George Will Is Not Happy With The Unfit Pretender In The White House

George Will is a nationally syndicated conservative columnist. His description of Donald Trump in today's Washington Post is not the kind of description that one expects from a conservative columnist who usually defends Republican policies.  George Will is only one of many conservative opinion leaders who has abandoned a man who is embarrassing to him and to our nation.  Fox News may be the only reliable major source of propaganda supporting Trump after George Will's exit. 

What It's Like Being Led By A Genius In America

Donald Trump has a very simple explanation for the problems that he believes we have in the US.  We have lots of problems because we are stupid.  Trump's cure for our stupidity is to rely upon his genius.  Dana Milbank lists all of the dumb things that Trump blames for our problems.  He then offers his genius to guide us towards deliverance.  Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner supports Trump's claim to genius, but it may not be as strong as Trump would have liked.  Kushner stated that Trump is a political genius and he may be correct.  He has sold himself as a genius to his base.  More Republicans support Trump than they have for any previous US president with the exception of George W. Bush following 9-11.  Trump may pass Bush's record if he continues to put his genius on display by behaving like the narcissist that he is.  His base loves him when he is at his narcissist best like he was on his TV show.  They want him to fire everyone like he did on his TV show and run the country with his genius.

David Brooks Writes The Obituary For The US Aliance With EU

The president is not all knowing.  They depend upon members of their staff to inform and advice them.  Donald Trump is not that kind of president.  He does not need them because he is primarily driven by his self-interest.  Unfortunately, his self-interest is not aligned with the preservation of the US alliance with Europe and the liberal world order that was led by the US following WW ll.  Moreover, it is pretty clear that Putin has information about Trump that could destroy his presidency  which he hopes to transform into a dictatorship.  He ran his business empire as a dictator and he is extremely uncomfortable with the institutions that were put in place by our founders who understood many of the risks inherent in a democracy.  He spends more of his time in office nurturing his populist base with tweets and campaign rallies because that is his most valuable asset.  The Republican Congress is dependent upon that base and Trump uses it against Republicans who defy him.  The Republican Congress has no interest in acting as one of the checks and balances that was put in place to protect our system against demagogues.   Even worse, many Republican candidates for office are running their campaigns as mini Donald Trumps.  Trump is a featured speaker at their rallies.

David Brooks has been an influential conservative Republican for most of his life.  He has tried hard to make excuses for Trump's weaknesses and focus on some his strengths in many of the opinion pieces that he publishes in the NYT.  Trump's meeting with Putin was the last straw for David Brooks.  Trump ignored the conclusions of his intelligence agencies about Russian meddling in the 2016 election and accepted Putin's denial.  He claimed that he could not understand why Putin would help him to win the election.  David Brooks' obituary goes well beyond Donald Trump.  He describes the important role that European ideas and values played in the development of democracy in the US and the important role that the US has played in defending and nourishing its European heritage.  He argues that Trump exploited several of the flaws that have been harmful to the EU and to liberal ideals in the US.  He does not seem hopeful about our ability to deal with the monster that we created.

The Russian Organization That Is Responsible For Cyber-Warfare

Mueller indicted 24 Russians who managed the GRU organization that successfully interfered in the US election that put Donald Trump in the White House. The GRU is not even well known in Russia but It has been a critical part of Russian efforts to implement  foreign policy objectives for many years.  Intervention in the US elections has increased awareness of the GRU, but it has been actively involved in implementing Russian foreign policy elsewhere as well.  It encouraged Brexit in the UK and it was active in several recent European elections.  Closer to home, it has been active in Ukraine and in other former USSR republics that border Russia.  Russia has suffered huge losses in several wars from foreign powers that marched through its border states.  It is also not happy with NATO states that defend many of its border states.  Undermining NATO is also one its cyber- warfare objectives.  It is not surprising the Russia used cyber warfare in the US to elect  a president who is not a fan of NATO or the European Union.  Russia's economy is also based upon the export of gas and oil to energy hungry states.  Trump has been a key ally to the Russian economy by supporting the fossil fuel industries in the US and by removing the US from the Paris accord.  Putin helped to put a ally into the White House who shares many of his national interests. 

The Art Of Deception And Donald Trump

Most of us have learned a lot about Donald Trump by watching his performance on the world's greatest stage in the White House.  This video features the author of a book that describes the real Donald Trump.  It was written by a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist before Trump won the GOP primary and eventually the presidency.  He predicted that Trump would present the greatest threat to the Constitution in our recent history because he cannot tolerate bounds on his ability to do whatever he pleases.  He also predicted that he would fill his government with "yes men" because that is how he ran his businesses.  Both of these predictions have been borne out during his presidency.  He wanted to call his book "The Art Of Deception" because he believed that this was Trump's real skill.  The lawyers for his publisher nixed that title to avoid law suits that were sure to come from Trump. Unfortunately, we have learned that it is possible for a master of deception to win a presidential election in the US and that Trump has used this skill to capture an important segment of the voter base that the GOP has cultivated for decades.  Trump is now able to neutralize the Republican controlled congress by turning that base against GOP legislators who are not "yes men".

The video is well done and quite lengthy.  However,  there is more to learn about Trump in this video that will surprise even will informed Trump critics.  For example,  Trump has sold himself as a successful billionaire with a Midas touch.  He has certainly earned a lot of money but his financial success had more to do with the art of deception, and the threat of law suits, than to Trump's business acumen.  The book provides many examples of Trump businesses that were mismanaged because Trump did not really understand how to operate many of his businesses.  He made it worse by putting loyalists in key management positions as he has done during his presidency.  Many of Trump's businesses failed because poor management led to financial ruin.  The US government cannot go out of business like several of Trump's businesses.  However, the damage to our economy, and to our system of governance has been set in motion by many of Trump's policies.  Moreover, the two greatest threats to our existence are nuclear warfare and global warming.  Trump has increased the risk that we face from both of these catastrophes in less than two years in office.

Who Wrote Trump's Best Selling Book?

Trump claims that he has written several best selling books.  The "Art Of The Deal" is by far his best selling book.  The writer who actually wrote the book for Trump has a different story to tell.  He said that Trump is incapable of even reading a book.  He went on to say that Trump did not write a single word in his best selling book.  One of Trump's biographers makes a similar claim.  Trump's tweets are not very helpful in supporting his boasts about his writing skill.  He frequently misspells simple words.  For example he wrote "pour" when he meant "pore" in a tweet intended to support his claims about writing skill.

All Time Global Heat Records Set While Trump Ignores Problem

This article describes the heat records that have been set across the globe.  While some of the individual records may not be due to global warming, the global pattern of heat records is a consequence of global warming.  This is only the beginning of what we can expect as emissions build up in our atmosphere.  Of course, Republicans led by a president who does not know the difference between the Celsius and Fahrenheit metrics, have placed a global warming denialist, who represented the oil industry interests in his home state of Oklahoma, in charge of dismantling the EPA.  Trump also warmed the hearts of fossil fuel donors to him and the Republican Party by removing the US from the Paris Accord.  He will "Make America Great Again" by doing what he can to destroy our planet.  That is consistent with his efforts to destroy democracy in the US and to lead the populist movement in Europe.  His legacy will be fixed if he can complete his destruction of democracy in the US and accelerate the destruction of our planet.  Unfortunately, his base of true believers will remain on his side.