Freak Out Friday – October 20, 2017

Where to start, where to start. Let’s begin small and work up to the obvious:

1). London’s Calling: Well at least he didn’t take to Twitter to piss off people who don’t like us. Instead he outraged our allies by declaring, Just out report: “United Kingdom crime rises 13% annually amid spread of Radical Islamic terror.” Not good, we must keep America safe!. Now yes, crime rates in England have gone up, thanks to rises in knife use, sexual assaults and murder. But to conflate it with radical Islam and use it to imply his idiotic travel bans aimed at Muslims is okay is, frankly, just the kind of idiocy we’ve come to expect. Nor is the UK thrilled with his declarations. Green Party MP Caroline Lucas declared it “inflammatory.” Tom Wilson, the labor deputy leader, said, “Officer, I’d like to report a hate crime.” I very much doubt that England will declare war on us, but Trump is doing nothing to endear himself to them.

2). Bring in Thomas Crown to check: Donald Trump has a painting on his airplane which he insisted is an original Renoir. It’s called “Two Sisters on the Terrace.” Would you like to see it? You can. Do you have to go on Trump’s plane? Heck no: All you have to do is head to Chicago and go to the art institute. It’s hanging right in the same place that it’s been since 1933. This was pointed out to him back in 2005 when he brought his biographer, Tim O’Brien, onto his plane and mentioned that the picture he had hanging there was the original. O’Brien insisted it wasn’t. The next day when they were back on the plane, Trump pointed out his original Renoir as if the previous day’s conversation hadn’t happened. This is what O’Brien recounted on a recent podcast. So it’s clear that Trump’s senility is not a recent development; it’s been going on for over ten years.

3) Flippity floppity flip. So Trump announced that he wanted to end subsidies to insurance companies. Then he was asked about the proposal by senators Lamar Alexander and Patty Murray–a Republican and Democrat respectively–that would wind up overturning his decision. His response? He endorsed it. That lasted about 24 hours because the next day he tweeted out that he wasn’t supporting it. Why did he do that? Well, either he literally forgot about endorsing it the previous day, or else when he endorsed it he didn’t actually know anything about it. And rather than admitting that he was ignorant and waiting to comment on it, he naturally had to have a comment that stemmed from his non-existent awareness.

4). Thank you for your service. Who are you again? Remember when Trump picked on the Gold Star parents during the election. That was nothing compared to what happened this week. Either he didn’t contact people (four out of eleven that the Washington Post contacted) or he did contact them and created unnecessary problems.

One gentleman he called, Chris Baldridge, whose son had died in Afghanistan, stated that Trump promised he’d send him a personal check for $25,000 to help with his dead son’s family. The check never came…until the Post reported on it and then suddenly the check was in the mail. Even worse was when he spoke to the widowed Myeshia Johnson and said her husband “knew what he signed up for.” Now believe it or not, I’m almost willing to write that one off, because he immediately said that it was still a tragedy when it happens. So I tend to think he was genuinely trying to offer comforting words, even if he was being a bit clunky about it. I think it sounds worse when it’s printed than spoken. If it was a cop’s funeral and they said, “Johnny knew the risks going in, but he didn’t care because he just wanted to help others,” people would nod and agree. Trump’s bigger mistake, though, was that he didn’t bother to learn the name of the person he was talking about. He kept referring to him as “your guy,” leaving the bereaved widow to say that the Commander in Chief didn’t even know her husband’s name. And even worse, when Rep. Frederica Wilson recounted the disastrous phone call, Trump denied saying it.. Of course he did. He could have clarified it. He could have apologized for the clunkiness of what he did, or for upsetting Johnson. But no, Trump can never make a mistake (“That’s a real Renoir!”) Naturally Johnson’s mother was there and she verified everything Wilson said.

As for the people he didn’t call? Naturally he can’t admit a mistake, so instead he claimed that Obama hadn’t called soldiers. Because when there’s someone in the world you hate, naturally you want to use everything they do as an excuse for yourself. Except of course that was another lie, because Obama did indeed call them.

The most incredible thing this week.. George W. Bush, who should be grateful to Trump because he’s bumped W. off the top of the “Worst President Ever” list, gave a speech this week where he trashed Trump’s America. Although he didn’t mention Trump by name, he spoke about the rise of White Supremacy, how the country is effectively falling apart and that we need real leaders and people for voters to aspire to, which clearly we do not have now. Let’s face it: even Jeb would have been better than this. The fact is, we’ve gone beyond asking how could Trump be president. Instead we’re asking how Trump could even be considered a sentient human being.

PAD