Knee Deep And Starting To Rain: Will Trump Be Able To Weather His Problems? Only His Alternate Reality Knows For Sure.

Caption: 2017 Political Climate Forecast : "And more on the way!"

2017 will only make sense if Trump is impeached.

Russia.   Conflicts of Interest.   Animosity towards the press.   John Lewis. Sexual Harassment Law Suit. Questionable Cabinet appointees.

...and Twitter Addiction. 

Trump's problems are piling up and there may come a time when even the Republican Party will not support him.

In accordance with his way of celebrating Martin Luther King Day, Trump lambasted Civil Rights icon John Lewis via Twitter (of course) after Lewis said that he would not be attending the inauguration and called Trump "illegitimate". Trump called Lewis' 5th District "crime-infested" and "falling apart" and said that Lewis was "all talk and no action".

Lewis' 5th District includes Atlanta, which is considered one of the fastest growing cities in the country job-wise and has a much higher standard of education than the rest of the nation.

Politifact:

In sum, Trump is exaggerating when he says Georgia’s 5th is "falling apart" by some metrics and, by others, he’s flat-out wrong.

The results:

As of Tuesday, 60 House Democrats have announced they intend to boycott President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, following his public rant against civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-GA).

Of course, we expected no less from Mr. Trump, whose petulant temperament takes childishness to a new level. But will the country (and the Republican Party) hope for a more "Presidential" demeanor from this child-President?

"PissGate" Will Take Its Toll

The rancor and suspicions as to Trump's Russia ties caused by the now infamous dossier leaked to Buzzfeed will not be going away soon. Credibility aside, the fact that Trump's temperament aligns with the story of revenge is enough to plant questions in people's minds for a long time and spawn conspiracy theories to counter right-wing groups' denials.

So who will protect Trump when the going gets rough? 

Yahoo News:

MOSCOW (AP) — With eager anticipation, the Kremlin is counting the days to Donald Trump's inauguration and venting its anger at Barack Obama's outgoing administration, no holds barred.

Intelligence Committee finally shows some intelligence

It took 17 intelligence agency reports, an M16 agents report, numerous Russian allies working ON the campaign, photos of actual meetings of said campaign staff with Putin and his cronies and Trump giving Putin verbal bj's on stage for over a year for the government to actually decide to investigate.

The Problem Is: The Christian Right may have had a lot to do with it:

RightWingWatch

Two of the “pro-family” lawmakers behind Russia’s ban on “homosexual propaganda” are now behind a bill that would “downgrade assault inside the traditional family unit from a criminal offense to a misdemeanor,” according to a report by Tom Balmforth of Radio Free Europe.

Earlier this week, one of the members of that board, Richard Land of the Southern Evangelical Seminary, appeared on the “Point of View” radio program, where he told host Kerby Anderson that he has been shocked by how much influence he and other Religious Right activists have had over the make-up of Trump’s administration.

Christianity (Trump's Christianity but certainly not ours) will make America a dominionist country

While rarely mentioning God before or after the campaign, Trump has systematically appointed lackeys to the Christian Right. Very wealthy Betsy DeVos has been a staunch Christian Reform Church member all her life and her policies smack of Dominionism:

"Our desire is to confront the culture in ways that will continue to advance God's Kingdom."

For any other incoming president, such a pile of controversies and crises would suggest an early political disaster is imminent for the new White House. But Trump broke the mold in his outsider campaign and has repeatedly shrugged off scandals and controversies that would have downed normal politicians. He appears determined to shake up conventions that have built up around the presidency for two centuries and has little time for those who say he lacks presidential demeanor.

Making Hay Off The Presidency

A multi-million dollar expansion of President-elect Donald Trump’s golf resort in Scotland is reportedly underway — less than a week after Trump’s attorney told reporters that the president-elect had, in an effort to distance himself from conflicts of interests with regards to his businesses, “ordered that all pending deals be terminated.”

One Glaring New Conflict Of Interest:

We've already pointed out that Trump has a branded Tower in Manila, but now he'll have TWO:

One of the most most glaring conflicts is set to open up this quarter: Trump Tower Manila, a 57-floor skyscraper inside Century City, in a gentrifying area of Manila’s business district. It’s a joint project with Century Properties Group, Inc. (CPGI), a Filipino real estate development company owned by Jose E.B. Antonio, who is also a special trade envoy to the United States. If the partnership between Trump and Antonio is structured like many of his other business deals, with Trump licensing his name in exchange for ongoing payments, Trump will essentially be on the payroll of a member of controversial Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte’s government.

These and all other s will dog him for a long long time and be the basis for future objections to Presidential actions. "notalegitimatepresident.org should pop up soon. 

Again, all f this comes down to one question: will trump's alternate reality prevail? 

Because in his world, Donald Trump has no problems.

No problems whatsoever.

Giving One's All To A Secular Charity In The Age Of Trump

In Trump, the Christian Right has come alive and has a political blood thirst with a Seven Mountains, Christian-only nation on the horizon. People like David Barton, Franklin Graham, Tony Perkins and Jerry Falwell Jr. are buoyed to the point of giddiness about Trump's executive order eradicating the separation of Church and State. Until now, their persona needed at least a thin veneer of charity and tolerance. Now they can cast off the yolk of "Christian Charity". Now they can concentrate on what - to them - really matters: producing a Christian theocracy.

Meanwhile, secular, non-faith-based charities remain as vulnerable as the diverse communities they serve. No doubt that donations to secular charities will trail off.

For over 25 years, I have supported organizations like the AIDS Emergency Fund (I was on the "Working" Board of Directors for years) and last week, I did something few self-respecting  septuagenarians would do: I entered the Bare Chest Calendar contest to help raise money for the AEF and for an organization devoted to helping people claim their Social Security and health benefits, Positive Resource Center. 

I guess, in an odd sort of way, I have Trump to thank for my unusual support for charity: I'm frightened to think that the Christian Right will have cornered the market on Christian Charity, eradicating it in the secular area. I'm frightened to think what will happen to the efforts of diverse communities to stay alive - if we don't hunker down and band together, helping each and everyone to survive. 

Now please keep in mind, that the Bare Chest Calendar contest is not a beauty nor popularity contest: just view the video below and (if so inclined), show your support by clicking "like" under my picture on their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/barechestcalendar) 

After all, we really have to stick together.

No Fine Print: Unsettling Thoughts On A Sound Byte Presidency

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2015/08/19/trump-i-dont-just-get-military-advice-from-tv-i-would-have-a-policy-team-in-white-house/

The premise that President Donald J. Trump can barely read is growing by leaps and bounds.

In his OpEdNews piece, Is President Donald Trump Semi-literate?, Scott Baker relates Samantha Bee's take on his literacy, as well as The Forbes article stating that Trump's Wharton Business School tenure is very questionable (see the Funny or Die video below for laughs).

As the Full Frontal host said in a segment that premiered on Facebook Live, Bee began by reviewing tape of a recently unsealed deposition in which Trump was repeatedly asked to read from legal documents and refused, first saying he didn’t have his glasses and then using the excuse that he’s not a lawyer. “Objection!” Bee said. “How can you expect someone who isn’t a fancy-pants lawyer to read words?”

Also: how can you expect someone with a sketchy education to read extensively? His transcripts, like his tax returns, are not available. He was a shadowy figure at Wharton:

The Daily Kos

One former classmate in an Accounting class remembers, "He rarely showed up to class and “everyone” knew he bought the answers to the final exam. He spent little time on campus preferring to travel back and forth to New York City."

Now we know why whenever he says "I'm really smart" it sounds as if its coming from someone who just passed his GED on the third try. In fact, his campaign speeches had grammar just above the sixth grade - just about the same level as his followers on Facebook.

He said in a series of interviews that he does not need to read extensively because he reaches the right decisions “with very little knowledge other than the knowledge I [already] had, plus the words ‘common sense,’ because I have a lot of common sense and I have a lot of business ability.”

Sound Byte President

It may have been Chuck Todd who discovered that Trump lives on sound bytes:

Todd: Who do you talk to for military advice right now?
Trump: Well, I watch the shows. I mean, I really see a lot of great — you know, when you watch your show and all of the other shows, and you have the generals.

His love of the National Enquirer (which, btw, was his only major newspaper endorsement during the campaign) is noteworthy: the supermarket tabloid deals in the same kind of sound bytes as TV, but only on a more salacious level. And what can he "learn" from the Enquirer other than some celebrity's "brave last days" and the latest Jon Benet Ramsey scandal?

"Nobody reads the bible more than me"

The above evidence of Trump's bibliophobia leads to two very important questions: what has he NOT read and what will he NOT READ?

NOT READ:

The Constitution - It's evident that Trump has never bothered to read the constitution and only knows right-wing talking points (First and Second Amendment - think Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council and the NRA)

Legal Documents - they're boring and complicated and way too wordy. Trust others to read them and tell you what they are in two tweets - max.

The Bible - the above statement sent tidal waves of laughter throughout social media and the like. James Dobson of Focus on the Family* called Trump a baby Christian - a baby who hasn't learned to read and for whom the Bible is too heavy to pick up.

Trump has said that the Bible is his favorite book, but then again, he said that the last memorable read was All Quiet on the Western Front. So, which one is it?

It's obvious that Trump has never read the Bible - unless, of course, it comes in sound bytes. The sound bytes that come from him as heard by the Christian Right, however, seem to be okay: they've twisted themselves into knots turning this very faulty human being into a demi-god.

NOT GOING TO READ

Comprehensive Security Intelligence Briefs
[W]hile Mr. Obama liked policy option papers that were three to six single-spaced pages, council staff members are now being told to keep papers to a single page, with lots of graphics and maps.

“The president likes maps,” one official said. Scary.

This getting too elementary, too unsophisticated. When will show and tell be part of the daily WH routine? Seriously, the thought that the National Security Council distrusts the Trump administration not only because secret documents and important intel have wound up at parties, but because perhaps they doubt the President will ever read them.

This article - Thank God!








*Dobson has 17 honorary doctorates hanging in Focus on the Family's lobby. Trump's only honorary degree (in Scotland) was revoked.