For a moment last night the situation looked bleak. With Iranian missiles raining down on two American bases.
And the crazed Donald Trump huddled with his generals, no doubt threatening to do what he has been promising to do for days;
But when he addressed the American people and the rest of the world this morning, it was clear that he had been brought at least temporarily under control.
And that he would not set the Middle East on fire, or start World War III. At least not today.
President Trump backed away from further military action against Iran on Wednesday and called for a new diplomatic effort as the bristling confrontation of the last six days appeared to ease after Iranian missile strikes that proved more symbolic than deadly.
But while that is good news, who knows how long that precious moment of sanity might last?
For Trump's address was a disaster, that should terrify us all.
He was thirty minutes late.
His wrestling style entrance could not have been more vulgar.
A grand entrance for Trump's address pic.twitter.com/sAtnJnqNQM— Zach Wolf (@zbyronwolf) January 8, 2020
Especially at a time when so many were waiting to see if he was going to set the world on fire.
And when he started to speak it was an absolute horror show.
His speech was muddled and at times incoherent. he sniffed a lot, like a coke fiend, or a pig. He slurred his words.
“...will not be tolerited...” Trump’s slurring, sniffling and labored breathing this morning explains why he couldn’t address the nation last night.— LiA (@LibsInAmerica) January 8, 2020
They’ve pumped him full of Adderal to get through this speech and it’s barely working. pic.twitter.com/QtLRUDmQCQ
He seemed strangely out of breath.
This was alarming.
Are his dentures loose? What’s with the sniffing? Is he still an adderall junkie? Why can’t he pronounce words properly? What’s with his tongue thing? Is he fiending? 🤮 pic.twitter.com/j3BU3cDd4A— Angela Melini (@angelamelini) January 8, 2020
And it had many wondering, not for the first time, whether Trump is on drugs.
How is he already out of breath? Did he jog there?— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) January 8, 2020
You can literally hear him trying to keep his tongue in his mouth.— Marie 🌊🍑 (@ReeBee1985) January 8, 2020
Trump is not well.
As for me, I can't decide whether Trump is taking drugs to cope with a job he can no longer handle. Or is mentally ill, or in the first stages of senile dementia.
But one thing I'm sure of is that he's dangerous, and I can't understand those who can't or won't see that; and would keep trying to rationalize the irrational.
Trump is not a steady hand. He’s never been one. Three years in office have neither changed his character nor enhanced his capabilities. He is as ignorant and incurious as a president as he was as a candidate (and as a would-be mogul before that). His main goal is self-preservation, and he’ll sacrifice anything to achieve it.
He is self-involved, unethical and unstable — a dangerous combination to have for the commander-in-chief of the world’s most powerful military forces, under pressure from impeachment and a re-election campaign.
I think most observers know this. But the implications are terrifying. They suggest a much more dangerous world than the one we already believe we live in, where in a fit of pique, a single action taken by a single man could have catastrophic consequences for millions of people.
I'll bet the generals standing behind Trump know he's dangerous.
I'm sure millions of Americans must surely know that a madman on drugs can't be allowed anywhere near the nuclear button.
So when will they do something to stop their mad emperor?
When will the media stop trying to conceal what he has become?
Before he goes off the deep end and takes the whole world down with him....
It's not only Trump's stability I worry about, but his unhinged cult base. I seriously fear another Oklahoma City type of attack if he loses in November. Please keep Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister for as long as is humanly possible, in case Americans need somewhere to run to. Papa took in 50,000 draft resisters during Vietnam. The son may need to make space for a lot more.
ReplyDeleteCheck the eyes on the general . He's thinking 25th Amendment.
ReplyDeleteI had not realized how worried he seemed.
DeleteDon't be ridiculous. He's only worried that too many more of these outings will jeopardize his retirement gig at a defence contractor.
DeleteYesterdays performance makes it clear that someone behind the scene has enough power to make Trump shape up and behave. I wonder who it is ?
ReplyDeleteI see a lot of Kabubki theater with bad actors on both sides. Iran may have wanted the General dead. The missle attack was a joke, fireworks display.
ReplyDeleteAnd what world do you live in?
DeleteI called it Iran would not retaliate and if you do not think the Iranian response was fake, I ask do you still believe in Santa Clause?
Deletejrkrideau -- Apparently he lives in a world where it is commonplace both for the United States to assassinate foreign government officials and for foreign powers to make overt military strikes on U.S. bases that the U.S. does not respond to.
DeleteAn interesting world for those of us who had assumed one of those was a crime and the other was verboten.
The Iranians may not have retaliated yet.
DeleteTrump's maximum pressure theatrics is aimed at neutralizing Iranian influence in order to push through the Kushner peace plan. Instead he has brought about a long term disaster as Iran will seek to develop nuclear weapons as a means of protecting themselves against US aggression leaving the rest of the world with some very difficult choices. In the short term US/ (Israeli) influence in the region has been greatly diminished and any peace plan is further away than ever. It seems in the short term that Russian influence in the region is the only winner as Iran needs allies but it is unlikely the Russians will be able to prevent or control a nuclear capable Iran in the longer term. Another Dotard disaster, they just keep piling up with more to come....are we winning yet?
ReplyDeleteRT
Trump wants Iran to say they are going Nuke, this has been the plan for 20 years.
DeleteDT is a puppet for ??????
ReplyDeleteAt last look, Trump is owned by the Israeli hard-right and its US supporters (70%) and the Saudi royal family (25%).
DeleteWe have not managed to identify who holds the remaining 5%. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps's offer back in the early 2000's appears to have been unsuccessful.
I think it is clear that Trump is well into or past the first stages of dementia. His language patterns alone are telling. Have a look at a film clip from the 1980's or 90's to see a shocking difference.
ReplyDeleteAs rumleyfips @ 5:52 AM says "someone behind the scene has enough power to make Trump shape up and behave" though I think a lot of Trump's rants may be what I ,based on no knowledge of the NY area, tend to think of New York bombast.
Trump's rants remind me of Saddam Hussein's threats to cut prisoners' legs off at the knees. Not meant to be taken literally, just Middle Eastern--Arabic bombast.
I just hope that those unknown advisors hold on. Like rumpleyfips I wonder who it is. The US State Dept has been gutted so my bet is the US military who know what a world of hurt they would be walking into.
I wonder if Beijing and Moscow may have had words as well?
Unfortunately, Trump is surrounded by what appears to be a mob of outstandingly incompetent advisors who a) have no concept of the world outside the USA, 2) usually are crazed Christian fundamentalists---with even less knowledge or experience of the real world outside the USA theocracy, and 3) somehow think that Iran is some impoverished, isolated, third-world country like Somalia was when the US invaded.
Oh, I forgot 4) the idiots in Washington think that the USA is seen as some kind of saviour. After Iraq and Libya and Somalia and Vietnam and Cambodia and ... no one believes that. A lot of people probably figure it is better to die shooting at US invaders than to be killed by some random US drone strike on a wedding..
I guess I read too many conspiracy theories . Taking another look at the General , I wonder what kind of a signal they have with the sniper if Trump gores all to shit.
Delete"Is Donald Trump High On Drugs?"
ReplyDeleteThat's a great question, Simon. Especially when those surrounding him look as though they could use it more than he. Besides the numerous occasions he's been President Sniffles, I've noticed his jaw has a tendency to sway from side to side. I've witnessed many people on coke and some had the exact same jaw movements as Trump as well as the telltale sniffles. They were also clearly not their regular self though they didn't think so. I'm guessing he's either doing coke cut with speed or he's just a snorting meth head. Either way he's being supplied by someone close to him(Miller?). This activity is not easy to hide so if ever there was a need for a whistleblower to step forward, this is it. The 25th is also an option but with the GOP enabling his daily doses of insanity, we'll need a higher intervention, as in the lord. So, as Nancy Pelosi does, I'm going to pray for Trump.
"Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the lord to take this creep.
And should he die before he wakes,
Please send him where his soul will bake."
JD
Reports surfacing that the Ukrainian airliner was downed by Iran, probably by mistake. But still, probably wouldn't have even been an issue had Trump not fired the first shot.
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/AdrianMorrow/status/1215315176976719872
Oh, Canada. I am so, so sorry.
So now you've not only hung us out to dry and abandoned our citizens to political detention in China but have designated us a national security risk and contributed directly to the murder of dozens of our citizens by foreign militaries.
DeleteAt times like these it's worth pointing out how far America's empire got to date on the back of soft power alone.
/Reports surfacing that the Ukrainian airliner was downed by Iran, probably by mistake.
DeleteRight.
Tehran has an international airport with about 300 flights a day. Iranian air defence around the capital are likely to mistake a large civil airliner taking off from that airport as a threat and shoot it down?
Alternative scenario (also a bit crazy), the USA having received a late warning of the missile attack on Iraqi bases activates a Mojahedin-e Khalq terrorist cell with a MANPAD and tells them to shoot down something. Nobody in the USA cares what.
Given the US record over the last 30 or 40 years this is not as unreasonable as the Iranians shooting down the plane.
Oops, looks like I may have been mistaken!
DeleteThe simplest explanation for Dotards action is that after years of blaming Hillary for Benghazi he thought the general was there to lead a similar event against the American consulate in Baghdad. Totally illogical as Iran works through proxies and would be found nowhere near a war triggering event of that magnitude but Trump is not currently in possession of a logical mind, if he ever was! The ultimate delusion is when you start believing the lies you have told. Truly living in a alternate universe based on alternate facts.
ReplyDeleteRT