Trump is no genius, but hes smart at playing dumb

From his days as a tabloid staple to his scandal-ridden campaign, Donald Trump operated under the rubric that there is no such thing as bad publicity. As long as the focus was on him – and as long as a ruthless team of NDA-granting lawyers could help him buttress the blows – all attention was welcome. Mr. Trump could not be shamed, for he had no shame; he could not lose, because he'd rewrite the rules. Lies were always truths for Donald Trump.

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But Fire and Fury is also an incomplete portrayal – and here is why the book is useful to Mr. Trump. The book begins with a bold and implausible claim: that Mr. Trump never wanted to win. It is followed by a secondary claim: Mr. Trump, not expecting to win, wandered haplessly into the White House as a political neophyte. He is presented as clueless instead of corrupt, as are the staffers surrounding him.

This is simply false: Donald Trump sought the presidency for 30 years, flirting with a run or running in 1988, 2000, 2012 and 2016. His campaign team consisted of seasoned GOP operatives like Roger Stone and Paul Manafort, both of whom are implicated in the Russia probe. Mr. Trump very likely wanted to win, and then keep winning – which means ruling like a king instead of a president, a goal he hasn't quite achieved. Mr. Wolff omits the president's political history as well as his abuses of power in office: there is nothing about his slick violations of the emoluments clause, for example, or even his infamous confession of obstruction of justice to Lester Holt.

The takeaway, instead, is that Donald Trump is a moron. While this may be true in terms of his geopolitical acumen, it is not the full picture. He may be purposefully ignorant of policy and emotionally volatile, but he understands power and spin, and his 40-year history of dodging criminal prosecution and manipulating the media testifies to a certain kind of skill. It is not the kind of skill that Mr. Trump – or apparently Michael Wolff – wants highlighted.

The "Trump is too much of a neophyte to have knowingly committed a crime" narrative is a favourite of the GOP, and they have been spouting it since the spring. Fire and Fury gives it renewed life, as do Trump's tweets on Saturday, in which he proclaimed in an ostentatiously moronic way that he's not a moron. As evidence mounts in the Mueller probe, Mr. Trump seems to be casting himself as a dupe instead of a deceiver.


https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/trump-is-no-genius-but-hes-smart-at-playing-dumb/article37518954

Trump getting booed outside stadium

"Farm country is god's country" -- Donald Trump, 1/8/18

Trump in 1999. Oprah would have been his first choice for VP

Steve Bannon has a record of lying, and his primary interest is Steve Bannon.

Mitt Romney (Rmoney) is an asshole...

"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it -- that that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what. ... These are people who pay no income tax. ... [M]y job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

Donald Trump becomes the first president in 40 years not to visit Canada in his first year

At midnight Sunday, Donald Trump will become the first U.S. president since Jimmy Carter not to visit Canada in his first calendar year in office, though former diplomats said they would not make too much of Trump’s absence.

WASHINGTON—Ronald Reagan made his first presidential trip to Canada four months into his term.

George H.W. Bush visited Canada just three weeks into his term.

For Bill Clinton, it was two-and-a-half months. For George W. Bush, it was three months. And for Barack Obama, it was one month.

Donald Trump? To be determined.

With 2017 about to end, Trump is set to become the first U.S. president in 40 years, since Jimmy Carter, not to visit Canada in his first calendar year in office.

For four of the six presidents who preceded Trump — Obama, Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Reagan — Canada was the very first foreign destination. For Trump, it will be, at earliest, the 15th, and probably lower.

Trump is likely to attend the G7 summit in Quebec in June. There are no current plans for him to come earlier, though Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has visited Trump twice at the White House, has issued invitations.

https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2017/12/30/donald-trump-becomes-the-first-president-in-40-years-not-to-visit-canada-in-his-first-year.html

The man suspected of shooting several Douglas County Sheriff's deputies, killing one...

The man suspected of shooting several Douglas County Sheriff's deputies, killing one, had a Facebook page filled with images associated with the alt-right.

https://twitter.com/KyleClark/status/947693230904115201