thatcuriouswench:

macgregorsiolalpin:

To put the Trump administration into historical context, consider that Donald Trump embodies the worse of all the former Presidents typically regarded as among the worse in our history. 

Donald Trumps is … 

  • as racist as Andrew Jackson, 

  • as corrupt as Warren Harding, 

  • as singularly pro-corporation as Calvin Coolidge,

  • as abusive of power as Richard Nixon, and 

  • as incompetent as George W. Bush.  

Trump may yet prove to be as inept as the pre-civil War Presidents: Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan. 

Also, Donald Trump brings his own set of dysfunctional attributes beyond the scope of other Presidents. He is unique from other Presidents in that he is so utterly ignorant of public and world affairs that he has no idea when people are manipulating him for their own nefarious purposes and hidden agendas. Furthermore, Trump is so impulsive that he is easily baited and reacts recklessly to every provocation. And Trump is uniquely uncurious and intellectually lazy, and never seeks out information because he delusionally thinks he is of high intelligence and already knows everything he needs to know. Moreover, no President in American history has ever been implicated with a foreign power against the United States. 

That issue has yet to play out, but it could make Trump’s presidency standout in comparison against every other past administration. So it is very likely that taking his presidency in its totality, Donald Trump may very well be the worse President ever in American history. That’s quite an accomplishment for Trump in less than two years into his first term of office.

Again, an incisive critique by Jennifer Rubin getting to the heart of the matter. We can see Trump if we are generous, as a despot without a mandate, a fish out of the water, any number of “interesting” things but sadly in the light of day it all boils down to is a singular lack of intelligence. No, it doesn’t help he’s groomed for failure by his closest advisors, incestuous hand picked yes “men” similarly endowed. Dysfunctional, they merrily pat each other on the back while the rest of us are still recoiling in disbelief and shock. No clue. The exact reflection of the voter that put him and his family where they are, an orgy of stupidity. America fell in the trap spectacularly, like the workings of the charlatan Madoff, Trump convinced he was capable by thrusting the Mar a largo and celebrity status, wealth instead of intelligence into their imaginations and it was swallowed hook line and sinker. He’s still doing it to every foreign dignitary who visits. It’s his modus operandi. It’s him, and no one with a single brain cell thought he would change. There is no life after Trump just Trump, there is no president only Trump, and he is, in fact, missing a brain. Absolutely yes. We’re schooled to put a spin on this by looking for some scapegoat. Learning disability, personality disorder, mental decline but to be politically honest, it’s a brain that’s missing, nothing else.

President Donald Trump does not read – except in small doses and when his own name appears prominently. Before the presidency, his only activities were work and golf. He does not mingle with intellectuals, cultural trend-setters or artists.

It should come as no surprise – and it was not – that he sorely lacks in sophistication, knowledge of the world, understanding of government and a rudimentary grasp of economics.

Sitting atop arguably the great resource on the planet – the body of knowledge retained by American government experts on everything from economics to medicine to military history – he remains blissfully ignorant on a range of subjects.

He surrounds himself with dim yes men who know little more than he and, in any event, tremble at the prospect of correcting their “Dear Leader.” But sometimes you wonder whether Trump is just, well, dumb.

The Associated Press reports:

President Donald Trump has been handing out his cell phone number to world leaders and urging them to call him directly, an unusual invitation that breaks diplomatic protocol and is raising concerns about the security and secrecy of the US commander in chief’s communications. Trump has urged leaders of Canada and Mexico to reach him on his cell phone, according to former and current US officials with direct knowledge of the practice. Of the two, only Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken advantage of the offer so far, the officials said… “If you are speaking on an open line, then it’s an open line, meaning those who can monitor those conversations are doing so,” said Derek Chollet, a former Pentagon adviser and National Security Council official now at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

For someone who mocked Hillary Clinton for setting up a home email server that was vulnerable to hacking, Trump and his negligence defy explanation. Either he does not understand that his calls might be intercepted or does not care.

As a matter of self-preservation, however, one would think he would very much care if American enemies including terrorists could determine his whereabouts. (How is it, by the way, that American intelligence services condoned his using an unsecured line?) One would think he would be tired of being embarrassed when the content of calls is made public. It is times such as this when one wishes national security adviser H.R. McMaster had not frittered away his credibility spinning for the president and instead had the wherewithal to put his foot down and tell the president that he cannot behave in such a fashion.

When one considers this behaviour and that of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who allegedly discussed a dark communication line using Russian facilities, several explanations come to mind. First, this behaviour reflects the degree to which these neophytes on the world stage are hopelessly unschooled and naive. Alternatively, their behaviour denotes a shocking propensity for recklessness, even with their own financial and personal security (risking blackmail, among other things). That recklessness seems without purpose. (What goal would be served by talking on unsecured cell phone lines or on Russian lines that could not be accomplished on approved lines of communication?) Alternatively, maybe these people are paranoid conspiratorialists (who make Sean Hannity sound sane by comparison), convinced that the only thing they have to fear is the American “deep state” (or some such nonsense).

Whatever the explanation, Trump does not evidence any greater knowledge or sophistication than he possessed when he entered the office. You’d think he would have learned something in four months. Then again, maybe the rudimentary practices of government are utterly beyond him. One need not be a psychiatrist or an educator to see that he is incapable of performing the functions of his job – executing the laws, keeping the nation’s secrets, following routine security procedures. In short, maybe he is not compromised nor mentally ill, but merely dumb.

Copyright The Washington Post

Re: “

Alternatively, their behaviour denotes a shocking propensity for recklessness, even with their own financial and personal security (risking blackmail, among other things). That recklessness seems without purpose.

“ – 

That recklessness reflects a profound narcissism and sense of entitlement – “I do what I want, when I want, regardless of what anyone says about the consequences, because I am responsible to no one and I do what I want.” It’s a deep psychological and moral flaw, and not a world-view that responds to efforts to rein it in.

Donald Trump might be the stupidest President ever