These are the 20 most boneheaded things coming from Trump and his Administration this week. All the things on this list should be the lynchpin for investigations, committee hearings, firings, resignations and even one or two impeachment charges. Instead we have this country slowly tumbling into a death spiral, as mentally deranged zealots and emboldened racists begin terrorist attacks. This will get worse before it gets better.
Quick note: I'm taking off next week as the Election has me pretty busy. Depending on the schedule, I might have a list for the week of November 5th. By the way VOTE!!!
On with the countdown!
20) For at least the 5th time in his less than two year term, Trump tried to leave a bill signing ceremony prior to him signing the bill, and had to be stopped, this time the Opioid Treatment and Prevention Bill. His wife actually stopped him from leaving the East Room and told him he had to go back to sign the bill, the only reason the ceremony was talking place. This doesn't seem like something a competent human being would have such a consistent problem with. (10/24)
19) A senior Veterans Affairs official, David Thomas Sr., reportedly was displaying a portrait of Confederate General and founder of the KKK Nathan Bedford Forrest in his office, a tax payer funded office. He claims the print was something he thought was nice, so he purchased it and swears he had no idea the portrait was of a notorious racist. The portrait was featured in his office with a spotlight to highlight it, and it allegedly was featured in other offices he'd had in the past. (10/23)
Racist bastard Nathan Bedford Forrest, apparently on bath salts...
18) [Spoilers] In a bizarre tweet from Trump, right before 3 AM in the morning (!!!), Trump tweeted "Funny how lowly rated CNN and others can criticize." He then deleted that tweet, and then posted about 30 minutes minutes later "Funny how lowly rated CNN, and others, can criticize me at will." (they shouldn't be able to???) He went onto accuse CNN of blaming him for the bomb attacks which have occurred nationwide against former Presidents, Democrats and regular citizens. Most political experts are pointing to this being worrisome, wondering if Trump is on the verge of depression. (10/26)
17) The Trump Administration has decided to do the absolute least they can do in regards to holding Saudi Arabia accountable for the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a murder which the Saudi's have basically admitted to. Trump has called the cover up of the murder the worst cover up ever (???). The retaliation the Trump Administration is handing out is a revoking of the visas for the Saudis involved with the murder, but not the crown prince who clearly orchestrated the assassination. That's it. Nothing else so far. (10/23)
16) It seems the White House is determined to destroy our relationship with China. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was meeting with Mexican and Central American heads of state when he blatantly told them, "when China comes calling it's not always good for your citizens." The US is terrified their trade war with the Chinese will push China into developing markets the US wants to control, and so to try to force the Chinese back to the negotiating table, the Trump Administration is trying to shut down their growth into other markets. Chinese government officials and the Chinese media sharply criticized Pompeo for his less than discrete comments. (10/22)
15) [Spoilers] Trying to justify holding a campaign rally the same day as a massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Trump told another lie, this one about how the New York Stock Exchange was open the day after the 9/11 attacks. The implication was since they were back the day after such a horrible attack, he could go out and stump for Republicans HOURS after a massacre of 11 people in America. Of course the New York Stock exchange did not open on 9/12/01. It was closed for a week, re-opening on 9/17. (10/27)
14) The Supreme Court has sided with the Trump Administration and will allow Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to NOT have to testify under oath about where exactly the racist question on the 2020 Census originated from. It's known Ross lied about it not originating from the White House. Regardless of his lie, the new Trump Supreme Court stated the Commerce Secretary is such a protected position, Ross can't be questioned under oath. (10/22)
13) [Spoilers] Even though the #MAGABomber was an undeniable delusional Trump fan wanting to attack Trump's critics, and even though the Tree of Life Synagogue terrorist was an anti-Semitic who clearly has been emboldened to attack the Jewish people in the environment created by Trump, Trump (via Twitter) outright accuses the media for being the ones who created the hatred and division in this country. He's insisting the media are the real culprits in regards to the attacks. (10/28)
12) Reports are Typhoon Yutu has done extensive damage to the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory. The storm apparently was the 5th strongest storm recorded in modern times, and the second strongest to hit US soil. The death toll is unknown, and there's no power or water on the islands. Many communities on the islands are inaccessible. 52,000 people, US citizens, live on the islands. Trump didn't made any statement on the typhoon strike until Sunday, a full four days after the typhoon struck. (10/25, 28)
11) Back in March of 2017, Trump stated there was evidence former President Obama had wire tapped his offices during the 2016 campaign. Trump wrote "just found out that Obama had my wires tapped," implying the Federal Government corroborated the story. He then used this 'revelation' to repeatedly attack Obama and call for a formal investigation. Trump's own Department of Justice now admits there was absolutely no basis for Trump's accusation against his predecessor. Trump's own Department of Justice's official response is that Trump made the entire story up. (10/22)
10) The New York Times is reporting the Chinese and Russians have been actively listening into Trump's phone conversations. Is this due to a spy infiltrating the White House Communications platform? Nope! Was this due to new Chinese or Russian satellite technology? Nope! This is due to Trump's refusal to stop using his personal iPhone for conversations he's having with friends. The Chinese and Russians are basically using equipment they can get from a Radio Shack to monitor Trump's calls. Trump has repeatedly been warned about this, but he doesn't seem to care. This has led one former FBI counterintelligence expert to state "the greatest threat to national security we have is Trump himself." Trump on Thursday denied he used personal iPhones, insisting he only uses official government phones. He made this statement, via twitter, on his personal iPhone. Another witness stated he personally saw Trump call a senior staff member on his private iPhone recently. (10/24, 25)
9) As a Central American migrant caravan moves slowly through Mexico to the US border, growing to over 7000 people, the Trump Administration seems to scared of it, while at the same time trying to use it as a political weapon. After multiple people claimed (with ZERO evidence) the migrant caravan was sponsored by the Democrats and Democratic funder George Soros, Trump's now pushing another fear mongering made up lie. He claims there are "unknown Middle Easterners" mixed in with the migrants. Trump has ZERO evidence of this. Trump has alerted the military and border authorities about the caravan and has called it a "National Emergy!" (misspelled 'emergency'). Trump's also stated the US is now cutting off aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador because they're not stopping their people from leaving for the US (???). The State Department has no idea about curtailed aide to those specific countries and have directed all questions about the cutting of aid back to the White House. (10/22)
8) Good News! Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is not planning on committing mass murder at the border! After stories of a beefed up military presence on the US/Mexico border in response to the migrant caravan heading for the US turned into 'we'll shoot to protect ourselves' rhetoric, Nielsen had to ratchet back the tone, admitting there are no current plans for the US government to commit genocide. Then on Sunday, Nielsen lost badly in a discussion about the migrant caravan coming to the border. On Fox news, Chris Wallace kept asking her how exactly are these people, including young children and babies, a national security threat. Neilson, after tap dancing around the question, and clearly getting annoyed, finally admitted she could not prove the caravan was indeed a threat, but insisted Trump has a right to label them as such regardless. (10/26, 28)
7) At the big rally for Ted Cruz in Texas, Trump made a jaw dropping statement. "I'm a nationalist." He then tried to cover up his fascist-esque dog whistle admission by stating he was only insisting he's not a globalist, only concerned with America. The "nationalist" term screams back to numerous dictators from the past, most notably Hitler, who used his unabashed nationalism to get control of Germany. Hitler also covered his fascist nationalist claims by insisting he was not a globalist. (10/22)
6) Things are looking REALLY bad for Trump BFF Roger Stone. The only thing missing from Robert Mueller's investigation into the Russia/Wikileaks/Trump Campaign stolen and leaked Clinton/DNC emails scandal is the direct connection from Russia/Wikileaks to the Trump Campaign. Mueller is in possession of new evidence indicating Stone had direct knowledge of the Wikileaks emails prior to the emails being publicly released. It seems that "Birther King" Jerome Corsi was the conduit between Wikileaks and Stone. Also there are other emails which claim Stone and Corsi were taking credit for the releasing of the emails. Also released are text messages between Stone and talk show host Randy Credico about how Stone was going to convince Trump to give a full blanket pardon to Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks. Put those texts with the rest of the story and Stone is pretty much dead to rights on a conspiracy to obstruct justice. The main question now is whether Stone and Corsi will fall on the swords for Trump or will they flip. (10/25)
5) US Authorities have violated a 20 year old court order on how long minors can be detained as the Trump Administration has held immigrant children, who came into the country without a parent, for months in a temporary tent city in Texas. A court order from 1997 says children can only be held in a non state licensed shelter for 20 days or less, before having to be placed in a state licensed shelter with access to school and legal counsel. The tent city in Texas offers neither, nor does it have a Texas state license. 46 kids have been held in the Texas tent city since June, and over 500 children have been held past the 20 day mandatory time allotment. (10/23)
The MAGABomber and the Shooting at Tree Of Life Synagogue, as well as Trump and his Administrations response to them, are tied for first this week
1 (tie) Reports are former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, former President Bill Clinton, and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, noted billionaire George Soros (a man who donates regularly to Democratic causes), CNN and other Democratic officials have all been targeted with explosive devices which were sent to them. Both the Obama's and the Clintons packages were intercepted by Secret Service, and the Soros package was opened by an employee, who (thankfully) didn't set it off. This comes after rhetoric from Trump about how the three parties, (the Obama's, the Clinton's, George Soros) are evil and need to be stopped. Trump, as well, has notoriously promoted violence against his enemies. After initial condemnations from Vice President Mike Pence and Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump initially only had re-tweeted Pence's condemnation, before reading a statement calling such behavior unacceptable. He did not refer to the bombs as terrorism, something they clearly are. (10/24)
1 (tie) A total of ten pipe bombs have been mailed to former Democratic Presidents, Democratic politicians, CNN and others. Thursday morning it was reported former Vice President Joe Biden was targeted by two bombs in the mail, and actor Robert DeNiro, a vocal critic of Trump, was also targeted. Trump again started attacking the media, accusing them of riling up the public, and implying the media are the real culprits behind the terrorist attack. "Mainstream media must clean up it's act, FAST." So much for civility. Reports are investigators are starting to focus their attention on Florida as a possible coordination point. (10/25)
1 (tie) A big news day in the story of the MAGABomber, the terrorist bomber attempting to assassinate former Presidents, high profile Democrats and Democratic supporters. Four new bombs were discovered, one targeting Senator Corey Booker, one targeting Senator Kamala Harris, one targeting Democratic financial supporter Tom Steyer, and another targeting Former Director of National intelligence James Clapper, addressed to CNN. This brings the total number of bombs to 13. Trump accused "this 'bomb' stuff" of slowing down Republican momentum in mid-term elections. Many people immediately criticize Trump for putting bomb in quotes, somewhat implying the bombs aren't real, and for only concerning himself with the politics of the matter, not the actual assassination attempts. Then came reports of a man, Cesar Sayoc, who's an avid Trump supporter, being arrested in Florida. They've labelled him the #MAGABomber. As Trump announced the arrest, young conservatives gathered at the White House shouted out "fake news" and "Infowars," while Trump hoped the story of the largest assassination attempt in US history would "disappear rapidly" from the news. Then, as Trump tried to bring the announcement back to a more conciliatory tone, the young conservatives started to yell about locking up one of the bomber's targets, George Soros. Trump laughed and repeated "Ha, lock him up!" Trump later tried to distance himself from the bomber when it became undeniable he was an ardent supporter of Trump. Most news outlets gave a detailed breakdown of how many times Trump has encouraged violence towards his opponents, and featured images of the bomber at one of his rallies. Later that evening, in a stunning interview, one of Trump's supporters at a Charlotte rally insisted even though the bomber had been caught and had made some initial admissions to sending the bombs, he still believed "Hillary and Obama probably mailed the bombs to themselves." The media was forced to hire private security at the Trump rally in Charlotte to keep them safe from the seething crowd. (10/26)
1 (tie) After an anti-Semitic bigot stormed The Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, killing 11, Trump, in a stunningly tone deaf moment, told reporters the results could have been better if there had been armed guards in the house of worship. It should be noted that three SWAT team responders, wearing full combat gear were injured as they responded to the shooting, and the shooter held himself in the synagogue for 20 minutes after being confronted. A security guard wouldn't have stopped him. It was talking points straight from the NRA as Trump stated the Jewish people wanting to congregate without weapons is the real problem. Another extremely troubling aspect of Trump's comments is how clearly he's blaming the victims themselves for being shot. It's reminiscent of another time when violence against Jewish people was inspired by a country's leader, and the leader told the victims it was their fault for being attacked. If I could only remember which Reich that was...With the tragic shooting at the Tree Of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, the number of white supremacist terrorist strikes which have led to at least one death since Trump came into office is 18. (10/27)
I can't tell you how important it is that everyone vote. Are you registered to vote? Do you know where to vote? Does your state offer early voting and can you still take advantage of it (in Minnesota that is a big yes!)? Are your friends and family registered to vote? Do your friends and family know where to vote? Have you asked everyone you know if they are going to vote? If not, you need to. We're only trying to save Democracy.
#2018IsEverything. Good luck everyone. Talk in two weeks.
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