monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

Sure he got a little help from a MSM that was hell-bent on casting him as the anti-Christ, but his decline and fall were largely all his own making.

His decision to trash Trump to the muckraking weasle Wolff was not only incredibly disloyal, it was suicidal in terms of his influence with the president and, indeed, on the political stage: He's lost his financial backers and his position at Breitbart and as out there as he was, all he has left is a fringe group of fans who it's uncertain he cultivated for any reason other than to amplify his voice. Not much of a base of power and influence.

His work to ensure that Roy Moore (who regardless of whether or not he was guilty of sexual impropriety was a horrible candidate and would have made a horrible Senator) won the Alabama GOP Senate primary was an effort to enlist a stooge in the Senate and proved to be a moderate disaster for the GOP and Trump. I very much doubt he will be capable of a similar feat in the future.

I really have no idea as to how crucial Bannon was to Trump's victory, but clearly, he believes he is the primary (and perhaps sole) reason why Trump is president which is absolutely preposterous. Initially, I looked favorably on his potential for influencing Trump to pursue a populist, anti-Establishment agenda and "drain the swamp," but by all accounts, he was an incoherent voice in the White House and totally absorbed by internecine battles with other Trump advisors...particularly Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner. It now appears very likely that he was the primary source of all of the damaging leaks that plagued the young Administration over its first year.

Considering Trump's aversion to alcohol, it always seemed odd that he tolerated a close advisor who, I would bet my money, is an alcoholic. It's written all over his face like the Gin Blossom fields Teddy Kennedy cultivated during his last couple of decades on earth. I would also bet money that all the dirt he dished to Wolff, and which he now so regrets, rode the vehicle of drunken rants on numerous occasions...with the aptly named Wolff who wormed his way into the White House wearing pro-Trump sheep's clothing, happily picking up the hefty bar tabs.

Bannon liked to play the role of intellectual street-fighter and I'm not prepared to claim he had not read or had not been influenced by all the obscure philosophers he frequently cited as his inspiration, but it's pretty clear that when it came to political strategy, he was no Karl Rove or David Axelrod. Fomenting chaos is not much of a strategy unless one is a revolutionary, and we need a president who a reformer, not a revolutionary. The time for the latter may eventually come, but it's not here yet.

The fact that Democrats and the MSM loathed the man is certainly not a reason to bid him a fond farewell, it was a badge of honor, but he far overstepped his role as an advisor and was an inept Rasputin to boot. if you are going to deliberately make as many enemies as Bannon did, you either need to be a hell of a lot more cunning than he was or accept the fact that you will inevitably be taken down by them. If it was his plan to make a big splash and then (to mix metaphors) go out after a year in a fiery blaze, he succeeded grandly.

If there is any direct basis which might justify a conclusion of "racism" it comes from the proposal itself, and the insistence by the black caucus that countries like Norway be EXCLUDED.

That's the way it works with these cheese-eaters. If they had tried to impose a requirement that every member of Trump's cabinet had to be either black or female but primarily both, and if Trump then asked "why all women and blacks" he would have been denounced by them as a proven misogynistic racist.

Today's installment in Voices From The Right

New cover of Der Spiegel

Done been posted, short time back, by Bill. And responded to, for that matter. Want to join in, or just try to play the "pioneer" leader at all times?

Because it is ok to lie through your teeth. Everyone around you is doing it, after all
The Hill

Notice how they all use liars "tricks". The Secretary nor Perdue say what they heard him say, they say it isn't exactly what he said; ie, it could be he didn't say "them" he said "they". Also, she didn't say what was wrong with what was presented to him, just that it wasn't good enough. Liars tricks from the liars club. And, he said he would sign anything, just bring it to him. What a racist jerk!

Remember though, that whether he used the word "shithole" or not is immaterial to any charges of racism.

If Trump hadn't brought up the Norway angle those accusations (of racism) would have looked spurious from the start. He has a way of undercutting himself sometimes.

Thanks for the snide comment, oralloy. Besides, I was addressing layman, not you.

But don't worry. My motivation to post anywhere on the Internet grows less and less each day as I gain some wisdom that comes with age and experience. I'm just a very minor player here, anyway (which you should have noticed by now, but haven't for some reason); so, why would you even bother with me? My output is small. Yes, I'm definitely anti-Trump (as if that were a crime); but I really have no party or ideology. I don't take any of this half or even a third as seriously as you. I certainly don't post until the wee hours of the morning as if I have nothing else to do but waste my time in inconsequential Internet forums. Someday soon (very soon, perhaps) you'll no longer have wmwcjr to kick around anymore because I'll be doing something else instead -- something that I truly enjoy doing and something that is more deserving of my time. Have a good day/night, Mortimer, sweet'ums -- whatever your name may be. Don't let the bedbugs bite!

This is odd. Never in my life before have I come across the word "sh*thole" so frequently as now from so many different sources.

Thanks for your encouragement. I've seen worse elsewhere. Besides, as Setanta has said on many an occasion, you can't beat this place for entertainment. Plenty of clowns.

http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/13/opinions/norway-says-no-thanks-to-trump-aurdal-opinion/index.html


Norwegian: No thank you, President Trump
By Martine Aurdal

Donald Trump wants America to have more immigrants from Norway in contrast to what he reportedly called "shithole countries" in Africa.

Although we love to visit America, Mr. Trump, it is highly unlikely that Norwegians are going to flow into the US to live. As a citizen of Norway, I can tell you we're not flattered, but offended by the President's eagerness to have us emigrate.

Even though Trump has denied making the particular comment, members of Congress who attended the meeting say that the reports are true.
The offer has left Norwegians offended, not flattered.

President Trump is judging immigrants by where they come from, and it is hard not to see this as a question of ethnicity. Norwegians have had a history of being positively discriminated for our race and have resisted those ideas before -- we will do it again.

We like where we live. In fact, Norway is the happiest country in the world. We are that way because we live in an egalitarian society where we strive to give everyone good and equal opportunities -- regardless of ethnic, gender and social background.

Today, Norway is one of the richest countries in the world, and we will not give up on our cradle-to-grave welfare. Our parental leave is a generous year, kindergarten is cheap, and our higher education is free. Health care is also free for every Norwegian citizen. Our society strives to be tolerant. Every political party promotes liberal values, gender-equality and human rights. The plumber´s son goes to school with the CEO´s daughter, and social mobility is high.

Hence, our leaders have diverse backgrounds and anyone could meet the NATO secretary general skiing in the woods or our Prime Minister at the supermarket doing her own grocery shopping.

So instead of trying to import our whiteness, the US President should try letting some of our ideals in.

Also, immigrants have been and are shaping Norway. Our history is formed by migration, from the Vikings traveling the world to the German Hanseaten coming to Bergen, a city on the southwestern coast. Nearly 17% of our population is made up of immigrants or have immigrant parents. This includes Somalis, Eritreans, Iraqis, Syrians, Filipinos, and Pakistanis.

This is not to say that Norway is perfect -- and Trump needs to understand this part too.

Radical ideologies are rising throughout the Western hemisphere and Norway has not been immune. We have experienced right-wing terrorism with devastating consequences. Neo-Nazis are increasing, and at least 100 Norwegian Muslims have been radicalized and joined the Islamic state since 2012. The white American supremacists who gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia, praised the Scandinavian neo-Nazi group Nordic Resistance Movement. It is a small, but increasingly visual group in our society. They promote despicable ideas that we condemn as a society. Our Prime Minister, who met with Trump earlier this week, does not say that there are "some very fine people" among the marching Nazis. She warns that they could rip our society apart.

The key to fighting against such tendencies is integration and equality. Encouraging a society where we judge people as individuals, not for belonging to an ethnic or religious group, is crucial. These are the same ideals that Martin Luther King Jr. promoted, and that Donald Trump, bizarrely enough, praised in his first meeting with the press after the comments on "shithole countries" and Norway.

The UN has condemned the President´s comments as racist, pointing that the reference to Norway makes the context clear. Favoring Norwegian immigrants over to those from another continent cannot be read as anything but judging people by their race. We are proud of our country, but not because we are white. The historical connotations are unpleasant; Norwegians have been praised for our "ethnic purity" before. We resisted Nazi Germany, and the America that we love helped fight those ideas. So, thanks, but no thanks for the offer, Mr. President.