The Toxic President

In an even worse sequel to of one of Donald Trump's most putrid campaign episodes, the President has again tangled with another Gold Star family. This time, the feud is over the appropriateness of remarks Trump made during a condolence call to a grieving widow. 

None of us where there. None of us can say for sure we know what was said. The only opinion that matters is that of Myeshia Johnson who either heard what she thought she heard or processed whatever Trump said differently than he intended. Grief can certainly cloud the processing of events in anyone so sensitivity to her situation should have been paramount when the President chose his words. Even if he said all the right things, the fact she somehow felt different is not beyond the possible. Trump could have taken the high road and apologized for at least leaving her with an unintended impression even if he stood by his words. He could have acknowledge her grief, the difficulty of the situation, and moved on without appearing patronizing or insincere.

However, Trump is not a man that apologies about anything. He is incapable of admitting error, demonstrating humility, or showing empathy. So this President instead chose to engage in a public war of words with a grieving widow dragging what should be the most private of moments further into the public arena. As if that wasn't mistake enough, surrogates from both side became involved escalating the rhetoric to a new level of ugly. 

Florida congress woman Frederica Wilson who reportedly heard the call defended Johnson's account. The President responded by shoving his Chief of Staff, John Kelly, into the line of fire. Kelly, himself a Gold Star father and retired general, somehow found a way to both defend Trump and level partisan political accusations against the congresswoman that were almost immediately proven false via video evidence. That opened the door for Wilson to fire back raising the issue of race as a motivator for the administration's response.

All of this could have been avoided had the President chose to be the bigger person. Instead, the President chose to be toxic.

Trump's lack of moral character means his natural instincts are driven by the worst of human emotion running unchecked. Narcism, ego, entitlement, a sense of infallibility, and greed are evident in nearly every action he takes. It is a toxic combination that is poisoning the country. Trump's toxicity also brings out the worst in those around and those that support him.

One of the most troubling examples of the latter came during the Wilson/Kelly back and forth, as if that situation wasn't troubling enough on its own. After Kelly leveled accusations against Wilson that reporters suspected to be false, White House Press secretary Sarah Sanders said it was inappropriate to question a four star general.

Not in this country, Sarah. It's an imperative.

The beyond reproach claim is a diversionary tactic the administration has trotted out before. Senior White House policy adviser Stephen Miller asserted the President's policy beyond question when attempting to defend the original Trump travel ban. The policy, actions, and character of the administration are so indefensible the only option open to them is to try and shutdown all dialog.

Kelly's baseless attack is sad irony to Trump's recent tweet war with the NFL around patriotism. At a time when his boss has spent significant time bashing players over their genuine protest during the national anthem, the former general used false accusations to discredit a woman attempting to defend the widow of an American war hero. There is little honor or patriotism in that.

Aborhent behavior is the norm for this Presidency. The idea the GOP is the party of traditional values is laughable. Few values anyone would consider desirable are based in lies, racism, sexual harassment, greed, narcissism, and intolerance. Yet those toxic behaviors are what Trump and his supporters put on display everyday.

No Good, Plenty Bad, All Ugly

If taking a knee before an NFL game is disrespectful to America, it's a protest that pales by comparison to disrespect that President Donald Trump and his so called conservative "values" supporters give the Constitution and human decency every day.

Trump wakes up each morning and figuratively defecates on Twitter. This week he's challenged the First Amendment's protection of freedom of the press. He's lied to America about healthcare saying he's decreasing costs when every in reality he's sabotaging insurance exchanges. He also took a shot a the idea of sanctuary cities as many continue to oppose his race/religion based immigration policies.

In addition to the Twitter lowlights, former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon stood before the Value Voters Summit of social conservatives and literally outlined Trump's executive order as sabotage designed to "blow up" the health-care law and insurance marketplaces. These so called "values voters" purport to have christian beliefs as their foundation. Yet, can anyone really imagine putting Bannon's words against a what would Jesus do test? It's complete hypocrisy. These "value voters" don't stand for any value other than themselves - something they have in common with Trump.

Speaking of hypocrisy, the Harvey Weinstein scandal dominated headlines this week. Of course the headlines it made with conservatives didn't have much to do with a meaningful conversation around ending sexual harassment. Fox News, itself a former safe house for monsters like Weinstein, focused on the fact Weinstein financially supported democrats rather than the damage he's done to his victims. Trump didn't call for Fox News to be de-licensed like NBC (fact check: networks do not have broadcast licenses, their affiliates do) but he did say he wasn't surprised about Weinstein when asked about the story by CNN. During that exchange the reporter asked how Weinstein's behavior differed from how Trump characterized his own on the Access Hollywood tape. Trump brushed off the tape and stuck to the story that his remarks were just "locker room" talk.

So to recap, conservatives are ok ignoring the victims of sexual harassment in favor of trying to make their opponents look bad. Trump apparently knew Weinstein well enough to not be surprised by his actions, yet said nothing, and apparently that's ok. Trump is again let off scot free by "value voters" when it comes to his own behavior of sexual harassing women.

Every day Trump unloads nothing but ugliness. His lies, baseless accusations, flat out wrong facts, and malicious intent drop on Twitter and from the White House like never ending diarrhea. Trump supporters embrace him even tighter clinging to a indefensible line of defense. The opposition tries to fight back with fact checks and reason but Trump has turned the forum into such a cesspool that civility is near lost on both sides.

The current President of the United States is a malevolent moron but he also may be the product of our own decades of political behavior. We've done little to put value on education, improve the lives of the poor and middle class, and have been a country at war abroad for most of the last twenty years. Those things wear on people. They wear on decency. They breed distrust and foster ignorance. Right and left have looked by each other so long that there is nothing that remains recognizable. The incivility, hypocrisy, and lack of decency personified by Trump may mean we are generations lost when it comes to being able to bridge the divide.

Perhaps subsequent generations will do better but with the current example being set, today's children don't stand a chance at actually making america great again.

The President May Be A Moron

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson didn't deny an NBC News report this week that he characterized President Donald Trump as a moron. Actually, follow up reports clarified that Tillerson may have actually referred to Trump as a "fucking moron" but either way the sentiment is pretty clear. Tillerson is now on a death watch as the top US diplomat and many question whether he can or should survive in the post. If Tillerson were to go now he would join a number of original Trump cabinet members that lost the President's confidence and would have served approximately 24 Scaramuccis (one Scaramucci being an 11 day standard unit of measurement for longevity of Trump appointees).

Whether or not Tillerson called Trump a moron will likely never be confirmed by the Secretary himself but NBC stands by it's reporting that the remark took place. It's also possible that Tillerson misclassified the President if he was truly evaluating him based on the Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scale where the term moron, now deprecated, was used to classify low mental acuity along with two other closely associated terms:

• Morons - Those with IQs between 51 and 70 (adequate learning skills to complete menial tasks and to communicate)
• Imbeciles - Those with IQs between 26 and 50 (unable to progress past a mental age of approximately six)
• Idiots - those with IQs between 0 and 25 (poor motor skills, extremely limited communication, and little response to stimulus)

Clearly, Trump is not an idiot, after all, he successfully navigates the golf course and plays tennis which indicates non impaired motor skills. He does, however, use a cart which forces the Secret Service to do same. That crutch has cost the taxpayers $137,000 so far this year.

Whether Trump has passed the mental age of six is debatable after his Access Hollywood remarks. The tape of that fiasco received an encore showing this week by a women's advocacy group on the National Mall.  Trump has completed a primary education track beyond that of a six year old so that  leaves Tillerson's assessment of moron as the potential correct classification.

In fairness, Tillerson is not a doctor but he is likely a good candidate to evaluate Trump's management and leadership abilities. As CEO of Exxon, Tillerson successfully ran one of the largest companies in the world. Trump has run his own companies into bankruptcy six times.

Tillerson's opinion not withstanding, the President's own words can be measured by anyone against a simple test: Would a moron say this:

"This is an island surrounded by water. Big water. Ocean water.",  Trump speaking about hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico, Sep 29, 2017.

"[he] sold his company for a tremendous amount of money. And he went out and bought a big yacht, and he had a very interesting life. I won't go on any more than that because you're Boy Scouts, so I'm not going to tell you what he did." Trump speaking at the Boy Scout Jamboree, July 24, 2017.

"We should also just cancel the elections and just give it to Trump." Trump, speaking at a rally in the Toledo Ohio, October 27, 2016

"40 Wall Street, in fact, was the second tallest building in business district Manhattan. And now it is the tallest." Donald Trump, bragging about his building following the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in an interview with WWOR/UPN 9 News in New York (Sept. 11, 2001).

"Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won't be around much longer!" Twitter, Sep 23, 2017.

"Just remember, the birther movement was started by Hillary Clinton in 2008. She was all in!" Twitter, Sep 22, 2015.

"If you look at his wife, she was standing there, she had nothing to say, she probably — maybe she wasn't allowed to have anything to say, you tell me." Trump speaking with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos about the Gold Star parents of Humayun Khan, an Army captain, died in a car bombing in 2004 in Iraq, July 30, 2016.

The list of statements is near endless. They range from baseless to inappropriate at numerous levels. The searchable Twitter archive of Trump tweets can provide numerous additional examples if necessary.

Labeling Trump as moron isn't the point of chasing Tillerson's remarks. Anyone that's said the things that Trump has said and anyone that has demonstrated the lack of depth Trump has demonstrated on issues of race, international relations, and domestic policy is not fit for the job. Trump does not possess the temperament or the intellect to execute the job at a level worthy of the office or the country.

Here is one last quote to consider that came earlier this week when Trump ominously suggested, while standing with military leaders, that this could be "the calm before the storm."

From the mouth of a moron...with keys to a nuclear arsenal.

#racist #unfit #impeach #sad

Friday was a big night for racism, intolerance and sheer stupidity. President Donald Trump showed up in Alabama ostensively to support senatorial candidate Luther Strange but managed to fire up the assembled crowd around nearly everything but the Alabama Senate contest.

The Trump highlight reel included floating the concept that NFL owners, 100% of whom are white, should fire any player, 66% of whom are black, that takes a knee during the national anthem. It was a not so veiled reference to the protest around racial inequality started by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick who Trump didn't mention by name. Instead the presidential dotard referred to any player expressing their 1st amendment right as a "son of a bitch." In contrast to his characterization of Nazis exercising their same rights as "very fine people", the statements pretty well define this President's stance on race. To put it in terms he can understand, #racist #unfit #sad

Trump then continued on a rant lamenting penalties for excessive hits in football and advocated for a harder hitting game. Trump was oblivious to the mounting evidence of the game's impact (pun intended) on brain disease, and specifically, this week's report that former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez suffered from severe C.T.E. (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) at the time of his death at age twenty seven. #sad

Demonstrating further obliviousness, Trump warned that North Korea could explode a "massive weapon" over the Pacific Ocean, resulting in "tremendous, tremendous calamity where the plume goes." Then he told everyone not to worry about that but offered no plan as to how he would diffuse the escalating situation or prevent Kim Jong-un from detonating such a device. Since Friday, Trump continued to tweet insults toward North Korea's leader recklessly provoking a situation that has nuclear consequences. #unfit

Also since Friday, Trump has pursued his war of words with the NFL sending out a series of tweets attacking players and owners supportive of the right to protest during the anthem. It's an embarrassing exchange of rhetoric that puts the man with a sworn oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution on the side of curtailing the the very rights that document guarantees. A violation of the Presidential oath is grounds for removal from office. #unfit #impeach

Trump's ire unleashed on Twitter and at his showboating rallies (some which cost taxpayers nearly half a million dollars) is not only set against the backdrop of a potential North Korean nuclear confrontation but also a humanitarian tragedy unfolding in the wake of hurricane Maria on the island of Puerto Rico. U.S. citizens are at risk of death on the island territory as Puerto Rico remains without power and is running low on food and water. Trump's last tweet directed toward those in jeopardy was four days ago. The administration did approve a disaster declaration earlier this week but the President is noticeably absent from expressing support or concern for Puerto Rico's predominantly hispanic population. #racist #sad

The expectation of the 2016 election was that the United States chose it's new leader. Agree or disagree with the partisan politics of the chosen candidate, competent leadership during the President's tenure is a bi-partisan expectation. Donald Trump is not competent. He is a President, ill equipped to lead, uncomfortable with acting Presidential, and incapable of empathy or inclusion. He is merely a C-list celebrity occupying the White House, a man at home in front of a pandering crowd of deplorables, delivering grandiose, inflammatory, and mostly false statements to make himself look "big" in their eyes. # unfit # impeach #sad

Trump has failed to show the mettle of a leader with any challenge his presidency has faced from racial unrest to natural disasters. Nothing to date has been able to draw his attention away from the trivial.  A mushroom cloud is too high a price to pay.  #racist #unfit #impeach #sad

Race, Public Trust, and Hannity's Angels

It seems impossible to skip addressing this week's faux outrage from the conservatives over the latest private citizen to call President Trump a white supremacist.  Yes, ESPN's Jemele Hill is a public figure but she's a sports TV personality. She's has no responsibility to an electorate, purview over public safety, and did not make the statement as part of a journalistic expose. She made the comments on Twitter, the same platform where other TV personalities have also assailed the President as racist - like this TV reality host did:

Obama's '07 speech which @DailyCaller just released not only shows that Obama is a racist but also how the press always covers for him.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 3, 2012

Conservative backlash over the comment was an exercise in surreal humor.  Fox's Sean Hannity had a  this diverse panel on to discuss the issue:

White House Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders called Hill's comments a "fireable offense" during Wednesday's press briefing. That's rich when measured against the Mooch Scale Of Statements It Takes To Get Fired from the Trump administration itself.

Questioning whether or not Hill exercised good judgement considering her public persona is fair game. Facts matter and so do words. Checking the former and being selective about the latter are important. For instance, this blog entry was going to originally be entitled Michigan Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Thanks Bigot for Endorsement. Yet, there were some facts to check around the following post before that story could move forward:

Thank you @realDonaldTrump for your strong support. Working together, Michigan will start winning again with more jobs, growth & paychecks. https://t.co/c2XdyVZi6C

— A.G. Bill Schuette (@SchuetteOnDuty) September 17, 2017

There is certainly some "very fine" evidence to support Hill's opinion about Trump. That said, organizations like ESPN are entitled to set rules around employee public conduct particularly when that conduct can negatively impact the organization or impugn the ability for the employee to effectively do their job. Hill's comments are not going devastate the public confidence in her reporting on week 3 in the NFL but it's understandable ESPN likely doesn't want to get involved in politics. In a perfect world, it probably shouldn't.

However, the world today is far from perfect and there are certainly social media comments that can undermine public confidence in a way Hill's did not. Take those of Ohio firefighter Tyler Roysdon who, on Facebook, lamented he'd rather save the life of a single dog in a fire over that of that of a million black people.

The difference between Hill's comments and those of Roysdon are clear. The former is an expression of opinion citing behavior in another that is discriminatory. The latter is an expression of intent to do harm to others based on opinion rooted in discrimination. Given Roysdon is charged with upholding public safety that truly is a fireable offense. Both Hill and Roysdon are equally protected in their right to state an opinion. Neither are protected from the consequences of their words.

ESPN and Hill will come to terms on the matter as employer to employee. Whether or not those terms are perceived fair by Hannity's Angels or the public at large is also a matter of opinion but since watching ESPN isn't mandatory there are options for expressing sentiment on any given outcome.

With Roysdon there are no options. This deplorable has violated the public trust and lost the right to make a living off that trust. He's stated race as a basis he may use to choose who to save from a burning building. Any decision short of permanently removing his cancer from the Franklin Township Ohio Fire Department endangers the public.

There can be no difference of opinion on that one.

Science Fiction

Hurricane Irma is moving across Florida leaving a path of destruction in its wake. The storm may have lost some of its punch after making landfall but Irma is still very dangerous and the safety of first responders and residents in harms way remains paramount.

Despite the seriousness of the storm it seems that even hurricanes can spark political folly these days. While Irma was still out in the Atlantic the massive size of the storm prompted speculation around how climate change has impacted hurricanes formation. The scientific answer is: yes, climate change does make for wetter and more powerful storms. The political answer is: now isn't the time to talk about climate change. At least that is the position of US Environmental Protection Agency Secretary, Scott Pruitt. During an interview with CNN, Pruitt stated exactly that, adding that asking the question was insensitive to the people of Florida.

If there's one thing Scott Pruitt knows about that's insensitivity. He's not been shy about hiding the fact he wants to make it easier on polluters. Since he was elected Oklahoma's attorney general in 2010, Pruitt has been insensitive to people everywhere through litigation designed to undermine regulation that protect air and water across the country.

For Pruitt and, more broadly, the Trump administration, the time to talk about the impact of climate change is never. Pruitt has denied climate change and Trump famously tweeted it was a hoax. The reality is that now is exactly the time to hear from climate scientists since now is the time we are dealing with the impact and aftermath of the storm.

Science should dictate how we spend the billions of dollars necessary for rebuilding and future proofing against the next Irma or Harvey. Yet science isn't a priority for Trump or the Republicans. In fact, the GOP is downright hostile to science, knowledge, and learning. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 58% of self-identified Republicans and Republican-leaning independents believe that colleges and universities have a negative effect on "the way things are going in the country."

That is a stunning indictment of science and education and a snapshot of the devolution of conservatism in America. Conservatives used to favor established institutions and gradual change. Those institutions used to include universities and the value they provide in educating the next generation of CEO's, doctors, lawyers, scientists, and engineers. Today conservatives favor closed mindedness and infer the inflammatory rhetoric of pundits and entertainers to be true.

Alternative facts are fiction. Climate change is real. Until science can find a cure for stupid, the low information conservative base that supports Trump and the Republicans will continue to embrace the science fiction they are fed. Not even a hurricane (or three) may be strong enough to change their minds.

American Horror Story

Today we live in an America capable of tremendous acts of humanity and terrible acts of cruelty. Over the last week we've seen Americans helping one and other in sometimes heroic and sometimes simple ways. From dramatic boat rescues to passing out blankets at shelters, these acts of humanity may well give the American horror story that is the hurricane Harvey aftermath a less than tragic ending.

At the same time, amidst these selfless acts of humanity lives a fear. Swayed by the government crackdown on illegal immigrants, some undocumented persons in the hurricane Harvey flood zone chose to leave themselves in harms way versus trust they would not be imprisoned and deported by seeking help. The depth of this fear prompted Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner to say, "If someone comes and they require help and then for some reason [someone] tries to deport them, I will represent them myself."

It's unimaginable that inside the United States borders there exists an atmosphere where people refuse to seek help during a natural disaster of epic scale out of fear of the state. Even the idea sounds like the storyline from a Robert Ludlum book written 40 years ago and set behind the Iron Curtain. Yet, this story is non-fiction and is the present day result of President Trump's divisive policy on immigration.

As the flood waters in Houston recede, Trump's ugly politics around race and immigration has begun to seep back onto the national stage. Trump has bookended the storm with acts of cruelty metaphorically as damaging to America as Harvey was physically. Hours before the storm hit, Trump issued a presidential pardon to former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a man he called a patriot. The list of atrocities for which Arpaio is responsible would likely make him a war criminal anywhere outside the United States. Hardly a patriot.

Now, post Harvey, Trump is likely to end the Obama era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA program that shields children of undocumented immigrants from deportation. Ending the so called "Dreamers" program has serious economic consequences that could cost hundreds of thousands of jobs. On a human scale, the damage doesn't have a price tag. Many Dreamers came here as small children. The United States is the only country they've ever known. Now that country wants to take away their livelihood and deport them to completely foreign land.

The cruelty embodied in Trump immigration policies is near unimaginable. Ending DACA solves nothing. The move is punitive and is about as effective as the ridiculous idea of a border wall in addressing illegal immigration. It's little more than a nod to Trump's base of very fine people that seem to support a misguided, unattainable, and undesirable quest to bleach America white.

It is a true American horror story.