Originally a comment by latsot on Great respect.

You know when you’re trying to fix something and you strip a screw or something? There’s this momentary panic. You think “fuck, how am I going to fix this now?” Then you remember that even if you don’t know how to deal with the stripped screw or whatever, you know how to find out how.

That fleeting feeling of panic, that “holy fuck, this is my fault, what do I do now?” is really similar to the feeling I get every time Trump tweets or speaks and every time it becomes even more obvious that Trump’s awfulness has infected horribleness in pretty much every other nation leader. Some of them seem … Read the rest

I feel sick.

Yesterday in Pittsburgh I was really impressed with Congressman Keith Rothfus (far more so than any other local political figure). His sincere level of compassion, grief and sorrow for the events that took place was, in its own way, very inspiring. Vote for Keith!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2018

That hamfisted attempt to sound somber, followed by the exclamatory Party Political Broadcast – dear god. But also “for the events that took place” – the squeamish little toad can’t even bring himself to name what happened, I suppose lest anyone be reminded that he inspires violent hatred.

https://twitter.com/NormEisen/status/1057758863494123521… Read the rest

As soon as I read about Trump’s attack on the Fourteenth Amendment, I wanted Eric Foner’s take. Now we have it.

(Why Eric Foner? Because he literally wrote The Book on Reconstruction, and because he’s a quality thinker and writer.)

He starts with saying Trump’s cunning plan would undoubtedly be unconstitutional.

It would also violate a deeply rooted American idea — that anybody, regardless of race, religion, national origin, or the legal status of one’s parents, can be a loyal citizen of this country.

(Or sex.)

Birthright citizenship is established by the Civil Rights Act of 1866, still on the books today, and by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, ratified two years later. The only exceptions, in the

Will they never learn?

President Trump punches back even as synagogue mourns https://t.co/CUElM5QCCn

— TIME (@TIME) October 29, 2018

“Trump punches back” for godsake – nobody punched Trump.

What is wrong with you? This headline is so irresponsible.
Eleven elderly Jews were murdered in a synagogue at prayer on Shabbat, gunned down with automatic weapons by a man fueled by Trump's rhetoric.

No one "punched" Trump.

— Victoria Brownworth (@VABVOX) October 30, 2018

There’s a lot more where that came from.… Read the rest

But hey, it’s all ok because Trump is the champion of The Little Guy (not The Little Gal so much), the scourge of the elites, the populist, the friend of miners and factory workers.

Except, wait a second. He’s being sued for bullshitting people with no money into scam get-rich schemes.

A new lawsuit accuses President Trump, his company and three of his children of using the Trump name to entice vulnerable people to invest in sham business opportunities.

…

The 160-page complaint alleges that Mr. Trump and his family received secret payments from three business entities in exchange for promoting them as legitimate opportunities, when in reality they were get-rich-quick schemes that harmed investors, many of whom were

Worse again.

We saw this one yesterday, 17 hours ago.

The Fake News is doing everything in their power to blame Republicans, Conservatives and me for the division and hatred that has been going on for so long in our Country. Actually, it is their Fake & Dishonest reporting which is causing problems far greater than they understand!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2018

The next are 5 hours ago, 7:30 a.m DC time.

There is great anger in our Country caused in part by inaccurate, and even fraudulent, reporting of the news. The Fake News Media, the true Enemy of the People, must stop the open & obvious hostility & report the news accurately & fairly. That

Can no one make this criminal fascist monster STOP INCITING HATRED even now???

The Fake News is doing everything in their power to blame Republicans, Conservatives and me for the division and hatred that has been going on for so long in our Country. Actually, it is their Fake & Dishonest reporting which is causing problems far greater than they understand!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2018

… Read the rest

Julia Ioffe asks how much responsibility Trump has for the synagogue massacre.

The summary: he doesn’t have to do the shooting himself to be part of the cause of the shooting.

Culpability is a tricky thing, and politicians, especially of the demagogic variety, know this very well. Unless they go as far as organized, documented, state-implemented slaughter, they don’t give specific directions. They don’t have to. They simply set the tone. In the end, someone else does the dirty work, and they never have to lift a finger — let alone stain it with blood. I saw it while reporting on Russia, where, after unexpected pro-democracy protests and the annexation of Crimea, Putin created an environment so vicious,

This fucking fool.

President Trump, asked about gun laws, says the Pittsburgh synagogue should have had armed security at the bris and the gunman wouldn’t be able to do what he did pic.twitter.com/y9Cq59wPM5

— Justin Fenton (@justin_fenton) October 27, 2018

Oh they should have had armed protection. So what’s he saying? That there should be armed protection everywhere? Supermarkets for instance, like that Kroger in Jeffersontown, Kentucky where a white guy shot two black people to death a few days ago? But what if the security guard is in aisle 10 so the shooter goes to aisle 2 to shoot people there? It would take a lot of armed security to cover the whole space, and the parking lot … Read the rest

Gary Younge at the Guardian sees a connection between Trump’s constant stoking of hatred and the highly stoked hatred we see all around us.

Trump’s election and the xenophobic rhetoric that came with it not only emboldened schoolchildren to parrot bigotry to their peers, it gave the state free rein to unleash its power indiscriminately against a minority community. So when pipe bombs are sent to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, California congresswoman Maxine Waters and CNN it should be understood not only as a specific threat to democracy but as one of the most violent examples yet from a democracy that has long been under threat.

…

…Both in his candidacy and presidency Trump has made direct appeals

Suspect arrested.

Federal authorities made an arrest on Friday in connection with the nationwide bombing campaign against outspoken critics of President Trump, a significant breakthrough in a case that has gripped the country in the days leading up to the midterm elections.

…

The arrest came only hours after the mysterious spate of pipe bombs spread further as federal authorities said on Friday morning that they had found two more of the explosive devices: one addressed to Senator Cory Booker and the other to James R. Clapper Jr., the former director of national intelligence.
…

The package addressed to Mr. Clapper was meant to be delivered to the New York offices of CNN, where he works as an analyst,

Charles Blow on Trump’s hate-mongering and how it may connect to all these bombs popping up:

Trump’s hatred, racism, insecurity, anti-intellectualism and grudge against the elite society that had always disdained him was perfectly suited for conservatives who were entertaining the same notions but had no one to openly champion their intolerance with effrontery.

On Monday in Houston, Trump was again whipping a rally crowd into a fear frenzy with his dystopian vision of America. He said:

“Democrat immigration policies allow poisonous drugs and MS-13 to pour into our country. And Democrat sanctuary cities release violent criminals from jail and straight into your neighborhoods.”

As the audience chanted, “CNN sucks,” he said, “Don’t worry. I don’t like them either, O.K.?”

Bomb sent to CNN yesterday. Today Trump tweets:

A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News. It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description. Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 25, 2018

In other words, Trump says SEND MORE BOMBS.

The Times:

President Trump on Thursday blamed the news media for the division and anger in the United States, as the authorities discovered more pipe bombs intended for the president’s political rivals.

Mr. Trump had called the night before for national unity

Words matter.

The president of CNN strongly criticized President Donald Trump on Wednesday for his anti-media rhetoric, just hours after the network discovered that a pipe bomb had been sent to its headquarters in New York.

“There is a total and complete lack of understanding at the White House about the seriousness of their continued attacks on the media,” Jeff Zucker, the president of CNN Worldwide, said in a statement. “The President, and especially the White House press secretary, should understand their words matter. Thus far, they have shown no comprehension of that.”

Still not showing any comprehension. Trump is off at another rally as we speak.

Trump has frequently criticized CNN and other media organizations as “the fake

Meanwhile though Trump is taking those bombs sent to Democrats and CNN very seriously.

Kidding. Of course he’s not.

I cannot believe he is going through with a political rally tonight, except of course I can because he always does the worst possible thing in every situation. https://t.co/lG6ftfRBOd

— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) October 24, 2018

Will he rant about “fake news” and the evil Democrats at his rally? Of course he will.… Read the rest

But her emails department:

When President Trump calls old friends on one of his iPhones to gossip, gripe or solicit their latest take on how he is doing, American intelligence reports indicate that Chinese spies are often listening — and putting to use invaluable insights into how to best work the president and affect administration policy, current and former American officials said.

Mr. Trump’s aides have repeatedly warned him that his cellphone calls are not secure, and they have told him that Russian spies are routinely eavesdropping on the calls, as well. But aides say the voluble president, who has been pressured into using his secure White House landline more often these days, has still refused to give up