"Analysis: What Trump leaves unspoken carries consequences" by Nancy Benac Associated Press, July 1, 2020
WASHINGTON — President Trump seems to rarely leave a thought unspoken.
Of late, though, it is increasingly clear there are things Trump won’t say — and they are tied to the most important issues of his presidency.
Among them:
■Knock it off, Russia.
■Wear a mask, Americans.
■Systemic racism must end.
None of the above are particularly bold or controversial messages.
Modern American presidents of both parties have often sounded off against Russian aggression. They have amplified the advice of medical experts in public health emergencies like the coronavirus. They have used the bully pulpit of the presidency to ask Americans to summon their better angels in confronting racism, but such words do not come easily to Trump — and his silence emboldens those who reject these messages and contributes to the cascading crises that now engulf the White House and have put his reelection in peril.
Remember when Obama wouldn't say Islamic terrorism?
As for the bully pulpit appeal to our better angels, the last I remember Bush used it to lie us into an invasion and occupation as all as his misbegotten GWOT.
“People now require a serious man with a serious message and don’t feel like they have it,” says Calvin Jillson, a presidential historian at Southern Methodist University.
What I don't take seriously is the daily spew from the pre$$.
For his part, Trump has responded to the chaos surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, the unrest over racial injustice, and more recent questions about his stance toward Russia by insisting that the “silent majority” of Americans are with him. There are surely those who endorse his sentiments and trust his instincts as Trump plays to his most loyal base supporters, but revelations this week that the president has long known about allegations that Russia secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing American troops in Afghanistan represent a fresh source of tumult for Trump when he can least afford it.
On Wednesday, Trump again declined to fault Russia, dismissing the bounty story as “Fake News.”
The fact that the pre$$ is flogging it now after they ran with Bolton for a week (the source of this latest leak, no doubt) exposes it as just that, a ginned-up concoction in the endless Mueller-Ukraine mode. It truly makes one LOL.
As for his silent majority, I don't know how silent I am and I certainly wouldn't categorize myself as a loyal supporter. That being said, when I consider the alternative total rule by Demorats, I shudder. I would rather stick with the devil I know, even if it kills me.
The president’s tendency to go easy on Russia in his public pronouncements has long been a source of dismay and puzzlement to many in Washington and beyond, perhaps most notably that jaw-dropping moment at a 2018 summit in Helsinki when he sided with Vladimir Putin over US intelligence agencies on the question of whether Russia had interfered in the 2016 US elections.
Sort of like being "soft on Communism?"
How near we have come these many years.
Now, legislators, diplomats, and others are openly questioning why Trump is refusing to speak out clearly against Russian aggression given the latest explosive allegations.
Because that is exactly what they are, allegations printed in a lying, war-promoting piece of slime that has had it out for this President since before his election. The above is another piece of evidence of the coup that swirls all around him in the lead-up to what I suspect will be a stolen election.
As for Russian aggression, where is that exactly?
The mop-up job in Syria?
The stalemate in the Ukraine?
I mean, I rarely read about those countries in my Globe anymore so I wouldn't have a clue what is going on; however, if the Russians were steamrolling I'm sure they would be reporting that and calling us to arms!
So what is next, another impeachment effort?
Representative Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, found it “inexplicable, in light of these very public allegations, that the president hasn’t come before the country and assured the American people that he will get to the bottom of whether Russians are putting a bounty on the heads of American troops.”
There is someone who should be ashamed of himself.
The White House stresses that the bounty allegations are unverified, and the president can fairly point to a series of administration actions over the last three years to punish Russia for malign behavior, but Trump’s own words — and lack thereof at key moments — have sent a far more conciliatory message to Moscow.
He wants peace?
Trump in recent months has been angling to welcome Russia back into the Group of Seven industrialized nations, which gave Putin the boot after Moscow seized control of Crimea in 2014, and this week, rather than address the substance of the bounty allegations, Trump chose to harangue the media for what he calls fabrications designed to “make Republicans look bad.”
HOW DARE HE, and how dare the AP imply that Russia "seized control" of Crimea (as if they were like Israel) after the Crimeans voted to secede from the Ukraine after the 2014 Obama-coup from which Biden and Son benefited and petitioned to join the Russian Federation, which accepted.
You know, if you are going to pen and print a report, try to get the goddamn facts right and not issue a distortion, 'kay?
Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, thinks Trump’s aversion to talking about Russia stems in part from his sensitivity about whether Moscow’s interference in the 2016 election helped get him elected. “He seems to think when Russia is raised, automatically it means someone is going to use it to say that they elected him,” she said. Jamieson suspects Trump avoids talking about racism because he thinks it “signals that you are sympathetic to the left.”
Is that how they listen, follow it up with an even bigger whopper?
Wow!
As for face masks, Trump has bluntly said they’re not for him and that other people can make their own choices. He refuses to wear one in public and has speculated that some people wear masks to show they don’t like him. He’s urged people to follow local guidelines, but his own campaign has flouted them. It all undercuts health officials’ efforts to promote use of a critical weapon in stopping the spread of the coronavirus.
You can stop with the fear-mongering war terminology, and STAND YOUR GROUND like a Stonewall, Mr. President!
With virus cases now surging in Sun Belt states and reported US deaths from the virus nearing 130,000, GOP officials are increasingly speaking out about the importance of masks, but Trump shows no signs of budging — no matter that his allies see them as the only way to avoid another economic shutdown, an even worse wave of cases and a GOP election rout.
Remember when it used to be about deaths and not crap tests confirming phantom cases?
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, says there should “no stigma” to wearing one. Utah Governor Gary Herbert urged Trump and Vice President Mike Pence to issue a national call to wear them. Those are words that, to many, should have been easy ones for the president to utter long ago.
If they put on a mask and submit they might as well withdraw from the election.
Lawrence Gostin, a public health expert at Georgetown University, said Trump’s failure to promote mask usage is having devastating consequences in the US. “I have become increasingly convinced if there is one thing that has separated countries that have done well and those that have done really poorly, it’s inconsistent messaging where you’ve lost the confidence of the population,’’ Gostin said.
He is describing the condition of the American ma$$ media and pre$$ there as well as masking a lie.
The coronavirus surge has played out alongside the national reckoning over racial injustice triggered by the death of George Floyd and other Blacks killed by police. Trump has offered little balm to those confronting the pain of racism, and so Trump has come down squarely on the side of “law and order,” been quick to defend law enforcement and painted protesters with a broad brush that blurs the distinction between peaceful demonstrators and those doing violence.....
I will get to that momentarily, but I now see why they call it anal-ysis. That's from where the projected spew is coming.
--more--"
Related:
"There is little evidence that the protests that erupted after George Floyd’s death caused a significant increase in US coronavirus infections, according to public health experts. If the protests had driven an explosion in cases, experts say, the jumps would have started to become apparent within two weeks — and perhaps as early as five days, but that didn’t happen in many cities with the largest protests, including New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Washington, D.C. In what’s considered the first systematic look at the question, a team of economists determined that only 1 of 13 cities involved in the earliest wave of protests after Memorial Day had an increase that would fit the pattern. It was Phoenix, where experts say cases and hospitalizations surged after a decision by Governor Doug Ducey to end Arizona’s stay-at-home order on May 15 and to ease restrictions on businesses. Arizona residents who were cooped up for six weeks flooded Phoenix-area bar districts, ignoring social distancing guidelines. In many cities, the protests actually seemed to lead to a net increase in social distancing, as more people who did not protest decided to stay off the streets, said that study’s lead author, Dhaval Dave of Bentley University."
Of course not!
That's the $cience of prote$t.
Some are approved, and some are not, as the virus is very discriminatory in who it attacks -- even thought the pre$$ tells us minorities suffer three times as much as a Trump rally full of whites.
Truth be told, that's when the entire COVID narrative fell apart along with whatever shred of credibility the $cienti$ts may have had.
"The novel coronavirus continues to pummel Arizona, where health officials on Wednesday reported record highs in new infections, deaths, and virus-related hospitalizations. The state reported 4,877 new confirmed cases, eclipsing its prior daily record, set 24 hours earlier. Eighty-eight more people died of the virus, the highest daily death toll yet, bringing the state’s fatalities to 1,720. Intensive care unit beds in state hospitals were filling quickly, reaching 89 percent capacity, according to the health department. Nearly 2,900 people were hospitalized for the virus, up from 2,800 Tuesday. The grim new data came as Vice President Mike Pence traveled to Phoenix to meet with Governor Doug Ducey to discuss Arizona’s response to the outbreak. Pence had delayed the meeting by a day and called off a planned campaign rally in Tucson amid the surge in infections."
COVID shadows them at every turn!
"President Trump’s July 4th celebration in Washington will feature one of the largest fireworks displays ever, officials said Wednesday, and as many as 300,000 face masks will be given away to those who come to the National Mall, although they won’t be required to wear them. The Trump administration’s Salute to America comes as Americans are dealing with surging cases of COVID-19 and a resulting recession and wave of unemployment. Trump has been criticized by some for pushing to go ahead with large campaign rallies and other public gatherings, such as this weekend’s events, despite the increased risk of infection. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said authorities planned to have 300,000 face coverings on hand to give away at the National Mall. The Interior Department said visitors would be encouraged to wear masks and keep a 6-foot distance from one another. It did not indicate that would be mandatory, despite the recommendations of health officials."
It's going to be a “one-of-a-kind air show” that wastes fuel as the government gobbles up the drugs that will fight it.
I guess the pre$$ no longer cares that they look like a hypocritical band of agenda-pushing liars.
Time to put a muzzle on them.
Also see:
Huge vote-by-mail expansion because of virus leaves clerks in Mass. girding for onslaught
Will just have to throw a whole bunch away then, huh?
Trump calls ‘Black Lives Matter’ mural outside NYC’s Trump Tower a ‘symbol of hate’
Just showing us who he is, right?
Trump vows to veto $740 billion defense bill if Confederate-named military bases are renamed
Chuck Schumer is ‘‘daring him to veto the bill,’’ to reporters because the CIA has six ways from Sunday to get at you, right, Chuck?
Here is one of them:
"White House dismisses reports of bounties, but is silent on Russia" by Michael Crowley and Eric Schmitt New York Times, July 1, 2020
First President Trump denied knowing about it. Then he called it a possible “hoax.” Next, the White House attacked the news media, and now an unnamed intelligence official is to blame.
Another damnable whi$tleblower?
The one thing Trump and his top officials have not done is address the substance of intelligence reports that Russia paid bounties to Taliban-affiliated fighters to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan or what they might do in response.
I have. It is crap based on tortured confessions.
Nor has the White House — amid the denials, qualifications, and accusations — publicly discussed what that intelligence could mean for Trump’s efforts to thaw relations with Russia and court President Vladimir Putin, despite Moscow’s continued aggression toward the United States and its allies.
I don't even want to comment over this rank rot anymore. You know what it is when you see it.
On Wednesday, Trump repeated his claim that he was “never briefed” about the intelligence, which his aides called unverified, but which many US intelligence officials deemed credible. Officials say it appeared in the president’s daily written intelligence briefing in late February. Writing on Twitter, Trump called stories about the bounties “a made up Fake News Media Hoax started to slander me & the Republican Party.”
His national security adviser, Robert C. O’Brien, said on Fox News that Trump’s CIA briefer, the person who delivers an in-person briefing to him every few days, had not brought it to his attention. The administration has not publicly acknowledged that the information was provided to Trump in his written briefing and has not responded to questions about whether they were saying he simply chose not to read it.
O’Brien did not name the CIA briefer but said she was “an outstanding officer.” He added, “I certainly support her decision.” The person who usually handles that job is Beth Sanner, a CIA analyst with three decades of experience. Sanner is said to have a good relationship with Trump, but the White House has cited her briefings before when deflecting responsibility for a crisis.
Did the New York Times just OUT a CIA EMPLOYEE like the BUSH ADMINISTRATION OUTED Valerie Plame?
If so, isn't that a CRIME?
Former officials say that unlike his predecessors, Trump often does not read the President’s Daily Brief, the summary prepared by the intelligence agencies, and he registers only information relayed to him orally, a fact administration officials acknowledged in a briefing for lawmakers this week.
Yeah, Bush was all over them in August 2001.
Thanks for rewriting history, NYT.
In his interview Wednesday, O’Brien repeated White House assertions that intelligence officials lacked “consensus” about the bounties, which was based on intelligence that included intercepted electronic data showing large financial transfers from Russia’s military intelligence agency to a Taliban-linked account.....
As if they would be so careless as to leave a trail for American intelligence to find.
--more--"
Related:
The theatrical method in Putin’s vote madness
That's the New York Times again, hollering kettle!
In Hong Kong, arrests and fear mark first day of new security law
I'll give you one guess as to why I didn't bother reading that (hint: it was the byline).
"The UN Security Council demanded an “immediate cessation of hostilities” in key conflicts including Syria, Yemen, Libya, South Sudan, and Congo on Wednesday to tackle COVID-19 in its first resolution on the virus. The UN’s most powerful body voted unanimously to adopt the resolution after the United States and China resolved a lengthy dispute over mentioning the World Health Organization. The resolution, sponsored by France and Tunisia, calls on all warring parties “to engage immediately in a durable humanitarian pause for at least 90 consecutive days” to enable the safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid and medical evacuations. It states that these measures do not apply to military operations against the Islamic State and Al Qaeda extremist groups and their affiliates....."
If there ever was a sliver lining to the COVID fraud..... that is not it!
The people who bring you the wars want to put a stop to them.
Oh, that's rich!
"Protesters against Africa’s first COVID-19 vaccine trial burned their face masks Wednesday, as specialists noted a worrying level of resistance and misinformation around testing on the continent. Antivaccine sentiment in Africa is “the worst I’ve ever seen,” the chief executive of the GAVI vaccine alliance, Seth Berkley, told an African Union vaccine conference last week. The trial that began last week in Johannesburg is part of one already underway in Britain of the vaccine developed at the University of Oxford. Some 2,000 volunteers in South Africa are expected to take part. The small band of demonstrators who gathered Wednesday at the University of the Witwatersrand, where the trial is based, reflect long-running fears among some in Africa over testing drugs on people who don’t understand the risks."
Better get a public-relations campaign going then for those stupid Africans, huh?
Btw, GAVI is a Bill Gates outfit. For some reason, the pre$$ saw fit to omit that. Probably why the Africans are burning their masks and protesting!
Also see:
Somali immigrant hopes his book for young adults will inspire others
To do what?
Outrage in Colombia over alleged soldier abuse of Indigenous
Detroit man gets 3 life terms for LGBTQ shooting deaths
Both Trump's fault somehow, as is this:
"A pistol-packing restaurant owner who has expressed support for a far-right conspiracy theory upset five-term Representative Scott Tipton in Colorado’s primary elections. Tipton, a Republican, became the fourth House member to lose renomination bids this year. Republican Representatives Steve King of Iowa and Denver Riggleman of Virginia, and Democrat Daniel Lipinski of Illinois have already been ousted. Tipton lost Tuesday to Lauren Boebert, the owner of a gun-friendly restaurant in a town called Rifle. Boebert said in an interview that she was “very familiar” with the QAnon conspiracy theory, but she stopped short of saying she was a follower. QAnon followers believe President Trump is fighting enemies in the “deep state” and a child sex trafficking ring run by satanic pedophiles and cannibals. The QAnon name comes from online clues purportedly posted by a high-ranking government official known as “Q.”"
I can't imagine what conspiracy theory they are talking about, but were he really fighting it people would be under arrest and in jail.
Related(?):
"NPC International Inc., the largest franchisee of Pizza Hut restaurants in the United States, filed for bankruptcy after coronavirus-related shutdowns added to competitive pressures in the restaurant industry. The closely held company sought Chapter 11 protection in the Southern District of Texas court on Wednesday. NPC, founded in 1962, operates 1,227 Pizza Hut and 393 Wendy’s stores across the US, according to court papers. Under the deal with its lenders, NPC will start trying to sell its Wendy’s restaurants in the coming days. Meanwhile, the company has until July 24 to work out a deal with certain creditors and Pizza Hut itself on how to restructure NPC’s pizza business."
Boebert will be running against Hickenlooper come the fall in what is being called a Mexican shootout.
Florida sheriff warns he may deputize all gun owners
That's one way to take back a city:
"As demonstrators marched along their private street in St. Louis, Mark and Patricia McCloskey emerged barefoot from their mansion, brandishing loaded weapons at the crowd in what many read as an act of intimidation. Video of the scene instantly went viral, at one point even being retweeted — and then deleted — by President Trump, but in an interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Tuesday night, McCloskey, a 63-year-old personal injury attorney, said they were in fact the ones being threatened. ‘‘I was a victim of a mob that came through the gate,’’ he said. ‘‘I didn’t care what color they were. I didn’t care what their motivation was. I was frightened, I was assaulted, and I was in imminent fear that they would run me over, kill me, burn my house.’’ Protesters in the crowd of about 500 people, who passed by the McCloskeys’ residence on their way to St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson’s house nearby, have disputed accounts they were being violent or threatening. One organizer said marchers were merely conducting an act of civil disobedience, and there is no proof they physically harmed the McCloskeys or their house. Yet this week, the incident has become a kind of Rorschach test for the state of the country. Conservative commentators have painted the McCloskeys as an innocent couple who were using their Second Amendment rights to stand up against an unruly mob of trespassers. Liberals, meanwhile, have labeled the couple as a pair of racists and accused them of breaking the law, a ‘‘Ken and Karen’’ riled up by the mere presence of a largely docile crowd."
They were far from docile, and why are liberals the worst hypocrites around?
Not only are they indecent, they are about naked power and will use the social media and digital advertising to shut you down.
