The Daily Beast last month on Trump and vermin (the literal kind):

Over the past few days, President Donald Trump has been on an extended Twitter tirade, going off on what he deems to be the rat infestation plaguing the city of Baltimore. But if anyone should know about the plague of vermin, it’s Trump.

The president’s restaurants, resorts, and golf clubs have all been cited for extensive health-code violations, including the presence of rodents.

Health inspectors have for years turned in stomach-churning reports of rats, mice, cockroaches, and other pests in the kitchens and food-preparation areas at Trump properties in New York, Florida, and Las Vegas. One infestation in the main kitchen of Trump’s Doral golf club in 2015

Trump’s stupidest tweet of the moment:

The question I was asked most today by fellow World Leaders, who think the USA is doing so well and is stronger than ever before, happens to be, “Mr. President, why does the American media hate your Country so much? Why are they rooting for it to fail?”

Lordy. Every word.

Note “fellow World Leaders” for instance. “Get it? I’m World Leader and I get to hang with other (lesser) World Leaders. I am important!”

Note also “Mr. President” – from the guy who keeps, embarrassingly, calling his “fellow World Leaders” Angela and Emmanuel and so on in his tweets. He loves being called “Sir” and he loves being called Mister President” – … Read the rest

Trump is hard at work at the G7.

Moments later:

Dude has his priorities straight.

Wait there’s more.

… Read the rest

Trump says he can too so order people to do what he orders them to do. Can can CAN.

President Donald Trump claimed he has the “absolute right” to “order” US companies to stop doing business with China that would involve using his broad executive authority in a new and unprecedented way under a 1977 law.

Normal presidents don’t do that, even the assholes. They don’t prance around saying they have “the absolute right” to whatever it is. They don’t do it one because it sounds babyish, and two because it sounds Stalinist, and three because it’s not true.

On Friday, China unveiled a new round of retaliatory tariffs on about $75 billion worth of US goods, the latest escalation

The whole King of the Jews – Chosen One – Basically God thing inspired The Caring Atheist to resurrect (see what I did there?) an old clip of Trump pretending to love the bible while actually not knowing a damn thing about it.

1. You mention that the Bible is your favorite book !!!

2. What are your favorite Bible verses ? – I don’t want to get into it

3. The Bible means a lot to me

4. Are you a New or Old testament guy ? – Probably equal

5. The Bible is just incredible

6. The Bible is special

… Read the rest

We should all start using the word “hereby” a lot; it makes a person sound more powerful and authoritative and official. Or else it makes a person sound more deranged and out of touch with reality and helpless. It’s one of those.

Donnie Two-Scoops three hours ago:

Our Country has lost, stupidly, Trillions of Dollars with China over many years. They have stolen our Intellectual Property at a rate of Hundreds of Billions of Dollars a year, & they want to continue. I won’t let that happen! We don’t need China and, frankly, would be far…….better off without them. The vast amounts of money made and stolen by China from the United States, year after year, for decades, will

Michael Gerson on Trump’s deranged performance yesterday:

With the whir of a helicopter engine in the background, President Trump veered from topic to topic with utter confidence, alarming ignorance, minimal coherence and relentless duplicity.

President Vladimir Putin, he said, “made a living on outsmarting President Obama” — even though it is Trump who now urges a Russian return to the Group of Seven summit without any concessions on Putin’s part.

On pursuing the trade war with China, Trump called himself the “chosen one.” This came within hours of tweeting a quote that he is loved like “the second coming of God.” At some point, arrogance is so extreme and delusional that it can only be expressed in blasphemy.

Trump

Interesting. One of the articles of impeachment against Andrew Johnson was his habit of screaming vulgar insults at people.

Benjamin Wittes:

The last president I know of who compared himself to the Messiah was Andrew Johnson. He was impeached for the speeches in question.

Here is Jeffrey Tulis’s account of those Johnson speeches, from his incredible book, The Rhetorical Presidency.

…deny that he was a traitor as others alleged, attack some part of the audience (depending on the kinds of heckles he received), defend his use of the veto, attack Congress as a body and single out particular congressmen (occasionally denouncing them as traitors for not supporting his policies), compare himself to Christ and offer himself as a martyr,

Just in case you want to see him telling reporters that Denmark can’t talk to him like that.

Denmark can’t call his excellent very good outstanding idea abzurd. It is not either abzurd, it’s very excellent. Besides they didn’t say it about him they said it about the United States. He doesn’t mind about himself, he’s the most humble self-effacing guy you’d want to meet, but they said it to the United STATES I tell you.… Read the rest

More on Trump’s “the Jews are disloyal” move:

Jon Cooper:

Trump’s accusation of “great disloyalty” by American Jews is the most anti-Semitic thing he’s ever said. He needs to apologize immediately to the more than 6 million members of the Jewish-American community—approximately 75% of whom voted Democrat in 2016.

Trump has never apologized for anything, so that won’t happen.

Julia Ioffe:

So 80% of American Jews are disloyal? Sounds to me like the old anti-Semitic trope questioning the loyalty of Jews.

First thing I thought too. It goes with the old “cosmopolitan” nudge nudge.

Amy Siskind:

Says the PoS who held a campaign rally hours after the deadliest shooting of American Jews in US history.

Senator Jacky … Read the rest

It’ll be matzos made with blood next.

Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats are “disloyal.” Hmmmm, where have we heard that “Jews are disloyal” song before…

President Donald Trump sparked widespread outrage and confusion on Tuesday when he said that Jewish Americans voting for Democrats was showing “great disloyalty.”

Trump made the comments in reference to two Democratic lawmakers, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who have been openly critical of the Israeli government’s policies towards Palestinians.

Just as Trump has been openly critical, not to say rude and abusive, about a great many governments’ policies in a great many areas. It’s not up to him what Democrats get to criticize openly.

The Republican

On today’s social calendar: a likely clash between Proud Boys and Antifa in Portland:

Portland is preparing for a large far-right rally on Saturday that may be the largest in a series of demonstrations that have descended on the city in the Trump era.

Police in the Oregon city are fearful of an outbreak of violence at the “End Domestic Terrorism” rally, which is targeted at Portland’s antifascist groups, who in recent years have clashed with rightwing activists in running street battles.

The protest has been promoted primarily by Floridian Joe Biggs, a member of the rightwing Proud Boys organization. Biggs is a combat veteran and a former employee of the conspiracy broadcaster Alex Jones’s Infowars network. He claims