The suzerain Trump

[Tero]

[L'Emmerdeur]

Somewhat of an alarmist piece, but then it seems reasonable to be somewhat alarmed by the narcissistic vulgarian and his gang of shitheels.

"The Shallow State: Forget the conspiracy theories. Something much more dangerous is seeking to gut our government and change the character of our society."

The “deep state” is the flavor of the month for conspiracy theorists, the “black helicopters” of 2017. The idea of career intelligence and military officers and bureaucrats marshaling the institutional power they have spent decades mastering to advance their goals regardless of the whims or wants of elected public officials or the people at large is irresistible, Tom Clancy stuff.

But I’ve seen what there is of a deep state, and let me tell you, based on very nearly 25 years living and working in Washington, it is not the dark fantasy of highly competent government workers that worries me.

No, what worries me is something new, more real, and much more dangerous: the shallow state.

The shallow state is in many respects the antithesis of the deep state. The power of the deep state comes from experience, knowledge, relationships, insight, craft, special skills, traditions, and shared values. Together, these purported attributes make nameless bureaucrats into a supergovernment that is accountable to no one. That is a scary prospect. But the nature of bureaucracies, human nature, inertia, checks and balances, and respect for the chain of command makes it seem a bit far-fetched to me. (The bureaucracy will drive Trump, like many presidents, mad, and some within it will challenge him, but that’s not the same thing.)

The shallow state, on the other hand, is unsettling because not only are the signs of it ever more visible but because its influence is clearly growing. It is made scarier still because it not only actively eschews experience, knowledge, relationships, insight, craft, special skills, tradition, and shared values but because it celebrates its ignorance of and disdain for those things. Donald Trump, champion and avatar of the shallow state, has won power because his supporters are threatened by what they don’t understand, and what they don’t understand is almost everything. Indeed, from evolution to data about our economy to the science of vaccines to the threats we face in the world, they reject vast subjects rooted in fact in order to have reality conform to their worldviews. They don’t dig for truth; they skim the media for anything that makes them feel better about themselves. To many of them, knowledge is not a useful tool but a cunning barrier elites have created to keep power from the average man and woman. The same is true for experience, skills, and know-how. These things require time and work and study and often challenge our systems of belief. Truth is hard; shallowness is easy.

[Tero]

Trump to address nation sandbagged by record low approval rating: NBC/WSJ poll
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/26/trump-to ... -poll.html
Democrats asked by those polled to lead, yet they are powerless:
As is typical in the modern American party system, opinions on the president and major issues divide sharply according to party affiliation. Mr. Trump retains overwhelming approval from fellow Republicans. But some intra-party unease shows up when Americans are asked who they want taking the lead on national policy.

More say Democrats in Congress (37 percent) than Mr. Trump (33 percent). That's because 19 percent— including one-third of all Republicans —prefer that the Congressional GOP take the lead.

[pErvinalia]

Stephen Colbert at the 2006 Washington correspondents presidential dinner. Most of what he said could apply even more so to Trump now. I wonder what he thinks when he looks back at this. Probably can't believe how relevant it still is.

https://www.democracynow.org/2006/5/3/s ... cking_bush

[Tero]

Just waterboard the whole lot, after Trump signs the torture EO.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/insid ... ar-AAnuzBN

[Tero]

On another forum: When will the GOP cut Trump loose?

In Soviet Russia Trump cuts congress loose!

[DRSB]

If Russia is involved, it cannot be only Trump, can it? I wonder who else has been signed up!

[Brian Peacock]

Turmp bans CNN, NYT and other supposedly liberal media organisations from white house press conference...

Early on in the exclusive sit-down, the former president expressed a clear-eyed support for the news media, saying a free press was "indispensable to democracy.
"We needed the media to hold people like me to account," Bush told TODAY'S Matt Lauer.
"Power can be very addictive and it can be corrosive, and it's important for the media to call to account people who abuse their power."

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/27/george-w ... l-ban.html

Now I know I'm living in alt-alt-reality.

[Svartalf]

If Russia is involved, it cannot be only Trump, can it? I wonder who else has been signed up!

All of NATO, why do you think he insists member states up their war spendings?

[DRSB]

So, how die Putin do it? Oh, well, this is not the Putin-thread!

[DRSB]

IN PICS: German Carnival floats show Trump no mercy
https://www.thelocal.de/20170227/in-pic ... p-no-mercy

[pErvinalia]

[Scot Dutchy]

If Russia is involved, it cannot be only Trump, can it? I wonder who else has been signed up!

All of NATO, why do you think he insists member states up their war spendings?

Great for Trump's friends in the arms industry.

[Tero]

"We are going to repeal Obamacare and basically dump this on the states." Who have no funding. State tax is like 5% mostly.
https://news.google.com/news/amp?caurl= ... #pt0-82979

[Brian Peacock]

IN PICS: German Carnival floats show Trump no mercy
https://www.thelocal.de/20170227/in-pic ... p-no-mercy

Cruel, but fair.