who are not enthusiastic about voting in 2022: They believe Biden didn't win legitimately by a 62% to 38% margin. 

Either way, there are a lot of Republicans who don't think Biden won fairly in 2020. 

Importantly, a lot of Republicans are going to prioritize their feelings about 2020 in how they vote in 2022. That is, it's not likely going to be an afterthought when casting a ballot. 

A majority (61%) of potential Republican primary voters say believing Trump won the 2020 election is important to what being a Republican means to them. Only 39% disagreed.

Again though, primaries are often about turnout. The potential Republican voters who are extremely enthusiastic about voting in 2022 say that believing Trump won is important to what being a Republican means to them by a 77% to 23% margin.

This is outside the bounds of any previous consensus on normal. This ought to be on the nation's front burner.  

 

 

 

 

 

Demi Lovato is one ate-up wokester

 Man, she takes the whiny-victim thing to entirely new levels.

She can't deal with a yogurt shop offering sugar-free items:

Popstar Demi Lovato took aim at a small frozen yogurt shop for daring to offer sugar-free options to its customers. 

In an Instagram story post, Lovato attacked The Bigg Chill Frozen Yogurt shop in Los Angeles, California, for being alleged “diet vultures.” The store is known for its wide variety of low-fat, sugar-free frozen yogurts and treats. Lovato claims it was “triggering” for her to walk past the sugar-free cookies. 

“Finding it extremely hard to order froyo from [The Bigg Chill Frozen Yogurt] when you have to walk past tons of sugar free cookies/other diet foods before you get to the counter,” Lovato said. “Do better please. #DietCultureVultures.” 

The frozen yogurt vendor responded to Lovato’s story arguing that they are not diet vultures, they are merely serving the needs of customers who prefer sugar-free alternatives. The pop star posted the conversation to her Instagram story. 

“We are not diet vultures,” a spokesperson for The Bigg Chill Frozen Yogurt said. “We cater to all of our customers’ needs for the past 36 years. We are sorry you found this offensive.” 

She claims that offering these low-carb products "harms people with eating disorders." Um, isn't it upon such people to avoid The Bigg Chill?

She claims that in Los Angeles, "It's really hard to distinguish diet culture vs. health needs." I think she's spending way too much time inside her own head. If there is a "diet culture" problem in LA, maybe the underlying narcissism that's been rampant in that town for over a century is something to look at.

But her preoccupations go beyond yogurt shops. She's into distorting the basic design of human sexuality as far as she can:

Lovato has made headlines in recent weeks following the release of her new YouTube documentary. In an effort to promote her documentary, the pop star went on the Drew Barrymore show where she claimed that she cut her hair short to protest gender and sexuality norms in the Christian South. On the Joe Rogan podcast, Lovato announced that she is now “sexually fluid” and “pansexual,” meaning that she is attracted to “anything, really.” 

I've caught snippets of that syndicated morning show Drew Barrymore hosts when I'm at the gym, albeit with the sound turned down. At first, my thought was that Barrymore had found a nice little niche, where her perkiness could be displayed in endearing ways. I knew it had a girly-girl vibe, but that's morning television. But then I started seeing guests like Chelsea Handler and I thought, oh, for cryin' out loud, another lefty production.

Perfect for Lovato to indulge her bizarre brand of virtue signaling.  

 

 

Their avenues for staying relevant are getting fewer

 More people and institutions are getting it all the time.

The New York Post gets it:

You had every right to investigate the election. But let’s be clear: Those efforts have found nothing. To take just two examples: Your campaign paid $3 million for a recount in two Wisconsin counties, and you lost by 87 more votes. Georgia did two recounts of the state, each time affirming Biden’s win. These ballots were counted by hand, which alone debunks the claims of a Venezuelan vote-manipulating Kraken conspiracy.

Sidney Powell is a crazy person. Michael Flynn suggesting martial law is tantamount to treason. It is shameful.

We understand, Mr. President, that you’re angry that you lost. But to continue down this road is ruinous. We offer this as a newspaper that endorsed you, that supported you: If you want to cement your influence, even set the stage for a future return, you must channel your fury into something more productive.

Stop thinking about Jan. 6. Start thinking about Jan. 5.

Louie Gohmert and Josh Hawley still don't get it.

Michael Flynn . . . well, just what is going on with that cat?

Former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn is going all in on the QAnon conspiracy theory, promoting an online store to sell QAnon hats and T-shirts, the proceeds of which will benefit his partnership with a prominent QAnon booster.

Flynn’s drawn-out legal battle with Special Counsel Robert Mueller turned him into a hero for QAnon believers. Many QAnon supporters, who rely on mysterious online clues to construct a worldview where the Democratic Party and other institutions are controlled by a cabal of pedophile-cannibals, claim that Flynn is “Q”, the anonymous figure behind the conspiracy theory. They also took a previously obscure Flynn quote about the American military’s “digital soldiers” as their banner, adopting the phrase to refer to QAnon believers themselves.

Flynn started to more aggressively court his QAnon fans this year, taking the “QAnon oath” in July and appearing on QAnon podcasts after receiving a pardon in November. Along the way, Flynn once again became an adviser to Trump, reportedly urging the president to impose martial law in a recent, heated Oval Office meeting.

The Very Stable Genius obviously still doesn't get it. True to form, he disseminates an utter falsehood because he can't be bothered with a simple fact check:

Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger does not have a brother named Ron who works for a Chinese tech firm, regardless of what the president of the United States says.

In a late-night tweet, President Donald Trump attacked Gov. Brian Kemp and Raffensperger for failing to overturn election results in his favor and claimed that "Brad R's brother works for China." Except, that's not true.

On Dec. 23, GPB News reported on the "Battleground" blog and on social media that Brad and Ron were not related, that Raffensperger had two sisters and no brother in debunking the claims made by the Gateway Pundit and other right-wing media outlets seeking to allege nefarious actions that somehow altered election results.

And the VSG clearly has Georgia on his mind lately. He's calling for this:

President Trump called for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s (R) resignation on Wednesday, hammering him for refusing to back up the president’s claim that he carried Georgia in the November presidential election — despite his loss by 12,000 votes, a result that has survived multiple recounts and court challenges.

“@BrianKempGA should resign from office,” Trump tweeted. “He is an obstructionist who refuses to admit that we won Georgia, BIG! Also won the other Swing States.”

I mean, look, buddy. You're still getting paid to hold the office. It would be a damn sight better for your legacy for you to earn your keep by leading on the pandemic and the Russian cyber-attack than to whine your way into complete irrelevance. 

Are you listening to me? 

 

 

Even if we give him the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to tone-deafness, that's not much; he's tone-deaf more than he's not

So the Very Stable Genius has removed the tweet including a video of supporters at The Villages, in which one guy in a golf cart sporting a MAGA hat is chanting, "White power!"

The damage is done. South Carolina Senator Tim Scott was forthright about its reprehensibility. John Bolton said that either possibility - that it was a deliberate tee-hee or that, so taken in was he by the overall adulation from the Villages crowd, he was oblivious to the chanting guy - is plausible. DNC chair Tom Perez wasted no time having a field day with it.

Not a good way to kick off a week that follows a really bad week, especially since the other big story today is everybody's effort to get to the bottom of the Russian-bounty-to-Taliban-fighters story. The VSG's claim that there's absolutely nothing to it rings a little hollow, given that it's been picked up by outlets considerably beyond the New York Times now.

If he's got some 5-D chess up his sleeve, he'd better be playing it.

All for naught

Both our current president and his immediate predecessor have had a thing for appeasing America's enemies.

In the case of Barack Obama, the motivation was a mixture of the leftism he was steeped in, which sees the United States as needing to make amends for a supposed world-stage arrogance, as well as Obama's inherent narcissism, which manifested itself as a desire to be remembered as a visionary who ushered in a new era of global harmony. His narcissistic secretary of state John Kerry shared this latter motivation.

Of course, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action into which they convince an alliance of Western nations to enter with Iran was a joke. While Iran may have temporarily reduced its production of  nuclear fuel, it continued apace with missile production, sponsorship of terrorism, belligerent rhetoric and gestures of humiliation. Particularly symbolic was its capture of a US Navy crew the day of Obama's State of the Union Address. The captors made much hay of the photograph it took of the crew members on their knees with their hands behind their heads.

The Very Stable Genius is likewise a narcissist, but, as with any other trait he exhibits, it gets erratically expressed and doesn't lend itself to the kind of analysis that assumes any kind of strategy. In the case of Trump and North Korea, a notion to try cozying up to Kim rather than continue in a mode of tension just popped into his head one day. There resulted two summits, one in Singapore and one in Vietnam. Three, if you count Trump's stepping, for a few minutes, over the border between the ROK and the DPROK while on a visit to the former. There was the Trump-speak gushing about "beautiful letters" and how North Korea had the potential to be a robust player in the international community.

Again, the result is now confirmed to be a joke:

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has no interest in maintaining a good relationship with US president Donald Trump, it is reported on the the two year anniversary of the leaders first summit. 

Amid heightened inter-Korean affairs, the despotic regime has announced it sees no improvement in relations and says US policies prove Trump's administration remains a long-term threat to the secretive state and its people.

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Son Gwon made statement carried by state news agency KCNA, in which he slams a "hypocritical empty promise" made by Trump at the historic meeting two years ago.

The Singapore summit in June 2018 represented the first time a sitting American president met with a North Korean leader, but the statement that came out of the meeting was light on specifics, and instead gave four general commitments. 

Ri said in retrospect the Trump administration appears to have been focusing on only scoring political points while seeking to isolate and suffocate North Korea, and threatening it with preemptive nuclear strikes and regime change.

"Never again will we provide the US chief executive with another package to be used for achievements without receiving any returns," he said.

"Nothing is more hypocritical than an empty promise." 

On Thursday North Korea criticised the United States for commenting on inter-Korean affairs, and said Washington should stay quiet if it wants the upcoming presidential election to go smoothly. 

Ri said North Korea's desire to open a new cooperative era runs deep as ever, but that the situation on the Korean peninsula is daily taking a turn for the worse. 

"The U.S. professes to be an advocate for improved relations with the DPRK, but in fact, it is hell-bent on only exacerbating the situation," Ri said.

Ostentatious fawning got the VSG exactly nowhere.

Sucking up to bad guys is never a smart move.

 

His unfitness is beginning to damage his movement

This is one of those weeks when the Very Stable Genius's demonstrations of why he is completely unfit for the position of president come in a thick cluster. Any one of them could escape attention in the flurry of not only his embarrassments but events in general. But they must be considered individually and in sum.

The St. John's Church fiasco gets worse with some backstory. He'd been watching cable news and was concerned that is image was in jeopardy due to the unraveling of order in he vicinity of the White House. He served notice to his inner circle that he wanted a gesture to counteract the notion that he was rattled. There had indeed been a plan to pacify Lafayette Park across the street, but it hadn't been implemented:

After a weekend of protests that led all the way to his own front yard and forced him to briefly retreat to a bunker beneath the White House, President Trump arrived in the Oval Office on Monday agitated over the television images, annoyed that anyone would think he was hiding and eager for action.

He wanted to send the military into American cities, an idea that provoked a heated, voices-raised fight among his advisers. But by the end of the day, urged on by his daughter Ivanka Trump, he came up with a more personal way of demonstrating toughness — he would march across Lafayette Square to a church damaged by fire the night before.

The only problem: A plan developed earlier in the day to expand the security perimeter around the White House had not been carried out. When Attorney General William P. Barr strode out of the White House gates for a personal inspection early Monday evening, he discovered that protesters were still on the northern edge of the square. For the president to make it to St. John’s Church, they would have to be cleared out. Mr. Barr gave the order to disperse them.

After a day in which he berated “weak” governors and lectured them to “dominate” the demonstrators, the president emerged from the White House, followed by a phalanx of aides and Secret Service agents as he made his way to the church, where he posed stern-faced, holding up a Bible that his daughter pulled out of her $1,540 MaxMara bag.

There was the question from a reporter whether it was his Bible, to which he responded, "It's a Bible."

Did he open it and read from it? Of course not. So unfamiliar is he with its contents, no appropriate passages would have come to mind.   He just waved it around for a few seconds, stone-faced. That scowl was a particularly icy touch.

He did have a few remarks, nothing about healing or the spiritual foundations of the American idea, just some boilerplate brand-hustling:

Though in the physical vicinity of a place of worship, Trump betrayed no trace of piety. Asked his thoughts as he brandished the book he has never read, he defaulted to rally slogans: “We have a great country, and it’s going to be even greater. And it won’t take long. It’s coming back strong . . . stronger than ever before.”

More generally speaking, we're at another of those moments when the fissures within the administration can't be swept under the rug:

The optics of the past 72 hours are putting people inside the halls of the Pentagon on edge as images of U.S. troops on the streets of the nation’s capital dominate airwaves across the globe, and as the top brass is increasingly viewed as mixing politics and the military.

Defense Department officials say they are increasingly uncomfortable with the more prominent role the U.S. military is playing in tamping down violent protests breaking out all over the U.S., and the growing tendency of the president to call on the troops for domestic missions ranging from border security to law enforcement.

The difference of viewpoint became even more clear this morning;

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper is on shaky ground with the White House after saying Wednesday that he does not support using active duty troops to quell the large-scale protests across the United States triggered by the death of George Floyd and those forces should only be used in a law enforcement role as a last resort. 

Speaking from the Pentagon briefing room podium, Esper noted that "we are not in one of those situations now," distancing himself from President Donald Trump's recent threat to deploy the military to enforce order.

"The option to use active duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort, and only in the most urgent and dire of situations. We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act," he told reporters. Esper also distanced himself from a maligned photo-op outside St. John's Church.

Wednesday's press briefing by Esper went over poorly at the White House, where he was already viewed to be on shaky ground, multiple people familiar with the matter said.

And now, a Trump obsession that was a big focus prior to the nationwide unrest of the last week has found its way back into the VSG's fevered thoughts. And it turns out he was preoccupied with it as early as three years ago:

President Donald Trump, via his son-in-law Jared Kushner, encouraged his pals at the notorious supermarket tabloid National Enquirer in 2017 to push the debunked conspiracy theory that MSNBC host Joe Scarborough murdered a female congressional aide, Lori Klausutis, knowledgeable sources confirmed to The Daily Beast.

More recently, the president has displayed a bizarre obsession with the allegations, even bringing it up Wednesday morning amid nationwide protests, chaos, and growing unrest, declaring on Fox News radio that he thought Scarborough “got away with murder.” Since last month, officials on Trump’s campaign and in his White House have also devoted time and resources to weighing in on the Scarborough smear.

Oh, and the VSG has made good on his threat to pull the Republican convention out of North Carolina, given that that state cannot guarantee that packing 22,000 people into an arena in August would be a prudent move.

No one would accept this litany of disastrous developments - or any of the litanies that have preceded it for three-plus years - from any other president, Republican or Democrat.

I can understand why the Laura Ingrahams, the Bill Mitchells, the Wayne Allen Roots, the Jeanine Pirros, and the Charlie Kirks of the world accept it. They are all up to their eyeballs in Kool-Aid, in thrall to a cult leader. Their investment in who they perceive themselves to be as human beings depends on their not letting any consideration that the object of their adoration might be riddled with failings.

What perplexes me and disgusts me is the way formerly principled conservatives, two of whom who had me enthused as contenders against Trump in 2016 - Ted Cruz and Scott Walker - have seen fit, for reasons of political opportunism, I guess, to hitch their wagon to this debacle. (It should be noted that Cruz's running mate, Carly Fiorina, has most definitely not succumbed to this abandonment of core values.)

For all this seeming ruin, I am actually more buoyed than I have been at any point since conservatism became infected by Trumpsim. Sites such as The Bulwark, The Dispatch, The Liberty Hawk, and Saving Elephants, as well as movements such as Principles First represent, if not yet a groundswell, a force that is not going away no matter how much Trumpism wishes it would.

And conversely, the St. John's stunt has not gone over well with significant portions of the evangelical community, and several polls show his support eroding among a key demographic, older Americans.

None of these heartening developments constitute a magic wand that will preclude his being the GOP candidate in November, but it's clear that the bloom is coming off the rose for the Trump phenomenon, and that in and of itself is a welcome thing to see.

Of course he would

He'd disrupt the logistics and financial planning of his party and completely disregard whatever the public-health recommendations are going to be in August if he can't get maximum adulation at the crowning moment of his sordid career:

President Donald Trump began a solemn Memorial Day railing against North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, ahead of the 2020 Republican National Convention, threatening to pull it out of Charlotte, where the convention is expected to be held August 24 to 27. 

Trump contended that Cooper is "unable to guarantee" that the arena can be filled to capacity. 

"I love the Great State of North Carolina, so much so that I insisted on having the Republican National Convention in Charlotte at the end of August," Trump said in a series of tweets. "Unfortunately, Democrat Governor, @RoyCooperNC is still in Shutdown mood & unable to guarantee that by August we will be allowed full attendance in the Arena. In other words, we would be spending millions of dollars building the Arena to a very high standard without even knowing if the Democrat Governor would allow the Republican Party to fully occupy the space."

He continued, "Plans are being made by many thousands of enthusiastic Republicans, and others, to head to beautiful North Carolina in August. They must be immediately given an answer by the Governor as to whether or not the space will be allowed to be fully occupied. If not, we will be reluctantly forced to find, with all of the jobs and economic development it brings, another Republican National Convention site. This is not something I want to do. Thank you, and I LOVE the people of North Carolina!"

The tweets completely blindsided party officials and those involved in planning the convention, who have repeatedly argued that health and safety will come first. The officials have insisted planning for the convention is on track.

This is another example of the point I made in my post yesterday about the VSG's stomping of Jeff Sessions into the ground: loyalty is a one-way proposition in Trumpworld. Those blindsided party officials are nothing to him.

The Very Stable Genius's week of Twitter toxicity

In the past few days, he's blown past all his previous records for sweeping generalizations, misplaced priorities, pettiness, incitement of mob behavior, and unadulterated nastiness.

There was this bit of drive-by hyperbole and veiled threat:

The Radical Left is in total command & control of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Google. The Administration is working to remedy this illegal situation. Stay tuned, and send names & events. Thank you Michelle!

The "Michelle" in question is Michelle Malkin, who for years had well-earned bona fides in the conservative world, having done some admirable investigative journalism, having started several still-thriving sites that now have new owners,  written for National Review, and having appeared regularly on Fox News and at gatherings such as CPAC and Americans for Prosperity's Defending the American Dream Summit. Alas, of late she's burned those bridges, having engaged in public snits with former associates, preferring instead the company of the likes of alt-rightie Nick Fuentes.  The tweet that the Very Stable Genius shares in his own tweet above is a video of her ranting at some recent event, but it was taken down before I had a chance to watch it.

And then there's there's the "total command & control" touch. Total? Twitter gives you free rein to spew the kinds of things being enumerated here.

Then there's his retweeting of a tweet by Kevin Vesey, a reporter for News 12,  a Long Island news channel, which also contained a video clip from an open-the-economy-up-right-now rally, at which  Vesey  is set upon by the maskless protestors and insulted and berated at close range.  The VSG put his own spin on Vesey's reportage:

People can’t get enough of this. Great people!

The VSG demonstrated where his priorities lie in this time of national crisis with two tweets with the theme that he's a paragon of nobility for having made governors around the nation "look good":

We’ve done a GREAT job on Covid response, making all Governors look good, some fantastic (and that’s OK), but the Lamestream Media doesn’t want to go with that narrative, and the Do Nothing Dems talking point is to say only bad about “Trump”. I made everybody look good, but me!

and

Remember this, every Governor who has sky high approval on their handling of the Coronavirus, and I am happy for them all, could in no way have gotten those numbers, or had that success, without me and the Federal Governments help. From Ventilators to Testing, we made it happen!

But this has to be the week's number-one example of his poisonous influence on post-America's culture and politics:

When will they open a Cold Case on the Psycho Joe Scarborough matter in Florida. Did he get away with murder? Some people think so. Why did he leave Congress so quietly and quickly? Isn’t it obvious? What’s happening now? A total nut job!

He's referencing the death of an intern who worked in his office when he was a Congressman in 2001.

A response from Eugene Gu, MD sums up the actual circumstances:

 It’s extraordinarily cruel to falsely accuse Joe Scarborough of murdering his intern Lori Klausutis. According to the autopsy report, she had “a floppy mitral valve disease” which caused a cardiac arrhythmia that made her lose consciousness and hit her head. Nobody murdered her.

So there you have it.

No amount of "but judges" or "but deregulation" or pointing out the great moves such as pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord and the JCPOA and recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital can make up for the terrifying spectacle of a person totally unfit to be US president demonstrating that unfitness in these ways.

Those policy accomplishments would have happened with an actual conservative with a maturity level over age nine, of which there were several in the 2016 field of Republican candidates.

And, as I say, not only are these outbursts disgusting in and of themselves, but they show where his attention is focused at a time of national crisis.

And do not construe this as an endorsement for Joe Biden. He's unfit for the office as well. 

And I reserve the right to not have to say a damn word about how I will - or maybe won't - vote in November. This isn't about that. The first step is to acknowledge just how late in the day it is.

 

 

 

 

 

Your daily evidence that Donald Trump is unfit to be president

There's this reaction to the news that the leader of of the first-tier mortal enemies of the United States - that would be North Korea, which has been testing missiles since the last of the three appeasement summits between Kim and Trump, and more to the point, since the US has been reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic - has been seen in public for the first time after a mysterious disappearance:

I, for one, am glad to see he is back, and well!

Then there's this. He couldn't resist jumping in on Republican-activist-turned-journalist Nicole Wallace's remark about the Biden situation - with the meanest conceivable salvo his small, petty mind could conceive:

She was thrown off The View like a dog, Zero T.V. Personas. Now Wallace is a 3rd rate lapdog for Fake News MSDNC (Concast). Doesn’t have what it takes!

You're surely aware of the moving video message from former president George W. Bush about the need for Americans to transcend our divisions in this time of crisis. It struck exactly the right tone, as most agree.

The Very Stable Genius chose to respond to it by quoting this really distasteful and small-minded remark by Fox & Friends cohost Pete Hegseth:

.

@PeteHegseth

“Oh bye the way, I appreciate the message from former President Bush, but where was he during Impeachment calling for putting partisanship aside.”

@foxandfriends

He was nowhere to be found in speaking up against the greatest Hoax in American history!

This is how the US president chooses to preoccupy himself at a time of national crisis.

This is a nine-year-old with a Twitter account.

I don't know if he has COVID-19 or not, but the Very Stable Genius is one sick individual

His need to be glorified knows no bounds.

I didn't see his presser yesterday at which he declared a national emergency. For that matter, I only caught a passing glance at his Oval Office address Wednesday. I try to avoid his television appearances if at all possible. But I'd heard that the presser was an appreciable improvement over Wednesday's event. (I'm also seeing quite a few assessments that Mike Pence indulged in a cringe-worthy display of sycophancy.)

That's good, I thought. This nation desperately needs an assurance that leadership is the executive branch's top priority at this moment.

But the observation I've made over the VSG years - that there's a cycle in which he follows a laudable move with two or three boneheaded stunts that pretty much negate the good impact of the first move in the cycle - kept nagging at me.

Now I know why. Behold:

That's his autograph on a chart showing the uptick in the stock market's performance Friday afternoon. He sent it to supporters. No mention of the national emergency.

Plus, there's this to remember about that uptick:

In boasting about the stock market, the President was cherry-picking a single day's rally amid a period of major selloffs and a 20% decline that was the fastest in history. 

Friday was the best day for stocks since 2008, but the S&P 500 ended the week with sharp losses and fell into a bear market on Thursday. 

The day's rally also came the day after the worst day for stocks since the 1987 crash. 

Three of our four most recent presidents have been flaming narcissists. (George Bush is the only one who hasn't been.) But the other two at least had some acquaintance with decorum. This guy has clearly never been told by anyone that he's overstepped any kind of bounds.

He has a lot of nerve ever depicting anyone else as being in over his head.