Mark Zaid, JFK and Trump

[Douglas Caddy]

Former Judge Resigns From the Supreme Court Bar

In a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts, he detailed why he’s lost faith in the court.

From the judge’s letter: Without trying to write a law review article, I believe that the Court majority, under your leadership, has become little more than a result-oriented extension of the right wing of the Republican Party, as vetted by the Federalist Society.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/03/judge-james-dannenberg-supreme-court-bar-roberts-letter.html?fbclid=IwAR3OCcUpZ63zNLOOsSeb9eJra1_FK3DQXboUNuIUaxpnjc9rAN_j-kSijmQ

[Douglas Caddy]

Headline in today's New York Times:

Trump Won’t Be Getting a Coronavirus Test, His Doctor Says

The statement from President Trump’s physician came just hours after Mr. Trump himself said he would be tested “fairly soon.”

 

 

[President Trump may be a Typhoid Mary, infecting anyone he comes in contact with the virus.]

[Douglas Caddy]

From the article in The American Conservative:

The president does not serve the public interest and he never intended to do that. He sees public office simply as an opportunity for his own enrichment and aggrandizement, so when the test came in the form of this outbreak he was bound to fail it because his priority has always been to serve himself. The writing has been on the wall for a long time, but many Americans didn’t want to see it. Trump has been weighed in the balance and found severely wanting.

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-writing-is-on-the-wall-for-trump/?fbclid=IwAR2977lYiTfm1lCRtGkz4dbfcPVzMS0mr0ABeUtUVKArjicRv-7xaqf6jMM

[W. Niederhut]

1 hour ago, Robert Wheeler said:

It doesn’t matter what you “feel.”

You are an adult male, in a room with mostly other adult males.

Nobody cares about your feelings.

I’m sure you can find plenty of other forums on the Internet where you can express your feelings to a sympathetic audience.

Try r/soccermoms 

I, pointedly, disagree.  Andrew's point was on target.

He was getting at the essence of Trump's toxic narcissism-- his complete lack of empathy and basic morality, which is a personality defect that Trump shares with the deranged Austrian corporal who caused the deaths of millions.

And, regarding Godwin's Law, let's not forget that Donald Trump used to keep a copy of Hitler's speeches on his nightstand, according to his ex-wife, Ivana.

As for Trump's diagnosis, modern psychiatric diagnoses (since the advent of the DSM) are usually expressed on two Axes.  Axis I describes primary mental disorders, (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar, ADHD, dementia, etc.) and Axis II describes personality (character) disorders (e.g., narcissism, sociopathy, etc.)

My impression is that Trump is an extreme case of Axis II narcissism with sociopathic traits.  I'm not convinced that he has a serious Axis I problem, other than possible ADHD, stimulant abuse, and early-stage dementia (including issues with expressive aphasia.)

Edited March 14, 2020 by W. Niederhut

[David Andrews]

I think he's taken the Coronavirus test in secret, and the results have been withheld for national security.

Edited March 14, 2020 by David Andrews

[Joe Bauer]

47 minutes ago, David Andrews said:

I think he's taken the Coronavirus test in secret, and the results have been withheld for national security.

If Trump doesn't have it after shaking hands with several others who do have it, I think we should all be eating MacDonald's food and researching it's immune system enhancement properties.

And if Mar-A-Lago gets shut down because some employee test positive...will Trump give himself a stimulus/bailout package like he just gave his Wall Street Banking buddies?

In the U.S., of the cases for which there is data, only one person who died was in their 40s, while two people died in their 50s. Seven people were in their 60s, nine people in their 70s, 13 people in their 80s and 10 people were in their 90s.

Edited March 14, 2020 by Joe Bauer

[Jeff Carter]

Here’s numbers from two states regarding the exit polls on Super Tuesday - Biden’s totals consistently overperform while Sanders’ underperform:

https://tdmsresearch.com/2020/03/04/massachusetts-2020-democratic-party-primary/

https://tdmsresearch.com/2020/03/07/texas-2020-democratic-party-primary/

There are explanations for this within the DNC rulebook, so it’s not that the Dems rigged the polls, it’s that the Party establishment intervened decisively just ahead of this vote to prevent one candidate from having a successful day. A little more of “we know best”, and a lot less of “we the people”.

But events have moved on to more serious immediate matters. If Trump hasn’t been tested it would constitute a brazen dereliction, so David Andrews is probably correct. In the movies, John Wayne or Gary Cooper do not save the day by self-isolating for two weeks, but leadership in this situation requires it. Again, unfortunately, the decision-makers in this administration are distinguished by poor decisions. Domestically, the market is crashing in conjunction with a widespread pandemic. Internationally, the US has bullied and insulted friend and foe alike, working from Trump’s theories of comparative advantage, and may now face an empire-has-no-clothes moment. The attacks on US bases in Iraq will likely gather steam now - continuing blowback from the murder of the Iranian general - as the response so far has been to conduct air strikes against the Iraq military (described in press as “Iran-backed militias”) I.e. the actual hosts of those bases. The sense that now is the time to push the Americans out will see many more casualty-events. That’s three major crises all at once.

Here’s an informed perspective on disaster-relief efforts in America -  “Coping with a Megadisaster: Katrina and Coronavirus”

https://www.patreon.com/posts/coping-with-and-34462044

[Douglas Caddy]

 

Plagued by the President https://nyti.ms/2UjyZKj

From the column:

Even surrounded by the experts, Trump continued to send mixed signals. Despite the fact that he has come in contact with people who have tested positive for the virus, he was procrastinating on getting a test, refusing to self-isolate, and still shaking hands with the corporate chieftains he had summoned.

Just like the address on Wednesday, Trump’s press conference began to fall apart in real time, as he fell into his natural role as snake-oil salesman.

Edited March 14, 2020 by Douglas Caddy

[James DiEugenio]

IMO, it cheapens the horror of what the Nazis were to compare Trump with  the Third Reich.

The goal of the Reich was to conquer the world and eliminate all Jews and gypsies.  They did conquer almost all of Europe, and through a planned mechanization of extermination, they did kill approximately six million Jews and gypsies.  It was only through Hitler's ill fated invasion of Russia and the brilliance of Zhukov, one of the great generals in history, that this came to an end.

To compare Trump's mismanagement, which may approach negligence, on corona virus does not even inhabit the same universe as the Reich. I for one do not like Nazi baiting.

BTW, Spain just went on lockdown.  

Edited March 14, 2020 by James DiEugenio

[Paul Brancato]

keeping Mar Lago open (anyone know otherwise?) is insane.

Seinfeld episode 18 season 3 is about Jerry and George getting a limo ride from the airport by George pretending to be O’Brien, a name on a sign being held by a limo driver. Turns out O’Brien is a noted Nazi author. Some of you may recall this fantastic episode. I watched it yesterday. It opens with a shot on the tarmac of a jet with Trump prominently painted on the side. Later JFK assassination and Nazi occur in the same sentence. I found out that according to an old friend of Larry David that he used to work for, presumably an asset, the CIA. Think he might have had an idea? 

[Douglas Caddy]

On a Saturday Night in Florida, a Presidential Party Became a Coronavirus Hot Zone

 From the article: WASHINGTON — The lights were low and the disco balls spinning as a cake with a fiery sparkler shooting flames into the air was brought out to a robust rendition of “Happy Birthday,” joined by President Trump. The birthday girl, Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., then pumped her fist in the air and called out, “Four more years!”

It was a lavish, festive, carefree Saturday evening at Mar-a-Lago a week ago in what in hindsight now seems like a last hurrah for the end of one era and the beginning of another. In the days since then, the presidential estate in Florida has become something of a coronavirus hot zone. At least four Mar-a-Lago guests from last weekend have said they are infected and others have put themselves into quarantine.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/on-a-saturday-night-in-florida-a-presidential-party-became-a-coronavirus-hot-zone/ar-BB11bIXN?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=UE07DHP

[Douglas Caddy]

Republican chairwoman is ill and being tested for coronavirus after visiting Mar-a-Lago: report

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/03/republican-chairwoman-is-ill-and-being-tested-for-coronavirus-after-visiting-mar-a-lago-report/

 

[Ron Bulman]

I read a bit ago that in spite of their lock down the number of cases in Italy doubled in 72 hours.

[W. Niederhut]

4 hours ago, James DiEugenio said:

IMO, it cheapens the horror of what the Nazis were to compare Trump with  the Third Reich.

The goal of the Reich was to conquer the world and eliminate all Jews and gypsies.  They did conquer almost all of Europe, and through a planned mechanization of extermination, they did kill approximately six million Jews and gypsies.  It was only through Hitler's ill fated invasion of Russia and the brilliance of Zhukov, one of the great generals in history, that this came to an end.

To compare Trump's mismanagement, which may approach negligence, on corona virus does not even inhabit the same universe as the Reich. I for one do not like Nazi baiting.

BTW, Spain just went on lockdown.  

Jim,

      With all due respect, I believe that there are a number of significant similarities between the political careers of Donald Trump and Adolph Hitler, in addition to some of the important differences that you have highlighted.

      Both men rose to power by shamelessly appealing to authoritarian, racist/nationalist sentiments and xenophobia-- scapegoating minority groups, and vowing to make the Fatherland great (i.e., white, Aryan, etc.) again.

     Both men aligned themselves, strategically, with the police, right wing military men, and the Captains of Industry (e;g;, Krupps, IG Farben, et.al.)

     Both men have employed very similar propaganda techniques (staged rallies, denigration and muzzling of the opposition press, etc.) to promote idealized images of themselves and manipulate the masses.

     Both men repeatedly subverted constitutional, democratic processes-- including the courts, Congress, and the Reichstag (e.g., defying Congressional subpoenas and, in Hitler's case, ultimately, banning opposition parties during a state of "emergency.")

     Trump has, obviously, not committed mass murder on a scale anywhere near what Hitler did in Europe, YET-- BUT Trump's administration killed more civilians in its first eight months in office (in Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria) than the Obama administration had killed in eight years.  Trump relaxed the military standards for prevention of "collateral" damage, and even scolded Mattis and McMaster for not killing the families of targeted Islamic "terrorists."

     Trump has also been putting Mexican and Central American refugees-- including women and young children-- in concentration camps.  He has no moral compunction about his unethical treatment of these destitute people!   True, he has not gassed them with Xyklon-B, but he has exhibited an utter lack of basic morality.  His administration has even aggressively prosecuted American citizens who have left food and water for desperate illegal aliens crossing the Sonora Desert!  (My sister lives in Tucson, and has kept me up-to-date on this nonsense.)

Edited March 15, 2020 by W. Niederhut

[Andrew Prutsok]

It doesn’t surprise me in the least the healthiest, most capable, highest IQ person to ever hold the office can snuggle up to infected people in crowded rooms and remain virus free. He’s incredible.