monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

July 15, 2016: “Donald Trump is going to provide the kind of broad-shouldered American leadership on the world stage that I think will make the world a more stable place.”

July 17, 2016: “One of the reasons why I said yes in a heartbeat to run with this man, is because he embodies American strength, and I know that he will provide that kind of broad-shouldered American strength on the global stage as well.”

July 29, 2016: “To be around Donald Trump is to be around a man with broad shoulders …”

August 14, 2016: “He’s a man with broad shoulders, he’s got a clear vision, he’s strong.”

August 14, 2016: “I think you’re going to be ready, Chris, for a vision, but also for real specifics about how new leadership in the White House, a change of direction in the White House and the kind of broad-shouldered leadership that Donald Trump will bring is going to make our country more safe.”

August 28, 2016: “As I am traveling all over the country, people are coming up to me. They are responding to Donald Trump’s broad-shouldered, plainspoken leadership that we can make America great again, we can be strong on the world stage, we can have an economy that works for every American.”

August 31, 2016: “I think it shows the kind of broad-shouldered leader he is. He’s willing to sit down with whom he may have strong differences of opinion to look for things we can work on together and begin the process of discussions.”

September 23, 2016: “Well, I said today at — at the church gathering where we were before, this is a broad-shouldered leader, but he’s also a man that’s impatient with failure.”

Sept 26, 2016: “Look, Donald Trump’s got broad shoulders. He’s able to make his case and make a point.”

October 4, 2016: “We have got to lean into this with strong, broad-shouldered, American leadership.”

December 4, 2016: “— with broad shoulders, who’s going to advance America’s interest. But he’s also going to be engaging the world on behalf of America.”

December 4, 2016: “And I think the American people want — are encouraged, rather, George, to see that President-elect Trump is — is taking calls from the world, speaking to the world. They know he’s going to be out there advancing America’s interests first with that broad-shouldered leadership that’s characterized his entire life.”

January 27, 2017: “Our President is a man with broad shoulders and a big heart.”

March 1, 2017: “What the American people saw is the president I serve with every day — broad shoulders, a big heart.”

March 19, 2017: Trump “has broad shoulders, but he’s a got a big heart.”

August 15, 2017: Trump “brought the kind of broad-shouldered leadership to the world stage” [that was lacking in previous presidents with presumably narrower shoulders.]

August 22, 2017: “Criticism comes with this job, and this president has the kind of broad shoulders to be able to take it.”

In Phoenix, Arizona on Tuesday night, President Trump insulted journalists, complained about Republican senators, defended his remarks concerning the rally in Charlottesville that left one dead and many wounded and strongly implied he would soon pardon Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Mr. Trump started off by criticizing the press. "I'm really doing this to show you how ... dishonest these people are," Mr. Trump said toward the beginning of the speech, referring to the media.

Police fire gas, flash bangs on crowd outside Trump rally in Phoenix
The president spent roughly the first half of his rally defending his response to the violent events in Charlottesville, Virginia. He called the media's coverage of his initial statement unfair and began reading a transcription of his first statement verbatim.

"They don't report it," Mr. Trump said of the media as he began to read a transcript of his initial statement.

Tuesday evening's rally was the first since Mr. Trump's comments blaming "both sides" for the violence in Charlottesville earlier this month. The remarks were heavily criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike.

And to be totally honest, I do not want Trump to quit. I think American citizens need to understand far more clearly than they do now that the GOP has become so corrupted and vile that their access to power will lead to nothing good for the vast majority of citizens.

I have spoken with people who have known Trump for decades and who say he has changed. He exhibits less self-awareness, these longtime acquaintances say, and less capacity for sustained focus. Indeed, it is instructive to compare television interviews of Trump recorded years ago with those conducted now. To this layman’s eyes and ears, there seems to have been deterioration.

Robinson then goes on to aver that he is, “not professionally qualified to assess the president’s mental health.” Not being one to let a little thing like professional qualifications stand in his way, he finishes up with this:

It is uncomfortable to talk about the president’s mental health. But at this point it is irresponsible not to.

First of all, discussing his mental health when you have zero, zip, nada in the way of qualifications is actually incredibly irresponsible. But let’s just put that aside for a moment and assume that you can. Now what do you plan to do about it? Because I don’t hear you offering a suggestion as to how you might get an actual professional evaluation which might lead to some sort of 25th Amendment action or whatever it is that you’re hoping for. All you’re really doing is generating headlines and fodder for liberal cable talk shows and that’s not going to help the prospective patient or the nation at large.

Unless… oh, wait. Is that what you were angling for all along?

blatham wrote:

And to be totally honest, I do not want Trump to quit. I think American citizens need to understand far more clearly than they do now that the GOP has become so corrupted and vile that their access to power will lead to nothing good for the vast majority of citizens.

That sounds a little sadistic and even a little more paternalistic. I mean, you hope he's allowed to wreak more havoc so that we "learn our lesson"?

WASHINGTON ― After regularly proclaiming that Mexico would pay for his signature campaign promise ― a wall along the U.S. border with its southern neighbor ― President Donald Trump on Tuesday night threatened a government shutdown if Congress refused U.S tax dollars for it.

“If we have to close down our government, we’re building that wall,” he said during a raucous campaign rally in Phoenix. “We’re going to have our wall.”

The stunning ultimatum reflects a gradual reversal of course and a further indication of the wall’s unfeasibility. Strikingly, Trump did not broach Mexico financing the barrier in his rally remarks.

Throughout the presidential campaign, Trump’s wall was generally considered an unrealistic proposal that experts estimated would cost upwards of $25 billion to construct. (Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security reached a similar assessment, placing the wall’s cost at about $21.6 billion and concluding it would take more than 3 years to complete.)

But Trump nevertheless made the wall a symbol of his campaign, an integral part of the anti-immigrant rhetoric and policy proposals that galvanized many of his supporters.

“Who’s going to pay for the wall?” he regularly shouted at his campaign rallies.

“Mexico!” the crowd responded.

Since becoming president, he has been forced to back down, because — like many of the pillars of his campaign — the realities of governing intervened.

Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, has repeatedly affirmed that his country rejects the very idea of the wall ― much less paying for it. (Peña Nieto did, however, catch grief for not responding when Trump said Mexico “absolutely” would provide the money for the wall as the two sat together during early July’s G20 meeting of world leaders in Hamburg, Germany.)

Soon after taking office in January, Trump himself conceded that Mexico would not pay, during a Jan. 27 phone call with Peña Nieto.

But according to the leaked transcript of the call obtained by the Washington Post, Trump urged his Mexican counterpart not to discuss it publicly because that would leave Trump in a “political bind.”

“So what I would like to recommend is ― if we are going to have continued dialogue ― we will work out the wall,” Trump told Peña Nieto. “They are going to say, ‘Who is going to pay for the wall, Mr. President?’ to both of us. And we should both say, ‘We will work it out.’ It will work out in the formula somehow. As opposed to you saying, ‘We will not pay’ and me saying, ‘we will not pay.’

“If you are going to say that Mexico is not going to pay for the wall, then I do not want to meet with you guys anymore because I cannot live with that,” Trump added.

Publicly, Trump all but admitted that U.S. taxpayers would have to foot the bill, while at times claiming Mexico would provide reimbursements. In March, his administration included funding for the wall in its proposed budgets for the 2017 fiscal year ending Sept. 30 and the 2018 spending blueprint.

Trump failed in efforts to keep the funding in the final version of the 2017 budget — but promised that the wall would happen “eventually, but at a later date,” despite there being few viable options for paying for it.

In recent weeks, White House officials have reportedly floated a possible deal with Congress that would link keeping protections for the young undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers with a proposal that includes border wall funding.

Democrats this week said any such deal was “a nonstarter.”

Similarly, in response to Trump’s shutdown threat, top congressional Democrats said on Wednesday that they would reject any government funding bill that included money for the wall.

If the issue comes to a head, Republicans would face an uphill battle, as they need Democratic votes to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government open.

Despite the obstacles, Trump is unlikely to abandon at least the idea of the wall, as it energizes his base.

Like clockwork, his campaign released a fundraising email on Wednesday morning calling the wall “non-negotiable.”

“Let’s remind every single Senator the American VOTERS want this beautiful, impenetrable wall constructed,” the email read. “I want to show every Republican Senator a list of American voters that will NOT be happy if the wall isn’t built.”

Despite the obstacles, Trump is unlikely to abandon at least the idea of the wall, as it energizes his base.

Like clockwork, his campaign released a fundraising email on Wednesday morning calling the wall “non-negotiable.”

“Let’s remind every single Senator the American VOTERS want this beautiful, impenetrable wall constructed,” the email read. “I want to show every Republican Senator a list of American voters that will NOT be happy if the wall isn’t built

Finn quotes approvingly Jazz Shaw, who tries to trash someone who admits he has no professional training in determining craziness, just his own opinion, in calling Trump crazy. Are Shaw and Finn equally willing to trash Trump for having no, that's ZERO ;professional qualification in determining craziness either, yet he has repeatedly called people he disagrees with crazy, nuts, wacko? Just the first few hits in Google of people that Trump has called crazy include Glen Beck, Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders, Lindsey Graham, and Hilary Clinton " She is a totally unhinged person. She's unbalanced," Seems to me that the person who really deserves the condemnation is in fact Donald Trump.,