Trump Timeline ... Trumpocalypse

[Michael Scally MD]

1/ If the Dems blow this election it will not be because they were "too far left on policy" or because they "weren't left enough." It will have little to do with policy at all. They are making a mistake caused by traditional consultant theory that does not apply here...

2/ And by listening to influential pundits in liberal media who also don't get the unique nature of Trumpism, relative to normal political movements & campaigns...this election is NOT going to be won by talking about all your "great plans" for health care, jobs, education, etc..

3/ And the reasons are several...Let me begin by saying that I have experience confronting the kind of phenomenon we see in Trumpism, and far more than most. Any of us who were involved in the fight against David Duke in LA in 90/91 know what this is and how it must be fought...

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31/ People who say the Dems should ignore Trump's race baiting because its some genius political strategy calculated to distract us, are idiots. He is no genius. And if you downplay it you NORMALIZE him. If you make this about policy, you NORMALIZE him. He is a racist...

32/ He is a white nationalist. He is an authoritarian. He and his cult are a threat to the future of the nation and world because of their hatreds. His movement betrays the country's promise. THAT is the message that will drive turnout. Not debates over marginal tax rates...

33/ Or how we are going to fund schools...And anyone who says we should ignore the race baiting to talk more about Mueller and Russia is an even bigger fool...that's like talking about Duke and late tax payments or other corruptions...it might all be true but is not the point...

34/ Not to say the House shouldn't impeach over that stuff. They should. But the 2020 candidates must craft a message that is not about that. Trumpism is the threat to America, more than Putin. And Putin didn't birth Trumpism. Conservative White America did...

Thread by @timjacobwise: "1/ If the Dems blow this election it will not be because they were "too far left on policy" or because they "weren't left enough." It will h […]"

 

[Michael Scally MD]

DEFLECTION BOMB
Deflection Bomb

In case you haven’t noticed, Donald Trump’s racist quarrel with “the Squad” isn’t about any specific policy or government program. In fact, the majority of Trump’s attacks on the four female representatives is over stuff they never said. None of them has ever called America or Americans “garbage.” None of them has said they “hate our country” or that they’re “trying to destroy it.” If you can say anyone’s trying to destroy the country, you would point your finger at Trump. Also, overlooking the racist aspect for a moment, if Trump is on the right side of this argument, then why does he have to lie?

But, for the past week, one thing we haven’t talked about is Jeffery Epstein or the resignation of Alexander Acosta. Donald Trump will create a deflection to distract from an issue that could damage him. What’s in this Epstein case in regards to Trump that’s so bad that he deflected with racism? Or then again, Trump is so racist he doesn’t know he’s racist.

Once again, Trump has created a crisis. The man who claims he doesn’t have “a racist bone in his body” has shown the uglier side of our country as his crowd chants “send her back,” one of the oldest racist tropes in American history. Usually, this much hate leads to violence.

Another manufactured crisis of Trump’s creation is the one with Iran. Donald Trump has put that nation into a corner.

Trump pulled the U.S. out of the international treaty with Iran that prevented them from constructing a nuclear weapon, arguing it will help them construct a nuclear weapon. Mostly, he just wanted to end it because it was a treaty approved by the Obama administration. In doing so, Trump has made the United States a nation that can’t be trusted when it comes to treaties. And he wonders why Iran won’t talk to us now without conditions. Usually, we’re the ones who set conditions.

Iran is now suspected of attacking at least seven oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, where an estimated 20 million barrels of crude oil, 20 percent of the world’s supply, passes through daily (if you’re a Republican, “daily” means every day).

Ports in the gulf and a major pipeline in Saudi Arabia have been targeted. Iran shot down an American drone it claims violated its airspace, In return, the U.S. took down an Iranian drone last week. Now, Iran is seizing British-flag oil tankers.

Iran claims they have the capability to shut down the gulf which would affect oil exports from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and themselves. But, that is unlikely as it would definitely lead to a conflict.

Trump has imposed the harshest sanctions in history on Iran which they consider “economic warfare.” The nation’s oil exports are down to 250,000 a day, where before the sanctions they were at two million. In case you’re not a student of history, it was crippling sanctions against Japan that led them to believe going to war with the U.S. was their only recourse.

I don’t believe Iran is going to bomb Pearl Harbor, but strangling them is making them violate the nuclear treaty, which they are still a part of with Europe, Russia, and China. It can also lead Iran to create more havoc with Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, who are fighting Saudi Arabia and have launched attacks against their oil infrastructure and tankers. Iran’s proxies have already forced Exxon to evacuate oil fields in Iraq twice. Iran is probably more interested in sabotage than all-out war.

Iran has conditions for the U.S to meet before there can be a diplomatic solution. Trump’s condition is that Iran kisses his ass. So, this may not end well.

If a war does start because of Trump’s negligence and narcissism, his voters won’t blame or bail on him…just like they won’t if he does drop an N-bomb.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

SAN DIEGO, California — The Trump administration has not installed a single mile of new wall in a previously fenceless part of the U.S.-Mexico border in the 30 months since President Trump assumed office, despite his campaign promise to construct a “big beautiful wall.”

In a statement last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the federal agency overseeing border barrier construction, confirmed that all the fencing completed since Trump took office is "in place of dilapidated designs" because the existing fence was in need of replacement.

The agency said that it had built 51 miles of steel bollard fence with funding that was set aside during fiscal 2017 and 2018. But while the funding was meant both to replace outdated walls and to place barriers where there previously had been none, the government has only completed the replacement projects. The projects to secure areas with no fence are still in the works.

The 50 miles of completed replacement barrier is a 10-mile gain since early April. In Trump’s two and a half years in office, his administration has installed an average 1.7 miles of barrier per month, and none of it in areas that did not previously have some sort of barrier. A total 205 miles of new and replacement barrier has been funded in the two and a half years since Trump took office.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Constant infighting among top officials. Sudden departures of senior staffers without explanation. A leader who is disengaged and prone to falling asleep in meetings.

The Commerce Department has reached its apex of dysfunction under Wilbur Ross, according to four people with knowledge of the inner workings of the department. The 81-year-old Commerce secretary, who has for months endured whispers that he is on the outs, spends much of his time at the White House to try to retain President Donald Trump’s favor, the sources said, leaving his department adrift.

He’s hardly the only top Trump official to seek the president’s approval. But department insiders say they’ve rarely seen Commerce so rudderless -- and they say Ross’s penchant for managing upward at the expense of his staff is leading to what one plugged-in observer described as “a disaster over there.”

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

I laid out what follows in this post, but given that the NYT’s weak questions for Robert Mueller exhibit ignorance on this point, I’m going to make this more explicit.

In a useless question designed to get Mueller to characterize Trump’s answers to the Special Counsel’s questions, the NYT asked whether the responses were “candid.”

In general, virtually all of Trump’s answers not only lacked candor, they were downright obnoxious. But on the topic of the Trump Tower Moscow project, Trump’s https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6002293/190322-Redacted-Mueller-Report.pdf (answers) are not just insolent, they are lies.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]