Donald Trump and Melania are in Europe now for the NATO summit and trip to Britain and Russia and more. Honestly, it’s too painful to pay attention to this mess. It’s bad enough that we have to deal with Trump within America, but whenever he travels, it feels like we, as a nation, are responsible for inflicting a global plague. A plague of stupidity, racism and disruption. Trump has already done more to destabilize NATO and our European alliances than Russia could do in decades. As I keep saying: it will take a generation or longer to undo all of the catastrophes that Trump has inflicted on the world. And here’s an even scarier thought: maybe Trump is doing so much damage, it will never be fixed. There was this:
"Germany is totally controlled by Russia," Pres. Trump tells NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg as they sit down together for bilateral breakfast ahead of Brussels summit. https://t.co/CmyplgrxzN pic.twitter.com/6RnFk8Drgs
— ABC News (@ABC) July 11, 2018
Ugh. Kelly’s face. This is just painful. After that, Trump threw a fit about NATO contributions to defense or something, I don’t know, I don’t speak Orange Moron. And it was bad.
President Trump flew to Brussels, created a crisis that sent NATO into emergency session, held a last-minute press conference declaring victory without stating any clear differences and is now….headed for London!
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) July 12, 2018
I’m sorry, Great Britain, for what’s about to happen. It’s going to be awful.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
His suits fit him horribly. I know that’s not the point, but I feel like it says a lot about him that he always just looks so sloppy.
Anyway……I hope NATO and other allies still speak to us in 2020.
The slacks are so poorly fitted
Ew, they ARE, aren’t they. Do you think the tailors keep the legs wide to try to mask the size of his fat ass?
And he has a wee bitty head to go with his other tiny appendages. He’s got the body of a circus bear and the head of a miniature baby doll. That suit just accentuates this.
Becks1 let’s hope members of NATO, EU and other allies are still talking to each other. Putin’s goal is instability and the break down of alliances.
And I think those ill fitting pants are meant to hide the puppeteer’s strings.
He gets more embolden with every day. It is frightening. Years from now, History will judge for this. Badly
I don’t know how much more of this I can take. It’s horrible, watching our country disintegrate in front of our eyes.
I know. I’m honestly about to really lose it, and so exhausted. I have had issues with insomnia since the election but in the past couple weeks it’s gotten way worse. I go to bed enraged and wake up enraged.
I keep myself sane by fantasizing a Manchurian Candidate ending for him.
Mueller needs to come forth with the evidence and save us from this horrible chapter of history
They’re already judging. No need to wait for the history books to be written.
My thoughts exactly. I’ve posted before that my neighbor is involved in the international environmental arena. He says it’s hard to get anyone abroad to take the US seriously at this point.
Trump is so stupid. He’s yammering made up alternative facts to a bunch of people who actually do know how NATO works and also know Trump doesn’t.
Plus they know Germany’s energy mix and the real numbers for Russian imports (hint: nowhere near Trump’s interpretation) and are just shaking their heads at his claims that Russia controls Germany.
If that’s true, then the US is controlled by Canada. I’ve put learning “O, Canada” on my to-do list and am looking forward to a Canadian-style National Health Care plan.
I think the audience’s only problem was trying hard not to just laugh at his ridiculousness. They know they just have to assume the US is going to call in sick for the rest of Trump’s time in the Oval Office.
Hopefully they haven’t shared any secrets with the US lately because Donald is going to tell Putin anything he can manage to remember. And watch for any added bulk when he leaves the meeting with Putin, from all the $1000 bills stuffed in his pockets and underwear.
You’d be most welcome in Canada jwoolman. Every day I’m more and more grateful that I live here, although we are very worried at the damage he could wreak on the whole planet. We are all living in dangerous times.
You’d be welcome here for sure.
Though bear in mind that Ontario, where 40% of Canadians live, just elected a Trump Lite premier in “Druggie Ford,” and he’ll drag the province backward as soon as he possibly can.
@WATP
Hasn’t Ontario always been conservative? If I ever moved to Canada I would go to Vancouver or Montreal or just fall off the grid and follow the Northern Lights. I liked BC probably the most though I liked Winnipeg too. My children loved the water taxis too much but the people were so nice.
For a stable genius, Trump is woefully ignorant about how global markets work. It’s not as if Merkel negotiates gas deals with Putin. Energy companies buy fuel from where it is the cheapest.
I am from Vancouver BC and am a beige woman and well there is a LOT of racism and segregation out here. It is beautiful, but it’s incredibly expense to live, there is a massive drug crisis that seems to be ignored, and, we are fighting a pipeline that the federal gov’t is forcing through. I’d move to the Maritimes if I were you.
@who are these people, Ford’s already got started on dismantling everything liberal, regardless of whether it’s good or bad for the province. I am so sad right now.
I feel for our sisters and brothers in the US, but I also know that the damage Trump is inflicting will be felt worldwide and that includes here in Canada.
Canadian here too. Yep Ontario has its own buffoon now. It’s horrible. I ignore him as much as possible.
For any kind Americans wanting to join Canada, west coast is $$$$$ etc Unless you’re comfy living in isolated-ish parts. I’d suggest Winnipeg for sure, coastal parts of Ontario maybe but stay north, or even better, east coast or PEI. Quebec I think is actually best for healthcare right now from what I hear and despite the problems they have, a beautiful multicultural province steeped in history. If you don’t mind prairies, Saskatchewan might be of interest. Alberta is USA light so…. there’s that option too but environmental and economic concerns there make me nervous.
I’m sorry for Americans upset by what’s happening. All the positive vibes to you and empathy. Hang in there.
They should have all laughed in his face. Forget about courtesy and manners. Just laugh away. Then he will know it’s not working. Also how come no one asked where the babies and girls are?
My assessment of the situation is that while a lot of this is Trump’s personal doing, it feels to me as though it t’s really more Moscow’s agenda that Trump is pushing. And he’s doing that because he’s under duress. I don’t even think he really understands the implications of most of his current actions……nor does he care. He’s far more worried about saving his own hide than facing whatever it is Moscow has over him.
So basically, we are seeing what Putin would do if he were able to control things in America for a time. It’s playing out right now.
I agree with you. He is killing America like Putin has dreamed of doing. His followers are complicit and should be held accountable for aiding and abetting this whole farce.
His supporters don’t give a fig………..as long as Russia’s agenda includes maintaining racial dominance in their favour, bring on the blinis and stroganoff.
I totally agree. The comment about Germany being under Russian control because of fuel is TOTALLY a Russian talking point. As if Trump would research that kind of information on his own.
I do think that Russia has compromised Trump and he is at their mercy and under their thumb.
I think a LOT of politicians now have ties to Russia/Russian banks and this is playing out with the rubber stamping of all this batsh!t crazy cr@p that is going on now. I just feel so exhausted, and hopeless at times. My sister and I were talking yesterday that as it starts to get closer to mid-terms, we are going to go full steam and do phone trees, and volunteering to get out Dems to get out and vote! ALL of us need to do *something* to help change this!
The era of the ugly American. I hope he chokes on a well-done steak.
with ketchup! he’s such an ass
And of course Huckabee Sanders made a lame excuse for Kelly’s disgust–he only got a donut for breakfast.
In the end drump backed down from his crudeness and gained nothing.
Did she realy say that?
Yes, she said he was expecting a full breakfast and only got cheese and danish and that’s why he was upset. She seriously released that statement.
They blamed it on the breakfast menu. Saw the tweet on the news.
Yes. She said he expected more than cheese and pastries for breakfast. Did Suckabee realize that their plates were clean and empty before she made up that BS lie?
Gosh, I thought the breakfast excuse was from a parody account. These people urgh.
Well. who can he blame for that? Oh right, they gutted the Office of Protocol, which is why they don’t know what “continental breakfast “ means.
Yes, when it was really about who pissed in his cornflakes.
A chunk of cheese and a Danish is actually a quite substantial breakfast when you do the protein and calorie counts. Was he expecting a cheeseburger?
Because them dern furreners eat funny. Basically, that is what she said.
I really doubt he cared about the breakfast. That was an after the fact excuse.
I still don’t understand why the WH press reporters continue to show up to Sarah’s briefings because all she does is lie and berate them. The problem with the Dotard is that we have a weak and complicit press system. These briefings are a waste of time, these reporters could be covering something much more important like Puerto Rico, the Muslim ban, Devin Nunes, the Parkland and March For Our Lives kids, the military ban, DACA. Apart of the reason the Dotard is in office today is because these reporters just aren’t willing to do their jobs. I wish one of them would just stand up one day and suggest they start boycotting Sarah’s briefings or just flat out tell Sarah to stop lying to her face. Sarah feels emboldened because her campaign to destroy Red Hen was so successful.
Truth. The media has been a huge part of the problem.
We have confirmation from the White House that Pres. Trump gets a lil bit grumpy when he’s hungry, like a giant baby.
He’s like a rabid dog. How is this supposed to be the representative of our entire country?!? The only hope in my heart is when I see people who are not American saying they feel sorry for us and understand that this is NOT what we are all about. But how long can they keep any good will and understanding?! I don’t even have any good will left most of the time and I’m american. This is such a humiliation and I feel like I will never feel the same when I travel. Shameful. So truly shameful.
Don’t re-elect this moron in 2020 and don’t f–k up at the midterms, this is your only chance. I think all good-will from other nations will fly out the window if he gets a second term. At the moment we are just trying to survive his presidency with a little damage as possible. It is visible to the outside that there is actually a liberal majority in the country. We see you demonstrating against his actions. We hear other, level-headed politicians speak. The USA have been a great ally for a long time, I’m sure they are welcome to become one again.
I haven’t even let my mind consider a 2nd term of this. The first one is severely and negatively impacting my mental health. I doubt Canada wants me because I’m not young. I don’t know what I would do or where I would go. I’m 51, and have a good business, that I can run from anywhere. But I don’t think it’s as easy as people make it out to be to get into another country permanently.
Darla, I’m in Canada and wish we could take you. If your skill set is on the list of things Canada wants and you could find an employer to hire and move you, that would open the possibility. Otherwise – yes – part of growing up in America is believing you can go anywhere you want, when you want it. It’s partly because it’s such a big country that it offers a lot of choice within its borders. But then things happen and Americans find out that they can’t actually ‘go anywhere’ and that just because America – when in it’s a good mood and feeling flush – does accept people, it doesn’t mean other countries do the same.
Somebody from the U.K. was pointing out on a news program that the special relationship between the U.K. and the US is with the American people, not the President.
Long may the Trump Baby Balloon wave! Can they take it to Helsinki or anywhere else Donald decides to contaminate? Maybe small copies should be made for people to wave along his route. Maybe Trump Baby on a stick, like a pinwheel?
Who ARE – thank you, you just gave me an idea. I believe I could easily get hired by a Canadian supplier in my industry. I sell swag, and have quite a nice business going, I also know this profession inside and out. I had never thought of this. I probably could do that.
Well, you’re welcome, Darla. I want Americans to fight it out but at the same time, I’m a dual national myself glad to be north of the border. We do what we can from here – in this day and age, US citizens abroad can still vote, donate, call our representatives, work phone lines for voting, and more.
Good luck whatever you do!
We have to stay Darla. I know it is hard but if we leave we abandon the people who rely on our voices to help them. I could leave too. I have dual EU citizenship and my children do too. It would be easy but the people that work for us would be stuck here, and they have trusted that they have employment with our family for life. All the volunteer work and causes would have less money and that means I would be leaving people and animals high and dry. I feel a responsibility towards them.
I think it would be worse watching from afar. I have two siblings who don’t live in America and lots of family in Europe and abroad that watch and feel helpless.
I do feel helpless but I am not. We really aren’t. We just have to keep building the foundation and not let them win. I don’t judge anyone who can’t take it anymore. It messes with our mental health and well-being but those that are able; should stay and fight.
51 is the new 31. Ya aint old lady. 😉
Thank you magnolia. So well stated. I am staying for now, I just don’t know how I could face a 2nd term of this. I don’t believe it will happen. But I didn’t think the first one would either. 🙂
Darla, even without an employer, anyone can apply for Canadian Permanent Residency. They have a point system, you can calculate pretty easily if they would take you through that program or not. Look into it!
Sadly I wouldn’t rule out him getting reelected. I don’t think the chances are high, but he does have very die hard supporters and one of the commonalities is that many of his die hard supporters are over 50. People in that age range, at least in my personal anecdotal experience, vote frequently. I do think dems have to pour their energy into the midterms, have to unify and vote them all out. This administration flagrantly skirts the rules, Mueller isn’t going to save us from Trump. However flipping Congress can only help. The man still has people attending rallies for him, he knows his supporters will stand by him no matter what. I do think it’s best to try to save this country from Trump before it feels like we have to flee to Canada, Handmaid’s Tale style. But I get your desire Darla.
Patricia- Just carry around cards saying in multiple languages:
“I know my President is an idiot and I didn’t vote for him. Sorry.”
Hey England, feel free to take any frustration you might have about the Word Cup loss on this orange piece of trash. Seriously, the world won’t mind in the least.
Oh and he’s (well “he”, I’m not sure it’s human) done a 180 this morning, now very happy with the spending commitments. 🙄 Whatever you senile loser.
Now if you’ll excuse me I’m off to my Mandarin language lessons. The USA is fading faster than even I as a next door neighbor thought it could. China’s dominance as the new world power incoming.
China is a dictatorship with horrific human rights abuses (as well as animal rights abuses) – I for one, am not thrilled to see them become a new world super power.
China, and many countries in the world could said the same about the USA though, or worse.
The immigrant detention centers, Afghanistan, murders of black people by the police, lack of free health system, imposed dictatorships in strategic countries; the list is endless.
Perfectly said.
oh yes, they totally can, and should speak critically of the US. I’m saying that I’m not hailing the advent of China as a superpower
They have to deal with Brexit and that closet Brexiteer May. The UK has sorrows just as dire. But I hope they take some out on 45. I await that baby balloon. lol
But ..but He tells it like it is
PS: Can you imagine the pearl clutching at Fox News etal if MIchelle Obama had worn a sleeveless/ see through Dress to NATO summit ( or any where for that matter )
Can we also discuss whether she looks smaller in the chest? Some speculated the recent surgery might have been a reduction/touch up.
They are much smaller and higher. The length of her “ recovery” is consistent with the length of time for recovery for breast surgeries
The dress is cut to minimize her bust. The diagonal seams make it look like her breasts are smaller because they cut across the bottom third of her chest. It tricks the eye into subtracting what is below the artificial bust line.
That’s because Michelle was not an accessory. This one would probably receive a lot of criticism if she didn’t look “pretty” enough.
Even Ivanka wouldn’t leave that traditional role; they need male’s approval and the males need women to be submissive.
I think that was another reason why people were so hateful towards Michelle, many men and women couldn’t accept that she was intelligent and independent.
Melanie looks like the Bride of Frankenstein 2018.
His wife #3 is one of his enabler. What about her Be Best. Why can’t she stop him from the constant lying 🤥 and bullying, what the F..k is happening to this country, it’s so embarrassing having a dotard representing us, 🤦♀️.
She could stop him, but not through reason. Through poison. LOLOLOLOL
Didn’t a Medici use poison sheets of paper to off someone? Can’t she be creative too?
Dress? I thought she was wearing a giant lampshade
I thought the same thing! It looks so uncomfortable too. Also, it doesn’t look like any of the other leaders needed to bring a trophy spouse along for a fashion shoot/world leader photo.
I… I mean, he’s so… it’s just… Well.
I’ve been trying to come up with something to say here…and all I can come up with is pretty much what you said. There are no words anymore
It’s exhausting. All of it.
This headline from The Onion is everything:
https://twitter.com/TheOnion/status/1017139487116275712
Ha! Thanks, I needed a laugh. NPR aired his impromptu press conference and just hearing this lying, narcissistic POS blathering on about NATO and Putin ruined my ‘Good Morning’ mood.
The Onion has been on fire, both hilarious and heartbreaking. The baby formula photo/news was spot on. Never a shortage of material for satire. Although some days it’s hard to laugh knowing how high the stakes really are with this corrupt admin.
It doesn’t just “feel” like we inflicted this on the world, we have inflicted this on the world. And we are going to pay for it.
Well, everybody is paying for it. Thanks, voters and non-voters from the US.
Absolutely. This whole debacle has really driven home how much power a bunch of (exceedingly uninformed) voters in the US have over the rest of us…
Signed – someone who lives in the Middle East.
And the deepest of thanks to the Republican party – especially Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan – for allowing him to win, supporting him and never blocking him. Special kudos to Senators McCain, Flake and Collins for their persistent hypocrisy, NC Senators Burr for dragging his feet on the Intelligence investigation and Tillis (Judiciary) for only pretending to support the independence of the Special Counsel, and every single other Republican in power for their own specific acts of cowardice and treason.
McConnell, Ryan et al are cowards. That’s just the GOP way. People say the Democratic party eats its own but the GOP is the party of the blind eye.
So Trump’s shaking down other countries on behalf of the arms manufacturers. Nice.
When asked, duting the NATO presser, why he kept saying something to the other world leaders and then tweeting something else, Trump replied : “I’m a very stable genius”. Good luck, y’all.
He said his father was born in Germany. Fred Trump, the KKK rallying racist, was born in the United States. This is a combination of idiocy, mental pathology, and advancing organic brain DISEASE.
He said that again? Good god.
He epitomizes the Ugly American stereotype. I believe NATO is using him as a stress test to strengthen their operations. I heard the German Defense Minister interviewed on NPR yesterday, and she said her recent visit to D.C. to see Senators was very positive, as they all affirmed their support for Germany and NATO. Every day he takes another rogue action, he isolates himself more and more. He is a desperate man. He knows his time is short, so he’s doing the Russian Mob’s bidding and crashing up everything while he can. Of course, it is excruciating to watch. And scary. And hurting so many people. Let every stab of pain strengthen our resolve to crush him.
He really does; it’s so disgusting and shameful.
Is this the not really funny remake of “European Lampoon Vacation”? I think I preffer Chevy Chase.
His press conference this morning was an embarrassment. He really has a habit of exaggerating. He claimed he got all NATO countries to give more, which is completely untrue. How many times will he claim Reagan lost Wisconsin and boast that he won? Reagan won Wisconsin twice.
Fly that Trump baby balloon while blasting “American Idiot” as loud as you can, London
I’m still laughing at the fact that he thinks Germany is controlled by Russia when he’s been Putin’s bitch for years.
Charles Blow from NYT wrote that recently and at this point it’s clear that drump is Putin’s puppet. Hence the deflection and disrespect towards Merkel. He made a show for Putin by trying to humiliate her and NATO.
Putin owns the drump family, who expect a Russian paycheck. Lawmakers who visited Russia over the Fourth were mocked and humiliated during their visit. Putin never showed up to greet them. I think drump is desperate to show Putin he is loyal, but the power has shifted and Putin is in complete control of drump.
The irony is that Angela Merkel is from East Germany, and really does know the difference from personal experience between being controlled by Russia and not being controlled. What a maroon Donald is.
I don’t know if it is a typo but he is rather maroon in color some days.
He just says whatever Putin tells him to say.
That’s exactly what I yelled at my tv when I heard him say that. He’s the one on his knees praying to his saviour Vlad. Pathetic!
Also, he likes to pick on Merkel because SHE is the actual leader of the free world and he knows we think of him as a total lying loser. How dare she be respected!
I’m from South America and I just can’t understand why he hate the non white Americans so much, it is like this president hate humankind in general.
Does his allies understand his goal at all?
There is a plan for the future or he is just focusing on caos ( like destroy the environment, encourage hate between citizens and nations and implode democracy system)??
The local news here talk about his actions and decisions like it is the new joke/prank , this is just so crazy.
He hates them because he’s racist. Racists have no justification for hating brown people other than that they have been taught to be racist and racist behavior is not punished; it is rewarded. Trump was taught by his father, Fred Trump, and by the power establishment generally. He’s just a hateful guy, always has been, and he turns his hate on the group that White America knows how to hate.
The (not “his”) allies understand that Trump is following Putin’s orders to destabilize the longstanding Western alliances that have provided stability and relative peace, which will remove the roadblocks to Putin reclaiming Crimea, seizing lucrative resource assets and corridors and extending Russian power far beyond what its failing economy would suggest.
I ask this question on a regular basis — Do his supporters really think they could get the time of day from him or his family outside of a staged rally?
Unless you are rich, not disabled and possess camera-ready looks, you’re worthless to the guy.
Yes, they do, they believe he’s speaking to them directly and he performs in rallies in such a way that it seems personal to them. He’s like a televangelist that way.
I honestly believe that if some sort of undercover video leaked of him saying his supporters were all dumb trailer trash or ignorant racists who he fooled into voting for him, they’d chose not to believe it. They’d deflect to Hillary or Obama, they’d say it was faked or taken out of context etc. I have long had the theory that Trump saw what happened when he started the birther stuff and knew he had opened up a very potent can of worms. There are many racist people in this country that bemoan having to be politically correct. They want jobs and factories to come back to this country. They want vets and the homeless in America to be helped before immigrants or other countries. Trump knew that message would get him the nomination. He may have not known he’d get the presidency, but now that he has it, he plays right in to his base. We have to remember that as much as we are disgusted by him, he has a base of supporters who are very happy with what he is doing. I have family members that will tell you that Trump’s presidency has been a success in the last 18 months. These same people think Obama started some sort of race war that divided the country. They are sad that things have become so “politically correct”, they want to make sure the Second Amendment is never infringed upon and they get to keep all their guns, and some even want Roe v Wade overturned. So yes, his supporters think Trump is their mouthpiece. They call themselves the silent majority after all, even though these people aren’t silent.
Trump has brought out and plays upon the worst of America. The Civil War has had a long and sad influence on the division between north and south, black and white. Trump is capitalizing on this long simmering racial tension and has gathered his cadre of old, rich, misogynistic white men to ‘Make America Hate Again’.
America is a racist country. We cultivate racists. Simple as that.
And racISM.
America was founded by murdering and stealing from the brown people who were already here. It was built on the backs of black slaves and indentured servants. It sustained itself by subjugating and oppressing people of color here and all around the world.
America has never been free and liberty is a myth. This is just America showing its ugly without any filters.
Putin has only revealed what was already there.
Bingo.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
It’s so frightening that his Playbook is to make up stuff he thinks makes him look good, lie, and lie enough that everybody starts to think it’s true. I want her to convince people that he’s the only trustworthy person out there is beyond me.
I really hope she would just be an empty useless puppet as a president. He’s so much worse then I ever feared he could be.
I’ve held back saying this since he was inaugurated, but now I can’t. I suggest everyone to consult our DEFCON levels daily, and ask our state representatives to consult them as well. With all the bullying he is doing abroad, I am not sure our country is at a safe level anymore.
It was much less safe the day he took office. He is completely undisciplined and uninterested in his work, and his administration is understaffed by competence and riddled with incompetence. The Homeland Security chief is busy torturing mothers and children on the Mexican border. OF COURSE the USA is less safe. The mainstream press is not highlighting this feature – not a bug – of the Trump presidency.
This is “W” Bush and his team missing the warning signs of 9/11 — on steroids. This is the “heckuva job, Brownie” team disaster waiting to happen.
Ex-UKer living abroad here … I have to say as much as I miss the UK I’m glad to be missing him.
However … there is a very special welcome planned for Cheeto Mussolini – a giant trump baby blimp … and the British peeps have been spending their money to get Green Day’s American Idiot to #1 in the charts in time for his arrival.
The blimp has a full schedule planned to follow him round: https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/attractions/donald-trump-baby-balloon-where-to-see-the-blimp-during-the-presidents-uk-visit-a3884836.html
“Whichever side you agree with, Trump Baby – a 20ft, orange blimp depicting Donald Trump as a enraged, smartphone-clutching infant – will be a sight to behold when it flies above the capital this Friday July 13.”
The resistance is petty, but we’re here for it!
I love it. I do. Levity is welcome right now.
If only the baby blimp balloon was bigger!
I sincerely hope there are so many demonstrators that traffic in London collapses completely.
Dear America
Please stop destroying our world, it would be a better place without you!
A distressed journalist from Denmark
I’m with Sophie. I love you America, but the world can only take only so much grief, anger and second hand embarrassment from that orange-faced scrotum.
Not American…and maybe that’s why I don’t know the answer, but who is the woman sitting to Trump’s right? Between trump and Kelly?
I am an American and came to ask same thing. She looks so embarrassed. Like she’s closing her eyes and imagining she is anywhere else.
She does look like shes imagining she is somewhere else and trying very hard to control her facial expression to be neutral! And not succeeding!
Kay Bailey Hutchison, the US representative to NATO. She also looked horribly embarrassed.
Anyone embarrassed by working for Trump should quit and say why. Anyone working with or for him is complicit no matter how much they delude themselves into thinking they can “do some good” or compensate for his defects.
Kay Bailey Hutchison. She’s the United States Permanent Representative to NATO. I saw some film where Trump was seated with a scowl and she came over to point something out and he rudely shoed her away.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kay_Bailey_Hutchison
Thanks The OG!
Kay Bailey Hutchinson, US ambassador to NATO, former Senator for Texas. Do NOT feel sorry for that despicable woman. She loves Trump. She has ALWAYS put GOP before USA, even when the party stabs her in the back. For years, she was angling and positioning herself to be the party’s first woman candidate for VP, only to have them shove her out of the way for Palin. It was a huge insult to her. But there she is, she knew what she signed up for.
See my comment above …. she could always quit. They work for him because they want to.
Yeah, the sooner all the GOP are acutely embarrassed by President Swamp the better.
I agree. She’s a scumbag opportunist. So if she is embarrassed then too bad. She helped pave the way for him.
Yes. Texas did not send their best when they sent Kay.
I’m curious about something: why USA is called America when America is the continent, not one country?
The continent isn’t “America” — it’s “North America”. There’s another one called ‘South America”. So if you hear the USA referred to as just “America”, it’s an abbreviation of “United States of America”.
Not to much of the world! In Australia, we’re also taught that the continents are North and South America but my Italian partner was adamant that at school they’re told that it’s ‘just’ America.
(We have an ongoing argument on this point – he was also taught that the continent is ‘Oceania’ whereas we’re taught that it’s Australia…)
It’s a good question and the explanation works. If only the USA had developed a 1-word name but, I guess, states’ rights and all…
A lot of folks also just group the USA and Canada into “North America” and forget that Mexico belongs, too.
Amy, I wonder whether in Italy they take particular pride in the name America because it derives from that of Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci.
To think the continents could have been called the Vespucci…
@Who ARE These People – it doesn’t quite roll off the tongue as much, haha.
(Wikipedia says: “The six-continent combined-America model is often used in France and its former possessions, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Romania, Latin America, and Greece.”
But if they also all think that Australia isn’t a continent, then they’re obviously wrong about America too :P)
Mexico’s official name is the United Mexican States, so it’s not just the USA with the multi-word name.
Everybody has a right to their own name. As long as there is no confusion, it’s fine to refer to the USA as America and its citizens as Americans, and that has a lot of positive feeling for people here. I certainly use those terms when writing persuasively to my fellow citizens of the USA.
For an international audience, you just need to be more specific to avoid confusion. For some reason, US is acceptable as an alternative to the full USA, even though we aren’t the only United States in the world. Please do not use the abomination Unitedstatesian, please. That makes my ears and brain hurt. And besides, it isn’t accurate either (same problem as for US).
Do the British still like to refer to us as “the States”? Same problem there, other countries have States…. But as long as everybody knows what you are talking about, it’s ok. I think US citizens are likely to refer to “the States” also when they are not home in the USA.
The plural Americas is only used to refer to the whole Hemisphere, including North America, Central America, South America, and many islands. I would personally avoid the adjective Americans entirely in that case because it really is too confusing.
Sometimes Americans get browbeaten into calling themselves North Americans when they come home from a visit to Spanish-speaking countries, because Spanish uses the false friend norteamericano to refer specifically to citizens of the USA. “North American” is generally an incorrect translation of norteamericano in this case (hence “false friend”, a word that sounds like a word in another language but actually is used differently). One friend who had been on a Witness for Peace expedition was meticulously doing that (the local activists pushed him into it because they were understandably annoyed by our government and were taking it out on the visitors). Finally I had to gently point out that the Canadians and Mexicans might be a little bothered to hear him repeatedly refer to “North American contra bases”. Unless of course Canadians and Mexicans really were paying and directing mercenary soldiers against the elected government of Nicaragua.
Canadians refer to “the States” all the time, which I assume comes from Canada’s British past. It must come from wanting to refer to those ragtag rebels as a bunch of states, rather than as the (supposedly) unified and sovereign nation that fought a war for independence.
Technically, we use the name for both in the US. We use the plural to refer to the continents, and North America to refer to the geographic location of the US specifically. I imagine a lot of it is ease of use and, well, Western ethnocentrism. You’re just as likely to hear the USA referred to as “The States” or the “US/United States” as you are to hear it called “America.”
The name America predates Vespucci by well over a century . There are two 14th century Venetian Templar Documents that call a large land mass far to the West (sometimes confused with the Garden of Eden) ‘Amorica’ and several manuscripts from 700 ad/ce name it ‘Merica’ , which may have links to a name sometimes used for Mercia, which was a strong hold of the Templars and Freemasonry.
Australia is part of Oceania as is New Zealand , Indonesia , New Guinea and most south Pacific island, but Australia has never been called Oceania. So obviously your Italian friend had a very bad geography teacher.
He is intent on creating enemies and isolating his country. Someone, anyone, GET HIM OUT.
If I were a citizen of The Baltics, Ukraine,or Eastern Europe,I’d be scared s******* right now.
They have been for some time. Putin’s designs have long been obvious and Trump is just someone he can use to enable him to carry them out.
Putin wants to reunite the Soviet Union and install a royal family. If he weren’t so evil I would be impressed by how successful he has been. I don’t think it will work. Russia doesn’t have the infrastructure or the money but he is giving it a go anyway. Of course it is more complex than that and the reasons why he won’t succeed could fill a book but in the end, he won’t.
He won’t succeed but will destroy the world and the West in the process.
Something to cheer u all up. A farmer allowed an artist to put this crop art in a field, it’s supposed to say ‘f##k Trump’ in Russian. He will apparently see it on route to visit the PM at Cheaquers.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-crop-circle_us_5b46e80ae4b022fdcc55f95c
Lol. That is great. 🙂
To my American fellow CBers, we don’t blame all of you as we know the majority of you are decent people but like Brexit the minority have the stage now and they are sh!tting all over the place and at some point they will drown In it. History has shown people like Trump never meet a good end. As for Boris Johnson, the wannabe PM, being endorsed by the Orange Baby Blimp is the kiss of death – not that anyone in the U.K. likes him anyway.
As for Mays Brexit plan, it’s the best we can hope for as a true split would be a disaster for the U.K. and I can’t believe I am saying that but am sure I will get flamed for it. We need to make concessions to keep access to the single market. Many Brexiteers are putting their own agenda before the future of the country – Johnson only switched sides as he saw an opportunity to become Prime Minister and that is all he is interested in.
“The Only Thing Necessary for the Triumph of Evil is that Good Men Do Nothing”
The majority has been passive for too long and has allowed the minority to seize control and cause chaos and disruption. We have to get it together and work to overcome the mess these backward, anal, hateful people seek to constantly inflict upon the rest of us.
In the UK – have they thought about delaying Brexit until they have thoroughly investigated any Russian involvement in the vote?
Article 50 has been invoked so sadly we can’t even if our politicians had the balls to take those allegations seriously. We can revoke it but only if all member states of the EU agree.
Am sure sure how severe their interference was but from what little I know it wasn’t as deep and well organised as the US election.
I have fear for the UK. My relatives are moving their funds out of the country and making plans. They are more British than I am American and they see a disaster on the horizon and some of them have careers in economics and finance/business/banking. It is far worse than it looks.
I don’t think the Brexiteers really get what they have done.
Brexiteers will never comprehend what they have done, they are too ignorant and blinded by their narrow mindedness to see. For most Leave voters it was immigration and the perception of uncontrolled migration that made them vote, Trump was correct when he said it was about immigration.
And yes it’s going to be a disaster, I personally think it’s going to fall apart to the extent they have another vote on staying. May needs to control the Brexiteers in her party but that’s not happening. Now that Boris has quit, he’s going to challenge her for the role of PM. That is all he cares about, he’s a closet remainer who only switched sides when he saw an opportunity to become Prime Minister. He was apparently fuming when Gove stabbed him in the back during the selection process. The Tory party is run by Europe hating hardline Brexiteers who don’t care about the people or the country, they just want to give the EU a big eff u.
Boris Johnson would be our version of Trump.
Boris is an idiot and an embarrassment.
What happened to Nigel Farage? He just seems to have dropped a bomb and then disappeared.
I wonder if the Brexiteers will ever get it.
My God…I wish someone could shut him up. I’m so flipping tired of waking up EVERY DAMN DAY and seeing something else he’s said or done to embarrass or destroy my country. I miss the days of having a serious, intelligent adult in the White House, instead of this petulant, narcissistic grifter. I hate feeling so helpless while he bludgeons and destroys everything I believe in. We can march and yell and tweet all we want, but it won’t stop him. It’s a long time until November.
I’m not even convinced that the mid-terms are going to change anything. I worry that we are putting all our hopes and dreams in November and we are going to be VERY disappointed when we realize that Trump and his goons have managed to put a plan in place that prevents the Dems from having any power, Congressional or otherwise.
And I know vague fears can seem like merely more unsubstantiated panic/paranoia..
But I’m genuinely scared that nothing will stop the GOP and their King and that we are truly f*cked for another 2.5 years.
They are going hack and steal. But we have to show up in such overwhelming numbers that at least we get the House. Anyone who stays home deserves to have their ass kicked up and down the street for an entire year. There are NO excuses this time.
Everyone (especially people in blue states) need to start paying attention to the new tax law information that the IRS is just now releasing. The new law helps or has minimal impact on most folks. But for a lot of us, there’s going to be serious pain. People need to be aware of their 2018 tax obligations before the mid terms.
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/irs-withholding-calculator
No words. Just smh every day
Ehh, y’all can get rid of Trump. Brexit will be more permanent, tbh. Right now the Government is stockpiling fool in place of no deal. So… I’m trying to get out of here before the planes can’t fly.
Brexit is bad. Very bad. It makes me sick for the UK.
As a US citizen living in Germany for over 20 years (non-military), I can clearly say that if Germany is/has been ‘controlled’ by any country, it has been the USA and not Russia. There are currently 28 US military bases in Germany, which come at great expense to the US federal budget; the wasteful spending is outrageous – I’ve seen it with my own eyes when US families are relocated. Just an example, some of these families insist on bringing with them their SUVs. When they get here, they usually get parked in a parking lot on the base and stay there until they get relocated again, because the drivers figured out that they don’t fit on German streets.
But back to my point; These bases are here because we told Germany they had to be here, not because Germany asked the US for these bases. While there is a good argument to close some of these bases (something which Obama administration started doing…Heidelberg was the biggest one that was closed about 5 years ago), this unhinged moron is wilfully creating division in NATO and his statements yesterday have made it clear to all of the other NATO members that he really is a Russian puppet. If there was any doubt up until now, it’s gone. I think Kelly’s and MacMaster’s facial expressions yesterday captured the moment brilliantly.
Wikipedia has an incomplete list of US installation in Germany that have already been shut down:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Army_installations_in_Germany#Former_installations
I looked at that list and now I want to cry. I lived in Mainz ages 7-9 and in Karlsruhe ages 15-17. Some of the best years of my life. So many memories. All closed now. Germany was a wonderful place to live.
As if I needed another reason to hate drumpf-his constant harping on Getmany. Is it because his grandfather was kicked out?
@Jerusha: Thank you for your kind words about Germany!
What’s so extremely odd about Trump is he seems to be working diligently to ease the U.S. out of the role of a world leader (NATO, so many other instances) while simultaneously threatening the world militarily. He seems to be under the delusion he’s coming from a place of strength when in fact these are all signs of a our decline as an empire. Not necessarily a bad thing, the U.S. will continue, as other former empires continue.
As for NATO, NATO and the US destroyed Libya, partly to cover up Sarkosky’s acceptance of millions of dollars from Gaddafy for Sarkosy’s campaign. There’s plenty to criticize Trump for, but I side-eye the idea that there’s anything heroic about NATO.
The breakdown of NATO is more relevant in terms of the political fallout, IMO, than any necessarily “heroic” element to it. Obviously, the EU and NATO came out of the 1940s and later as a way to undermine the tensions that led to World War II and the internal division of Europe. Returning to more isolationist states – if that is even possible in a globalized economy – is unknown territory with concerning implications.
For Europe, at least. America has more to worry about internally, IMO. There’s a lot of ugliness broiling here on a civic level.
Once the Soviets collapsed, NATO got dragged into the wake of the War on Terror. (I know that’s a gross simplification) and other questionable actions. I don’t actually disagree that EU should shoulder more of the expense (there’s a school of thought that the rise of social welfare in Europe after WW2 was part of a sotto voce US/NATO deal, the object being to make actual communism less attractive to European populace), but I just loathe Trump’s belligerent, coarse approach. It will be a long time before these relationships are mended, and they will never be the same. Terrifying as all this is, the U.S. domestic situation is even more dire, particularly for minorities. IMO.
I think it would be wise, too, if only because it would take away some of America’s financial leverage in how they utilized NATO for their personal ends. Combined with the tariffs, I imagine the Trump presidency is going to have pretty long-term consequences for our political relationships. What he represents about America is bad enough, but his presidency has also revealed just how deep the socioeconomic divisions in the country run. It’s perfect fodder to stir up civic discord and undermine the idea of America as a unified power – i.e. Russia’s intent all along. Rightfully or not, America is seen as the preeminent military and economic power in the world. Diminish that narrative, and our international influence will weaken with it. (Not that it hasn’t been all along – this is the era of the fading empire, that’s for certain.)
He’s blaming someone else for something he is guilty of. It’s a cheap diversionary tactic.
At this point the only upside is that NATO won’t feel as obligated to jump into wars that people like Bush want to start.
God, I would LOVE IT SO MUCH if the other leaders just started laughing – out loud and often – everytime he speaks out of his butt. Just laugh at his idiot comments, tell him he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and just talk over him. Can you imagine how he’d react to that?? Would love to be a witness.
I’d love that, too.
Maybe NATO leaders finally did just that today in their emergency meeting concerning his ridiculous 4% demand. No new numbers or timelines about increased spending were published – Trump just made that shit up at the press conference.
He looks like Humpty Dumpty. Ashamed in Boston.
Okay, can I say something? Im just trying here…
The Orange Emperor won’t kill us. We’ve gotten thru worse as a race. Perhaps nothing stupider, but you know, we all have each other. I also am horrified every new day he is alive and continues to speak. I didn’t vote for him, for sure, and I find it appalling he is where he is, but every day I see people pulling together to try and make it better. Can we start, every once in awhile, ending these horrifying stories about this paunch-faced, tiny handed, orange colored hate monger by focusing on something his evil has done to make us better? I know we’re all doomed, I know it all blows etc etc., but seeing so many people even on this site talk about supporting GLBTQA people, causes, supporting those people who want to immigrate here… reminds me that one stupid orange wart won’t undo what we are. We’ll get past him.
We will. I believe it. I am determined to be an optimist. I refuse to let him have that.
I know what being bullied feels like and we shouldn’t let this bully make us cower in fear. My higher ground is sticking to my values and beliefs and being ready to brawl for it if I have to. I asked myself if I was willing to risk my life and I decided I am. I can’t live with myself if I won’t do for others what they have done for my family in the past. I wouldn’t have my grandparents much less be here if brave souls hadn’t risked everything to save them and others I love from the Holocaust. So I have to be able to do it too.
If I identify as an activist then I have to back it up. If human rights, justice, the environment and animal rights mean as much to me as I say, then I have to back that up too.
There are more of us than there are of them.
This is powerful, Mag. I’m with you. Thank you for sharing. To give in to despair is an insult to our ancestors. We fight.
@Shambles
Yes, we fight. We can’t abandon people who have been silenced and marginalized. If we were them we would hope someone cared about us.
It is hard but we are on the right side of history and we have gain strength from knowing that.
That we’ll get through it is not the concern. It’s who will suffer and how badly they will do so before we wind up on the other side. Petty tyrants have come and gone throughout history, but they took a lot of innocent people down with them.
Oh we’ll get through….but the damage that’s being done won’t easily be repaired. It’s going to take a generation or two to clean up,this mess. And his supporters and followers won’t willingly crawl back under their rocks….they’ll still be here hissing and raising hell.
My only hope is that the rest of the world knows this isn’t how most of the Americans feel. The feeling of dread Is heavy. I can’t believe he got elected. I can’t believe it. This is just embarrassing and shameful. My hatred for his voters, ou boy. I didn’t hate them before but now, how could they?
It never ceases to disgust me that this man is the very personification of the Ugly American. Walks around like king of the world and think he can push other world leaders around, lie about our allies and how NATO even works so shamelessly, and thinks that means respect.
The rest of the world respected America not just because of military and economic strength, but because great Americans who came before him understood and revered the position the US was in post-WWII, that the US could be a neo-liberal guiding light for the rest of the world.
But idiot Trump fans prefer the “Merica” version where everyone else sucks but them, who have zero clue (and don’t care to know) how anything outside their own house works, yet are wholly justified in thinking they can dictate how it all works.
Nero fiddled while Rome burned. There are times I too believe we won’t come back from the damage, and much of the world will also pay for our Orange Plague of Misery. I saw someone say that, reading through history, many horrible things have happened and we have somehow come through them, sometimes for the better. I have to believe that maybe generations from now, things will be better. Phoenix rises from the ashes type of thing. It’s the only thing that keeps me outraged and voting.
Mueller needs to stop coddling the Dotard and his kids and indict them right now. Every day gets worst. The republicans aren’t worried about how they will be remembered in history because they are just going to rewrite it like in the book 1984. Putin wanted this country weak and divided and now he got his wish in the Dotard, complicit republicans, and civility Democrats. This is the new America. Putin is our president and the Dotard and republicans are his puppets. The Dotard is so stupid and he doesn’t even try to fix what he doesn’t know. Why should he? The republicans and civility democrats are never going to hold him accountable for his actions.
The time for passivity and civility is over. That’s what repugs have always counted on….civility and the Dems being the adults in the room while they rant and throw tantrums to get their way.
Well, the Disgusting Orange Airbag has arrived. And his goons in their helicopters are seriously disturbing my after-work drink in my North London garden. Non-stop, back and forth, 4 at a time, showing off their bigliness. And here they come again.
(Winfield House in Regents Park, where the US Ambassador lives, and where the Disgusting Orange Airbag is currently having his disgusting orange nappy changed, is just a few miles away).
She has definetely has work done to her face, kidney problem ha ha, a load of crap, she was going under the knife to keep herself upto date for the orange gremlin, cant stand this woman ever since she wore that awful jacket, shes a horror case just like her husband.
I say this as a qualified Psychiatrist-
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH HIM?
I should think this is obvious…Among other things, he is a sociopath – incapable of empathy for anyone but himself. Just like Maduro, Putin, Gaddafi, Saddam, Assad…Why does humankind again and again allow people with such a fundamental defect to run a nation?
This has been such a slow and painful death having this man as POTUS.
I’m with Damon Young on this one. This is exactly the kind of America White Americans wanted and there’s that saying about being careful what you wish for | want. The Dems better find someone not named Biden, Clinton, or Sanders real quick to run or else this buffoon is getting re-elected. His base still love him.
drump is Putin’s puppet. There is no doubt. He is doing Putin’s bidding. We don’t yet know why, but we will. Meanwhile, drump creates major international intrigue and mischief which accomplishes nothing and then acts like he is a saviour.
Also grifter Ivanka and her two idiot brothers are hoping to benefit from the Putin association.
1) so Melania traveled with him
2) the world knows that this is on him. The next leader will have much work to do to restore our standing. Much work
That pile of shit next to Mr Trump looks much better with that dress draped over it. Poor dress deserved so much better in life.
Mismatched suit. Poor tailoring (if tailored at all). Rumpled, wrinkled slacks. Jacket unbuttoned. Entire outfit looks like it smells like dirty laundry and needs cleaning. First lady in a see-through dress with messy, tousled hair, looking like eye-candy.
This is how the U.S. President/Head of State shows up to an international summit. *This* is how he presents the U.S. to the world.
Ugh.
The title just makes me feel like even a Karl Pilkington presidency would make more sense than this.
Our dear leader has absolutely no understanding of these complex global issues. I wonder sadly every day how the Republican Party can support this idiot. Hillary Clinton must never have a moment of peace thinking she let this moron win the election.
Get out and vote for the midterms. The world must be laughing at the fall of the USempire. It happened to Rome, it can happen to us.
The framers of the U.S. Constitution would have ridden him out of town on a rail.
Well, just imagine how it is for us. This fat american comes over, shits on everything and then runs off claiming a victory. Everyone is just, are they serious? This is THE PRESIDENT? And that HE accuses us of being Russian puppets is just the icing on the cake.
He has succeeded in something no other American has ever done, he united all of Europe AGAINST America. And that is also not a good thing.