It was another busy weekend for Emperor Baby Fists and anyone adjacent to our fascist administration. Federal courts around the country made rulings on Trump’s Muslim Ban executive order, and Trump was throwing Twitter tantrums about it all weekend. He also flew down to Mar-a-Lago and met with his wife Melania, and they attended a fundraiser for the Red Cross at the Trump-owned property (you can see photos here). The fundraiser had a “royal theme,” because Baby Fists thinks he’s King of America.
Speaking of, Trump gave some interviews – one to a Westwood One Sports radio and one to Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly – this weekend. They were pre-taped and they aired ahead of the Super Bowl. In the radio interview, Trump went on and on and on about how much he loves his friend Tom Brady and how the Patriots are “winners” and how much he dislikes Roger Goodell. You can read about that interview here (Deadspin describes it as “batsh-t” and he definitely sounds… unwell). Obviously, more people are talking about the Fox News interview, which is where Baby Fists said nice things about Vladimir Putin.
President Donald Trump defended President Vladimir Putin in a new interview with Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, saying he respects the Russian leader. In a pre-taped interview that aired Sunday before the Super Bowl, the 70-year-old commander-in-chief defended Putin, but said he wasn’t sure if the two of them would necessarily get along..
“I do respect him. I respect a lot of people,” Trump said in a preview released Saturday. “That doesn’t mean I’m going to get along with him.” The president continued, “He’s a leader of his country. I say it’s better to get along with Russia than not, and if Russia helps us in the fight against ISIS – which is a major fight, and Islamic terrorism all over the world – that’s a good thing. Will I get along with him? I have no idea.”
The host of The O’Reilly Factor responded, “He’s a killer, though. Putin’s a killer.”
“There are a lot of killers. We got a lot of killers,” said Trump. “What, you think our country is so innocent?”
“I don’t know of any government leaders that are killers,” O’Reilly responded.
“Well, take a look at what we’ve done too,” Trump said. “We’ve made a lot mistakes. I’ve been against the war in Iraq from the beginning.”
“Mistakes are different than —,” O’Reilly started.
“A lot of mistakes. Okay. But a lot of people were killed. So a lot of killers around, believe me,” Trump said.
After the sneak peek of the interview was released on Saturday, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said on Meet the Press that she thinks the FBI should look into Trump’s connections with the Russians to see if they are blackmailing him.
“I want to know what the Russians have on Donald Trump,” Pelosi said on Sunday. “I think we have to have an investigation by the FBI into his financial, personal and political connections to Russia, and we want to see his tax returns, so we can have truth in the relationship between Putin, whom he admires, and Donald Trump.” Pelosi joined a chorus of politicians — including many Republicans — who slammed Trump’s remarks about Putin and his characterization of U.S.
Yeah, that’s our president, defending a man who has literally had his enemies (including journalists) murdered. Congrats, America.
Here’s something else the Deplorables should be proud of: Emperor Baby Fists really doesn’t read anything. He apparently signed off on Steve Bannon joining the National Security Council without actually reading what he was signing. The Baby Fists White House is leaking like a sieve and none of the details are good. Bannon also had to be “reminded” that he is not president. Buckle up.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
My husband believes that Putin is blackmailing Trump.
I think it’s very possible. Personally though I get the feeling that Trump just admires Putin and wants to be like him. He thinks abuse of power and acting like a tyrant is awesome. Also, Putin stroked Trump’s ego and that’s all it takes to get Trump to like someone. No critical thinking, no looking at actual facts, just “Putin said good things about me so I like him”.
So my husband gives Trump more credit, because it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s no blackmail and Trump is just an idiot.
So does Pelosi as she ordered an investigation into Trump’s ties to Russia. Either way it doesn’t look good from any angle. War at this point should be looked at as a high probability. And with countries that CAN do damage to us.
Nicole (or anyone else) can you tell me why you think this will all lead to war with Russia? My mind is swirling and I’m not seeing it clearly. Thank you!
Not with Russia. I would say with China or N Korea. China has already been hinting that war is a probability with the US. And with Trump alienating allies like Australia and Mexico it doesn’t look great.
Also let’s not forget the troops on the ground in the Middle East where Trump is constantly pissing off with his Islamophobia and badly planned raids
I think the war could be with Iran, and that could happen very quickly. trump is flaming the war via twitter and he seems to think that Russia will back him in the war, which hahahahahahahaha! Yeah, right… Also, if any of you would like to good interview about what Putin may want from trump, I recommend the Jan. 26 Fresg Air podcast with Luke Harding, former Moscow Bureau Chief for the Guardian. It explains a lot about trump’s relationship with Putin. There is also a rumor that trump owes the Russian mafia something like 600 million dollars. There are recordings that he has ties to them, but whether he owes them I don’t think has been substantiated. But the speculation is that he is paying them back- bigly. Russia is really going to benefit from a trump presidency if Congress doesn’t step up.
My thought is that Trump is interested in better relations with Russia firstly because he and Putin do actually share authoritarian populist politics. Which should worry us all because, you know, fascism is BAD BAD BAD.
But secondly, because he perceives the threat to an American-dominated unipolar world by a Russo-Sino influence bloc appearing. Such a bloc will threaten US hegemony and it is beginning to take shape. See the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, for example. See the Chinese One Belt One Road project aimed at Eurasian integration (when Eurasian integration is a euphemism for Chinese colonialism that colonises by building infrastructure instead of dropping bombs) Think how US influence will be weakened by rival Bretton Woods institutions and an alternative to Swift banking. No more economic warfare by financial sanctions, for example. World Bank and IMF influence lessened. The dollar threatened as reserve currency and thence the US economy also threatened.
So he will make nice with Russia and thus hope to delay the unavoidable but still eventual Chinese domination by driving a wedge between Russia and China. Iran is now a part of this potential bloc, so he will go as far as he can to threaten them while making nice with Russia so that side of the bloc’s relationships are also weakened.
I’m no fan of Putin. I’m no fan of Trump. I hope I have established that by now! But literally the only sense I’ve heard coming from Trump is that a better relationship with Russia actually serves US ambitions to maintain its current status as the world’s only superpower and put off the day China takes over. Not sure how the rest of the world might feel about it, but as Trump sees it, this is in the American interest.
This is also why Trump wants to weaken the EU and also why he is so keen on Brexit.
Sorry. I know this won’t be a popular view.
@Sixer – That assumes that Trump has actually thought that thoroughly and that far ahead. Someone as racist as Trump probably just sees someone who looks like him (Putin) as opposed to those pesky Asians (China) and brown-ish people (Iran, Mexico, etc.).
I suspect Trump has Russian loans, but I also agree with Sixer: you can’t take on China and Russia at the same time and Trump is pro-Russia by virtue of being anti-China. But I took a slightly different route to come to the same conclusion. I think the key is to look at Trump’s advisors. Trump is a self-involved moron. He doesn’t seem to have much coherent ideology of his own, he just reflects what his advisors are telling him.
Trump’s economic advisor (Peter Navarro) is a total hawk on China. He’s not worried about future Sino-Russian trade blocs, he already blames China for ruining America’s economy. But he’s not just hawkish in terms of trade wars. He’s written a book called “The Coming China Wars: Where They Will Be Fought, How They Can Be Won” and another called “Crouching Tiger: What China’s Militarism Means for the World”.
Bannon is also on record suggesting there will be war with China within 5 to 10 years. Which could be a neutral prediction, he’s not necessarily in favour of war. But he’s also the figurehead of the alt-right and they are generally pro-Russia not just because of the authoritarian vibe, but because their idea of Russia fits with their own values: white, racist, Christian, misogynistic (submissive females, macho males), anti-Semetic and anti-gay. (Note – I’m just describing what the alt-right freaks think – I do not agree with them!)
So I think there are multiple factors. Russian money. Putin masterfully playing Trump’s ego. Realistic economic factors (future Russo-Sino bloc), over-simplified view of recent economic history (China trade issues), racist/fascist alt-right BS. It’s all in play.
The golden shower dossier said Putin promised Trump 19% of Gasprom if he won the election. In December, 19.5% of Gasprom was acquired by a shell company in Dubai. So, yes, I think Putin has something huge on Trump.
Nasty – ha! Well, let’s call it Trumpism rather than Trump himself?
Lucrezia – yes. Equally plausible. I think it’s indisputable that the idea of being better friends with Russia is actually an anti-China stance though. I do agree that it’s certainly an (un)happy confluence that alt-right applies equally to Putinistas and Trumpettes. Makes it all so much easier. I mean, it’s not as though anyone of that persuasion cares much about the actual wellbeing of the actual citizens in either country, is it?
All: GUESS WHAT? There’s some developments on the hitherto invisible GOOD NEWS FRONT! The Speaker of the House of Commons has announced that if the Trump state visit goes ahead, he will not allow the Orange One to address parliament (citing sexism and racism). He has the power to prevent the government from allowing Trump to speak in Parliament. So, we were talking about institutional resilience yesterday and I’m happy that at least one aspect of it in the UK has proved solid.
@Nicole, I agree with China. The only person on the entire earth who would benefit would be Putin because he would take out his two biggest roadblocks to world domination at the same time. Can’t deal with Putin if you’re fighting China.
@Patricia, Putin is blackmailing Trump. The KGB agents suspected of involvement with the dossier and the hack are all turning up dead.
Trump certainly acts like someone who is being blackmailed and there are plenty of red flags. Also, why did they turn off the recording device when he spoke to Putin? What I wonder is if Putin is blackmailing others in the republican party. Remember, Russia hacked the RNC. They just didn’t bother to release anything on them like they did with the DNC. I suspect that the RNC has plenty of skeletons.
Why doesn’t he use this logic with China? And no, Beijing is not hinting at war with the US. They desperately want to avoid it.
Yes, the Chinese are much more interested in economic growth than war. I doubt their own citizens would be enthusiastic about a shooting war, especially since so many would lose their only child. But that doesn’t mean they won’t do what they think is required to keep what they have. Trump’s clumsiness over the Taiwan issue seems to me to be very dangerous for Taiwan.
And Iran won’t be the pushover that Iraq was. It’s a much larger country and well prepared to defend itself since it’s been dealing with American political noise about invasion for many years. I think the Iraqis were caught off guard, before Gulf War 1 people there just didn’t believe the US would bomb them. They started out with too kindly an opinion of the US, actually.
it’s Bannon who has, previously, publicly stated that we will be waging war with China in the next few years
My suspicion is that the tie is financial. Trump is likely in hock to Russian bankers who won’t play nice if he defaults. Maybe he can arrange better interest or even debt forgiveness if he does what Putin wants. But I agree that he genuinely admires Putin, he’s shown admiration for other abusive leaders also.
If I were Trump, I’d be very cautious before eating or drinking anything once he is no longer useful. The Russian government has a traditional penchant for slow poisoning.
Make that Russia mafia and i think you’re on spot.
Trump is going after Iran, bank on it. If he stays in office long enough, he is going after Iran. He honestly thinks he can remove Russia as their main long term ally and maybe get them to side with us. He honestly believes Russia may side with us and this is very important if he does try to invade Iran. One it would stop a World War if Trump tries invade Iran and Russia sides with us. Trumps team knows if he goes after Iran and Russia doesn’t side with us and chooses Iran, it could lead to a World War. Bannon in particular wants to stop so called radical Islam and they believe Iran is the godfather to take out, that and their oil of course. They supply oil to Russia and China, so intercepting the oil and stopping the flow to China, makes America the superpower and China weaker. Iran and China are his goals, a World War inducing power grab but he is already laying the ground work for it.
Yes to your husband’s suspicions and also to what everyone is saying here. I think his primary reason for not releasing tax returns is to hide his reliance on Deutsche Bank loans, which would show everyone that he is only a billionaire on paper (and in hock). And how does he make payments on those loans? Further investigation into his Russian ties will most likely show more loans from banks there, as well as criminal connections to Russian mob organizations. Trump has funded his house of cards illegally for decades, and now he’s committing treason to do it. Here is the Mother Jones article on the Deutsche Bank debt:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/12/trump-deutsche-bank-conflict-loans
Perhaps most troubling is knowing that the GOP leadership must be aware of these possibilities, but they keep him in power anyway.
I am honestly a little surprised at the GOP leadership. I always hated them, but I was inclined to assume that they had a little bit of patriotism. History will not be kind to them.
I think this is going to bring him down. The republicans don’t really want him in there anyway. They’re going to impeach him and get Pence in there instead.
Mika pretty much said this on Morning Joe today. What’s he got on Trump? Because there’s no logical (even for Trump) explanation for why he continues to suck up.
100000%
100000% – That’s why we NEED to see his taxes. I think he is financially tied to him too.
The most notable thing to me, about Trump, is his disregard for his wife. She is a scared little thing, and he refuses to even hold her hand, without contempt.
Do you not consider it interesting, that what she has told us, is that she cares about most, is online bullying? – whose fast-forward/member of the club, is obviously the man she endures? She is not a free woman, however, grateful for $$$. Do we not consider this a secret message???
Unfortunately, men like Donald Trump isolate the women they are attempting to control. No offence to females everywhere, but can you imagine being required, to lick his dick, and Like It? I call it pornography!
If I were to show off my great stuff – my sons would be embarrassed.
Mango Buttface is already tweeting this morning that he calls the shots. I think he could eventually turn on Bannon. Mango apparently didn’t like that Bannon was on the cover of Time Magazine.
Also, no one will convince me that there isn’t a pee tape. Russia has to have something on Trump.
I think the pee tape is probably the tamest thing they have on Edward Cullen’s biggest fan, which is why it leaked (pardon the pun) — if Epstein was his close close pal, and that shelved rape trial is anything to go on, it’s much much worse. I believe there was a ring of some kind.
I agree. The golden shower thing was just letting Trump know they have the goods and aren’t afraid to put it out there–a warning shot. I think there’s more about his sexual proclivities and I agree with others who think he’s mixed up with the Russian mob. And of course, they have information verifying what Trump knew and when he knew it as far as interfering with the Presidential election. A lot of criminal stuff. It’s only a matter of time before it all comes crashing down. I truly believe he will leave office in disgrace, Republicans will moderate their platform in order to distance themselves from Trump’s mess. And Democrats will return to power. All of this will be the logical response to the biggest American political scandal ever.
I tend to think the Russians have something on Trump. But as Patricia said above it could also be just simple ignorance that leads Trump to admire/defend Putin. It’s hard to say.
They have something on him for sure. Remember that he’s been to Moscow plenty of times and anyone who goes to Moscow will get secretly (and sometimes not so secretly) spied upon.
Well, Russia has been so emboldened, that it’s demanding an apology for O’Reilly’s statements. If Fox News recapitulates and issues an apology (I’m sure they’ll be getting a call from the Orange Anus), I’ll be pissed (no pun intended). Bad enough that Putin kills his own journalists, but to allow him to bully ours into silence would be a grave (again, no pun) mistake.
There’s a pee tape. And there’s financial stuff. And probably a lot more.
I doubt that a pee tape would matter to the Orange Maroon. He can always deny, claiming it was an actor playing him. He will probably blame Alec Baldwin… Plus the Billy Bush tape proved that sexual deviancy doesn’t matter to his core supporters.
More damaging would be a tape with very young girls. The way Trump talks, he really does seem to have a preference for young girls just starting puberty. He had some disturbing things to say about Paris Hilton when she was only 12 as well as odd pictures with his daughter starting at about the same age. The accusation of rape of a 13 year old wannabe model was from a time that Ivanka was 13 years old also. But again, he could deny and claim it was someone else or grown women who just look younger.
This could be a very good idea, Jenns. If people think Trump is a dumb puppet and Bannon the puppet master, Trump might turn on him. Hahaha… the thought alone makes me happy. Trump will implode if people think he is Lamp Chop to Bannon’s Shari Lewis.
Remember a few weeks ago when the C-Span feed was mysteriously interrupted by Russia Today? A friend of mine said she wondered if that was the work of Russian hackers just testing to be sure they could drop the “Trump getting peed on” video on the US at a moment’s notice. I wonder …
No fan of Russian hacking, but at this point dropping the pee pee tape would be doing us a favor. That’s actually why I think it’s safe for now. Trump is bending over backwards for his comrades.
I don’t know how he functions knowing the Russians have all this hanging over his head. I’d be knocking back anxiety meds. Being completely out of touch with reality must help. LOL
@Radley – if they have what my husband and I theorize they actually have, you don’t want those images in your brain.
That would be awesome if it did happen. Hopefully right in the middle of his first state address.
C-Span said they weren’t hacked, one of their employees just accidentally hit the wrong switch. (They monitor 30 odd competing channels and someone flipped one of those to broadcast instead of broadcasting their own show.)
I think there are tapes with most of GOP members..
Isn’t this the most frightening thing about leadership and trust? That is, the depth of their betrayal, and manipulation?
May we trust one another, in bringing the constitution of the United States, forever alive….
Honestly, where may we find such beauty, as in the words, “It is self-evident that all men are created equal”. What I love the most in this statement, is that this equality, is Self-Evident.
A celebitchy reader needs to take one for the team, lure trump into a compromising position, and tape it. Then it can be released. Preferably a male reader. Any takers?
Well, Vlad has the pee video, so when he says, “Jump”, PEEtus says, “How high, Sir?”
I think he has something worse than that. Maybe proof of Trump admitting to raping that 13- year old child. But I fully agree…they have something they’re blackmailing him with
Putin is a horrbile man. But this
“What, you think our country is so innocent?” – is completely true. I can’t believe I’m agreeing with Trump.
I have to agree with you. There are very few countries in the world that could be described as innocent. No-one wants to go back to the days of the cold war so I feel it is better to have an amicable relationship with Russia.
I am now away to lie down in a darkened room to recover as I can’t believe I have agreed with Baby Fists on something.
But there are very few countries that did what America did and were never trialed.
America isn’t perfect so can never criticize another country’s illegal actions? By your standards dictators should have free reign to commit whatever abuses they want.
America has done just as many crimes on a global scale as Russia, yet it keeps portraying itself as a good guy.
This is one of the few times an US official has been self-aware about his own country. It’s shocking that it’s comming from Trump.
@LilyTheKid: Except this isn’t coming from self-awareness, it’s to defend Putin. And when a Democrat says this, the Right accuses them of being unpatriotic.
cr, right he isn’t self aware.
Plus if any other person said something like that (as in Pres Obama, Hillary Clinton etc) Trumpets would be screaming TRAITOR at the top of their lungs. If Trump’s words were coming from a genuine place of self reflection (self as in America as a whole) I would agree. But Trump is just sticking up for Putin.
I agree with cr that he said it to defend Putin, rather than out of self-awareness. But the other purpose could be to demoralize us and make us feel that America isn’t worth fighting for. It’s strategy.
It reminds of the line in the Godfather when Michael tells Kay something about a senator being killed, she laughed and said Michael do you know how naïve you sound, we don’t kill Senators, to which he said who is being naïve Kay. So yes people are killed. But trump is acting as if we are allies with Putin, as if we should follow his lead. He is everything I said below.
True but isn’t a President saying that America isn’t the greatest country on earth tantamount to treason?
I think a president should humbly and honestly talk about the shortcomings of our country in order to open up the doors to make improvements. So to me It’s not treasonous. I tend to think the whole “greatest country on earth” line does more harm than good. It closes our eyes to the need for change.
But when it comes to trump, you know it’s not coming from a humble or truthful place at all!
It is if Obama says it.
Could you imagine if Pres Obama said those exact words? And in defense of Putin, no less??
I don’t think America is innocent, but let’s not pretend that Trump was being self aware or humble and honest.
The US has done dreadful things and supported awful dictators and terrible wars. It has also done great things. Any country should reflect on its shortcomings. That’s healthy and the right approach. But as a non American, for Trump to openly draw a moral equivalence between the US and the gangsterism that characterises Putin’s rule is repellent. Trump runs down politicians, the military, the intelligence services, the judiciary, all the while appointing non accountable extremists like Bannon to an unelected inner coterie of cronies. Proto fascism at work.
Trump is the president of the United States (shudder). In other words, he IS the United States. He can believe what he wants, but to articulate it is irresponsible. Why take the job if you have so much disdain for the country?
No, the President is not the United States. He just works for us. Trump is a really bad employee who weaseled his way into the job and we’re trying to figure out a way to fire him. Unfortunately, not everybody is in agreement. A vocal minority think he’s awesome.
@LilyTheKid I don’t think that’s the point here. America is by no means “innocent”, if not for the fact that all the mess in the Middle-East was started/enhanced by it. But it was a specific talk about killing journalists or any other person who dears speak against the government. There was a very troubling statement in the Guardian this morning about the killing of 36 journalists since the 92 and 23 since 2000 (under Putin). I am not naïve and always maintained that the USA is far closer in mentality in certain aspects than the Middle-Eastern countries it keeps demonizing and exploiting but there is a limit to the comparison.
Moerover, it is completely stupid and undiplomatic to say such a thing about a country you rule, in a vague way, without arguments and facts. It just promotes paranoïa and fear. Whereas the journalist was speaking of something specific.
Thank you @Slowsnow
There is nothing “refreshing” or “humble” about Trump saying “You think America is so innocent?”
He was not speaking from a place of reflection. He’s not saying America should do better. He’s a flucking idiot that thinks Alex Jones/InfoWars is a more legit news source than Jake Tapper. This is a dude that ignores/demeans Intelligence briefings. Digression: I’m not saying CIA intelligence should be taken as gospel. But it’s just moronic to ignore it out of hand. To me it’s equivalent to these idiot Trumpbots refusing to listen to anything CNN says because they’ve made mistakes or showed a certain bias on some stories. The answer isn’t to completely dismiss as fake anything the main stream media produces. It’s to be a more discerning consumer of news. But these idiots have decided Alex Jones – who literally makes shit up out of nowhere (claiming the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings were a hoax) – is a more trustworthy source than CNN. Geniuses. The whole lot of them.
The point is, I seriously doubt his opinion of Russia is particularly well thought out or knowledgeable. So yeah, he’s getting nothing from me.
Trump is just trying to rationalize his coziness with Putin. Also, I hate to pull out the “He’s a shitty American” card but I think it fits in this case. I say that because he clearly has no respect for his country or the office he holds. He is destroying all the norms and institutions that keep our republic functioning. So I think his “Oh you think America is so innocent?” is coming from the place of someone who really doesn’t love the country he is supposed to be leading.
There. I said it!
Also, it makes me really irritable to see anyone compare this piece of shit favorably relative to President Obama Particularly since President OBAMA has made thoughtful intelligent nuanced statements about America’s lack of innocence in the past and been trashed by the same GOP licking Drump’s boots now:
https://twitter.com/codykeenan/status/828039438089478146
Get back to me when Trump poisons Hillary or puts Jake Tapper in jail. Then I’l buy the US and Russia are equivalent and the US has no right speaking out against despots.
ITA with everything you said. There’s a difference.
Keaton: There is no one on Earth worse than Alex Jones….pay rolled to get us fired up and man does he succeed. So insistent that Michelle Obama is man and like you say Sandy Hook is a hoax, as was 9/11. He is a maniac with a legion of followers who believe all of his propaganda. We are in dark waters indeed. Funny thing, I used to be a optimist. Those days are long gone.
for me it is a case of two wrongs do not make a right.
Yes, the USA have some darker chapters in their past, but that does not excuse anything that Putin is doing.
I think it is about context. You can issue a self reflectory statement on the past and your intentions about how to improve, but in this case that was a very weak argument.
I don’t think anyone thinks Trump said it out of self-awareness, but it’s still refreshing to hear an American president admit to the shortcomings of his country.
Keaton, spot on. Thank you. I think people are too quick to give Trump credit for having a plan or worldview or ideology that somehow will reveal itself as beneficial to our country. He is just simply…empty.
I think what is so mind numbingly frustrating is that whenever Obama criticized the country is any way, he was called a traitor, accused of starting a race war, called unpatriotic, accused of hating police and inciting violence against them.
Yet Trump says America isn’t so innocent (which, no it is not) and yet we hear *crickets* from those same people. Trump was saying that to defend Putin, not to reflect upon the issues within our own country. The man has said he believes in torture!
Well said. Putin has lined his pockets with the money from the people in his own country while they live in poverty. He is Billionaire because he has financial stripped his country bare. The same man a few days ago OK basically for women can be beaten with little repercussion. Allowing spousal abuse. He is a tyrant and thief.
I suspect that Trump trots out the fact that America has done bad things to justify whatever bad things he is planning on doing.
Sure, America is not innocent. But the Commander in Chief implying that the military are “killers” on a par with Russia’s assassins is wholly inappropriate. Remember, he mentioned the war in Iraq, too. And he didn’t specify Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld or Rice in this. So he’s implicating the military by default. Not ok. And I say that as a dove who thinks war should always be the last resort. He’s a disrespectful dumb@ss.
He is also opening the door and smashing through all the windows for anyone who wants to seek reparations
People in the military & our intelligence agencies should be outraged with his statements.
Point missed.
I don’t think anyone over about the age of ten is aware that America’s not so pure as our propaganda would have us believe. But a sitting president saying “Putin’s not so bad! We’ve been naughty too!”? About the man who jails or kills whoever he disagrees with? The heir to the country that literally used gulags to quiet dissidents? We’ve been bad (internment camps comes to mind) but what he said was so beyond.
He didn’t say anything to agree with. Trump is devious, and he is a bona fide Master of B.S. He isn’t making this statement to sincerely condemn anything the U.S. has done. He doesn’t lose any sleep about that. He’s just defending Putin. And he’s also making the statement to confuse the issue. He is the proverbial kid in the class who didn’t do his homework, but argues with the teacher loudly anyway.
We didn’t call 50 million of our own people. Our government doesn’t murder American journalists or opposition parties. War is a different thing than what he is saying.
So when you kill people who are not Americans, innocent people, that’s a different thing?
For the love of God people, no one is stupid enough to believe Trump said this because of self awareness or some kind of good intention. But it is still incredible to hear an American President finally say what the rest of the world already knows – that America has done much evil in the world without ever taking any responsibility.
I also don’t think it means that you can’t complain about Putin.
I’m more aware than most, in excruciating detail, of the miserable things our government has done to people in other countries, so I think that statement is astonishingly true also. But a country is made up of many different people at different times. Bad lethal behavior in the past or in the present by other people in our government does not mean we can’t complain about Putin’s behavior now. It’s not an excuse at all. Sanctions are an attempt to alter the behavior (such as in Ukraine) without dropping any bombs or sending in troops. Trump wants to dump the sanctions because he has no interest in stopping the behavior, and Putin knew he would do exactly that if elected.
This is why Hillary and her campaign were the target of Wikileaks, not Trump and his campaign. Contrary to Trump’s fantasies, the Republicans were hacked also. The Russians simply had no desire to release any info that might hinder Trump’s campaign. President Hillary Clinton was Putin’s nightmare. He knew her from her days as Secretary of State. Trump is a pliable and ignorant marshmallow. Hillary is knowledgeable and has nerves of steel. Even pictures of Hillary with Putin show she’s the alpha.
The Republicans are so dirty you can almost hear them tremble from across the oceans. They are all compromised!
The point was that Putin has ordered the murder of journalists and political opponents.
He is one mean hombre. He is terrifying. Bill O’Reilly is as right as one can fit in a corner and he was shocked by the dirt drooling from trump’s lips. Where are the supposed people trying to reel him in. Doesn’t matter if he swallows the words or says them, he is supporting a killer. He is the boogeyman we all feared as children. He is a monster
I still think Trump is more ignorant than evil (that’s Bannon) but I hear you. I am gobsmacked that Trump signed off on Bannon for the NSC without realizing it. What the actual f%ck?
It’s pretty remarkable that O’Reilly of all people called him out.
What has me going crazy this time is his respect and admiration of Putin. Russian forces have killed more civilians in Syria than ISIS. It’s not his ignorance, but his arrogance. He won’t take rejection. Holding a press conference with no questions allowed because he had to let us know HE had the biggest audience at HIS inauguration, though those were alternative facts. We have a lot of killers he says, he should remember that fact.
I think DT is just as evil as all the people in his inner circle. We have to just look at the people he surrounds himself with, they are all liars, and thieves. DT made his money from the backs of the poor people who worked for him and not paying them what was bargained on. Ivanka clothes are made using slave wages. His sons are big game hunters ect. DT bankrupts several businesses leaving others to pick up the tabs. He has no paid taxes in about 10 years or more. We the poor people have to pay our taxes or the gov will withhold our checks and take it out of our bank savings. His father was arrested at a KKK rally. DT and his father was charged with discrimination because they refused to rent to black families. The man and his family are pure evil.
Btw, it’s on the news that he’s not reading what’s he’s signing IN THOSE EO. SB slipped in something in his EO promoting himself without DT knowing it was in the order.
I think Trump is as evil as the rest of them, maybe more. He swaggers like a mob boss who has ordered people done away with.
B- it was obvious to me that Trump was just signing whatever was put in front of him without actually being involved in drawing up the orders. When he read even just the title of the Muslim ban one, it seemed as though he was seeing it for the first time. He probably isn’t a very fast reader, so he couldn’t glance at the documents and see what Bannon was really writing. It would be very easy to slip in something like the National Security Council coup without even having to persuade the Orange Maroon that this was reasonable. Trump knows so little about how the government functions, he probably would never question it if Bannon said it was ok.
After all this is said and done, I don’t ever want to hear that Republicans are good people. I don’t. They have created and enabled – are enabling! – this mess. How many of them have been compromised?
I am still seriously convinced that this man cannot read. Wish this would be investigated further.
I think he’s too lazy to read. (Reading is for losers, dontcha know?) He probably hires people to read things for him and give him a synopsis. I assume he does his own tweeting though, so he must be able to read to some degree.
My conspiracy theory about his tweeting is that he had someone set up the voice to text option. I really think he can read very little, is too lazy, or can’t see the letters and is too vain to wear reading glasses.
Per a NY Times article today, it is claimed a certain orange person recently spent sufficient time looking at a book of 17 window treatment options for his new office.
Can’t be bothered with reading important documents, but can get into selecting curtains.
@Christin. Are those window treatments tacky, trashy gold to match everything else in his tacky, trashy life?
NYT has a great article today, looking on the inside of the WH and lonely Trump walking through the hallways. They wrote at the end of the article, Trump did look atma book and it was one where he picked out his drapes.
Yes, he claims the gold curtains were made for FDR, but were actually designed for Hillary’s other half. 😂
He was tweeting about The NY Times again this morning, so I went to their site to see what was up. The article that likely has him melting has such an innocent headline about rethinking tactics, but includes insider accusations galore. I now picture staff seated in a dark meeting room (they supposedly cannot operate or locate light switches) and orangey in his bathrobe at night, watching TV.
—A link to the article is downthread. It’s worth a read.
I think Trump can read (he reads a teleprompter, he read the title out loud of the Muslim ban). But he might find it difficult either because he’s always needed glasses or he has reading problems such as dyslexia that make it slow going. Different people also have different preferred learning modes, his might be spoken word rather than written word. He also seems to have limited interests. He likes to watch tv about himself and also he will read articles about himself. He will watch himself on tv, even with the sound off. There’s a reason that the word narcissist comes from the guy entranced by his own reflection.
In the interview about Brady and Balichick he sounds like a 12 year old. Could only read about 1/4 of it before my head started spinning. My 8 year old grandson is talks better than he does. Find it interesting that there are leaks and yet he has no idea that his people are starting to betray him.
I really think I need to stop reading any trump stories. They are very bad for my blood pressure. 🙁
I hear you! I took Saturday off entirely and it did me good. I’m pregnant and I need to remind myself that constant, teeth-grinding anger towards Trump isn’t good for my baby!!
You won’t be calling him Donald then (Donalda is also a pretty rare Scot’s girls name). Best of luck.
Forget 1984, this is Lord of the Flies, IRT
Here’s the thing, though –
he’s not wrong.
America HAS interfered in the elections and affairs of other nations (especially in Latin and South America). America has carried out extrajudicial killings (or attempted them – the CIA tried to kill Fidel Castro numerous times). None of these things are secret. America does has a bad tendency to critique others while forgetting out own actions. Heavens forbid you mention in liberal circles that President Obama set the precedent of extrajudicially killing an American citizen overseas without benefit of due process – but he did, and that happened more than once.
Trump is not wrong here – America has done many of the same things we tend to hold against other nations. I’m not sure why people are taking exception to that particular statement now, as it’s pretty demonstrably true.
I think they’re taking exception to the way it was said. When you’re head of a country there’s a difference between saying, “We have obviously made mistakes” and “Yeah, we’re as shitty as everyone else.” trump has diarrhea mouth – he just spews out whatever crap pops into his head.
Yes, exactly.
But that’s presuming that you believe those things are “mistakes.” A lot of people don’t. There are a ton of people who believe that America has the right to pursue its interests in a manner that works – and whatever needs to be done, be done.
On some level, Trump is – how do I say this – refreshing in his bluntness. There is no question he’s awful in his opinions, but I believe him when he says it. He believes it is perfectly okay to undertake actions like Putin takes -that’s his thing. In truth, it’s more disappointing when somebody like Obama pays lip service to “civil rights” but then goes and sanctions one of the biggest civil rights violations in recent memory. Trump is awful, but he’s open in his awfulness and also in how the sausage gets made.
Hey Sam, Breitbart called, wondering where you are.
I don’t think someone pointing out how hypocritical Obama was makes him a far right lunatic.
Esmom, if you think calling that out makes one a right-wing shill, you might wanna have some words with that ACLU – they sued Obama multiple times over the extrajudicial killings – so you might want to get any donations you gave them back. Just sayin’ there.
I wouldn’t take offense with a leader saying their country’s as shitty as every other country. Aside from the fact that I think that America’s actually worse than many countries.
However, Trump’s intention isn’t to raise awareness or to own America’s mistakes etc pp. He doesn’t give a crap about history, America’s victims and all that. He just said it to deflect from Russia and that’s the main problem.
Refreshing, huh? I remember the flogging Carter received for his “malaise” speech. It was probably a large contributor to his one term presidency. He was considered weak for speaking that way. There’s no one here commenting that is not perfectly aware of America’s far from perfect history, especially me. But trump didn’t make that statement out of long held convctions or a knowledge of history or a sense of guilt over our many sins, he made that statement because he’s a fool who just shoots off his mouth. One of these days “loose lips sink ships” is going to come true.
I’m not saying Trump has good intentions – I’m saying that I can appreciate that somebody is saying that America is not an innocent party in the world and that many of the things we feign horror at when done by others – well, we’ve done those too. Now, obviously, Trump means it in the sense that since America has done these things, these things must be okay (which is not true). But his actual point is correct, regardless of his motives in making it.
Sam, absolutely.
However it’s the hypocrisy of those who would call someone “unpatriotic” or a “traitor” for criticizing America being silent on Trump’s words.
Of course America has blood on it’s hands. And there were plenty of times I didn’t agree with Pres. Obama on foreign policy. It’s just the complete hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance of his supporters that gets me.
But hey, if you check out Trump’s twitter, you will notice he is in full meltdown mode and has tweeted Make America Great Again like ten times. So maybe he is trying to remind us that America isn’t great anymore so he can totally go ahead and make it great again.
I might find it refreshing if I weren’t so afraid that he was using that fact in his mind to justify doing terrible things himself. I do think that that is the way his mind works, so I don’t find it refreshing at all.
When Obama said America had flaws, I got the feeling that he was addressing it to take responsibility and aspire for America to be better. Trump is just going to use it as an excuse to commit crimes himself.
Exactly. Apart from North Korea, I don’t know if there’s a country less self-aware than the USA.
I remember after 9/11, my brother was baffled that the people around him honestly couldn’t think of a single reason that anybody would do as the hijackers did… It’s like they thought other people are just thrilled to have their homes destroyed, their friends and family killed and crippled. We’d have plenty of American 9/11 hijackers attacking a country much larger than ourselves that bombed our cities, invaded and occupied our country, trashed our historic documents, made us write a new constitution, and selected and bribed our highest officials. Really, stuff like that is bound to get some people angry enough to be suicide bombers in an effort to get revenge and stop future actions. We’re just lucky that it’s only a teeny tiny fraction that react this way to us.
Right? the Irony of American outrage at another country interfering in its elections….how easily we forget Americas hand in installing and propping up govt’s across the world.
Clare, I’m well aware of the irony of Russia’s interference with our elections, considering our history. However, it’s not that Russia did so, it’s whether or not they did so with the complicity of higher-ups in the Republican party.
While the point about American violence is indeed demonstrably true, it’s egregious to think of leaning into the most contemptible portions of our history (and present) simply to cement an alliance with or gloss over the actions of a regime as objectionable as Putin’s. And to what end? Putin has no interest in stabilizing the Middle East, stemming the famine in Yemen, preserving lives, or eradicating terror. His troops operate under brutal and indiscriminating tactics, have no concept of collateral damage, and employ methodologies entirely antithetical to those used by the integrated NATO forces. Our ultimate objectives are also diametrically opposed, because Putin’s singular interest has been shown to be a desire to entrench Syria specifically, and the Middle East generally, into a quagmire so viscous as to necessitate prolonged Russian presence in the region for years to come.
So I don’t disagree with your point, but I think there’s a much uglier proposal in between the lines of what Trump said, and it’s that proposal I take most objection to.
Trump is not making these statements to call out US extrajudicial politics executions, electoral interference or anything along those lines. That is an intensely disingenuous argument, and reckless given the utterly chaotic results of his transition, the EOs, and leaked information regarding his calls to allies.
He’s doing this as he ramps up the likelihood of war with China or Iran, because he believes the kompromat binding him to Putin and his lickspittle one-sided relationship with Putin means Putin would back the Us, instead of exploiting the distraction and potential serious destabilization.
I loathe the sanctimonious, smug, half-informed and wholly false equivalence you’ve engaged in. And I’m a decades-long ACLU member.
Thank you. I think calling Sam disingenuous is generous. Reckless really is more like it.
No one thinks he’s doing it out of self awareness or concern or any positive goal. But it’s still incredible to hear an American president admit what America has done instead of the usual “we’re the good guys” act.
And why reckless?
How is it reckless to point out that Trump, in this instance, is factually correct? His motives aside, I was commenting on the truthfulness of his statement – the US HAS engaged in nefarious conduct towards other nations. Now, that isn’t exactly rare – almost all nation states engage in some kind of espionage or underhand dealings – it’s the reality of the situation. When he states something true, I see no reason to not say so. Americans, lovely people as we are, are often quite unaware of our history in that regard, and anything that makes them aware isn’t bad, to me.
And why toss out your ACLU credentials? The ACLU was one of the few organizations, to their credit, to really call out Obama for what many of us believe to be one of the most egregious precedents on civil rights in decades. That decision is a stain on his presidency that will never go away – and its worse when you realize that, by setting the precedent, he left it in the hands of a lunatic who will not hesitate to use it again. He should be called on it, time and time again, and it has always troubled me personally that so many progressives seemed willing to look the other way on it (it would seem that includes you).
War with Iran for sure. He wants to stop the flow of oil to China. Trump is gearing up for war and he has the gall to say to say something like this?
Even if its true the President doesn’t say stuff like that because it puts our military overseas in deep danger and our intelligence workers.
How? If anybody is already aware of America’s lack of innocence, it’s the military, intelligence community and those who interact with them. Seriously, I think this is kind of beside the point.
Opens up possibility of torture and recruitment of terrosits. it opens the door for Americans to be tortured if caught in war areas. It also emboldens terrorist areas to plan attacks on all western countries “they are the real bad guys” the US President said so. It gives them the language and words they manipulate & recruit with from our own Presidents mouth. Recruiting those kids that blow themselves up. It gives them the excuse they need to justify their attacks on western countries. The President of United States just said we are equivalent to the atrocities of Putin’s Russia when we have been at war in the middle east now for almost 16 years. How does this not make sense to you? All of this as he is already beating war drums against Iran.
Um, the terrorists already know America is not “innocent.” It’s actually kinda why a lot of them are terrorists. You are acting as though Trump has said something that many, many people worldwide did not already know. Which is kind of naïve, to be honest.
Concur!
Sam is right and I still wish we had Obama back… . I used to wonder if we already had a military coup years ago but nobody bothered to tell us, because every President, no matter how ethical and intelligent, gets sucked into doing Bad Things of this nature. Every single one.
Guess the Orange Maroon’s Administration blows that theory, since he and Bannon are still here even though top military seem to be having the same conniptions the rest of us are having. Maybe not, though. I’m still hoping they’ve at least disabled his ability to launch nukes.
I hear ya about the interference in other countries done in our name by the CIA, etc. And they’ve done domestic stuff, too, I’m sure. Someone keeps the drugs flowing into our country.
Check out the Jeremy Renner film “Kill the Messenger,” which is based on a true story.
Looks interesting, thanks.
Can you imagine all the heads that would have popped off if Hillary or Obama said this???
Exactly. Michelle said she had never felt prouder to be an American than when Barack got the nomination, and everyone pounced on her. Yet, this is magically okay because the Orange Anus said it. Didn’t he run on patriotism?
Obama did say things like that, and the poo-flingers on the right lost their damn minds.
I cannot wait until the Bannon/Trump love affair implodes. I know we will all probably get caught in the fallout…but sweet Jesus, I cannot wait.
Slightly OT: Melania in flats?! Perhaps an act of defiance? I mean Trump has this defined expectation of beautiful women, maybe shes throwing the middle finger. OR maybe her team saw the internet eyer rolling at Ivanka attendng a military event in 6 inch designer stilletos and this is a salvo at Ivanka for PR points? Whatever it is, its worthy of further observation. Melania is EXACTLY the type of woman whose physiology has been so altered by living in high heels that wearing flats hurts.
I saw this, too. I think we’re sleeping on Melania – maybe she gives no effs what the Orange Anus thinks. She isn’t even moving to D.C.
YES! I noticed this too!
I would bet hella money that Melania voted Clinton
Noticed this too
Remember the pic of Trump and Melania in side by side voting booths? Melania was focused on the screen while the Orange Maroon was very obviously trying to see who she was voting for.
I can’t believe I noticed that too.
ha good catch.
Pence doubled down on this topic yesterday with John Dickerson on Face the Nation. Wouldn’t or couldn’t say that the US was morally superior to Russia.
Thank someone this WH is leakier than two Russian prostitutes urinating. And Putin has the samples in a mason jar (vials are too small for such a large sample).
“Wouldn’t or couldn’t say that the US was morally superior to Russia.”
Maybe because he really shouldn’t? I mean in all frankness US is not morally superior to Russia. To North Korea? Well, yeah. But it wasn’t about N.Korea.
Not to mention if US really wants to achieve some cooperation with Russia on fighting ISIS or whatever like this in military ways, slaming a country with “we are morally superior to you, so bow down and go and do as we tell you” is the most stupid thing to do in order to engage a potential partner.
Except Russia has killed more civilians than ISIS has in the Middle East, so even Trump’s “we’ll work with them to defeat ISIS” is hypocritical, at best. He was deflecting from Russia’s awful human rights record. And last I heard, we don’t kill journalists for reporting the facts here (at least not yet, but it sounds like Trump wants to take a page out of Putin’s playbook on that one).
@NastyWoman
Except ISIS happened in the first place due to the mess in Iraq . And mess in Iraq happened due to US’s intervention to Iraq. By the way from the point of international law invasion in Iraq by US was totally unlawful. US needs now to fight ISIS and make up for its wrong-doings in ME. But US can’t take ISIS on its own. Neither can EU or Russia on their own. US and Russia together? Probably, maybe. So Trump/US’s plans to do it together joining forces with Russia is at least hopeful. Because everything else already failed. As for Russia killing more civilians than ISIS in the Middle East it is obviously wrong, since Russia has been carrying out its campaign within Syrian borders, while ISIS has been killing all over Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen.
As for killings, I’d gladly agree with you, if not for several really questionable cases, such as Michael Hastings for example. Not to mention the record of CIA killings in general.
Sorry, but honestly US is really not a good example against Russia. Now, some country like Switzerland or Belgium is. But not US.
@NastyWomen: As Helen has pointed out, ISIS is a direct result of the 2003 illegal invasion of Iraq – which was US-led. According to the Iraq Body Count project, this invasion led to 190,000 civilian deaths. This is actually a conservative figure as other sources quote a much higher death toll (some even up to 1 mio).
https://www.iraqbodycount.org
The number of civilian death in Iraq in 2016 was 16,500. Only yesterday, 28 were killed/found dead in mass graves. This status quo is directly connected to the 2003 invasion.
I am aware that Trump’s statement was not made out of self-awareness or morals. But he is factually correct and I find it amazing that a US president admits to the US lack of innocence.
Pence twisted himself into a pretzel not answering the question because the majority of Republican voters actually believe that America is a lilywhite Utopia and really is the greatest country in the world bar none. Delusional, I know. The weasel Pence was appeasing his base.
If a good journalist (or two, or three) will follow Carl Bernstein’s suggestion last week to “follow the money”, things may become much clearer.
If Jason Chaffetz would follow the money instead of selling off National Parks and continuing his witch hunt against Clinton, we could impeach
He is such a weasel.
We need a new Deep Throat.
Yes. Only a matter of time, I hope.
Bannin had to be reminded he is not president? You seriously want to tell me these people know what they’re doing? They have plans, sure. I bet they have lots of special plans. But they are SO INEPT and so clueless as to the extent other people understand government far better than they do.
Hey, maybe you guys have seen the video where “the Netherlands” apply “to be second” after the USA …because “AMERICA FIRST!”, you know?! 😀 There are actually a couple of more videos like that. European Late Night Shows seem to be working together on this. Every country is supposed to create their own application video. It’s brilliant! You can find them on this page: http://www.everysecondcounts.eu . There are already six. I think there are more to come soon.
I posted your link on another thread yesterday. The videos are all kinds of awesome. My country’s video (Austria) will be presented tomorrow. I hope it will be as good as the Dutch and the Swiss one!
The German one is great.😂😂😂
Trump has very strong ties with Russia… I think Putin has something on Trump maybe personal information, maybe about some shady business
I don’t think is not just simple admiration that makes Trump say flattering things about Putin every chance he gets… he even goes out of his way to not say anything negative about Putin in any way…. I mean he even says that USA, the country he’s supposed to lead, has lot of killers, and it’s not that innocent so he doesn’t make Russia look back
This is not just admiration, this is the blind loyalty that comes with dependence
Sadly there are many Republicans and Deplorables who still stand up for Trump, they bought into his madness, and I personally think the Republicans who still stand up for him after they were shown his lies, even played them the tape with O’Reilly they still said oh he did not mean it that way, and stand up for him time and time again. He has played the commy playbook to the max using fear, lies, and hate as his foundation even had his blonde mophead con-way lie about a freaking massacre of all things, and people still defend him and buy his BS. He wants to provoke the moose-lambs to do something so he can go to war and declare martial law as his puppeeters Putrid and Banhard use him for to get the power. Pence is spineless diverts questions so he should go out the door with him and Ryan too we don’t need any of them. Democrats better start fighting harder and put in paper work for all that we have enough between his constant constitution violations, he’s using a unsecured phone to talk govt business, his tweets where he did state he was againts the moose-lambs and so forth. He will not go quietly, he knows many of the US secrets and has the codes to obliterate us and would sell us out in a heart beat. Some hacktivist better change those codes, or leak his stuff like they did Hillary. Our News needs to stay on him like fleas on a dog come up with something expose the rat for what he is before he does something we can not recover I wish they’d all not show up at his press rants, not give him, Con-way, Spicy, or Penceless any interviews period he would explode if he lost media time. He’s crazy he’s proved it why why why aren’t people doing more to oust him out of office? I am so disappointed in many people even people I know who continue to feed into his bs.
Actually this whole “What, you think our country is so innocent?” is a good point and frankly speaking as soon as US stops painting itself as the most moral flawless country out there the better it is for US itself.
It’s not treason and it doesn’t mean hating your own country, it means being realistic about it and seeing everything that is wrong with it in order to improve it.
I agree with you, but comments like that tend to make the right wing go out of their minds. I’ll be interested to see if they start howling now that Trump (who can do no wrong with them) said it.
Well, they need to grow up and face the reality then.
For many, many decades people on the left and in the middle have pointed out or documented America’s many flaws and when they do they are demonized and called treasonous. But when a right wing fool does it, it’s suddenly refreshing and realistic? Bizarro World, indeed.
I think the difference is that the left has long been painted as treasonous – which makes them easy to ignore. The difference with the right is that when it comes from one of their own, they lack that excuse – so it will be very interesting to see how they react to Trump saying this.
I honest to god think they will defend it by saying “Trump is here to make America great again.” Watch. (TM Trump).
Al Franken refers to this as loving America like a grown up loves something. But this was neither the time nor the place.
These latest Trump statement should not be applauded for their accuracy or candor. They would not be seen that way if anyone else said them.
Those of you excusing Trump’s statements as “well he’s not wrong” have zero clue what a President is supposed to do and how he’s supposed to behave.
1. A President is supposed to protect the constitution, not admit to culpability in human rights violations, leaving our country open to retaliation.
2. The President is a diplomat- it is incredibly undiplomatic to brag that you do terrible things.
3. The President should never denigrate our country’s integrity. He’s supposed to uphold it.
If you think this was okay behavior by Trump, you need to think again. True or not, he should not be saying such things officially.
“…not admit to culpability in human rights violations” – I though a President shouldn’t engage in human rights violations in the first place.
That too Locke Lamora. That too.
I completely agree with you.
Totally agree.
1. If US President knows his country is guilty of human rights violations, surely he shouldn’t lie or pretend there aren’t any of those in US?
2. Isn’t it diplomatic to admit the faults of your country, showing that you are not trying to put your country on a high horse against the world?
3. Isn’t he actually upholding integrity by speaking openly of the flaws of US, thus painting a far more realistic portrait of his own country?
“True or not, he should not be saying such things officially.”
But US lectures officially almost all its allies, not only its opponents, about this or that. US can’t do it in all honestly, if it tries to hide its own cracks and can’t talk about them officially.
Helen- his statement boiled down to ” I don’t care how bad other countries are, cause we’re bad too.” There’s nothing diplomatic or integrity-filled about that.
I swear– all you supporting Trump in this are so clueless. This rhetoric is dangerous and damaging to our international standing.
It doesn’t matter if it’s true that US does shady stuff. This language is not Presidential. And for God’s sake the CIA, bad as it is, isn’t the KGB!!! Or Putin’s administration.
I challenge all you morons equating the US and Russia as equivalent evils to move your asses to Moscow and learn a few things.
As a foreigner Rapunzel, I’ve got to agree with Locke Lamora (who I think is also not American?) … Trump’s blunt admission that the US isn’t innocent is actually far more diplomatic than the normal American exceptionalism.
Look. If I started raving about how awesome China is, what would be your first reaction? You’d think of all the reasons I’m wrong, right? You might be too polite to say it, but you’d be mentally listing all the things that are wrong with China. That’s exactly how the rest of us react when we hear American exceptionalism. We think you’re wrong and that [insert country here] is so much better. When we hear “America isn’t so innocent”, we sympathize … we think “yeah, my country has some issues too”.
So (for once) this particular Trump statement isn’t a diplomatic problem. It’s not damaging to your international reputation. Would you think less of China if they admitted they weren’t innocent? Would you think less of Canada? Britain?
That said, I do see how it *is* a legitimate problem for domestic politics. The Republicans are being hypocrits because they’re reacting far more mildly to Trump’s words than they would have reacted to the same statement from a Democrat. And it seems like the majority of Americans would prefer your President to keep up the narrative of American exceptionalism. (Which makes sense. I assume it plays well at home, or your politicians wouldn’t keep doing it.)
HIS NECK uggghhhhh barf. My EYES!!! I need to unsee that neck and his fat ass.
UPDATE: OMG – for the first time in my life, I have a burst blood vessel in my eye! I fully blame that photo.
So-called president Trump for once spoke some truth. There ARE a lot of killers around and every country has its demons and has killed innocent people. But at least America has tried to be democratic and a shining city on the hill for desperate people from all part of the world, UNTIL corrupt p*ssygrabbing conman Trump came along.
Comrade Trump loves the KGB dictatorship style of Putin his hero. That’s why he generates propaganda, belittles facts gleaned from educated people any chance he gets, humiliates and demeans anyone who doesn’t kiss his feet, plays “tough guy” even though he’s a bloated ogre too scared to go into the military himself. OR maybe Putin has something BIG on Trump?
“a shining city on the hill for desperate people from all part of the world” – that’s because you guys had a lot to do with the wars that made them desperate. And you didn’t take nearly enough.
You do realize America isn’t that old to have caused every single war in the history of mankind? Also curious what country do you come from that has no blood on its hands?
I’m not saying America caused every war nor am I saying my country has no blood on it’s hands. But to use such poetic language about a country that has done quite a lot of damage in the world is a bit too much.
I’m not disagreeing America has done some horrible things but Trump has trolled his whole campaign and this is just another troll tactic. They did this constantly with Hillary and her “emails”. Trying to change the topic by saying we are the same. It isn’t that Trump truly believes it, he is just trying to change the topic. Which is how his team spreads their propaganda and has almost 65 million Americans believing their lies. Its a common tactic of cults and regimes to change questioning of their leadership by changing the topic by saying “but this so and so is just as bad as us or we are bad just like them”. It takes the responsibility of actions off of them and refocus the conversation.
When I hear the “shining city on a hill” put forth by politicians or their supporters, I love to ask them if they know when it first entered the American vocabulary and by which politician. And I usually get the wrong answer in response. For clarification, most people, especially most modern day Republicans, will tell you it was Reagan. It wasn’t. John Winthrop, governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony included it in a sermon he preached while on the ship Arabella in reference to the city the Puritans were about to build, which became Boston. Winthrop took it from the Sermon on the Mount. John Kennedy used it in a speech given in Boston after he was elected President; he credited Winthrop. Reagan began using it when he ran for President, sometimes he credited Winthrop, sometimes he didn’t. Romney, a governor of Massachusetts who should have known its origins, used it and wrongfully credited Reagan. Trump has credited Reagan.
“America has tried to be democratic and a shining city on the hill”
That always makes it sound like some fairytale or superhero comics, tbh.
The reality is much closer to what was said about lack of innocence. And that’s really sad, cause it was Trump of all people who said it and wasn’t wrong.
Whether America is considered a “shining city on a hill” or not, it is certainly looking bleak now with Trump at the helm. Trump says he wants only people who love America but he seems to love America the least. His rhetoric of admiring Putin, calling American’s killers and America a laughing stock of the world tells me he actually hates America as well as the free press so (according to his own policies) he should probably deport himself back to hell.
I think using the word “defend” for Trump’s opinion about Putin is misleading. He’s not justifying his actions per se, just hinting that the US certainly has no moral ground to criticize other leaders when they are behind some pretty bad stuff too. Stuff that Trump is likely to continue or make worse, so why would he shoot himself in the foot?
Sure, Putin is scum, but in this war they are trying to wield Russia is a fundamental ally for the United States. Should the country drop alliances with other very cuestionable leaders like Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines or Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud? Obama made peace with Fidel Castro, another killer. Honestly, I can’t stand Trump (or Putin), but this debate is absurd. Part of being a political leader in a global world is making alliances with people less than righteous for the greater good of your country. At least Trump isn’t hypocritical in this and won’t pretend that his country hasn’t committed atrocities all over the world.
Except Trump has been defending Putin’s hack of our election
When and where has he defended a hack of the election? Show me the quote. All he’s said constantly is that it’s convenient for the US to have a strong relationship with Russia.
And even so, same principle applies. Do you know with how many elections has the US interfered? They have financed and encouraged coup d’etats too. Where’s your outrage about that?
Not to mention, as said by the US own intelligence, there’s no evidence Russia’s alleged interference had a say in the actual votes. And let’s not even go to the violation of real democracy Hillary’s campaign was doing, because it’s not directly related to what we are talking about now.
I would advise you to read his tweets for those quotes. He has said quite a bit in Putin’s defense against our intelligence community. Stop pretending otherwise.
As for where my outrage is/was, I go directly to my elected representatives and the no-longer-functional White House comment line. Always have. I let nothing slide. I also see no reason to be dredging up a past that I cannot influence or use to change the present when there is so much going wrong in the present that needs my attention. Hillary isn’t president. I accept that and have moved on; you need to accept it and move on too. “But Hillary …” is a very silly response to any point made about Trump.
Also Mr. O’Reilly must be quite misinformed if he doesn’t know about any other goverment leaders that are killers.
I don’t think there are many other leaders who order personal killings.
You don’t think or you don’t know? Perhaps you should do your research.
Nah, Ana.
I never normally wish death on someone, but after reading his daily food habits, I think he may throw a heart attack. He usually skips breakfast or if forced has bacon and eggs, for lunch his favorite is a meatloaf sandwich and for dinner a Big mac or KFC bucket (for a snack he likes doritos or lay’s potato chips). And people were saying Hillary wasn’t fit to be president!
Coincidentally, three of those four specific brands are all under the Yum! (Pepsi) company umbrella.
This has been such a reality show, that I expect to hear at any time, “This presidency brought to you by (list sponsors).”
I read an article that said Pres Obama used to have almonds and apples as snacks in the oval office, and then Trump came in and was all “bring me a big bowl of Lays potato chips!’
I think Trump’s ass is pretty telling of his level of physical fitness.
The So-Called “Precedent” may be correct when he states that the US isn’t innocent as killers.
However, justification of his argument still leads anyone with half a brain to question it’s relevancy.
Because the US has “promoted democracy” in often deplorable ways since the start of the Cold War doesn’t let a dictator in a Russia off the hook.
A man in London in daylight was poisoned in the streets by an FSB operative. Ex-hackers are being arrested in Russia. Syrian children were being bombed by Russian fighters purposefully. Russia is currently engaging in the takeover of the sovereign country of Ukraine and slicing up Crimea. Russia has an instituted state-run press corps and TV station. Russia hacked the DNC and RNC to place a puppet at the helm of the US. Putin poisons political dissidents in his own country.
As objectionable as you may find American policies from any period, you should be able to agree that the US is morally superior to Russia.
US is morally superior to Russia – nope.
Please read the comments made by Senator Mitch McConnell, one of Emperor Zero’s staunchest supporters.
Sorry you’re so lost, puppy.
#alternativefacts
#bowlinggreenmassacre
#cannotagreeonthewordban
Yep, and like I said above, Trump’s intention isn’t to say the US should do better. His intention is (as one tweeter put it) to minimize the brutality of Putin’s Russia by creating false equivalence with US. No he gets no credit for being “refreshing”, “honest”, “not a hypocrite’, etc when his intention is to shill for a thug and despot.
I’m so irritated that Wikileaks tweeted he should be CELEBRATED for his honesty and so many people are agreeing. (Don’t even get me started on the people proclaiming he’s the “Republican Bernie” and ” “Bernie/Occupy people should love Trump.” Good. effing. grief.)
.A couple of great responses I read on twitter:
“Hard to celebrate this when it’s an excuse for the US to support this in other govts and to continue its own heinous behavior.”
EXACTLY EXACTLY
I liked this response too:
“That’s like saying that, whatever his policies, Hitler should be applauded for recognizing the corruption of the Wiemar Republic.”
HAH!
PERFECTLY SAID!
“As objectionable as you may find American policies from any period, you should be able to agree that the US is morally superior to Russia.”
Sadly, US is not morally superior to Russia and has been that way for a long, long time. You need a better example for moral superiority, meaning some other country.
I believe that it’s the thought that counts if you’re giving presents. But I also believe that when it comes to human rights atrocities, intentions don’t matter – only results.
From that perspective, it simply doesn’t matter what the moral reasoning behind an action is. Russian-Syrian forces bombed hospitals in Syria intentionally. The US-allied forces did so accidentally. The only reason I think the US comes off better in that example is that they only bombed one hospital, once. The Russian-Syrians did so multiple times. The difference is scale.
That means, while the moral-reasoning crew sees this as a simple yes/no question: “is the US’s moral reasoning better than Russia’s?” a lot of the people saying “Trump has a point” are talking about results, which is a completely different measure. They’re not drawing a false moral equivalence, they’re simply not talking about morals at all.
I don’t think either side is going to convince the other when they’re talking about different things. More than that, I think there’s a deeper point that the whole argument is missing. Have you done or heard of those moral-reasoning psych tests? Would you steal medicine to cure dying your wife? Would you steal it the medicine in question was as common and cheap as a candy bar? Would you still steal it if there were only 6 vials in existence and your theft meant someone else would die? The tests ask hypothetical questions about scenarios that are incredibly unlikely. But the reason behind the tests is that your moral reasoning for answering yes or no carries across to other, realistic situations.
So, to me, the interesting thing here is what are the consequences if Trump simply does not believe in moral superiority? If he believes all countries are the same – interacting without a sense of right or wrong, purely for power and self-interest … then what does that tell us about how he thinks? What does that mean for his international and domestic policies? I read a really good article addressing this (CB often eats links, so google “Donald Trump has given two great gifts to China” to read it). Trump’s world view explains why he is so willing to argue with long-term allies like Mexico and Australia. To him, it’s all transactional, there are no deep differences between allies and enemies it’s just about power and advantage. It also explains some of his domestic politics – if he does not believe democracy is morally superior, it explains his lack of respect for the judiciary and the other pillars that hold up American democracy. It’s worth reading. I’ve seen several articles saying Trump has no coherent ideology (which makes it hard to predict how he’ll govern). But I think this might explain things.
OMG! You have to see this pic I found someone post to DT’s latest tweet. It’s of Bannon with Trump on his lap like a puppet!!!! Hahahahahaha
https://mobile.twitter.com/rarmenta_/status/828642609543327745/photo/1
I’d, actually, prefer they’d stay their reckless course. I want to see them crash & burn and see Trump fall apart. If they become more “mainstream” or “normal”; pushback, impeachment, resistance might fall by the wayside.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/05/us/politics/trump-white-house-aides-strategy.html?_r=0
Thank you for posting a link. This article definitely a peek behind the scenes of our Decorator in Chief’s carefully selected Bubba gold curtains.
We can’t stop…
http://theslot.jezebel.com/a-womens-strike-is-coming-soon-1792050704
If you google it, many more sites are reporting it, now.
They are also publicizing a general strike day for Feb 17.
http://f17strike.com/
Looks like I am late today for this conversation. No surprises today about the Emperor, are there? An arrogant, misogynistic, racist, ignorant man takes power, but does not know the first thing about how the U.S government works and what his responsibilities are and U.S relationships to other countries. On signing Steve Bannon to NSC, probably un elected Steve Bannon and his sycophants probably take advantage of Trump’s ignorance and stupidity as they take control and power ,knowing where they want to go.
“The Numbers Vladimir Putin Does Not Want You To See”
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2014/03/numbers-vladimir-putin-doesnt-want-you-to-see
This is from 2014, but I can’t imagine much has changed. The Russian people are in dire straits, with a dictator who invades other countries to boost his ratings and does nothing to improve the domestic situation. The demographics show a country of 143 million people who have real needs that will never be met by this vicious dictator. Our sole aim must be to destroy trump/bannon’s emerging authoritarian regime. This will weaken Putin’s stranglehold on the Russian population.
Every Russian cab driver I’ve had (in NYC) has praised Putin. Why did they move here, then? Some moved here recently, too.
I believe the author of this article says that he boosts inferiority complexes with strongman rhetoric. That certainly works for many in the world–like trump/bannon supporters.
He is in deep some kind of way and it won’t take 4 years to figure out just how deep.
I hope not…next stop hopefully prison!
CBS News just basically called him a liar – “his ficticious claims, whether imaginary or fabricated “. About time.
Now the Moron in Chief is claiming phantom terrorist attacks which the “lying media” won’t report. Yes, I know you shouldn’t wish death on anyone, but that massive coronary can’t come soon enough.
See, I hate this. I wish they would use the word “lie”. Imaginary….fabricated…. they soften it and leave room for equivocation. And, I’m well aware of what the media can and can’t say…SO is high up in one of the 3 networks.
I don’t know if this has been posted…
From Daily Kos:
” Don’t let up. YOU are making a difference. It’s time to double down. Tomorrow is #ResistTrumpTuesday and your voices deserve to be heard. Show up to your senator or congress member’s office and let them know you are NOT a paid protester and you reject this Republican-led agenda. Check the Indivisible Guide’s list of events , and find one near you.”
https://www.indivisibleguide.com/show-up
#ResistTrumpTuesday. It’s every Tuesday, for those who haven’t heard of it.
It’s deeply concerning to me that Trump believes Russia & Putin will be allies with him in the fight against ISIS.
There are deeper problems in that region. ISIS is one of them, but they have the distinction of being the most visible problem at present. Russia, for its part, is using the distraction that ISIS is presenting to the world to dig deep in Syria without any interference. They are allied with Assad in that fight against the rebels, and Assad too has a lot to gain from using ISIS as a distraction in this case. It gave him an easy way to point to them and categorize all of the rebel factions in his country as ISIS militants so that he can have an excuse to bomb the ever-loving Jesus out of civilians. It only helps Putin to have an idiot at the helm of the US, who has no nuanced understanding of foreign policy whatsoever, because it only furthers his interests and Russia’s interests at the end of the day.