Trump's Dance with Dems

[EasyAce]

Pro-Trump pundits look at his outbursts and spasmodic actions and imbue them with meaning that simply isn’t there.
By Jonah Goldberg
http://www.nationalreview.com/g-file/451215/trump-debt-ceiling-daca-pivot-rachel-maddow-woodrow-wilson-dishonesty

. . . I am coming around to the position that the vast bulk of punditry in defense of Donald Trump is
little different from hepatoscopy, chiromancy, tasseography, and other “sciences” that imbue essentially random
phenomena with deep and prophetic significance (this is not to say that orbistry, the practice of explaining
everything weird in this crazy world, is not 100 percent correct). Let’s just look at the past week.

On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to “immediately terminate” the DACA program if elected. In June, he
flipped and said it would stay in place. Going into this week, the White House signaled that it would get rid
of the program. On Tuesday, Trump’s attorney general came out and declared that the program was
unconstitutional. And, in a move I praised, Trump said that he would give the task of dealing with the
issue to Congress. But, after watching negative TV coverage and bristling at Barack Obama’s criticism,
Trump flopped. In a tweet, Trump suggested he wants Congress to legalize the program, not get rid of
it. And if Congress failed, he might have to “revisit” the issue, implying that Trump might use the same
unconstitutional measures Obama used . . .

. . . (I)n fairness to Trump, he’s always been torn on the issue, and rightly so. Deporting the “Dreamers”
is a terrible idea. But the position of most immigration hawks has always been that we should trade some
form of amnesty in exchange for serious border-security measures and/or implementation of E-verify or
similar steps.

So, let’s consider instead the other big news this week. President Trump threw Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell,
and the House Freedom Caucus under the bus to cut a deal with “Chuck and Nancy” on a short-term
extension of the debt ceiling. Wait, scratch that. He didn’t “cut a deal” with the Democrats, he simply
took their first offer in exchange for . . . nothing. He took a “deal” to get Harvey relief passed despite
the fact that Harvey relief would have passed anyway. This was not The Art of the Deal. It was — to
borrow a phrase from Seth Mandel —

The Art of the Kneel.

Trump kicked the can to December, when his leverage will be weaker, apparently in a glandular act of
spite against McConnell and Ryan. John Boehner was hounded out of office by tea-party types for even
considering cutting far better debt-ceiling deals with Barack Obama.

In both of these cases, the response from legions of Trumpers was rapturous approval of his genius and/
or his willingness to punish McConnell and Ryan . . .

. . . So much of the “analytical” punditry about Donald Trump’s genius isn’t analysis at all. It’s a form of
haruspicy. The priests of the Trump cult look at Trump’s kneejerk, in-the-moment, utterly instinctual,
and unthinking outbursts and spasmodic actions like the death rattle of a vivisected chicken and imbue
them with meaning that simply isn’t there. They connect cherry-picked dots to create an image of
sagacity, sometimes brilliantly, but the dots are just dots.

To this day, no one can explain to me how Trump is playing so far above everyone else — nth level
chess! — and yet has the worst poll numbers in history and can’t get anything done. The thought
that he’s in way over his head is just too terrible to contemplate, and so we get all of these ornate
— and sometimes quite clever — explanations about how Trump has outfoxed everyone yet again.

But the man is not some political chess master — he’s a tic-tac-toe chicken pecking at whatever
morsel of provocation his sphincterless id lights upon. If not every day, then certainly every week,

Trump tweets something that causes his sane supporters to suffer from scrotal constriction and
makes his life tougher and his agenda more difficult.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Donaldus Minimus isn't playing chess, nth level or otherwise. He's playing strip Twister
---and it may not be long before the game removes all the clothes from the would-be emperor.

[Oceander]

Pretty much spot on. I did miss the reference to phrenology, though.

[truth_seeker]

....a sure way to not communicate widely is using terms that 1/10 of one percent would use.

... hepatoscopy, chiromancy, tasseography and phrenology

The #nevertrump contingent and their less than one percent Castle/McMuffinology talk with themselves, thusly...

[Right_in_Virginia]

....a sure way to not communicate widely is using terms that 1/10 of one percent would use.

... hepatoscopy, chiromancy, tasseography and phrenology

The #nevertrump contingent and their less than one percent Castle/McMuffinology talk with themselves, thusly...

       :thumbsup2:

[Right_in_Virginia]

On the plus side, Jonah's all wee-weed up, so the President handled this just right.   ^-^

[XenaLee]

Pro-Trump pundits look at his outbursts and spasmodic actions and imbue them with meaning that simply isn’t there.
By Jonah Goldberg
http://www.nationalreview.com/g-file/451215/trump-debt-ceiling-daca-pivot-rachel-maddow-woodrow-wilson-dishonesty
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Donaldus Minimus isn't playing chess, nth level or otherwise. He's playing strip Twister
---and it may not be long before the game removes all the clothes from the would-be emperor.

A "tic-tac-toe chicken pecking at whatever morsel of provocation his sphincterless id lights upon" ???   HAhahahaha!!!!  Now that is priceless wit right there.

 

[EasyAce]

A "tic-tac-toe chicken pecking at whatever morsel of provocation his sphincterless id lights upon" ???   HAhahahaha!!!!  Now that is priceless wit right there.

 

You should have quoted that passage instead of the headline and link. Would have been more effective
in nailing your point. (Hey, I can give credit for rhetorical dexterity even when it's deployed on behalf
of a view from which I demur . . . ;) )

(It was I who remarked about the president actually playing strip Twister, by the way . . . I'm sorry about
that confusion, even if I'm unapologetic about quoting a writer who deploys four rather lyrical sounding obscurities
that refer to ancient practises we would denounce as junk science today.)

[XenaLee]

You should have quoted that passage instead of the headline and link. Would have been more effective
in nailing your point. (Hey, I can give credit for rhetorical dexterity even when it's deployed on behalf
of a view from which I demur . . . ;) )

(It was I who remarked about the president actually playing strip Twister, by the way . . . I'm sorry about
that confusion, even if I'm unapologetic about quoting a writer who deploys four rather lyrical sounding obscurities
that refer to ancient practises we would denounce as junk science today.)

Don't harsh my humor buzz here.   ^-^

[EasyAce]

Don't harsh my humor buzz here.   ^-^

@XenaLee
Sorry, I'm making corned beef harsh this afternoon . . .

[XenaLee]

@XenaLee
Sorry, I'm making corned beef harsh this afternoon . . .

LOL!!!  I guess it's a good thing I'm part Irish then.

[EasyAce]

LOL!!!  I guess it's a good thing I'm part Irish then.

It isn't a terrible thing.  ^-^

(I'm not part Irish but I am all Jewish. Name one nice Jewish boy who'd spur corned beef
just about anything! Now, let's make sure I have my secret ingredient . . .)