[TobyD]

Ouf! Here’s a writer who really doesn’t mince her words:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/01/trump-regime-america-insurrection

Also of recent interest re Trump, last Friday's episode of the beyond today podcast, very interesting interview with a federal prosecutor. 

[Oldmanmatt]

Is it me, or did Mueller, fairly specifically but not quite, just say that Trump committed a crime but as president, the DoJ were not allowed to charge/ Indict Trump only as a matter of policy; then resign in a huff?

[andy popp]

I think the statement had two purposes. The first was to (re)assert the legitimacy of the investigation, that it was the right and proper thing to do; indeed that it had to be done (Trump's principal line of attack is that it was illegitimate from the very beginning). The second was to again explain that no exoneration can be claimed. The line that if it was possible they would have clearly said the President did not commit a crime was pretty striking though.

[andy popp]

Now being widely interpreted as a call for Congress to do its work and impeach.

[andy popp]

My god, these people really are fuckwits:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/may/29/energy-department-molecules-freedom-fossil-fuel-rebranding

[Oldmanmatt]

My god, these people really are fuckwits:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/may/29/energy-department-molecules-freedom-fossil-fuel-rebranding

Well, yes, fuckwits for sure.

Which wouldn’t be quite so bad if only they weren’t total Cμπ+∫ as well. 

[andy popp]

My god, these people really are fuckwits:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/may/29/energy-department-molecules-freedom-fossil-fuel-rebranding

Well, yes, fuckwits for sure.

Which wouldn’t be quite so bad if only they weren’t total Cμπ+∫ as well. in power.

[Oldmanmatt]

https://www.vox.com/2019/4/23/18510850/democrats-impeachment-pelosi-mueller-trump

In a nut shell. The GOP is broken, ergo the Government is broken.

[joel182]

The Daily has put out some interesting podcasts on Trump's wealth.
This episode from last year questions the whole 'self-made man' thing with a look at Donald and Fred's taxes.
This one from last week looks into some huge (>$2 bn) loans Trump got from Deutsche Bank.
Really recommended for anyone who likes podcasts and feeling upset about the state of the world.

[TobyD]

So when Trump says " I've  actually  studied it very hard" about the conservative leadership race, actually what he means is, that hes watched fox and friends everyday, like he always does, right?

[andy popp]

 ... at best.

[TobyD]

Trump's ignorant comments about UK politics are frankly infuriating.  I'm all for according him a state visit as he is a head of state,  but unfortunately one who behaves like a spoilt five year old. 

[monkoffunk]

Trump's ignorant comments about UK politics are frankly infuriating.  I'm all for according him a state visit as he is a head of state,  but unfortunately one who behaves like a spoilt five year old.

Of the 34 visits to the UK by 12 American Presidents, I think I’m right in saying that only two, Barack Obama and George W. Bush were honoured with state visits.

I see absolutely no reason at all why Trump deserves one and plenty that show he absolutely does not. This is a political move to stroke the ego of a man who seems to only consist of ego, and it is shameful and debasing.

That’s just what I think anyway.

[DAVETHOMAS90]

That's interesting about previous visits MOF.

It would be great to know the detail behind the planning of this visit.

I don't agree with arguments citing our historic alliance with the USA.
However, perhaps another question is "What are the relative merits of giving Trump the full fanfare treatment, vs making a stand? In what way do we achieve the most, for instance, looking at ways of influencing Trump's environmental policy?".

(Good running item in the National Geographic:
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/03/how-trump-is-changing-science-environment/ )

How much is a stand a reaction? Are there opportunities too? Are we welcoming the USA as a nation, as much as we are Trump?
Trump represents a lot of what it means to be British - prejudice, divisiveness, hate. Of course, that's not a serious argument in support of his visit, although it seems far more painful, and truer than we may have known.

Is a stand, a choice? That's not a question I'm asking because I think I know the answer.

Can we apply a bit of "shibbuwichee" - to use Trumps influence in our favour? Imagine if we could sell it to Trump that he could save the world?

[TobyD]

It would be great to know the detail behind the planning of this visit.
I don't agree with arguments citing our historic alliance with the USA.

It's ultimately a diplomatic relations exercise put on for the dday anniversary isn't it, so much as I profoundly dislike him I feel that the UK really has to accord a us president a similar visit on an occasion like that. Shit I don't know how anyone can moan, the person I really feel sorry for is her majesty the Queen, she actually has to sit down and have dinner with the fat boring tosser. She probably just wanted a quiet night in with the corgis and the horse racing on the TV

[DAVETHOMAS90]

It would be great to know the detail behind the planning of this visit.
I don't agree with arguments citing our historic alliance with the USA.

It's ultimately a diplomatic relations exercise put on for the dday anniversary isn't it, so much as I profoundly dislike him I feel that the UK really has to accord a us president a similar visit on an occasion like that. Shit I don't know how anyone can moan, the person I really feel sorry for is her majesty the Queen, she actually has to sit down and have dinner with the fat boring tosser. She probably just wanted a quiet night in with the corgis and the horse racing on the TV

I know! I think you're right there.

[Oldmanmatt]

It’s a long shot, but amusing to think it might be accurate:

https://www.indy100.com/article/donald-trump-uk-visit-the-queen-burmese-ruby-tiara-troll-theory-8943386?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1559656492

[andy popp]

Just when you thought he couldn't get any dumber ...
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/05/ireland-visit-donald-trump-arrives-leo-varadkar-discussions

(its worth watching the embedded clip).

[TobyD]

Just when you thought he couldn't get any dumber ...
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/05/ireland-visit-donald-trump-arrives-leo-varadkar-discussions

(its worth watching the embedded clip).

I often baulk at shrill denunciations of Trump by some of the left in the US; but watching that clip I am struck that his rambling repetition and non sequiturs bears a striking  resemblance to symptoms of dementia.  I do incidentally work with people with dementia every day.  I'm now more convinced of a basic cognitive unfittness to govern. 

[andy popp]

It would be interesting to see a proper analysis of the scope of his vocabulary, which seems rather limited, shall we say.

[moose]

An anecdote rather than proper analysis, but Martin Amis made an interesting observation in a 2017 interview:

Looking back over the decades, he thinks Trump has suffered a horrific mental decline. “If you look at old tapes of him on [US talkshow] Charlie Rose, using words like ‘chagrin’ correctly. And with a certain amount of ironic reserve.” There is, Amis says, a question of “dementia”.


Another interesting passage, suggesting an international crisis might have an upside but also warning about the power of his far-right base:

The question of impeachment, Amis suspects, is wishful thinking, though he suggests that a particular order of world event could push Trump over the edge. “I am, in a way, thirsty for an international crisis,” he says, perhaps unaware of how this comes across. “Not with North Korea; he’s itching to do that and thinks he’ll get the Nobel peace prize if he wipes it off the map. But I want something really ticklish, like the hostage crisis after the Iranian revolution, where he’s not going to reach for the button, but people are going to see him under stress.”

But, Amis adds, we shouldn’t underestimate Trump’s talent for stoking up unrest. “Trump is trying to stock up an army of neo-Nazis who, if he gets ousted before his term is over, are going to think it’s a coup. They’ve all got huge guns; that’s a sword to hold over the situation. That’s what they’re scared of.” This neo-Nazi element, which predates Trump, but which he has been very shrewd at exploiting, is something Amis sees as the last stand against Obama by the kind of American who “before 2008 could look out of his trailer and say, I may not be much, but I’m better than a black man. Then they see Obama, so handsome and witty and learned, and think, can I really say that?” Racism exists in Britain, of course, but he considers it a category difference. “It’s not to do with hatred from the gut.”

full article
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/16/martin-amis-miss-the-english-homesick

[slab_happy]

It would be interesting to see a proper analysis of the scope of his vocabulary, which seems rather limited, shall we say.

Some analysis and discussion:

https://www.statnews.com/2017/05/23/donald-trump-speaking-style-interviews/
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-language-level-speaking-skills-age-eight-year-old-vocabulary-analysis-a8149926.html
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/06/opinion/trump-speech-mental-capacity.html

[andy popp]

It would be interesting to see a proper analysis of the scope of his vocabulary, which seems rather limited, shall we say.

Some analysis and discussion:

https://www.statnews.com/2017/05/23/donald-trump-speaking-style-interviews/
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-language-level-speaking-skills-age-eight-year-old-vocabulary-analysis-a8149926.html
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/06/opinion/trump-speech-mental-capacity.html

Thanks slab_happy.

[fatneck]

It would be interesting to see a proper analysis of the scope of his vocabulary, which seems rather limited, shall we say.

Is this not a deliberate affectation to appeal to the masses?

[andy popp]

It would be interesting to see a proper analysis of the scope of his vocabulary, which seems rather limited, shall we say.

Is this not a deliberate affectation to appeal to the masses?

No, I really think it represents his actual cognitive abilities.