You can say a couple of things about Donald Trump. One, he is incapable of shutting up even when it is his best interest to do so and, two, he will never cease to invent alternative facts and histories.
On a day like this it would be easy to concentrate on the sudden departure of White House Press Secretary, Sean Spicer. However, let's face it, he was on his way out the door from day one. According to the New York Times, Trump wasn't sold on him from the very beginning. They're reporting, Reince Preibus had to talk the Don into hiring the guy after Trump questioned, you guessed it, Spicer's loyalty. After six months of presidential dementia, it seemed like the only reason Spicer was kept around was so the boss could periodically torment and degrade him. (Yes, you might be the only Catholic in the entourage, but no you can't meet the Pope.)
Today, Trump hired Anthony Scaramucci as the White House Director of Communications and Spicer decided he'd had enough. Not to worry though, he'll land on his feet. Even as I write there are scores of publishers dialing Mr. Spicer's number and offering him profoundly huge amounts of cash in exchange for a tell all book. Believe me, those people are pros. The bidding began the moment he left the building.
Meanwhile The Big Orange Dude sat down with the New York Times for an interview the other day. That would be the same publication Mr. Trump has repeatedly described as, "failing," and the purveyor of, "fake news."
The initial rush of left wing outrage had to do with Trump's admission he would have never hired Jeff Sessions as Attorney General if he had known Sessions was going to recuse himself from the Russian investigation. Indeed, what's the use of being president if your own employees won't help you out in a pinch? Screw the ethics and legalities. Such things are for terminally weak losers. Just ask Vlad Putin.
I, on the other hand, prefer to take a look at three other tidbits Brother Trump left us with thanks to the Times. They might not be as attention grabbing, but they are just as telling, if not more so.
Perhaps in an effort to justify his canning of James Comey, Trump claimed the director of the FBI began reporting to the Justice Department only, "out of courtesy," post Richard Nixon. He assured the Times that when it comes to the FBI chain of command, "There was nothing official. There was nothing from congress." The FBI's website states its director has been answering directly to the Attorney General since the 1920s. In addition, any communication between he and the White House adheres to a strict set of guidelines and is approved by the AG, or other high ranking Justice Department officials. As we all know, the only exception to these rules was, J. Edgar Hoover who, while running the bureau, didn't answer to anyone, not even God Almighty.
On health insurance coverage, he said, "You're 21 years old, you start working and you're paying $12 per year for insurance and by the time you're 70, you get a nice plan. Here's something where you walk up and say, I want my insurance."
Beyond being completely out of touch with reality--name one 21 year old paying $12 a year for any kind of insurance--Donald Trump, the leader of the United States of America, doesn't seem to have a clue how health insurance works. Apparently he thinks your medical coverage increases over time as you pay for it, rather like whole life insurance death benefits. As for walking up to someone and saying, "I want my insurance", that is exactly what the Affordable Care Act allows millions of Americans to do.
Now, while both of those are fine examples of Trumpisms, my personal favorite was DJT's take on French history. When it comes to Napoleon Bonaparte, the Times quoted him as saying, "His one problem is he didn't go to Russia that night because he had extra curricular activities and they froze to death."
Wait.
What was that? No--seriously--what the fuck did the man just say? The Times asked the author of, "Moscow 1812: Napoleon's Fatal March," Adam Zamoyski for a translation. Without blinking, Mr. Zamoyski responded, "I can't make heads or tails of it."
Listen, no one in their right mind can. Even a third grader forced to sit through the first half of the Audrey Hepburn/Henry Fonda movie version of "War and Peace," can describe Napoleon's ill fated invasion of Russia with more eloquence, detail, and accuracy.
Which leads us to our greatest problem. Third graders don't possess the nuclear launch codes, but Donald John Trump does.
In the end, I can cope with Don Trump being an utterly amoral misogynist and venal capitalist greed head turned political opportunist. I can even deal with it when he exploits the bigotry and xenophobia which exists in the dark souls of some Americans. What I really can't stand though is his autocratic view of how the president should be kowtowed to, not just by all the branches and offices of the government, but also a free press.
Well, that and his warped versions of history which have the distinct feel of psilocybin induced hallucinations. But then, hey, that's just me.
sic vita est
7-21-17
How about a Fake presidency? One which may not last much longer.
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