Trumpziism and the failure of alternative facts

Echo opinion published in The New Yorker December 7, 2020 Issue

Trump’s Assault on the Press and the Truth

Trump will continue his efforts to overturn the election. Even worse, Trump will continue efforts to build an alternative reality around himself.

Echo! By The New Yorker editor David Remnick 

Presidents have always complained about the press. 

At awards ceremonies and journalism-school conferences, Thomas Jefferson is often remembered for his principled support: in 1787, he wrote to the Virginia statesman Edward Carrington, “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate to prefer the latter.”

Yet, by 1814, having endured the Presidency, Jefferson was not quite as high-minded, whining by post to a former congressman about “the putrid state” of newspapers and “the vulgarity, & mendacious spirit of those who write for them.”

You could hardly blame him. How would you like to read that one of John Adams’s surrogates has branded you a “mean-spirited, low-lived fellow”? No President escapes scrutiny or invective.

In 1864, Harper’s listed the many epithets that the Northern press had hurled at Abraham Lincoln: Filthy Story-Teller, Despot, Liar, Thief, Braggart, Buffoon, Monster, Ignoramus, Scoundrel, Perjurer, Robber, Swindler, Tyrant, Fiend, Butcher, Ape, Demon, Beast, Baboon, Gorilla, Imbecile.

Donald Trump began his career convinced that reporters, once exposed to his myriad charms, would be willing stenographers of his story. He learned to elevate himself, his brand, and his interests largely by supplying the New York tabloids with a ready-made character, a strutting snake-oil salesman who provided an unending stream of gossip-page items about his personal and commercial exploits. It was of little concern to anyone that these items were, in the main, preposterous. Occasionally, investigative reporters, profile writers, and the courts would look more deeply into Trump’s swindles and business bankruptcies, but, as long as he skirted total ruin, he seemed to think that even his bad press added to his allure.

You could hardly blame him. How would you like to read that one of John Adams’s surrogates has branded you a “mean-spirited, low-lived fellow”? No President escapes scrutiny or invective. In 1864, Harper’s listed the many epithets that the Northern press had hurled at Abraham Lincoln: Filthy Story-Teller, Despot, Liar, Thief, Braggart, Buffoon, Monster, Ignoramus, Scoundrel, Perjurer, Robber, Swindler, Tyrant, Fiend, Butcher, Ape, Demon, Beast, Baboon, Gorilla, Imbecile.

Donald Trump began his career convinced that reporters, once exposed to his myriad charms, would be willing stenographers of his story. He learned to elevate himself, his brand, and his interests largely by supplying the New York tabloids with a ready-made character, a strutting snake-oil salesman who provided an unending stream of gossip-page items about his personal and commercial exploits. It was of little concern to anyone that these items were, in the main, preposterous. Occasionally, investigative reporters, profile writers, and the courts would look more deeply into Trump’s swindles and business bankruptcies, but, as long as he skirted total ruin, he seemed to think that even his bad press added to his allure.

Trump’s relationship with reporters inevitably changed when he shifted his occupation to the command of the federal government. First as a candidate, and then in the early days of his Presidency, he discovered that the press was a variegated beast; Cindy Adams and Maggie Haberman were not of the same stuff. He could still depend on toadying support from some quarters, particularly the editorial holdings of Rupert Murdoch and emerging properties like Breitbart and Newsmax; however, he was now getting a more scrupulous going-over from what Sarah Palin had called “the lamestream media.” Trump craved the acceptance of such institutions as the Times and the Washington Post, but he knew that his base loathed them. And so he would loathe them, too, while at the same time declaring a new, Trumpian reality, constructed of what his adviser Kellyanne Conway memorably called “alternative facts.”

On his second day in office, Trump sent his press secretary, Sean Spicer, to the White House briefing room to con the nation the way he had conned the tabloids. The crowds on the Mall for Trump’s Inauguration, Spicer insisted (ugh!), were unprecedented, despite the evidence to the contrary. A few weeks later, as news coverage further nettled Trump, he took to Twitter to declare that CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, and the Times were “the enemy of the American People.” The resonance was clear. In the Soviet era, to be branded an “enemy of the people” was to await a boxcar to the Gulag. Even the U.S. Senate, whose Republican majority would prove so unfailingly loyal to Trump, seemed alarmed. In August, 2018, the Senate passed, by unanimous consent, a resolution attesting to “the vital and indispensable role the free press serves.”

But Trump knew precisely what he was doing, and he never let up. During a meeting at Trump Tower, Lesley Stahl, of CBS News, asked why he kept attacking the press. “You know why I do it?” he said. “I do it to discredit you all and demean you all, so that, when you write negative stories about me, no one will believe you.”

Trump may have devoted more mental energy to his degradation of the press—through lawsuits, threats, and hundreds of tweets—than to any other issue. He called reporters “corrupt,” “scum,” and “some of the worst human beings you’ll ever meet.” And those words riled up his base, so much so that at his rallies reporters were often berated and menaced. Last year, the F.B.I. arrested a Coast Guard officer who had drawn up a hit list that included reporters at MSNBC and CNN, and an Army officer was arrested after allegedly conducting an online discussion in which he talked about blowing up the headquarters of a major TV network.

Trump’s assault on the press and his assault on the truth––he made more than sixteen thousand false or misleading claims in his first three years in office, according to the Washington Post’s fact-checking operation––have taken their toll. Where once American Presidents gave at least rhetorical support to civil liberties, he has given comfort to foreign autocrats, from El-Sisi to Erdoğan, who routinely parrot his slogan of “fake news” and lock up offending journalists. Perhaps Trump’s most disgraceful act in this regard was his refusal to speak a critical word against the Saudi leadership after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist for the Post.

The costs at home are no less ominous. It is now estimated that one American dies every minute from covid-19. Every two or three days there is a 9/11-scale death count. How many of those people died because they chose to believe the President’s dismissive accounts of the disease rather than what public-health officials were telling the press? Half of Republican voters believe Trump’s charge that the 2020 election was “rigged.” What will be the lasting effects on American democracy of that disinformation campaign? Bit by bit, Trump is being forced to give up his attempt to overturn the election. But he will continue his efforts to build an alternative reality around himself. Now that Fox News has proved insufficiently servile, he is likely to join forces with, buy, or launch an even more destructive media enterprise.

As President, Joe Biden cannot battle the debasement of a reality principle in American life by executive order. But support for press freedoms ought to be a central element of his domestic and foreign policies. What’s more, the press itself needs to learn from the prolonged emergency of the past four years. Just as it must go on applying investigative and analytical pressure to all forms of power, including the new Administration, it cannot relax in calling out the deeply anti-factual and anti-democratic foundation of a movement like Trump’s. The stakes are high. Donald Trump may be moving to Mar-a-Lago, but he, and the alternative reality he has created, could be with us for a long time. 

Trumpzi cultism explained - how Trump co-opts people like William Barr - opinion echo

James Comey: How Trump Co-opts Leaders Like Bill Barr
Accomplished people lacking inner strength can’t resist the compromises necessary to survive this president.

By James Comey the former F.B.I. director.

Obviously William Barr is now submerged in Trumpziism.

MaineWriter- When I studied sociology in college, I was just one credit class from claiming the subject as a "minor" to my nursing degree; but I did not leap into the last class needed to qualify for graduating with a "minor".  One of the sociology subjects I was most intrigued about involved how people become subject to "cults". Therefore, I was keenly interested in James Comey's opinion published in The New York Times, because the subject is essentially about "cults"- or how the charisma of flawed leadership warps minds. What happens to seemingly accomplished people, those that we would believe should know better, succumb and fall subject to the lure of "cultism"?  How does Donald Trump recruit these people?  All of them who continue to surround Trump, to a person, are liars. Moreover, they don't seem to care that they lie! In fact, people like Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Kellyanne Conway, Stephen Miller, Rudy Giuliani and now William Barr, seem to be immune to reality checks when the lies they project are called to their attention! 

Here is the echo opinion published in The New York Times written by James Comey.  

People have been asking me hard questions. 

What happened to the leaders in the Trump administration, especially the attorney general, Bill Barr, who I have said was due the benefit of the doubt?

How could Mr. Barr, a bright and accomplished lawyer, start channeling the president in using words like “no collusion” and F.B.I. “spying”? And downplaying acts of obstruction of justice as products of the president’s being “frustrated and angry,” something he would never say to justify the thousands of crimes prosecuted every day that are the product of frustration and anger?

How could he write and say things about the report by Robert Mueller, the special counsel, that were apparently so misleading that they prompted written protest from the special counsel himself?

How could Mr. Barr go before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday and downplay Donald Trump’s attempt to fire Mr. Mueller before he completed his work?

And how could Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, after the release of Mr. Mueller’s report that detailed Mr. Trump’s determined efforts to obstruct justice, give a speech quoting the president on the importance of the rule of law? Or on resigning, thank a president who relentlessly attacked both him and the Department of Justice he led for “the courtesy and humor you often display in our personal conversations”?

What happened to these people?

I don’t know for sure. People are complicated, so the answer is most likely complicated. But I have some idea from four months of working close to Mr. Trump and many more months of watching him shape others.

Amoral leaders have a way of revealing the character of those around them. Sometimes what they reveal is inspiring. 

For example, James Mattis, the former secretary of defense, resigned over principle, a concept so alien to Mr. Trump that it took days for the president to realize what had happened, before he could start lying about the man.

But more often, proximity to an amoral leader reveals something depressing. I think that’s at least part of what we’ve seen with Bill Barr and Rod Rosenstein. Accomplished people lacking inner strength can’t resist the compromises necessary to survive Mr. Trump and that adds up to something they will never recover from. It takes character like Mr. Mattis’s to avoid the damage, because Mr. Trump eats your soul in small bites.

It starts with your sitting silent while he lies, both in public and private, making you complicit by your silence. In meetings with him, his assertions about what “everyone thinks” and what is “obviously true” wash over you, unchallenged, as they did at our private dinner on Jan. 27, 2017, because he’s the president and he rarely stops talking. As a result, Mr. Trump pulls all of those present into a silent circle of assent.

Speaking rapid-fire with no spot for others to jump into the conversation, Mr. Trump makes everyone a co-conspirator to his preferred set of facts, or delusions. I have felt it — this president building with his words a web of alternative reality and busily wrapping it around all of us in the room.

I must have agreed that he had the largest inauguration crowd in history because I didn’t challenge that. Everyone must agree that he has been treated very unfairly. The web building never stops.

From the private circle of assent, it moves to public displays of personal fealty at places like cabinet meetings. While the entire world is watching, you do what everyone else around the table does — you talk about how amazing the leader is and what an honor it is to be associated with him.

Sure, you notice that Mr. Mattis never actually praises the president, always speaking instead of the honor of representing the men and women of our military. But he’s a special case, right? Former Marine general and all. No way the rest of us could get away with that. So you praise, while the world watches, and the web gets tighter.

Next comes Mr. Trump attacking institutions and values you hold dear — things you have always said must be protected and which you criticized past leaders for not supporting strongly enough. Yet you are silent. Because, after all, what are you supposed to say? He’s the president of the United States.

You feel this happening. It bothers you, at least to some extent. But his outrageous conduct convinces you that you simply must stay, to preserve and protect the people and institutions and values you hold dear. Along with Republican members of Congress, you tell yourself you are too important for this nation to lose, especially now.

You can’t say this out loud — maybe not even to your family — but in a time of emergency, with the nation led by a deeply unethical person, this will be your contribution, your personal sacrifice for America. You are smarter than Donald Trump, and you are playing a long game for your country, so you can pull it off where lesser leaders have failed and gotten fired by tweet.

Of course, to stay, you must be seen as on his team, so you make further compromises. You use his language, praise his leadership, tout his commitment to values. (In other words - you become the Trump monkey.)
And then you are lost. He has eaten your soul.

James Comey is the former F.B.I. director and author of “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership.”

White House officials confirm Donald Trump's incompetence but they must go "on the record"

A blog published in Daily KOS asks for White House officials to go on the record when they are disclosing Donald Trump's growing incompetence and his reluctance to accept expert advice. 

As Donald Trump continues to fire those in his cabinet who are experts, he is causing enormous anxiety about his mental competence. Moreover, the people who he appoints to fill "temporary positions", vacated by his repeated firings of experts, are largely inexperienced and thereby unqualified to do their jobs.

White House staffers must speak publicly about Donald Trumps incompetence.

George Conway, husband of Kellyanne Conway, has certainly gone on the record. 

Obviously, Mr. Conway is receiving information via his wife Kellyanne Conway.  This is certainly a convoluted arrangement but Mr. Conway's credibility has not been questioned, regardless of how caustic he has been with the criticism of his wife's boss, as in this CNN headline:

Kellyanne Conway's husband calls Trump administration 'a s***show in a dumpster fire*

George Conway said his views of the administration further soured with the firing of former FBI Director James Comey, and the ensuing Russia-related probe by special counsel Robert Mueller (Reported in the Washington Examiner)

Obviously, Donald Trump is a failed human being and a terrible political leader  So, why won't his White House staff call our the flawed Trumpeter for "having no cloths". In other words, who is going to finally go on record to reveal the truth?

As reported in the Daily KOS blog by voidstuff (not subject to review by Daily Kos staff):

A senior administration official told CNN’s Jim Sciutto that national security decision-making has “basically stopped working” and decisions are “made on a whim on phone calls.” The official added the Syria withdrawal was “a complete reversal” and it was done “without deliberation, no consideration of risks.”

American allies and partners are “shocked and totally bewildered” and the Syrian Democratic Forces “don’t believe this is happening,” the official said.

There are a couple of things here. 

First, the obvious one, of course, is that Trump is a danger to the US and the world. As if we didn’t already know that. But when it comes from a senior Trump official, that makes it all the more worrisome.

The other thing is — WTF is wrong with these anonymous senior White House officials? If things are as bad as they are saying, why are they remaining anonymous instead of coming right out and urging either invoking the 25th Amendment and/or impeachment? By passing the word to CNN anonymously, instead of choosing a course of action that could actually help fix the problem, this person and others like him/her are betraying the country. This brings spinelessness to a new level.

I’ll admit, that my first reaction to these stories has always been a feeling of vindication to hear that even insiders are admitting what’s been obvious to me and the rest of us for a long time. But really, enough is enough. It’s time for these people to grow a spine and to step up. When the very security of this nation is on the line, we’re beyond the limit. 

This madness cannot be allowed to continue.

*Conway is a frequent critic of the administration in which his wife is a prominent figure. Moreover, he said his caustic views on the administration were tested when he was under consideration to lead the Department of Justice's civil division last year. But he ultimately withdrew.

The "No Conway Zone": an echo opinion

Don't give Kellyanne Conway the opportunity to lie: call for a "No Conway Zone"

This opinion by Margaret Sullivan* was published in The Oregonian

Lies are coming at the American public in torrents -- raining down on them everywhere they turn.  (MaineWriter: Beginning in the White House!)

A report prepared for the Senate Intelligence Committee, and obtained by The Washington Post, made that breathtakingly clear over the weekend. The intentional spreading of disinformation on every platform -- from Facebook all the way to PayPal -- should frighten everyone who cares about democracy.

One place that truth can prevail is in the reality-based news media, where editorial judgment comes into play.

That means it's more important than ever not to give falsehoods a megaphone there.

Which brings us to Chris Cuomo's 39-minute interview on Thursday with Kellyanne Conway, President Donald Trump's top dissembler.:

"CNN's Chris Cuomo and Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway get in a heated debate over anti-Trump bias from the network. Cuomo said that his viewers actually get "frustrated" with him because they think he has a problem of being "too balanced."

"They expect you to be anti-Trump, your viewers," Conway said to Cuomo.

"No, they’re actually get frustrated with me because they think we're too balanced on this show," Cuomo responded. "They don't want me to have you on. They don’t want me to have anyone from the administration. Trust me."

It should have been no surprise that Conway -- who coined the immortal phrase “alternative facts” in early 2017 -- blithely spun her way through the interview.

In her usual never-been-wrong tone, she waved away the undeniable facts about the pre-election hush-money payments made to two women, Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels, who say they had been sexually involved with Trump.

"Christopher, in April of 2018, Donald J. Trump, the president, and everybody else were told about the payments," she said.

This, of course, is straight-up false -- and Conway knows it, which makes it a lie. After all, in an audio recording from August 2016 (made public this summer), Trump and his then-fixer/lawyer Michael Cohen are discussing one of the payments.

A New York Times fact-check branded Conway's statement false: Her assertion "that the president did not know about these payments until this year is not credible, given the audio recording, news reports and statements from Mr. Trump's current lawyer."

Even George Conway, Conway’s husband (and frequent political opposite), seemed to fact-check his wife. He tweeted: “Given that Trump has repeatedly lied about the Daniels and McDougal payments -- and given that he lies about virtually everything else, to the point that his own former personal lawyer described him as a “f****ing liar” -- why should we take his word over that of federal prosecutors?”

Cuomo's CNN colleagues smacked him around, with Don Lemon leading the way, and with Brian Stelter devoting time to the Cuomo/Conway shoutfest on his "Reliable Sources" show Sunday.

Perhaps most absurd among Conway's declarations was her objection to Cuomo's referring to Trump as a liar, although she wouldn't repeat the term. "You're saying he's not telling the truth. That's a slur. That's a slur."

It may not be pretty to hear, but it's undeniable: Trump very, very often doesn't tell the truth. (The falsehood count is more than 6,000, says The Post's Fact Checker.)

No, it's not a slur to state the facts. But it is a shame to give liars a megaphone. So it's time (actually, well past time) for the mainstream media to enter the No Kellyanne Zone. And that goes far beyond banning her, or any particular adviser, from cable interview shows.

The news media continue - even now when they should know better - to be addicted to "both sides" journalism. In the name of fairness, objectivity and respect for the office of the presidency, they still seem to take Trump - along with his array of deceptive surrogates - at his word, while knowing full well that his word isn't good.

When major news organizations publish tweets and news alerts that repeat falsehoods merely because the president uttered them, it's the same kind of journalistic malpractice as offering a prime interview spot to Kellyanne Conway.

This is how NBC News spread the news of Trump's reaction to recent legal developments that were extraordinarily negative - maybe devastating - to him:

(Lie!) NEW: "Totally clears the President. Thank you!" President Trump asserts in a tweet after new Cohen and Manafort case filings.

(Lie!) Reuters and the Associated Press did much the same: "BREAKING," said the AP's tweet: "White House says Cohen, Manafort filings offer nothing new or damaging about Trump." (The AP later deleted its tweet, and explained that it lacked context.)

Citizens, meanwhile, seem to be catching on. A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows that 62 percent of Americans think Trump has been untruthful about the investigation of Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Given all of this, the responsibility to bear down on reality is greater than ever.

When news organizations hand a megaphone to lies -- or liars -- they do actual harm. What the president himself says must be reported, of course, but only within the context of what we know.

To state it without immediate, adjacent reference to factual reality is to enter the Kellyanne Zone.

In an era rife with disinformation - and American democracy teetering on a precipice -- that’s the wrong place to be. 

*Margaret Sullivan is a columnist for The Washington Post

Maine Medicaid was poorly served under Mary Mayhew

Severe cuts to the Medicaid budget led to staff shortages and, as a result, vulnerable children were at risk for abuse.  Sadly, we only know about the people who suffered and didn't hear from those who did not report their adverse incidents.  Now, Mary Mayhew will bring her do nothing style of care to Washington.  God please spare Americans the outcome of her Medicaid oversight.

Mary Mayhew was a cruel DHHS Commissioner in Maine but Maine Writer suspects that she and Kellyanne Conway (aka, Cruella de Vil) will get along great. 

This report in Rewire.News is by Katelyn Burns

The Trump administration announced the appointment Monday of Mary Mayhew, the former Maine commissioner of Health and Human Services, to head the federal Medicaid program. The decision shocked Maine residents and health care advocates who pointed to Mayhew’s long history of advocating for and executing deep cuts in social safety net programs and her opposition to expanding Medicaid access in the state.

“From the perspective of someone who thinks that we should be providing people with more health care, not less, it’s hard to imagine someone less suited for this job than former commissioner Mayhew,” said David Farmer, former communications director for Mainers for Healthcare, in an interview with Rewire.News. Mainers for Health Care ran a successful ballot initiative last year to expand Medicaid in the state under the Affordable Care Act, but the expansion has since been stonewalled by Republican Gov. Paul LePage.

“I can’t imagine anyone who would bring the same mix of ideological cruelty and history of mismanagement to a high-level job like this,” Farmer said. “The only way that Mary Mayhew would be a candidate for this position is if your goal is to dismantle the Medicaid program.”

Mayhew, who ran Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) until May 2017, finished a distant third in the state’s Republican primary for governor. 

Under Paul LePage—a vocal opponent of Medicaid expansion who has continuously blocked its implementation in the state—she oversaw massive cuts to programs like Medicaid and food stamps. “She’s not just hostile to Medicaid; when she was part of Governor LePage’s administration in Maine, she was front and center in that administration’s quest to burn down pretty much the entirety of the social safety net,” said Rebecca Vallas, vice president of the Poverty to Prosperity program at the Center for American Progress. “She was a vocal proponent of taking nutrition assistance through food stamps away from people who were trying to find work or couldn’t get enough hours at their job.”

Michelle Wolf the star of White House Correspondents Dinner

White House Correspondents’ Dinner: See Michelle Wolf’s Scathing Speech

Beautiful Michelle Wolf

“I know there’s a lot of people who want me to talk about Russia and Putin and collusion,” Wolf said during her address, “but I’m not gonna do that—because there’s a lot of liberal media here and I’ve never wanted to know what any of you look like when you orgasm.”

"Here we are at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” said comedian and Correspondents' Dinner host Michelle Wolf as she began her speech Saturday night. “Like a porn star says when she’s about to have sex with a Trump, let’s get this over with.”

For the second year in a row, Donald Trump opted to skip the annual gala. So to kick off the night, the White House Correspondents’ Association presented a video in which a cartoon version of the president—the same one who often stops by Stephen Colbert’s Late Show—spoke with various members of his cabinet about whether or not he would attend the event. (Colbert himself famously emceed the Correspondents' Dinner in 2006.)

Additionally, the clip also guest starred cartoon likenesses of journalists including Rachel Maddow.

Michelle Wolf took the stage—and pulled no punches. As the former Daily Show correspondent told a roomful of journalists and politicos, “I have no agenda. I’m not trying to get anything accomplished. So everybody that’s here from Congress, you should feel right at home.”

Naturally, Wolf didn’t let the commander in chief’s absence slide, either: “Of course Trump isn’t here. . . I would drag him here myself, but it turns out the president of the United States is the one pussy you’re not allowed to grab.”

Though Wolf has said that her upcoming Netflix series, The Break, won't be particularly political, the jokes she told Saturday were appropriately topical—some of them hitting, perhaps, a little too close to home, especially for those guests who work in Trump’s orbit.

Her barbs ranged from predictable to edgy, with swipes at politicians including Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan as well as journalists including Maddow and Sean Hannity.

Moreover, Wolf also addressed the #MeToo movement, aiming digs at Bill O’Reilly and Fox News especially. But a large amount of her time, as one might expect, was dedicated to lampooning the president.

“People call Trump names all the time—and look, I could call Trump a racist or a misogynist or xenophobic, or unstable, or incompetent, or impotent. But he’s heard all of those before and he doesn’t care,” Wolf said “So tonight, I’m gonna try to make fun of the president in a new way. In a way that I think will really get him. Mr. President: I don’t think you’re very rich. Like, I think you’re rich in Idaho, but in New York, you’re doing fine.”

She then engaged the room in a little game of “Donald Trump is so poor.” How poor is he? So poor that "he has to fly failed business class;” so poor that he “looked for foreign oil in Don Jr.’s hair,” and, in a joke that might fall into the "too soon" category, so poor that “Southwest used him as one of their engines.”

In the final joke, a harder hit: "Trump is so poor", Wolf said, that “he had to borrow money from the Russians, and now he’s compromised and susceptible to blackmail and possibly responsible for the collapse of the republic.”

“Trump is a racist, though,” Wolf continued. “He loves white nationalists, which is a weird term for a Nazi. Calling a Nazi a white nationalist is like calling a pedophile a kid friend. Or Harvey Weinstein a ladies’ man. Which isn’t fair—he also likes plants.”

Wolf also made an oblique reference to the upheaval that’s gripped the country over the past year, with a nod to the uptick in demonstrations: “People are saying America is more divided than ever, but I think no matter what you support politically, we can all agree that this is a great time for craft stores. Because of all the protests, poster board has been flying off the shelves faster than Robert Mueller can say, ‘You've been subpoenaed. And thanks to Trump, pink yarn sales are through the roof.”

“I know there’s a lot of people who want me to talk about Russia and Putin and collusion,” Wolf continued, “but I’m not gonna do that—because there’s a lot of liberal media here and I’ve never wanted to know what any of you look like when you orgasm. Except for you, Jake Tapper.”

Some of the night’s jokes filled the room with a palpable tension—like one in which Wolf noted Mike Pence’s anti-abortion stance. “He thinks abortion is murder,” Wolf said, “which, first of all, don’t knock it ‘til you try it—and when you do try it, really knock it. You know, you’ve got to get that baby out of there. And yeah, sure, you can groan all you want. I know a lot of you are very anti-abortion. You know, unless it’s the one you got for your secret mistress.”
“I had a lot of jokes about cabinet members,” Wolf said later, “but I had to scrap all of those because everybody has been fired.” Wolf did manage to squeeze in a dig at one cabinet member, however—albeit an outgoing one. After a joke in which Wolf said McConnell couldn’t make it to the dinner because “he’s finally getting his neck circumcised,” Wolf added, “Paul Ryan also couldn’t make it. Of course, he’s already been circumcised. Unfortunately, while they were down there, they also took his while they were down there, they also took his balls.”

On The Daily Show, Wolf has proven she’s got a deep well of Ivanka Trump material, so naturally she brought a few with her Saturday night. “She was supposed to be an advocate for women,” Wolf said of the first daughter, “but it turns out she’s about as helpful to women as an empty box of tampons. She’s done nothing to satisfy women—so, I guess, like father like daughter.”

“She does clean up nice. . . She’s the diaper genie of the administration,” Wolf added. “On the outside it looks sleek, but on the inside it’s full of shit.”

And as for Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who attended the dinner in Trump’s place? “I’m never really sure what to call Sarah Huckabee Sanders. You know? Is it Sarah Sanders, is it Sarah Huckabee Sanders, is it Auntie Huckabee Sanders? What’s ‘Uncle Tom,’ but for white women who disappoint other white women?”

In general, Wolf also urged the media to stop giving Kellyanne Conway a platform on their programs. “If you don’t give her a platform, she has nowhere to lie,” Wolf said. 

As always, there were plenty of digs at the media, including jokes about specific outlets—like CNN. “You guys love breaking news,” Wolf said. “And you did it. You broke it. Good work.” As for Fox News? “Fox News is here, so you know what that means, ladies. Cover your drinks.” Wolf also targeted Sean Hannity, who found himself in hot water after the revelation that he’s Michael Cohen’s third client. “People want me to make fun of Sean Hannity tonight, but I can’t do that. This dinner is for journalists,” she said. 

Joe Scarborough and Mika Brezinzki’s engagement, Wolf said, “is like when a #MeToo works out.”

And as for Megyn Kelly, whose tenure at NBC has been a bit of a let-down so far, Wolf said this: “Megyn Kelly got paid 23 million dollars by NBC and then NBC didn’t let Megyn go to the Winter Olympics. Why not? She’s so white and cold and expensive, she might as well be the Winter Olympics. And by the way, Megyn, Santa’s black. The weird old guy going through your chimney was Bill O’Reilly.”

One group Wolf refused to attack, however? Print media. After all, Wolf reasoned, “it’s illegal to attack an endangered species.” 

Still, as Wolf wrapped up her performance, she finished with one final scold for journalists: “You guys are obsessed with Trump,” she said, adding later, “I think what no one in this room wants to admit is that Trump has helped all of you. He couldn’t sell steaks, or vodka, or water, or college, or ties, or Eric—but he has helped you. He’s helped you so your papers and your books and your TV. You helped create this monster and now you’re profiting off of him. And if you’re gonna profit off of Trump, you should at least give him some money—because he doesn’t have any.”

And with that, Wolf left the stage. Because, as she put it, “like an immigrant who was brought here by his parents and didn’t do anything wrong, I’ve got to get the fuck out of here.”

Russian spies and the Trump administration

Donald Trump continues to project blame for his irresonsible administration's contacts with Russia.  But, evidence mounts that Russia and President Putin have infiltrated the Trump administration.

In a sheer abdication of responsibility, Donald Trump deflects, rather than admits, blame. Yet, the preponderance of the evidence continues to build, all the while Donald Trump responds by demanding apologies from the sources of the incrminating evidence. Incredibly, Donald Trump blames the mainstream media for uncovering factual evidence about  treasonous Russian communications between him and his circle of outrageous advisors. Now, he's demanding an apology from The New York Times for breaking more Russian intelligence information.

There's just too much evidence to ignore, including the proven fact that Russian hackers influenced the outcome of the 2016 election in what amounted to an invasion of American political communications. So the question is, how much evidence is needed before Republicans acknowledge the Donald Trump circle could be the root of treasonous behavior for the purpose of advancing their political ambition? It's the epitomy of selling their souls.  

Here's another report in the growing litany of evidence:

1.  Kellyanne Conway: Special adviser to Donald Trump and one of his litany of campaign managers. In fact, her husband is the man who defended Russians against criminal prosecution. Kellyanne Conway’s husband represented firm accused of Russia bribe. 

In fact, Trump's adviser Kellyanne Conway’s husband George recently represented a corporation accused of bribing Russian officials, it has been reported. Scott Dworkin, from the anti-Trump group Democratic Coalition, tweeted images of documents revealing the link. The document appears to show that in 2015 lawyer George Conway represented Hewlett-Packard Co and Hewlett-Packard Mexico in the US District Court in Northern California, San Jose division in a case brought by Petroleos Mexicanos and Pemex Exploracion y Produccion.

It read: “Pemex pleads that HP Russia used a German agent to bribe Russian officials to secure a contract with the prosecutor general of Russia.”

It comes after a series of claims regarding Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and his campaign team and their links to Russia.

The President and his team have strongly denied all the reports, calling them “nonsense," - but the evidence mounts in spite of projecting blame.

In an interview with NBC’s Matt Lauer, Ms Conway claimed the revelation that Gen Flynn had lied to Vice President Mike Pence — who then went on television and insisted he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador — was the key factor in his resignation.

“I think misleading the vice president really was the key here,” Ms Conway said.

“But wait a second,” Mr Lauer replied. “You’re saying that was the straw that broke the camel’s back, but the White House knew about that last month when the Justice Department warned the White House that Flynn had not been completely honest in characterising that conversation with the Russian ambassador. And they even went further to say that as a result of that dishonesty, he was at risk for blackmailing by the Russians.”

“Well, that’s one characterisation, but the fact is that Gen Flynn continued in that position, and was in the presidential daily briefings, was part of the leader calls as recently as yesterday,” Ms Conway said. “As time wore on, obviously the situation had become unsustainable ...”

“Kellyanne that makes no sense,” Mr Lauer interjected. “Last month, the Justice Department warned the White House that Gen Flynn had misled them, and as a result he was vulnerable to blackmail. And at that moment, he still had the complete trust of the president?” (OMG- this is enough evidence to have put any one who is reading this under surveillance for sedition.)

“Matt, I’m telling you what the president has said, which is that he’s accepted Gen Flynn’s resignation and he wishes him well, and that we’re moving on,” Ms Conway answered.

Later, Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Mr Trump’s trust in Gen Flynn had “eroded” over the weeks between the Justice Department’s warning and his decision to step down.

Probably, it's not irony to note that prior to Kellyanne Conway being hired to manage the Donald Trump political campaign, Paul Manafort was let go in a rather weird circumstance when it was revealed how he was too cozy with Russia. 
Business Insider reported the FBI was looking into Donald Trump's former campaign manager's alleged ties to Russia- Paul Manafort indeed had worked in the Ukraine, obviously had contact with Russia.

How much evidence do Repulbicans need before they move forward to censure Donald Trump and his corrupt administration? After experiencing the wasteful money spent on bogus Congressional investigations, about the tragedy in Benghazi, Libya, it seems like the incriminating evidence about "Russia - gate" will come back to haunt all who ignore the evidence; especially when treasonous communications are suspected of influencing the highest levels of the American government. 

In other words Dr. Rand Paul understands uncompensated care is no care

Repeal of the Affordable Care Act or ACA, aka "Obamacare" will leave providers uncompensated and 30 million people without insurance coverage. Dr. Rand Paul has a better idea. He wants to repeal Obamacare, but replace it immediately, with an alternate plan. Good idea, except no Republican plan is ready to replace Obamacare. HELLO?

Repeal of the Affordable Care act will increase uncompensated health care - a very bad public policy.

Although Dr. Rand Paul, a US Senator from Kentucky, wants to see the Affordable Care Act aka "Obamacare" repealed, he has no plan in mind to replace it. Although his opinion is wrong mided, he's pragmatic enough to know how repeal will harm the health care industry. In other words, 30 million people without health coverage is unacceptable, especially when these beneficiaries are paying for their coverage and providers deserve the compensation.

Kellyanne Conway the #Trump_microphone for #fakenews, said to Matt Lauer on the Today Show (and she has no understanding about how insurance works) that people are complaining about the quality of health care provided under Obamacare. That's a lie. People choose their own health care providers so the quality is consistent with patient provider choice. 

Moreover, the worst quality health care is uncompensated care. Hopefully, Conway must know enough about insurance to realize how people who don't have insurance are at risk for deteriorating health because they aren't covered.

(CNN) reports:As Republicans are taking control of Congress, Sen. Rand Paul is warning fellow lawmakers of the possible dire consequences of killing Obamacare piecemeal. Paul, in an op-ed published Monday, called for the total repeal and immediate replacement of the Affordable Care Act. The Kentucky senator argues that keeping popular provisions of President Barack Obama's signature health care law, while eliminating less popular, structural pieces, would "only accentuate the bankrupting of the insurance industry." Writing for the website Rare, Paul explained that Republicans needed to vote for a complete repeal of Obamacare, while simultaneously voting on an adequate replacement. 

"As we repeal Obamacare,we would be wise to vote on its replacement at the same time," Paul wrote. (This Dr. Paul double speak means "save the providers reimbursement" - a good idea.)

He added: "If Congress fails to vote on a replacement at the same time as repeal, the repealers risk assuming the blame for the continued unraveling of Obamacare."

The popular parts of the law -- such as one that allows individuals with pre-existing conditions to buy insurance after their diagnosis -- only work when the other parts like the individual mandate are maintained, Paul argued.

"If you repeal this mandate, but leave in place dictates as to whom may purchase insurance, you create a business model doomed to fail," he wrote.

Still, Paul avoided providing much in the way of specifics about a potential replacement system.

Instead, he suggested that "perhaps we should try freedom," (OMG- this is another double speak concept- freedom of choice already exists!) and sketched out four principles that should guide the formation of a potential replacement -- maintaining freedom of choice, offering health savings accounts  (these accounts only work for people who really use the benefit and hardly cover anything except for some copays, over the counter drugs and eyeglasses), removing state-by-state barriers, and providing "the freedom for all individuals to join together in voluntary associations to gain the leverage of being part of a large insurance pool."  (Dear Dr. Paul, you obviously have no understanding at all about how insurance works- ie, "part of a large insurance pool" is exactly how insurance already works...)

I have the best plan- the "Medicare for All" plan. Think about it. Medicare works, beneficiaries pay for the benefit and it's already in place.  Moreover, Medicare for All provides quality and compensated care, a win-win for patients and providers.

"Puff" pieces about Trump full of dark smoke

What will Kellyanne Conway be getting paid for if she can't even produce one puff piece about this caustic Trump transition?

In my experience, the time between the transition in American leadership is loaded with the news media reports about the "puff" in the lives of both the incoming and outgoing administrations. This is the time when we learn about the kind of food the new administration enjoys or what hobbies they might  have had before entering political life. Ha! Not in 2016!  Rather, every news story I'm reading is an exacerbation of the brutal campaign.  Trump followers are still as mean spirited and threatening as ever on the social media (especially on Twitter)  and the tone of the election has not changed. In fact, the nation is more divided than ever before, at least, that's what I'm seeing.  

Rather than "puff" the media is responding to an endless stream of Trumzi dark smoke.

Where are the "puff" pieces?  Rather than puff, we're seeing a never ending stream of political "black smoke". In my opinion, these are signals about the scary leadership we can expect to see from a Trumponian "Trumpzi" administration. There was terror in Trump Towers when even a bag of toys left unattended was suspected as having "intentions of unknown origin". There was certainly no "puff" in the widespread panicked people fleeing from a bag of toys in the lobby of  New York City's Trump Towers.

Toys caused panic at Trump Towers

Indeed, I'm afraid of Donald Trump's leadership. Moreover, I'm among many millions of others who feel the same way because Donald Trump has already shown America what kind of a person he is and it's not "compassionate conservatism".

Adding to the fog of smoke in the Trump transition are the annoying comments by Kellyanne Conway who has been given a prestigious role in the incoming administration. It's going to be impossible to accept anything Donald Trump says when Kellyanne Conway is his microphone. Imagine, the inevitable first adminisgtration crises when Conway has to re-explain what Trump said or didn't say. I predict it's going to be communications chaos 24/7. In fact, Kellyanne Conway will hardly ever get any sleep when she will obviously have to stay awake to monitor Trump's middle of the night Twitter tirades.

Sadly, there's no "puff" in the Trump transition because the entire campaign to elect him was full of hot air. Frankly, the only "puff" we can report is in response to the smoke and mirrors that Trump posts on Twitter.

Twitter wars with inanimate objects

Andy Borowitz: Poll reveals the public loves Air Firce One; but Donald Trump? Ahhhh, not so much.

Yet again, it's Andy Borowitz to the rescue! His wit keeps us informed as well as entertained. Between Borowitz, with SNL, Alec Baldwin and Kate McKinnon, the #Trumpzi regime will provide fodder for satire; or clever clairvoyance to predict disaster. 

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—In a stunning rebuke of the President-elect, a new poll shows that a majority of Americans favor keeping Air Force One and cancelling Donald Trump.

According to the poll, ninety-four per cent of Americans believe that Air Force One is qualified to be an airplane, while only twenty-one per cent feel that way about Trump as President.

When told that Air Force One has a mobile command center capable of launching a nuclear attack, a broad majority said that they would feel safer with Air Force One flying around with no one in it for four years than with Trump on board.

And, in perhaps the most troubling result for Trump, if a Presidential election were held today, Air Force One would defeat him by seventeen points.

Appearing on CNN, Trump surrogate Kellyanne Conway called the poll results “meaningless” and said that they would not prevent Trump from starting Twitter wars with other inanimate objects.

Borowitz and El Chapo - all truth has a germ of humor

This Andy Borowitz on line report from The New Yorker is a metaphor in humor. Why not El Chapo? All truth has an element of humor, enough to create the germ of satirical genius.

TRUMP PICKS "EL CHAPO" TO RUN D.E.A. (for the people challenged by acronyms, that's "Drug Enforcement Agency")

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—Just days after picking Betsy DeVos (married to Amway executive Doug DeVos) to run the Department of Education, President-elect Donald Trump has tapped another wealthy outsider by naming Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán to head the Drug Enforcement Administration.

(Donald Trump told the website "Snopes" that he neither confirms nor denies this report.)

In an official statement, Trump said that El Chapo’s “tremendous success in the private sector” showed that he has what it takes to “shake things up” at the D.E.A.

Trump’s appointment of the former drug lord surprised many in Washington, in no small part because acrimony between the two allegedly prompted El Chapo, in 2015, to put a hundred-million-dollar bounty on Trump’s head.

But, appearing on CNN, the Trump surrogate Kellyanne Conway said that the selection of El Chapo should surprise no one. “Mr. Trump always said that he would surround himself with the best people,” she said.

When asked why Trump had readily offered a job to El Chapo while still mulling the fate of another former adversary, Mitt Romney, Conway said, “El Chapo might not have voted for Mr. Trump, but that’s because he’s Mexican and in jail, and Mitt Romney is neither.” In fact, the appointment of the former Mexican drug kingpin is far from a done deal. 

Nevertheless, the associates of El Chapo report that he is “concerned” that being a member of the Trump Administration 

will be bad for his brand.

Get ready for non-stop parody as Saturday Night Live goes viral

Although the Donald Trump characterization by Alec Baldwin is brilliant, the line with the most relevance is when the Vice-President to be Mike Pence enters the skit and he's told, "you will keep me from being impeached".  So true.

Saturday Night Live: November 19th episode’s cold open features Mr. Baldwin portraying Mr. Trump as stunned and unprepared for the reality of being president. 

Alec Baldwin characterized "Donald Trump" in SNL skits

In the SNL skit, Trump meets with various figures, including Kate McKinnon’s Kellyanne Conway, a campaign staffer from coal country and a general, who is eager to hear about the president-elect’s secret plan to defeat ISIS. After the general leaves, Mr. Trump promptly begins searching online for “What is Isis?” Mr. Trump proceeds to renege on assorted campaign promises, including repealing Obamacare, deporting illegal immigrants and creating coal-mining jobs.

Salient points made in this well acted skit:

1.  Donald Trump will never be a popular American leader.

2.  KellyAnne Conway must live with the consequences of her ambitious campaign undertaking (sic).

3.  Mike Pence will be running the Trump administration

Meanwhile, in the final 2016 vote analysis, Secretary Hillary Clinton continues to increase her popular vote margin over Donald Trump and in the total vote count, she won the election for President of the United States.  Electoral College alert.

Republicans- sadly, as we "once upon a time" knew them

"A party that would sanction people who call out a racist deserves to go out of business. A party whose congressional leaders remain supportive of a nominee who incites violence, perpetuates racism, blatantly, and traffics in conspiracy theories loses the moral authority to govern."

Regardless of what happens in the 2016 presidential election, the fact of the matter is this: the Grand Old Party is no more. The Washington Post reports:

Evidently, the Republican party has accepted racism as a core value.By Jennifer Rubin

Those Republicans mortified by the presidential nomination of Donald Trump have been pondering a series of questions over the past few months:

Have Republicans put party above country in backing Trump?
Can the GOP survive Trump?
Should the center-right let bygones be bygones after the election?
(Impossible- they've fallen off the end of the political world of reality based governance!)

Republican Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and Republican Speakerof the House Paul Ryan are now the leaders of a right wing political party that has clearly lost it's moral compass. 

The answers have become clear over the past few days. Trump’s campaign put out an egregiously false statement on Thursday claiming Trump “ended” the birther controversy in 2011 and blaming Hillary Clinton for starting the racist smear. Trump, without explanation or apology, on Friday announced the president was in fact born in the United States. 

A series of surrogates, including Kellyanne Conway (aka: Cruella deVille), Gov. Chris Christie (aka "bouncy Christy) and vice presidential nominee Mike Pence (aka Pence nonsense), fanned out on Sunday to double down on the lies, reiterating this was all Clinton’s fault and insisting, despite Trump’s multiple utterances since 2011, that he had not fanned the racist fires and built his political image on birtherism.

NBC’s Chuck Todd, CBS’s John Dickerson, CNN’s Jake Tapper and ABC’s Martha Raddatz all grilled — and in some cases decimated — the Trump surrogates, demonstrating that responsible journalists do not abandon the topic when Trumpkins try to deflect but press and press again for answers. They remind us this must be front and center at the debates, and moderators should not move on until Trump answers their queries. 

Here was just one such exchange:

DICKERSON: I would like to move on to a position that Mr. Trump held for five years, that Barack Obama was not born in the United States. He changed that position on Friday. Why?

CONWAY (aka "Cruella deVille): Well, on Friday, he made very clear three things, number one, that it was Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton’s chief strategist and pollster, who put President Obama’s citizenship in question when he wrote a famous memo in March of 2007 questioning his — quote — “American roots,” saying, at a time of war, how could we elect someone like this? It was pretty radical stuff.

And, then, of course, even Patti Solis Doyle, who was Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager in 2008, John, until she was fired by Hillary Clinton, admitted on Friday to Wolf Blitzer that she said, yes, these are her words. 

There was a volunteer in Iowa who was pushing this.

And so this started with Hillary Clinton’s campaign, number one. Number two, it was Donald Trump who put the issue to rest when he got President Obama to release his birth certificate years later.

And, number three, he said that President Obama was born in this country, period, and let’s move on to creating jobs, defeating radical Islam, rebuilding our inner cities. And that’s what he said.

DICKERSON: The reason I want to stick on this a little bit is he promoted this for five years. So, this isn’t just some passing notion. This was a considerable amount of energy and time and money that he spent promoting this idea. . . .

So, I go back to my original question. Why did he change his mind, and when did he do it?

CONWAY: Well, Donald Trump was not running for president against — in a bruising, vicious primary in 2008 against Hillary — against Barack Obama.
(And so Conway- the master of what I call "crochet rhetoric", meaning, shecreates patterned narratives "round and round".)

Hillary Clinton was. And you know that the former D.C. bureau chief of McClatchy newspaper, a respected journalist, just on Friday, John, said that he was approached, he had a meeting with Sid Blumenthal, what is a very close confidant of both Clintons and then was on the payroll of the Clinton Foundation thereafter, he had a meeting with him where Sid Blumenthal allegedly told him that President Obama was not born in this country and to go check it out. So, the idea that Clinton — that people around Hillary Clinton were not responsible for this, Donald Trump in 2007 and 2008, while the Clintons folks were pushing this theory, he was a successful businessman. He was building things.

DICKERSON: But, Kellyanne, he’s asked us to go back and look at things that he said about foreign policy back in 2003, to draw conclusions about his judgment.

So, things he said in the private sector, something he spent five years promoting, you said he got the birth certificate released and that put an end to it. But it didn’t put an end to it for him. For years after the birth certificate was released, he continued to question it, continued to question whether Barack Obama was born in the United States and whether the birth certificate was a fraud.

So, when the campaign puts out a statement and says he ended in 2011, and you have asserted that today, that’s just not the truth, is it?

CONWAY: No, I didn’t say that.
What I’m saying is, is that it was President Obama released his birth certificate in 2011. Nobody accuses Hillary Clinton with Mariano Rivera. She’s not a good closer. And she wasn’t on this issue at all.  (Aka "crochet rhetoric" again).

Associates of Hillary Clinton started pushing the issue because Barack Obama came out of nowhere to them. They never expected him to rise in the polls, let alone beat her in her Democratic primary, where a vast majority of voters, by the way, were female and rejected her in that year, just like they didn’t see Bernie Sanders coming and just like they didn’t see our comeback of the Trump campaign coming.

DICKERSON: Let me ask you, Kellyanne…

CONWAY: She’s not known to be a closer. She’s not known to be good at recapturing momentum. And that proved it.

DICKERSON: So, I understand you wanted to talk about Hillary Clinton, and this is an election about a choice. That’s important.

But it’s also about whether people can trust the candidate who may become president one day and who may send people to die in a war. And so, just on this question of trust, Donald Trump advocated something for five years that was a lie. Why did he do that?

CONWAY: Well, you’re going to have to ask him.

But I — again, I think that this is a sideshow now that the media seem obsessed with this John, respectfully. And, again, he put everything out on the table on Friday. Those are his words. He does things on his term, on his timeline, and he very crisply got to the microphone after honoring 14 gold medal recipients and also after — after — after showing all these veterans that supported us, our campaign. We were very proud to stand with them in Washington, D.C. . . .

DICKERSON: I understand, but he did spend five years on it, so it would be — it would be something — we would be remiss if we didn’t pay some attention to something that he spent so many years advocating and promoting.

Also. let’s not forget that in a second stream of deplorable rhetoric Trump has also suggested violence might come Clinton’s way. This weekend he declared that her security detachment should disarm and we will “see what happens.”

To top it off, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus , who has carried Trump’s water and defended his egregious remarks, on Sunday threatened “penalties” would be enacted on the Republican nominees (e.g., Ohio Gov. John Kasich) who refused to endorse the racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, pathological liar.

In light of that, let’s look at the three questions above. No matter what Hillary Clinton’s faults — and they are many — it is hard to seriously argue that a man who would lead a racist conspiracy theory and then try to blame his opponent is fit to be president. Trump, like a small child caught misbehaving, simply denies the evidence or blames someone else or lashes out in anger. (He also this weekend called former defense secretary Robert Gates a “clown” in response to Gates’s well-reasoned argument that Trump is unfit to serve as commander in chief.) Again and again he’s proven his views so extreme (e.g., rounding up 11 million people), his judgement so egregious (e.g., embracing Vladimir Putin) and his character so twisted that only someone in deep denial or blinded by partisanship could defend him and insist he is worthy of the office.

As for the fate of the GOP, the evidence mounts that it cannot go merrily on its way after the election. A party that would sanction people who call out a racist deserves to go out of business. A party whose congressional leaders remain supportive of a nominee who incites violence, perpetuates racism, blatantly, and traffics in conspiracy theories loses the moral authority to govern.

In fact, once upon a time, the Republicans were the loyal opposition political party opposing the more progressive Democratic party.  Now, the Republicans have adopted right wing zealous policies with no connection whatsoever to democracy or progressive politics. Republicans are now a "once upon a time" conservative party, but now the "gone old party".

Donald Trump- the emotionally inept candidate

Donald Trump goes on Russian TV to complain about the United States

Temperament requires a consistently professional response to the public, especially from a person striving to be elected a political leader. 

 But, Donald Trump, obviously, has a "labile" response to nearly everything. Ther's no consistency in his responses.  He's like the abrakadabra of wordsmiths. He says something, retracts it and then the words reappear again, someplece else.  (Daily Kos report by Mark Sumner)

Unbelievably, sometimes Donald Trump doesn't even know where he is when he is talking (or preaching!). Apparently, he needs a "huge" sign on his podium to remind him where he's speaking because recently he spoke on the decks of the US aircraft carrier while he criticized the American military.  What was he thinking? Then, his political pollster, who unsuccessfully tries to be his "surrogate", restates what Donald Trump (aka "Mr. Trump"....oh paaleeeze!) has plainly said.

Donald Trump's campaign pollster Kellyanne Conway is like Cruella deVille because she's an ineffective surrogate who re-creates words like Cruella collected unfortunate Dalmatians.

Then, in another interview, Donald Trump and "Creulla deVille" Kellyanne Conway, his campaign cartoon pollster, said that Donald Trump didn't know the Larry King interview was being broadcast in Russia.  ?? Well, Cruella di Vil, you should have advised your client about where he was when he was interviewed by Larry King becasue, obviously, Donald Trump is unaware of his audience.

From the Daily Kos blog:

While sitting on the decks of the USS Intrepid, an aircraft carrier that survived the fury of World War II, Donald Trump maligned America’s military leadership but praised Russian strongman and dictator Vladimir Putin. 

But that was just an opening act.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump criticized U.S. foreign policy and the American political press corps Thursday during an interview on RT America, a state-owned Russian television network.

Despite a compliant press that has provided Trump with millions in free air time and made certain that his campaign has been top of the news ever since he rode down a gold escalator, Trump had one central focus for his attacks on America.

Asked during the RT America interview what has surprised him most about the political process, Trump unloaded on the American press.

“Well, I think the dishonesty of the media. The media has been unbelievably dishonest,” Trump responded. “I mean they’ll take a statement that you make which is perfect and they’ll cut it up and chop it up and shorten it or lengthen it or do something with it.”

Incredulously, Donald Trump is an ungrateful person, among other disparaging personality characteristics. American can't elect Trump, who is rude, crude, unprofessional and demeaning to others, even to his media creators. Most important, Americans can't elect a leader who is critical of our US military while he is speaking on the decks of an American aircraft carrier where men lost their lives defending our nation- right there on the very decks where he sat during his interview with Matt Lauer.

You know what?  Russia's President Vladimir Putin, a man who once made it his profession to co-opt American spies, can have Donald Trump.  They deserve one another.

Nevertheless, as evil as the dictator and serial assassin Putin is, at least his responses to the public are consistent. Donald Trump, on the other hand, is emotionally inept.