Well, then, allow me to strike a blow in the never-ending battle against ignorance (article paywalled, but the opening sentence ought to suffice):
(Another thing to fully expect : Trump firing off a tweet his first day in Israel vouching that “Nobody knew this Israel/Palestine thing was so complicated. Apparently they tremendously don’t agree on some things.”)
If Trump pulls off this visit without actually causing a war, or shitting in his own pants, this will be touted as a MAJOR TRIUMPH.
The bar is set pretty darn low at the moment.
Just wait until he suggests that one side should pay rent to the other. I give no odds on which side would be which.
I too was schooled by the replies to Sam. I’ve been saying I’m more afraid of “Evil and Competent” than “Evil But Luckily Incompetent”. I’m afraid I was underestimating the damage that can do, and yes, I do need to put America[del] First [/del] Foremost.
In D&D terms, Pence is lawful evil, which is very bad, whereas Trump is chaotic evil, which is far, far worse.
This.
Even more importantly, the longer this shitshow stays in office, the more normalized a shitshow presidency becomes. If we give Trump a pass on flagrant violations of the public’s trust, we open the door for the next guy (or woman) to do the same or worse. Republicans might not care about Trump’s ass-showing, but I seriously doubt they’d be so nonchalant if a liberal was doing the same thing. If we ever get a liberal shitshow president, Republicans will be eager to tell Democrats “Hey, when our guy was showing his ass, we kicked him out. Where’s your integrity?” The game the Republicans are playing now almost guarantees the Dems will play even dirtier when they are back in control. I’m very liberal, but even I don’t want to see what that kind of gameplay would look like.
It’s a race to the bottom if we don’t do anything. We need to maintain some basic standard for the WH.
Investigation, impeachment and trial take time, and Trump has too big an ego to resign, so by pushing hard now for impeachment, there is a good chance that there will be a shit-show through to the mid-terms, at which time the democrats should be able to make some gains and then carry the vote on the impeachment trial, and block the republicans and their Pence on their more extreme attacks against the people.
This.
Actually, he literally said, “I can only speak for myself and Russia". He said that.
…Trump fundamentally doesn’t understand how government works.
Look at the State Department, as just one example. A third of ambassadorships are still unfilled. Nearly all the under-secretary and assistant secretary positions unfilled (as of April). There is simply no way that things aren’t “slipping through the cracks.” And as things go on, more and more things will keep on not getting done.
Now imagine what is happening, right now, all over the Federal Government. In a big, lumbering, chaotic complex system of interactions like the Federal Government you need strong, anticipatory governance to keep the “machine” running. But Trump hasn’t just taken the eye off the ball: he doesn’t know the ball exists. The government is running on fumes. Decision making is entirely reactionary. The more complex and chaotic the system, the more control you need to hold it together. But there is no control. No filter. No idea. Bit by bit things are going to “break.” And the longer the Trump administration continues, the harder it will be to fix.
I don’t like Rick Perry. I think he’s a disaster. But I’m glad he is part of the Trump administration because at the very least he has a understanding of “how things work” Trump will leave him alone, and things will still get done, even if some of those things are things I would disagree with. But Perry is one of the few “normal” Trump picks. Which is why fundamentally people can “live” with Pence, but want Trump gone. Pence will make decisions I disagree with, that can be “corrected” if and when the opposition get back in power. Trump is just breaking things.
Related to breaking things, it is amusing to note (an not in a happy way) that the old expression “Like a bull in a china shop” is in places like Russia and Israel said as: “Like an Elephant in a china shop”
Glad to see this cleared up:
Or to look at another example, Trump ordered all U.S. Attorneys to hand in their resignations with no apparent plan to submit nominations to replace them to the Senate. This included Preet Bhahara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who has won bipartisan praise and has said that Trump asked him to stay on a few months before the abrupt resignation demand.
I don’t think you appreciate how important a good relationship with the U.S. is to Israel. They’re not just our biggest ally - they’re our patron. And one of Netanyahu’s strongest electoral selling points is his popularity in the Republican party. He could get away with insulting a Democratic administration, like he did with Obama, because to the GOP, he’s a rock star, and everyone here knows that. So he can’t criticize Trump, because if he does so, he might lose the Republicans, and if that happens he’s politically dead in the water, especially considering the multiple scandals and criminal investigations he’s currently facing.
On the other hand, if Trump says something insensitive or antisemitic or just really stupid, the left, center and far-right will be all over Bibi, calling for him to demand an apology. If he doesn’t, he’ll come across as the spineless coward he is. In short, it’s a lose-lose situation the moment Trump opens his mouth. Bibi’s hitched his wagon to a tumbling piece of space trash, and it’s starting to burn.
Sometimes I am suddenly reminded of how dysfunctional and polarized American politics are. the above is a perfect example.
Policies from the political side you disagree with is not actually the worst thing that can happen to a country. There are far worse things. Having the other side in power occasionally and enacting its policies is actually an essential part of a democracy.
The damage potential of Trumps personal incompetence far, far exceeds the damage potential of poor or disagreeable but normal policies.
Here is what I expect Trump to say when he goes off script speaking in Israel:
“The Western Wall is a big, beautiful wall. I am very, very, very impressed by it. I haven’t seen a single Mexican in Israel! Walls work. Believe me.”
I see. Thanks for breaking it down for me, mate.
Boy. What are the odds of Trump saying something really really stupid?
“Bad wall. No wonder they’re wailing about it. Terrible wall, shoddy workmanship, cracks everywhere filled with paper (PAPER !), not high enough. Does not stop Palestinians. Shameful.”