I live 4 hours from DC, and the temperate in this region wasn’t exactly chilly enough to wear a jacket.
Conditions aside, wearing a jacket with that kind of message, coupled with the appearances of Nielsen and Miller at Mexican restaurants, is clearly triangular trollery.
Authoritarians have one thing in common: they create their own reality, and they are able to do this because they know how to create information storms, and they know how to manipulate people’s feelings and thoughts by what they express.
What people need to understand is that in Weimar Germany, there were people who said “The Nazis could never actually take over.” There were people in Venezuela who said “Chavez couldn’t actually become a dictator.” There were people in Turkey who thought “Surely, Erdogan will be gone in a few years.” There were people in Russia who thought “Putin will be a good shock to the system but we can elect someone else in 4-8 years.” What we see again and again, is that people in democratic countries, democratically elect leaders who are not democratic, believing that they are a necessary “shock” to the system but that once that shock has been delivered, the people will rule again. As these examples have clearly shown…it doesn’t necessarily work out that way.
This is actually my impression too. I get the impression that she is at the point where she just can’t stand the fat sonofabitch she calls “husband.” She hates him for the humiliation he’s brought upon her and her son in regard to the Stormy Daniels story. She hates him for running for president and opening up their lives to the world. But I’m pretty sure she can’t leave at this point. She seems to have made it very clear she’s not going to be seen in public with him (much, if at all), not travel with him, not show any public support for him or his presidency. But what can she really do?
So her first big public appearance in more than a month? Visiting the poor encamped kids that 98% of the human beings on the planet agree her husband stole from their impoverished, desperate parents. And wear a totally inappropriate item of clothing that embarrasses him and causes him and his communications team to call a special meeting to “fix” the backlash.
She probably feels pretty powerless at this point. She hides out, everyone whispers. She speaks out, every mocks. And Donald Fucking Trump is the person responsible for her situation. So what can she do? Embarrass him. Act un-First-Ladylike. Perhaps-- oh it’s almost too delicious to even consider-- maybe even get him to lash out at her on Twitter at some point. Just fucking disgrace the motherfucker, even more than he’s doing himself. Play into it. He’s so into image, that’s really her power over him.
For her next appearance, she should show up in an “I’m With Her” t-shirt.
I heard an interview on Fresh Air today of a writer for Vanity Fair, Emily Jane Fox, who has studied the Trumps intensively and who has a new book out called “Born Trump.” She alleges that Melania is very strong willed and never does anything she doesn’t want to do. For what that’s worth.
She does have options in her life, after all. She could walk out and make millions with a tell-all book, and live happily ever after.
I agree. I would be pissed if my 14 year old daughter wore something like that. It is deplorable that the First Lady would show up in public with something so low class. Who even buys clothes like that?
You don’t have to have everyone believe you to manipulate the press; you just have to get people to think about something else. Even his supporters know he lies, and certainly his detractors do. Whether you want to admit it or not, he knows how to play people. Whether it’s a conscious masterful strategy or just a byproduct of his natural self doesn’t matter. The result is the same: he distracts people, he gets them talking about things that he wants them to talk about, and he gets people to stop talking (if only for a moment) about things he doesn’t want them to talk about.
Trump is nothing without media, without attention. Trump isn’t a successful businessman, but there’s no denying that he’s fooled enough people over the years into believing that he is. He’s one of the great con-artists of all time.
While I don’t personally know don Amancio, I’m reasonably sure that’s very close to the last thing he’d want to do. Anything that would count as “later” is illegal in over 190 countries.
I’m watching a documentary of Melania’s recent visit to a detention center. In broken English, at the 1-minute mark, she inquires how long the children are detained; is told that the current average is 42 to 45 days. She then nods her head and says “That’s great.”
I wonder if others are over-thinking Melania and the other Trumps. Wasn’t it William of Occam who wrote “Don’t go looking for complex explanations if simple stupidity is a sufficient explanation” ?
I disagree. I think becoming President was the biggest mistake Trump ever made. I’m not talking about the damage he’s doing to America; I’m talking about the damage he’s done to himself.
If Trump hadn’t become President, he would have had a decent legacy. He would be known as a successful businessman and television star. Even running for President would have helped his image.
But he got elected. And that cancels out everything he did before becoming President. Nobody remembers the successful early careers of men like James Buchanan or Herbert Hoover. They were both highly respected men - until they became President. And then their failures in the Presidency defined them.
That’s what’s happened to Trump. A hundred years from now, he’ll still be remembered. But he’ll be remembered as a guy who failed as President.
Yes. Wasn’t it Donald Jr. who spoke of how glum their election “victory” celebration was? Melania had tears, “and they weren’t tears of joy.” Trump never wanted to win. That’s the mind-boggling irony of this catastrophe. He hoped to come close of course and not be known as the buffoon that went down in a landslide. But he didn’t think the nightmare scenario had a chance of coming true.
He and his family are trying to make the most of it, of course, scarfing up a few extra millions. (He even has WH staff pimping Ivanka’s apparel lines. :smack: ) Unfortunately, he will want to win re-election. He doesn’t want to spend his final years as a disgraced laughing-stock without the ability to pardon.
Of course, or at least the media reporting that that is what they said is fake news. Half the stuff that comes out of the white house, or at least on Trumps twitter feed is denied as fake news the next day. You have just been woefully lax in exercising your doublethinkmuscles.
Come now, let’s be honest here. Back prior to the election/presidency debacle Trump was believed by many to be successful, he had amazingly good brand saturation, and the dude kept being asked to cameo in movies. Sure, there were people who were aware of his (many) business failures, but the populace-in-general didn’t think of him as a crooked incompetent moron. That…has changed. And will change a lot more when his current fanbase finds a different ‘hero’ to latch on to and needn’t bother praising him anymore.
Donald Trump has never been good at management - he was always excellent at marketing and selling. That’s what he does. He’s good at creating the perception of greatness, even when he’s flat out awful at whatever he’s pursuing. A lot of people see right through Trump, but a lot of other people do not.