Let's lead off with Trump's inability to grasp one of the principles of democracy: A free and independent press. His campaign is denying press credentials to non-sycophantic news outlets. Let's be clear about this: Trump regards "unfair coverage" as "stories which displease His Orange-Haired Mightiness". He truly does not understand the role of press in politics. Trump thinks that the reporters should all be licking his boots. He would have hated H.L. Mencken.
Of course, Trump blames the media for doing such egregious things as reporting what he's said. No doubt that Fox News and his online echo chambers will start parroting that line.
Next: We all know that Trump is surrounded by Russian stooges.
But now, it appears that Trump has surrounded himself with idiots:
Donald Trump campaign spokeswoman Katrina Pierson said on Saturday the US' military effort in Afghanistan "was Obama's war." ... "If you want to go way back, we can look at the troop surge, and after 2007 al Qaeda was essentially in ashes," Pierson said. "It was Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton who then destroyed the entire rollout by wanting to pull out early... That is the reason why ISIS is a global issue."So much fail in so little time. The Status of Forces Agreement between the U.S. and Iraq, which mandated the 2011 pullout, was negotiated and signed by George W. Bush. Furthermore, American troops have been in Afghanistan for nearly fifteen years, beginning in 2001. The presence of troops in varying numbers has been continuous since then.
Then Pierson pivoted to the Afghanistan theater.
"Remember, we weren't even in Afghanistan by this time. Barack Obama went into Afghanistan, creating another problem," Pierson said.
Blackwell asked her to clarify, and she said, "That was Obama's war, yes.
But hey, isn't it a bit of a stretch to expect anyone in the Trump campaign to have even a minimal understanding of those inconvenient things called "facts"?
Next: Trump appeared at a rally in Connecticut yesterday. It's been 28 years since the state went for a Republican presidential candidate. Other than Fairfield, CT being an easy trip from his home, why the fuck would he waste his time there? Why wouldn't he hold a rally in a state where he has a chance of winning?
Either Trump is too lazy/arrogant to bother to mount a real campaign or he is, at this point, just phoning it in.
Trump figures he just has to keep saying things, the media will keep reporting on him, and he doesn't have to go out and do traditional 'campaigning'. Worked for the primaries, why stop now? And since it is a closely held belief on the right that facts indeed have a strong liberal bias, he and his mouthpieces are unfettered in using them. All that matters is the response. At this point is is more performance 'art' than anything else - or maybe a soap opera, but one with some really poor writers.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen this piece reporting on correspondent Jonathan Karl?
ReplyDeleteI've seen similar reports.
DeleteI think he may just be in it for the adulation. All he wants to do is hold rallies where bunches of people cheer for him and hang on his every word. Kind of like a rock star without the rock. He doesn't seem to do anything he doesn't want to do, and what he does is rallies.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, that's my two cents.
-Doug in Oakland