S E E D E D C O N T E N T
President Donald Trump walks off of the stage after speaking at a fundraiser in Fargo, North Dakota.
E very once in a while, amid the relentless assault on one's psychological well being that is the Donald Trump presidency, it's tempting to say that as bad as things may be, we haven't had an outright catastrophe yet. The nuclear missiles remain in their silos, martial law has not been declared, and the citizenry does not yet lie trembling in their caves as they hide from roving bands of cannibals. So it could certainly be worse.
True as that may be, when you step back to take stock, you soon realize that things are very, very bad. In fact, this presidency is living up to all of our fears.
To see how, let's look at what happened just in the last week, a week that was only slightly more eventful than the typical one since Trump became president. Here are just some of the highlights:
According to The Washington Post 's Fact Checker, Trump surpassed 5,000 false or misleading public claims made in the 20 months since he took office. In the last week he averaged an astonishing 32 false claims per day.
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Bob Woodward's book about the Trump administration, Fear , was released. The book chronicles an atmosphere of chaos and backstabbing, in which one Trump aide after another finds themselves gobsmacked by the president's stupidity and ignorance.
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Eric Trump said Woodward was trying to "make three extra shekels" by writing the book, a remark widely condemned as anti-Semitic.
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It was reported that the president remains obsessed with finding out which administration official wrote an anonymous New York Times op-ed characterizing him as stupid and ignorant; according to Vanity Fair, one of the only people outside of his family Trump still trusts is the ghoulish Stephen Miller, who shares Trump's contempt for immigrants.
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Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court, a conservative ideologue who promises to push the court to the right, was accused of a sexual assault while in high school. Republicans, who have the votes to confirm him, were unmoved.
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In Arkansas, 4,300 low-income people lost their health coverage because they were unable to navigate the bureaucratic maze of Medicaid work requirements set up by the state with the Trump administration's enthusiastic approval.
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The administration cut off humanitarian aid to the Palestinians; the latest program given the axe is one meant to build relationships between Palestinians and Israelis in order to promote understanding and peace.
The New York Times reported that the "number of detained migrant children has exploded to the highest ever recorded ... reaching a total of 12,800 this month. There were 2,400 such children in custody in May 2017."
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The Washington Post reported that there is an exodus underway of experienced civil servants choosing to retire or move to the private sector; in few agencies is it being felt more than the EPA , where 1,600 employees have departed and only 400 have been hired to replace them.
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In the latest in a series of rollbacks to any effort to address climate change, it was reported that the administration "is preparing to make it significantly easier for energy companies to release methane into the atmosphere."
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When Trump arrived at Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 11 to commemorate the the anniversary and honor the people who died there, he exited the plane and did some fist-pumping and lip-biting, as though he was headed into a Thin Lizzy concert and was totally stoked.
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Trump called his administration's response to Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico, where an estimated 3,000 Americans died as a result of the storm, "an incredible, unsung success." He claimed that only a handful of people actually died, and the larger estimate was invented "by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible."
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Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, joined Trump's former personal lawyer, Trump's former deputy campaign chairman, and Trump's former national security adviser in pleading guilty to crimes and agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders released a statement saying, "This had absolutely nothing to do with the president or his victorious 2016 Presidential campaign. It is totally unrelated."
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The Congressional Budget Office reported that the deficit for the first 11 months of fiscal year 2018 was $895 billion, up $222 billion from the same period a year before. For some reason, Republican predictions that their tax cuts would increase revenue did not come true.
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Republicans in Congress proposed yet another round of tax cuts for the wealthy.
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As I said, this parade of horrors is only some of what happened in the last week. It featured most of what we've come to expect: mismanagement, incompetence, corruption, dishonesty, boorishness, malevolent policy choices, and the undermining of government itself.
It's true that we have not yet had a nuclear war, and some of Trump's campaign promises have yet to be kept, including the centerpiece of his campaign, building a wall between the United States and Mexico paid for by the Mexicans. But whatever your fears were about Donald Trump being president, chances are he has fulfilled them and more. Perhaps it would be better to ask: Is there anything Trump hasn't done that you were afraid he'd do?
He has proven a disastrous manager, and even more corrupt than many imagined. The people he has surrounded himself with are a reflection of the man himself; it would be a shock if many more of them don't wind up with prison sentences. He spends hours every day watching Fox News and rage-tweeting about what he sees there. His administration has attacked civil rights and been particularly vicious to immigrants. He has undermined the political, military, and economic alliances that America spent the last 70 years building.
And on a personal basis, Trump himself has not changed. He's as petty, vindictive, racist, insecure, and childish as he ever was—all that talk about how he would mature in office and become "presidential" has proven absurd. Republicans in Congress, furthermore, have not acted to constrain him; just the opposite, in fact. They vigorously defend his misdeeds and pledge their undying fealty to him. If there was one message from this year's Republican primaries, it's that this is Trump's GOP, and the only question most candidates asked was whether they had been sufficiently devoted to the cult of Trump.
This was just one week in the presidency of Donald Trump; now we begin another, which will likely be just as unspeakable. And there 121 more weeks between now and the end of his term—if he only serves one.
We know now that Trump followers, and the "both sides" crowd , are going to be of no help.
Patriots who love America need to come out in force on election day and send President* Trump and his evil minions the message that we are not going to take this any more.
Is this what happened to Obama in 2010 … not arguing with you John .. you and I will most likely never agree on much - I concede that Trump is a PUKE .. have never felt anyway other than that .. but what you are saying about the up and coming election (potential wave) is nothing new - actually rather common and not specific to the Trump Presidency
Did the patriots who love America NOT come out in force and vote in the elections of 2016?
Evil minions? Are you serious? Or just quoting a cartoon movie?
LMAO!
Seems like "evil minions" defines them well.
Okay, whatever.
LMAO
Wow, no whataboutism? No, "but Obama", or "but Hillary"? I'm thinking Dismayed Patriot hit a home run by leaving you speechless.
Though I'm also sure that you're searching through those spam emails, looking for something, anything that you can twist to distract or obfuscate about.
do you mean those "patriots" who hated America and felt America was such a terrible place that it had to be made "great" again ?
Did you see something else written?
Pay attention---declining to address nonsense isn't making me speechless.
Did you see what I wrote? Did you understand what I wrote?
Your question leads me to think you either didn't read or didn't understand, just based on that silly question.
That is the definition of "speechless".
absolutely which is why i asked my question. you definitely seem triggered again from another simple question
It is apparent you didn't understand. One who understood my post would never have bothered to ask that silly question.
And since you took time out of your day to do so tells me who is really triggered here.
nope. i understood it perfectly - thusly why i asked the questions . I guess you should take some time to think about voting and who people vote for, or what they stand for etc. See ya
( btw, no trigger nor snow here, just asking questions - the reaction would indicate the triggering... which is your response in this case - just in case you weren't aware 
)
I am happy you think you understood it.
To me, it is so obvious you did not.
Carry on!
that's because your comment was sooooo mysterious and cryptic .... ( do i need the /s ? )
carry on !
Give it a rest already.
Here, since it is so important to you, I will even let you have the last word.
Proceed.
Trump knows "all the best people."
He also knows some very fine white supremacists and Birther dimwits too.
Correct. Because this article is utter unhinged hysteria and nobody wants to enable this neurosis.
You do realize this is not actually a Harry Potter movie, he is not actually Lord Voldemort, and all of that shit is made up, right?
What shit is made up?
Donald trump is a conspiracy nut, a constant liar, a con man, a sexual predator, and a policy ignoramus. And he can't spell simple words to save his life.
And you think he is presidential material? lol.
Sometimes people who want to defend trump would be better off just saying nothing.
The hysteria. The idea that "that things are very, very bad". Here in the real world, we're at full employment, the economy is good, the stock market is good, and household income is up. Whether or not Trump actually did any of that is debatable, but he hasn't ruined it.
What has Donald Trump done to you that has made your actual real life worse than it otherwise would have been?
Oh the horror!!! It's the end of civilization!! The president misspelled a word!!!
In your hysteria, you have guessed at my views twice in this same post. You have been wrong both times. Are you going to be able to read and respond to what my comments actually say, or are you going to continue to project your erroneous interpretations onto them?
I'm very sure you believe that anyone attempting to defend Trump should say nothing.
But this is your third guess, and to nobody's surprise, third time wrong. I'm actually attacking the hysterical lunacy that causes people to lose the ability to differentiate from their utterly illogical "feelings" and events taking place in real life.
I am a patriot. I love my country. I served it honorably in uniform for 20 years in two wars. I shed my blood for this country. But I also do not happen to share the progressive leftist liberal dogma, so I guess that makes me un American and a evil person. If that's what some want to label me, then I guess I'll have to wear that label that label proudly!
Trump supporters have enabled and protected the worst president in our nation's history. At this very moment two former close associates of his are co-operating with the prosecutors and telling them what they know about questionable Trump activities. It is highly likely Trump will be impeached.
[Deleted] We have an utterly unqualified , inept, and totally dishonest person "leading" our country. We have to look at those who voted for him and support him as the reason he believes he can stay in power. They cheer "lock her up" over two years after the prosecutors in charge of her case said she committed no prosecutable crime. If the ghost of Clarence Darrow or Oliver Wendell Holmes came forth and said "lock her up" , maybe we would have something. Instead we have Donald Trump saying it, the most dishonest and immoral president in the country's history. What are we to make of the intelligence, or even due dilligence, of Trump supporters who ignore the mountains of misbehavior and outright lies that trump has been spouting for three years (and a lot longer if you include his birther atrocities against the truth)?
How long is the rest of the country, the clear majority, supposed to tolerate Trumpism?
[Removed]
If by the clear majority, do you mean the so called popular vote? You know as well I do that the popular vote has not and does not decide presidential elections in this country. For what it is worth, I so believe Presidential elections should be decided by popular vote and the Electoral College done away with. But that has to be done by legislation that will not happen anytime soon and we as a nation are stuck with it. Therefore it does no good for people to keep saying Trump did not win, when he won fair and square according to the law of the land whether people like it or not.
So highly amusing that because I do not share your progressive liberal worldview, you automatically question my patriotism which I find highly insulting and offensive. I am not going to waste my time discussing my 20 years of military service and love of my country with somebody who seemingly neither understands nor appreciates the sacrifices myself and others have made on behalf of this country! I am probably more of a patriot then you will ever be! I sincerely pity you in your ignorance...
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I question anyone who thinks a sociopath and a Russian mole would be fit for any public office much less prez, and that's before one considers his various bigotries, his profound personality defects or his complete lack of knowledge about government.
Please be so kind as to state where I ever said I support Trump in any way, if you can that is. I await your answer.
From 3.1.6: "I am a conservative right leaning registered Independent who does not like Trump much, but consider the candidate the Democrats fielded to be just as bad or worse than Trump"
So you had a choice of the Dem and other people on the ballot (or even a write in) but you voted for the sociopath and Russian mole. [deleted]
As usual you are way off base and fishing. I in fact voted third party. And you still did not answer my question. You just deflected. Still no cigar for you.
Yeah. It was really, really bad.
Honestly, I would have loved it if Trump had proven us all wrong and become the best President ever but, after nearly two years, I still feel that it's very possible that his intentions, along with Putin, Xi Jinpin, and Kim Jong Un, are to make the entire world some sort of a mega oligarchy.
Tony Schwartz, the writer of 'The Art Of The Deal', has stated several times that the Trump, "Has no friends."
Also should be noted that the Trump has never had a pet, changed a diaper or took his children anywhere on what could be categorized as a family outing. DJT is a man onto himself. He is an island.
The Trump's only concept of anything is 'to take, destroy others and protect himself. The Trump had a 'cult following' in New York and has taken that agenda national.
I don't care. I don't want to be his friend.
Trump is an amoral person completely without empathy. He is not capable of caring about anything but himself. He's not only a horrible president, he's a horrible human being.
I don't give a shit about his "feelings", or lack thereof, any more than I give a shit about the "feelings" of these idiotic Henny Pennys running around telling everyone the sky is falling.
And that's how we ended up with a sociopath as prez.
I'm sure that's how you "feel".
Make no mistake...the election of Donald Trump was as much an angry rejection of Hillary Clinton's obnoxious followers as it was of Hillary herself.
We ended up with Donald Trump as president because hyper-emotional leftists could not manage to work out that their "feelings" do not usurp other people's rights.
I live in Texas, where we have a tight senate race going. The single best things happening for Ted Cruz's campaign are the ridiculous rantings of Beto O'Rourke supporters on social media. Hillary had the same problem.
Nobody is interested in the Pantsuit Nation standing in the street screaming at the sky.
He doesn't give a shit about you either, or anybody else, or your feelings, our country. The only thing he cares about is Trump. He's never cared about anything but Trump. He's never hid this from anybody but you seem to think he has your best interests in mind. He doesn't.
I would be shocked and horrified if he cared about my "feelings".
You probably shouldn't guess at what I think. First...you're terrible at it. Second...I'll tell you if you ask.
I have no problem with Trump caring only for Trump. The better things are in our country, the more he has to brag about.
If these were anyone's "worst fears" about the Trump administration, those people didn't have very good imaginations.
If it's so bad, where are the neat little personal letters from those that are doing so bad, that the Democrats in congress can trot out as fodder against Trump ?
They did love those little personal letters during the run up to voting on ObamaScare.
I guess "News?" is the democrats mouth piece now.
"News" is the mouthpiece of reality, the facts on the ground, Democrats simply accept that reality. "Fox News", along with several other alt-right pundit factories and their "alternative facts" are the only ones apparently oblivious to reality. They are too busy manufacturing their own reality to pay much attention to what's actually going on.
Used to be.
It's just "Opinion" now.
That's probably because good journalists have a good education unlike Trump's base.
I suspect that Ed Murrow has heartburn from the fact that there's a straight line between Joe McCarthy, Roy Cohn and Donald Trump.
"When the anchors cried." ? ?
Sure. As did many Europeans when the Nazis arrived on their streets.
"Partisan hacks." ? ? You mean like Hannity and that Tucker dude who ditched the bow tie?
You forgot the 'straight line' between Putin and his Russian Federation of oligarchs too.
And still. That jacket. "I Really Don't Care--Do You?" What the hell was that all about anyway? Except into the dustbin of forgotten Trumpism's?