On the one hand, President Trump is widely suspected of misfeasance before and after taking office, to wit:
- His relations with foreign leaders are suspect.
- He fails to recognize that the Constitution limits his powers, but attacks Congress, judges, and courts.
- His understanding of issues is sketchy, based on news reports rather than study or expert advice.
- He cites “alternative facts,” some reflecting Russian propaganda.
- He is out of step with past administrations, Democratic and Republican, on many issues–free trade, climate change, foreign relations.
- His administration is rife with corruption.
- He encourages divisiveness, racism, intolerance.
One might think that even suspicion of conspiracy with foreign dictators alone would be fatal, yet for President Trump even billowing smoke doesn’t mean fire to many of us.
On the other hand, he was elected President, and whether fairly or not, occupies the office and exercises its powers and usurps more:
- He enjoys the support of a significant fraction of us.
- He threatens war and makes nice erratically.
- He nominates judges, some to lifetime positions.
- His administration fails to fill many important offices with little notice.
- He appoints senior officials, often cronies and family members, with the consent, if not the advice, of Congress.
- He has provoked the longest shutdown in history.
- He has imposed tariffs on foreign goods disrupting the world economy.
- He has used the military in questionable ways.
- He quarrels with allies and makes nice with dictators.
Why, one wonders, is President Trump able to do this? Is it that we have such faith in our elections that we can’t conceive of an unsuitable person being elected, is it that politicians, seeking partisan goals, choose to ignore the danger, or is it that the constitutional provision for removing an elected President, impeachment, is too cumbersome and controversial to be used?
New NY 23rd 
What Barr promises and what DJT expects are in stark contrast; can Barr be believed?
Barr says DJT denies wrongdoing as if this were credible evidence, which doesn’t inspire confidence in him.
DJT appointing an AG, suggests the fox will guard the chickens.
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Leaving aside the mass hypocrisy that Republicans indulge in, I think there’s also a hefty dose of unwillingness on the part of Trump voters to admit they got scammed. I know that during the 2016 primaries and election, many of us were pointing out that he was a con man. He wasn’t really a successful businessman, he was a constant liar, and his love of – and disturbing ties – to Russia should have been cause for concern.
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Norbrook, thanks for your comment. Rather than “unwillingness on the part of Trump voters to admit they got scammed,” I suspect it is over reliance on “alternative facts, the impact of political propaganda, and distrust of the “main stream media” that blinds Trump’s supporters.
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The Trump presidency is not an aberration. He is the natural end product of 38 years of Reaganism. End the government. Poor people are lazy. Break the unions. Deregulate the corporations. Tax giveaways to the top 1%. The GOP backed him 100% in 2016 and continues to do so.He is simply the vulgar and crude embodiment of the SAME POLICIES supported by the more amicable Mitt Romney and disgusting Mitch McConnell. Anti-democratic, authoritarian and anti-labor. In a sense, Trump is the best thing that has happened to America. He is the TRUE FACE of the attitudes and beliefs of the GOP.
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John Kaisch, the former Ohio Governor and presidential candidate, now a political commentator, has a column in today’s Elmira Star-Gazette. Kasich writes that Republicans must stop being naysayers instead of doers. Good advice perhaps, but there seems little chance that Republicans, badly divided and unable to agree among themselves, can do that. Kasich calls for “market driven solutions” to problems. That is Republican orthodoxy, which may not be appropriate or politically achievable. There is a contradiction between this recommendation and Kasich’s call for new ideas and innovative solutions.
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The media on President trump reporting
https://greatamericanpolitics.com/2019/01/new-study-reveals-just-how-biased-news-coverage-in-2018-was-against-trump-this-is-crazy/
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The facts about Trump constitute “media bias”. LOL
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“Bias” against Trump? More like “reported the facts.” The man lies constantly. In fact, he’s even contradicted himself in the same sentence several times.
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Mark Twain claimed that having opinions is an art. Perhaps it is, if one’s opinions are one’s own. There is not much art involved, if one’s opinions are planted by dubious internet sources.
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