Twice a day since the beginning of the Trump administration, a special folder is prepared for the president. The first document is prepared around 9:30 a.m. and the follow-up, around 4:30 p.m. Former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and former Press Secretary Sean Spicer both wanted the privilege of delivering the 20-to-25-page packet to President Trump personally, White House sources say.Past presidents have lamented that the White House is a bubble and they try, from time to time, to get out of it. Both Reagan and Bush41 made at least one shopping trip. Truman called the White House "the great white jail". Bill Clinton called it "the crown jewel of the prison system." Past presidents, even though they recognized the necessity of security, have chafed at the isolation that it brings. They're in a bubble and they find that they miss contact with people who are not fawning staff members or politicians.
These sensitive papers, described to VICE News by three current and former White House officials, don’t contain top-secret intelligence or updates on legislative initiatives. Instead, the folders are filled with screenshots of positive cable news chyrons (those lower-third headlines and crawls), admiring tweets, transcripts of fawning TV interviews, praise-filled news stories, and sometimes just pictures of Trump on TV looking powerful.
One White House official said the only feedback the White House communications shop, which prepares the folder, has ever gotten in all these months is: “It needs to be more fucking positive.” That’s why some in the White House ruefully refer to the packet as “the propaganda document.”
Trump, on the other hand, seeks to armor-plate his bubble so that no bad news will get in. He won't read briefing folders, but he'll read folders full of self-laudatory materials.
As a nation, we are so screwed. And it is no surprise that, with Bubble-Boy in the Oval Office, America is losing influence in the world. Under Trump, the only reason that other countries will pay attention to our president is because of national military power. Which makes America not that much different from Russia. Or North Korea.
Trump is doing damage to American power and prestige that can not be easily undone. Nature hates a vacuum and that is true in the international realm. Other countries are stepping forward to take the place that Trump is vacating and, once there, they will not be easily displaced.
Nero, we've elected Nero.
ReplyDeleteMore like Caligula with trump's wife raping and daughter groping. It was always the praetorian guard who brought down Roman emperors who failed. I suppose the Secret Service would be the US equivalent. As trump's tertiary syphilis and megalomania peaks he'd better keep an eye on his guards.
ReplyDeleteAt least they don't laugh at us like they did when Barry was CiC.
ReplyDeleteNot that I think you are entirely wrong here, mind you.
B, please provide factual evidence for the claimed laughter. Pundits saying it must be happening doesn't count, obviously.
ReplyDeleteP.s. I think you're a smart enough cookie to know it, but claiming Russia used to laugh at us compared to now obviously won't be a strong move :p
Oh and Japan obviously won't be a winning play either after their First Lady pretended not to speak English so she wouldn't have to talk to him about he bought it so hard he spouted off to the media about it. That's definitely an entire country that was laughing at us.
DeleteFrance maybe? Nah, they were laughing like mad after Macron snubbed him for Merkel.
DeleteBMQ: Unless you are blind and stupid (I doubt you are either) then you are aware of how the rest of the world thought of the US under Barry. They laughed at us and were willing to use us, but they had no respect for us.
ReplyDeleteYou seem smart, use google to look up media from other countries for the past 8 years.
Or does your blind admiration of Barry and your overriding hatred of Trump prevent you from seeing (or willing to see) the truth?
B, I've seen plenty of media from other countries and have not run across widespread laughter about the US under Obama's direction. My travels during that time also did not lead me to believe that the world was laughing at us and instead left me with the impression that Obama was very well respected internationally. I obviously haven't had nearly as much time to travel during Trump's presidency but during the one trip I have made, to North Africa, there was widespread laughter about Trump, both from locals and fellow (non-American) travelers. Upon hearing that I was American, the first cabbie I met immediately launched into "Oh! Donald Trump" while twirling a finger next to his ear.
ReplyDeleteYour claims run contrary to my personal experiences. Therefore I ask you to provide what factual sources you have so that I can gain a more nuanced viewpoint.
I'm not sure where you get the idea that I have "blind admiration" for Obama or "overriding hatred" for Trump. I can point to specific actions and statements that I like or dislike for either of them. Ultimately, however, I find that my list of dislikes for Trump is far longer than the one for Obama. If that's blind or overriding then I'm afraid I must not understand those terms very well.
Please provide supporting evidence for:
-international laughter
-lack of respect
-"blind admiration" (a rational argument will suffice)
-overriding hatred (see above. For example, what is the supposed hatred overriding?)
The world only laughed at us for electing Obama in right wing propaganda. In reality, they were relieved that had a president who spoke in complete sentences and didn't lie us into as many catastrophic wars.
ReplyDelete-Doug in Oakland
Good thing nobody reads my blog, when warranted I harsh things to say about President Obama. I none-the-less concluded his admimistration The Most Presidential President To My Memory, And I Liked Ike. Would not be uncomfortable seeing his face up there on that rock along side Thomas Jefferson and Teddy Roosevelt.
ReplyDeleteI am laughing. At you, boy.
Laughing, at the "superiority".
TTB: What is your blog?
ReplyDelete