What does not surprise me is that people who have worked with the US President are going to jail. It does not surprise me that the US President has a hard time recruiting good people and keeping the ones he did.
It does not surprise me that the US President is mercurial and flies off the handle when he does not get his way. It does not surprise me the US President cannot take criticism well and bullies and berates others who dare to do so.
Nor does it surprise me the US President has a very hard time telling the truth. Even when he is on the kitchen counter with his hand in the cookie jar, this man-child says it is not his fault. What is defined above has been reported over the years by five biographers and financial reporters as a modus operandi of behavior. All of the above was amply reported before the election, so it is not news.
What surprises me is how his followers and sycophants have either swallowed his marketing schtick hook, line and sinker or are choosing to look the other way. I think the sycophants are the worst of the bunch as they know better. People like Senator Mitch McConnell know the US President is a cancer on America, yet are spineless and choose not to overly say this is wrong.
The cult-like base is another thing. Many people have left the Republican Party, but that is not telling enough. Conservative pundits have left the GOP and/ or are critical of how the US President is acting, but that is not telling enough. People who voted for him are not seeing the gains other parts of the country are and farmers are punished by the tariffs, but that is not telling enough.
What will it take? As a candidate, he said he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and his followers would still support him. To me, that is an obvious insult and reveals his disdain for the people he has taken advantage of all his life through thousands of lawsuits and refusing to pay hard-working contractors.
Maybe, just maybe, as the lies become more apparent and cannot be hidden by the blinders, the sycophants and cult will act. His fixer just pled guilty and is going to jail for three years. An entertainment news periodical that revels in trashy gossip, pled guilty to buying a negative story and burying it as well as paying hush money to protect the candidate, is now cooperating.
What is becoming increasingly apparent is those folks who said the US President has a problem with the truth, are dead on accurate. The US President is very likely guilty of all the things he said he did not do. Why? In the words of another legal counsel who resigned after it was apparent the President was not heeding his caution, he said the biggest concern he had is his boss was a “f**king liar.”
musingsofanoldfart 
Each president has a core constituency who approves, no matter what. With Nixon, it was 25 percent. With Trump, it’s 35-40 percent…for now. If the economy has issues, that core constituency may yet shrink to Nixon levels.
Brendan, agreed on all counts. While I did not agree with his tax cut due to the deficit impact, since it did help the economy some, he should have stopped there. Yet, he made several unforced errors on trade (tariffs, bullying allies, and retrenching) that have and will further hamper the economy. He threw water on the slightly better economy. Keith
Agreed. And when all of that gets exposed, I think his constituency will shrink.
Let’s hope so. There has been a very slow trickle over the months, so hopefully more will see the light.
Hopefully.
What DO his sycophants hope to get out of supporting him? Loyalty? Hahaha. That’s a one way road.
Linda, you are correct. Loyalty to Trump is not a two way street. As an attorney who worked for Trump said, if someone is on his good side, they better enjoy it as they won’t be for long. Keith
With the Russian spy cooperating I suspect we’re going to see a bunch of the GOP supporters in congress exposed. And I hope it starts with the utter failure of a “leader” McConnell.
Toby, agreed. There are more than a few leaders who are concerned about the truth emerging. The US President is only one of several who have tried to hide their dealings with Russia and other bad influences. Keith
Note to Readers: I shared with Jill on her Friday Funnies post that the funniest thing I heard yesterday is Donald J. Trump saying we should not believe Michael Cohen because he is a liar. Per The Washington Post, the former has 6,000 lies and counting and he is saying don’t believe someone?
Brendan’s point about every president having a core constituency is well-taken. Still, I am at a loss in this case to understand it. Nixon, at least, had some positive achievements under his belt that he is still given credit for even today (not to mention that he was literate and could speak in whole sentences). Trump has absolutely none. He is brash, rude, hyper-critical, always a liar and yet some people I know who I used to think were of at least average intelligence, still say he is doing a great job. For the first year or so, I had empathy for these people and thought surely reason would overcome ignorance at some point, but I have completely lost patience now. As he makes daily decisions that are destroying our nation, our very lives, there can be no more tolerance for those who cheer him on.
Good post, by the way, and I share your mirth at Trump calling Cohen a liar. As my mother used to say, “the pot calling the kettle black”.
Jill, I am with you. I see the party line on what a great job he is doing, but I disagree. Setting aside his choice of judges, which more conservative voters rave about, I see a litany of decisions which borrow from our future to dress up a pretty good economy, make America an unreliable and trustworthy partner, restrict legal immigration which was accretive to the economy, empower extremist groups and damage our planet now and in the future. Then, there are his actions and behavior….Keith
Hi Keith – It’s been awhile since I checked on wordpress, and it’s nice to see you are still making sense of this world! Many thanks – Susan
Susan, many thanks. I miss the counsel of our old friend Larry. In older posts that resurface it is nice to see his old comments. Keith
I am so glad he lives on in such great places as your blog! He would truly have things to say about what is going on these days. I miss him.
Susan, he most certainly would. I think he carved those cutting boards to relieve tension. He would like have hundreds by now. Keith
Dear Keith,
The first sign of light being put on the shenanigans of President Trump and his sycophants with their dark money donors, was on 12/18/18 when a Federal Judge asked the president’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, why he shouldn’t or couldn’t be tried for treason. I loved it when he said to General Flynn, “Arguably you sold your country out.”
The judge dressed down General Flynn for having the gall to go along with the president’s sycophants conspiracy theory/ talking points about their daring to attempt to besmirch how the FBI mistreated General Flynn by tricking him into lying to the FBI.
For me, the judge got it right. I would like to know what the general has shared with the FBI where its officials were recommending leniency and what the judge read that had him acting counter to the FBI’s directions.
Hugs, Gronda
Gronda, the dressing down was pertinent and impactful. So much so, the White House was distancing themselves from him. But here is a key issue. Trump was told by Obama and several others not to hire Flynn. He did it anyway. His due diligence on people to partner with has always been slip-shod per excellent articles from Newsweek in 2015 and 2016. Flynn is just one of several poor hires that have bit this impatient man in the butt. Keith