TRUMP'S JULY 4 SPECTACLE KEEPS GETTING MORE AND MORE ABSURD

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/02/politics/donald-trump-july-4/index.html


And heaven help me, but I can't help hoping that -- without anyone's being injured-- it somehow ends up a total and complete disaster.

RealLindaL wrote:https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/02/politics/donald-trump-july-4/index.html


And heaven help me, but I can't help hoping that -- without anyone's being injured-- it somehow ends up a total and complete disaster.

Does anyone remember Anwar Sadat?

Just remember, those jets you see flying (if you're obliging enough to actually watch this glorified campaign stop, which I urge you not to) cost around $30,000 apiece for an hour's flying time... and they'll have to fly for several hours just to do that fly-over. And those tanks are going to tear up the streets in D.C. so there's likely going to have to be a lot of re-paving done. Not to mention the military personnel who are going to have to give up vacation time with their families to serve Trump's vanity.

It's all horseshit. The 4th is supposed to be for everyone to celebrate, but Trump has to wreck it by making it all about himself and his cult... who are the only ones he's trying to do anything for.

I know the times we live in are divisive, and no matter what they do, some people are gonna hate Dubya and some people are gonna hate Obama, etc., but Trump's the first president I've ever seen that actually wants that division and courts it. This parade is intended to be nothing but an ego trip for Donald and a fuck-you-I-can-do-what-I-want-ha-ha to everyone who isn't in his cult. Then they'll cry because we're so mean for not liking 'em.

zsomething wrote:Just remember, those jets you see flying (if you're obliging enough to actually watch this glorified campaign stop, which I urge you not to) cost around $30,000 apiece for an hour's flying time... and they'll have to fly for several hours just to do that fly-over.   And those tanks are going to tear up the streets in D.C. so there's likely going to have to be a lot of re-paving done.  Not to mention the military personnel who are going to have to give up vacation time with their families to serve Trump's vanity.

It's all horseshit.  The 4th is supposed to be for everyone to celebrate, but Trump has to wreck it by making it all about himself and his cult... who are the only ones he's trying to do anything for.  

I know the times we live in are divisive, and no matter what they do, some people are gonna hate Dubya and some people are gonna hate Obama, etc., but Trump's the first president I've ever seen that actually wants that division and courts it.  This parade is intended to be nothing but an ego trip for Donald and a fuck-you-I-can-do-what-I-want-ha-ha to everyone who isn't in his cult.   Then they'll cry because we're so mean for not liking 'em.

I've worked in D.C. and there is not a lot you can do to make the streets much worse. Be that as it may the tracked vehicles (tanks) will be on static display after being moved into position by trucks. So no, they will not be "tearing up the streets".

Is the "celebration" worth the cost? Probably not but there are thousands who will probably get a kick out of it including many foreign tourists who bring a butt load of money to D.C. Who cares???? Sounds like just another thing for certain people to whine about.

gatorfan wrote:

zsomething wrote:Just remember, those jets you see flying (if you're obliging enough to actually watch this glorified campaign stop, which I urge you not to) cost around $30,000 apiece for an hour's flying time... and they'll have to fly for several hours just to do that fly-over.   And those tanks are going to tear up the streets in D.C. so there's likely going to have to be a lot of re-paving done.  Not to mention the military personnel who are going to have to give up vacation time with their families to serve Trump's vanity.

It's all horseshit.  The 4th is supposed to be for everyone to celebrate, but Trump has to wreck it by making it all about himself and his cult... who are the only ones he's trying to do anything for.  

I know the times we live in are divisive, and no matter what they do, some people are gonna hate Dubya and some people are gonna hate Obama, etc., but Trump's the first president I've ever seen that actually wants that division and courts it.  This parade is intended to be nothing but an ego trip for Donald and a fuck-you-I-can-do-what-I-want-ha-ha to everyone who isn't in his cult.   Then they'll cry because we're so mean for not liking 'em.

I've worked in D.C. and there is not a lot you can do to make the streets much worse. Be that as it may the tracked vehicles (tanks) will be on static display after being moved into position by trucks. So no, they will not be "tearing up the streets".

Is the "celebration" worth the cost? Probably not but there are thousands who will probably get a kick out of it including many foreign tourists who bring a butt load of money to D.C. Who cares???? Sounds like just another thing for certain people to whine about.

It's pretty damn obvious who DOESN'T CARE, sock boy.

Floridatexan wrote:

gatorfan wrote:

zsomething wrote:Just remember, those jets you see flying (if you're obliging enough to actually watch this glorified campaign stop, which I urge you not to) cost around $30,000 apiece for an hour's flying time... and they'll have to fly for several hours just to do that fly-over.   And those tanks are going to tear up the streets in D.C. so there's likely going to have to be a lot of re-paving done.  Not to mention the military personnel who are going to have to give up vacation time with their families to serve Trump's vanity.

It's all horseshit.  The 4th is supposed to be for everyone to celebrate, but Trump has to wreck it by making it all about himself and his cult... who are the only ones he's trying to do anything for.  

I know the times we live in are divisive, and no matter what they do, some people are gonna hate Dubya and some people are gonna hate Obama, etc., but Trump's the first president I've ever seen that actually wants that division and courts it.  This parade is intended to be nothing but an ego trip for Donald and a fuck-you-I-can-do-what-I-want-ha-ha to everyone who isn't in his cult.   Then they'll cry because we're so mean for not liking 'em.

I've worked in D.C. and there is not a lot you can do to make the streets much worse. Be that as it may the tracked vehicles (tanks) will be on static display after being moved into position by trucks. So no, they will not be "tearing up the streets".

Is the "celebration" worth the cost? Probably not but there are thousands who will probably get a kick out of it including many foreign tourists who bring a butt load of money to D.C. Who cares???? Sounds like just another thing for certain people to whine about.

It's pretty damn obvious who DOESN'T CARE, sock boy.

If you are referring to me you are right for once in your terribly misguided life you uneducated potato.

gatorfan wrote:

I've worked in D.C. and there is not a lot you can do to make the streets much worse. Be that as it may the tracked vehicles (tanks) will be on static display after being moved into position by trucks. So no, they will not be "tearing up the streets".

Well, if that's true, then, good.

Is the "celebration" worth the cost? Probably not but there are thousands who will probably get a kick out of it including many foreign tourists who bring a butt load of money to D.C. Who cares???? Sounds like just another thing for certain people to whine about.

I don't think a lot of foreign tourists are going to care much about our 4th, but, who knows? Somehow I doubt it'll break even.

In any case, it's kind of a whole-lot-sick to be pouring money into spectacles of shit when they're simultaneously claiming they don't have enough money for soap and toothpaste for people seeking sanctuary. And while they're neglecting veteran's care, and a lot of other things the money could be better spent on than Trump's vanity.

Certain people will excuse any fucking thing, though. Train 'em in church and then you just can't pry 'em off of stupid.

gatorfan wrote:

Floridatexan wrote:

gatorfan wrote:

zsomething wrote:Just remember, those jets you see flying (if you're obliging enough to actually watch this glorified campaign stop, which I urge you not to) cost around $30,000 apiece for an hour's flying time... and they'll have to fly for several hours just to do that fly-over.   And those tanks are going to tear up the streets in D.C. so there's likely going to have to be a lot of re-paving done.  Not to mention the military personnel who are going to have to give up vacation time with their families to serve Trump's vanity.

It's all horseshit.  The 4th is supposed to be for everyone to celebrate, but Trump has to wreck it by making it all about himself and his cult... who are the only ones he's trying to do anything for.  

I know the times we live in are divisive, and no matter what they do, some people are gonna hate Dubya and some people are gonna hate Obama, etc., but Trump's the first president I've ever seen that actually wants that division and courts it.  This parade is intended to be nothing but an ego trip for Donald and a fuck-you-I-can-do-what-I-want-ha-ha to everyone who isn't in his cult.   Then they'll cry because we're so mean for not liking 'em.

I've worked in D.C. and there is not a lot you can do to make the streets much worse. Be that as it may the tracked vehicles (tanks) will be on static display after being moved into position by trucks. So no, they will not be "tearing up the streets".

Is the "celebration" worth the cost? Probably not but there are thousands who will probably get a kick out of it including many foreign tourists who bring a butt load of money to D.C. Who cares???? Sounds like just another thing for certain people to whine about.

It's pretty damn obvious who DOESN'T CARE, sock boy.

If you are referring to me you are right for once in your terribly misguided life you uneducated potato.

TOP. OF. MY. CLASS.

As far as the tanks being static displays, that's apparently in defiance of Mousse-alini's wishes:

https://twitter.com/smotus/status/1146461895047569408

zsomething wrote:As far as the tanks being static displays, that's apparently in defiance of Mousse-alini's wishes:

https://twitter.com/smotus/status/1146461895047569408

Who knows for sure? You left out this part: "Very important perspective on Trump’s tank display, from a friend of a friend in the military".

Who in the military? SGT Hucklebury from the Office of Latrine Affairs?

I tend to take twitter feeds with a pound of salt...besides even if true, it wouldn't be the first time the Military has talked some sense into the Trumpet. People may not realize this but I'd wager 99.9% of the military doesn't like conflict or doing stupid stuff..

gatorfan wrote:

zsomething wrote:As far as the tanks being static displays, that's apparently in defiance of Mousse-alini's wishes:

https://twitter.com/smotus/status/1146461895047569408

Who knows for sure? You left out this part: "Very important perspective on Trump’s tank display, from a friend of a friend in the military".

Who in the military? SGT Hucklebury from the Office of Latrine Affairs?

I tend to take twitter feeds with a pound of salt...besides even if true, it wouldn't be the first time the Military has talked some sense into the Trumpet. People may not realize this but I'd wager 99.9% of the military doesn't like conflict or doing stupid stuff..

Oh, I'm not taking it as gospel, by any means. But ya gotta admit, there is a ring of truth to it, given Trump's demeanor and vaingloriousness.

Also, remember it's not a political rally... but tickets are only being handed out to Republicans, no Democrats. But it's not a political rally, nope, nah-ah.

What's the over-and-under on whether or not Donnie can get through his 20 minute speech without saying anything partisan? You know he's just gonna have to. Anybody who watches it, please let me know, 'cuz unless I badly disappoint myself, I'm going to be bunkered down reading as many books as I can fit into four days...

I hope everyone in DC got a few of these from Amazon.

Happy 4th

They are predicting another quake in California any minute now. I'm pretty sure the Donald is cursing God right now for interfering in the news coverage of his July 4th party.
Got a call from my bro in LA earlier today. He lives in an area called Rosemead, and he said they did not feel the quake there at all.
But what happens if a truly major, major quake happens at 6:30 PM ET tonight, right in the middle of Trump's speech? Will Fox cover the speech or the quake? Will CNN cover the speech at all?
CNN is pretty much ignoring the festivities in DC right now and focusing on the disaster.
It's a curious thing to think about.

Bone spur was still pushing the space force.

"Our revolutionary army took over the airports"  If Obama said that this 1% birther bastard and the republican fake press would lynch him.

In that clip, Trump also spoke of "Cornwallis OF Yorktown," instead of AT Yorktown - as though it were Cornwallis' native locale. STUPID.

And people deride Biden's gaffes.

Good grief.

But if this speech was (as it obviously was) written by others, maybe someone threw in the "airports" thing as a clandestine effort to sabotage the speech. (I know, I know, but one can always hope we have friends on the inside. lol)

Sal wrote:

Donald Trump’s “Inoffensive” War on Reality

By Masha Gessen 12:32 P.M.

Donald Trump’s Fourth of July address was most remarkable for the things it did not contain. Immediately afterward, commentators noted that Trump didn’t use the opportunity to attack the Democratic Party, to issue explicit campaign slogans, or, it would appear, make any impromptu additions (with the possible exception of the claim that American troops commandeered enemy airports during the Revolutionary War). The President was so disciplined on the occasion of the republic’s two hundred and forty-third birthday that Vox called his speech “inoffensive.” Slate gave the speech credit for being “not a complete authoritarian nightmare.” The Times noted that Trump called for unity, in a gesture uncharacteristic of his “divisive presidency.” The word “tame” popped up in different outlets, including Talking Points Memo, which concluded that, thanks to the President not going off script, “the whole thing was pretty standard.”

Campaign slogans and glaring Trumpisms were not the only things absent from the speech. Immigrants were missing. Trump’s most recent predecessors presided over Fourth of July naturalization ceremonies. A rhetorical link between the holiday and immigration has long seemed unbreakable. During his last Independence Day as President, Bill Clinton chose to speak in New York Harbor, against the backdrop of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. “Perhaps more than any other nation in all history, we have drawn our strength and spirit from people from other lands,” he said. “On this Fourth of July, standing in the shadow of Lady Liberty, we must resolve never to close the golden door behind us, and always not only to welcome people to our borders, but to welcome people into our hearts.” In a much-criticized series of Independence Day events in 1986, President Reagan lit the torch of the Statue of Liberty and noted the swearing in of twenty-seven thousand new citizens across the country. He also referred to the “immigrant story” of his then new Supreme Court nominee, Antonin Scalia.

That immigrant story is, of course, the story the Trump Administration has demonstratively abandoned. Last year, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services dropped the phrase “nation of immigrants” from its mission statement. That phrase, like most foundational myths and more than some, obscures much of the country’s history: the first immigrants would more accurately be described as settler colonialists, who brought Africans here as slaves. But this was not why the Trump Administration deleted the phrase. Trump has retired the myth of America as a nation of immigrants because he staked his election campaign and his legitimacy as president on the demonization of immigrants—and on mobilizing Americans for a war against immigrants.

Trump’s American story is the story of struggle, “the epic tale of a great nation whose people have risked everything for what they know is right,” as he said in the address. Over the course of forty-seven minutes, Trump enumerated American military conquests and the branches of the U.S. armed forces. A quick listing of civilian achievement—medical discoveries, cultural accomplishments, civil-rights advancements, and space exploration—was thrown in at the beginning of the speech, but the master narrative Trump proposed was one of wars and victories, punctuated by the roar of airplane engines for flyovers and the songs of each armed-forces branch.

The narrative was also one of fear. Trump spoke like the leader of a country under siege. The President and the people who joined him onstage were in a fortress of their own, a clear protective enclosure that, streaked with rain, made for an incongruously melancholy sight, as though we were watching them through a veil of tears.

Trump extolled the strength and battle-readiness of American troops but named no current threat. He promised only to strike fear into the hearts of America’s enemies. But his audience knows who the enemy is. North Korea or China may go from enemy to partner to friend on a whim, but there is one enemy whom Trump has consistently, obsessively described as an existential threat: the immigrant.

Two days before the July 4th celebration, the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General issued an urgent report on the conditions in migrant detention facilities in the Rio Grande Valley. Photographs in the report showed children and adults in crowded cages. Other pictures showed people in extremely crowded holding rooms raising up signs in windows, apparently attempting to attract the attention of government inspectors. The document reported “serious overcrowding” and prolonged detention that violated federal guidelines. Children had no access to showers and hadn’t been provided with hot meals. At one facility, the report said, adults were held in standing-room-only conditions. “Most single adults had not had a shower . . . despite several being held for as long as a month,” the report said. A diet of bologna sandwiches had made some of the detainees sick. The report left no doubt that “concentration camps” was an accurate term for the facilities it described. On the eve of Independence Day, the media reported the story, which looked obscene among other stories. How could we read, write, or talk about anything else?

The President responded in a series of tweets in which he blamed the Democrats and the immigrants themselves. “If Illegal Immigrants are unhappy with the conditions in the quickly built or refitted detentions centers, just tell them not to come. All problems solved!” he tweeted. Most of Trump’s tweeting day, though, was spent on other issues: railing against the Supreme Court’s decision not to allow a citizenship question on the census, for example, and hyping expectations for his Fourth of July extravaganza. In the Trumpian universe, immigrants pose a superhuman threat but are themselves of subhuman significance. Through his tweets, his attacks on the media, and his lying, Trump has been waging a battle to define reality to the exclusion of documented facts. In Trump’s reality, it’s not just that the Administration refuses to be held accountable for running concentration camps—it’s that the camps, and the suffering in them, do not exist.

VIDEO FROM THE NEW YORKER
The Company Offering Detained Migrants Freedom—at a Price

The July 4th celebration, inspired by Trump’s visit to France during Bastille Day festivities in 2017 and informed by his affinity for the sabre-rattling tyrants of the world, was a high point in the President’s battle to command reality. With the possible exception of rain streaks, the pictures from the rally are his image of himself and the country. Following his speech, Trump kept retweeting images of his own limo leaving the White House, of fighter jets flying, of the red stage and a strange cross-like formation of red elevated platforms, and of himself speaking. In these pictures, Trump is the supreme ruler of the mightiest military empire in the history of the world and his people are with him in the public square. Nothing else exists.

A common maxim of the Trump era has it that two Americas exist, each with its own media and consequently limited view of the world. In fact, though, in one America there is only Trump, his tanks and planes and ships. In the America that a majority of us inhabit, however, there are concentration camps—and Trump with his flyovers. In this America, it is increasingly clear that concentration camps and the public spectacle of mobilization are not in contradiction: one is, in fact, a consequence of the other. It is also clear that the omissions of Trump’s speech are not accidental. In addition to not mentioning immigrants, Trump didn’t mention the complexity of the American project. Until two and a half years ago, Republican and Democratic Presidents regularly reminded the American public that this country’s democracy is a work in progress, that its guiding principles are a set of abstract ideals that continue to be reinterpreted.

“This union of corrected wrongs and expanded rights has brought the blessings of liberty to the two hundred and fifteen million Americans, but the struggle for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is never truly won,” President Gerald Ford said on July 4, 1976. “Each generation of Americans, indeed of all humanity, must strive to achieve these aspirations anew. Liberty is a living flame to be fed, not dead ashes to be revered, even in a Bicentennial Year. It is fitting that we ask ourselves hard questions even on a glorious day like today. Are the institutions under which we live working the way they should? Are the foundations laid in 1776 and 1789 still strong enough and sound enough to resist the tremors of our times? Are our God-given rights secure, our hard-won liberties protected?”

Forty years later, in a much more casual celebration on the White House lawn, President Barack Obama said, “On a day like this, we celebrate, we have fun, we marvel at everything that’s been done before, but we also have to recommit ourselves to making sure that everybody in this country is free; that everybody has opportunity; that everybody gets a fair shot; that we look after all of our veterans when they come home; that we look after our military families and give them a fair shake; that every child has a good education.”

In less than three years, as our senses were dulled by the crudeness of the tweets, the speed of the news cycle, the blatant quality of the lies, and the brutality of official rhetoric, Trump has reframed America, stripping it of its ideals, dumbing it down, and reducing it to a nation at war against people who want to join it. These days, that is what passes for “inoffensive,” “tame,” and “standard.”

https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/donald-trumps-inoffensive-war-on-reality?utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_source=nl&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=TNY_Daily_070519&utm_medium=email&bxid=5be9d0392ddf9c72dc199b8e&cndid=14244234&esrc=&utm_term=TNY_Daily


Masha Gessen, a staff writer at The New Yorker, is the author of ten books, including, most recently, “The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia,” which won the National Book Award in 2017.Read more »
More:Fourth of JulyDonald TrumpImmigration

Trump blames the airports gaffe on the teleprompter:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/05/politics/revolutionary-war-airport-trump/index.html

Even though I tried to do nothing over the past four days except read (and was pretty successful -- got almost six books read and I think I even got some of my attention-span back, just in time to come back to work and have the computer kill it all over again), I did manage to catch this bit of Trump's speech:




I literally laughed so hard I almost threw up. I couldn't stop. It was perfect. First, his delivery is just pitiful. Where he trails off about the "air" or whatever is a total fake-out. Then the thing about the airports. And, finally, they took Fort McHenry... which wasn't even built until the 1790's and was part of the war of 1812, not the Revolutionary War. There was so much absolute idiocy on display there that I have to think that whoever wrote that for him hates his guts and wanted him to make an idiot of himself. Teleprompter problems wouldn't cover that Fort McHenry thing.

All in all, it was the best episode of Drunk History ever!

Even funnier is the crowd behind him just sitting there like a bunch of cows, not even seeming to realize the absurdity this fool is babbling. They don't know anything, they just take it in and belieeeeeve.