President’s Delusions Make for Dangerous Times Ahead

A confluence of crises are going to drive the national narrative in the coming days.

What could reasonably be called the military-industrial complex has decided the profits to be had aren’t worth the long term damage President Donald Trump has done to the national security of the United States.

Moves to re-open the economy and/or downplay COVID-19 have backfired as rates of infection rise sharply in the west and south. I expect more bad news from San Diego County Health officials soon.

***

A deep dive by Carl Bernstein at CNN opens the floodgates on the president’s conduct on diplomacy and the reactions of world leaders to his childish behavior.

Here are the first two paragraphs in a story that goes on to include named and unnamed officials who have worked in the administration offering up numerous examples of Trump’s incompetence:

• In hundreds of highly classified phone calls with foreign heads of state, President Donald Trump was so consistently unprepared for discussion of serious issues, so often outplayed in his conversations with powerful leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Erdogan, and so abusive to leaders of America's principal allies, that the calls helped convince some senior US officials -- including his former secretaries of state and defense, two national security advisers and his longest-serving chief of staff -- that the President himself posed a danger to the national security of the United States, according to White House and intelligence officials intimately familiar with the contents of the conversations.

• The calls caused former top Trump deputies -- including national security advisers H.R. McMaster and John Bolton, Defense Secretary James Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and White House chief of staff John Kelly, as well as intelligence officials -- to conclude that the President was often "delusional," as two sources put it, in his dealings with foreign leaders. The sources said there was little evidence that the President became more skillful or competent in his telephone conversations with most heads of state over time. Rather, he continued to believe that he could either charm, jawbone or bully almost any foreign leader into capitulating to his will, and often pursued goals more attuned to his own agenda than what many of his senior advisers considered the national interest.

Putting the allegations concerning the President’s failure to respond to reports of Russian financing of bounties for dead American troops into this context, it’s clear that the case is being made for getting him out of the way on foreign policy matters. 

It doesn’t make any difference whether it’s the White House re-organizing the decision making process to minimize Trump’s involvement or ensuring a loss in the general election, he's clearly crossed a line.

One thing to remember here is that Trump’s political education largely came through his years-long association with attorney Roy Cohn, who rose to fame as Senator Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel.

From a Vanity Fair profile on their relationship:

• For author Sam Roberts, the essence of Cohn’s influence on Trump was the triad: “Roy was a master of situational immorality . . . . He worked with a three-dimensional strategy, which was: 1. Never settle, never surrender. 2. Counter-attack, counter-sue immediately. 3. No matter what happens, no matter how deeply into the muck you get, claim victory and never admit defeat.” As columnist Liz Smith once observed, “Donald lost his moral compass when he made an alliance with Roy Cohn.”

So it’s unlikely Trump is going to take this sitting down. He’ll be counting on the blind-loyalty he demands of other elected GOP officials backed by a fear of retribution in fundraising and social media.

While the CNN story and other revelations may seem like a body blow to the administration, remember that his minions live in a carefully crafted reality, one where disobedience is unthinkable. 

Note how various elected Republican officials have opted to avoid learning facts whenever possible:

https://twitter.com/NatashaBertrand/status/1277787727166156800?s=20

The question here is what is the long game of his antagonists. While I can speculate forever on the possibilities, I think the trigger for this latest round of leaks is due to a gradual consensus rather than a well-thought out conspiracy. 

Take your pick as to the reasons, starting with the pardons for war criminals and ending with deep-sixing the career of the Navy Captain who dared to speak up about the COVID-19 infections on his aircraft carrier.

And remember, no matter how bizarre a situation is, there’s always an old Tweet from Donald Trump contradicting his current actions:

https://twitter.com/Saysyeswecan/status/1277968985510699011?s=20

 ***

California has dialed back it’s reopening schedule, along with 31 other states. In Texas, Arizona, Nevada, South Carolina, Montana, Georgia and California, seven-day hospitalization averages are up at least 25% from last week.

Restrictions on public activity, despite the bleating of people like County Supervisor Jim Desmond, are going to get stricter. I think it’s shameful that this “reopen at all costs” mentality has enabled the mentally addled followers of Trumpism to make threats against public officials.

On Twitter today, I see people sending out messages of support for County Health official Helen Wooten, whose home address was shared with the public tuned into last week’s Supes meeting.

https://twitter.com/SDCMS/status/1278010409006567427?s=20

Dr. Anthony Fauci testified before Congress this morning that there was a real possibility of  100,000 new cases daily of COVID-19 in the coming weeks.

While there is still a hard core of contemptible disbelievers in the public sphere spewing unhelpful opinions, the facts are starting to take their toll on their ranks.

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1278010986595745793?s=20

At Fox News, Sean hanity and Fox & Friends have suddenly become advocates for wearing a mask. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has bought into this concept. And a whole bunch of Governors who were once on the reopen train have bailed.

Since the President doesn’t have reverse in his gearbox, he’s plowing ahead:

• Social distancing will not be enforced July 3 at the Mount Rushmore fireworks display that Trump will attend, South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem (R) said Monday. Noem also said masks will be provided to the 7,500 participants, but they will not be required to wear them.

https://twitter.com/adamcbest/status/1278022590330789896?s=20

Oh, and…

• Chinese researchers announced the discovery of a new strain of swine flu among workers at a slaughterhouse and warned it should be monitored in case human-to-human transmission starts.

My sense is that the economy will be taking a big hit in the coming days as governments and businesses are forced to shut down. At that point, the administration will start pushing for another round of cash payouts to individuals, which is the only thing that kept the economy from cratering in April & May.

***

One final note, just in case things aren’t crazy enough already, the Supreme Court is expected to rule on a case this week concerning a subpoena for President Trump’s taxes.

If this goes against Trump (I think it will), don’t get all excited about thinking you’ll see his tax returns on CNN anytime soon.

These cases are NOT about Trump "releasing his taxes" to the public. Congress and New York DA Cy Vance want the documents released to them in a non-public setting. 

This is about whether Trump has to answer a simple subpoena in the way that anybody else in the country would have to answer them.

Hey folks! Be sure to like/follow Words & Deeds on Facebook. If you’d like to have each post mailed to you check out the simple subscription form and the right side of the front page.

Email me at WritetoDougPorter@Gmail.com