Given the context it is extremely cringe worthy, in fact it makes me naseous

[grantcart]

1) The cringe worthy statements

Trump is more than your run of the mill racist misogynistic xenophobe. He also houses a deeply disturbed mind. He has learned over the years to mask it but the inner Donald is always scratching to come out. He thinks that he is more brilliant than the politically correct and if he were to say that which he knows people think is offensive in a clear way he can change everyone to his point of view.

This unvarnished Donald is extremely cringe worthy. It will actually make you nauseous.

The most terrible point in the 2018 campaign wasn't the "pussy tape" but his unprompted demand that the innocent Central Park 5 be re arrested (they were proven to be innocent and paid $ 40 million for forced false confessions) and presumably executed as he openly campaigned for

These are areas where he can't hide behind a policy, we see not just a bigoted mind but a sick one.

His vicious opinions about the disabled will also show the diseased nature of Trump's brain.

You may have forgotten this gem:

https://medium.com/ministry-of-information/president-trump-angry-they-let-retards-play-in-special-olympics-485d4ae72a8d

“This is the problem with this whole country. Everybody gets a trophy! Why would they let retards in the Special Olympics? They don’t let them in the regular olympics? Why would they let them compete in the special ones? These are supposed to be the better Olympics, right, but they’re worse!”

Witnesses report Ivanka then tried to quiet her father, whispering in his ear and grabbing his hands, but this only led to more unrestrained speech.

“How would it even work?” Trump asked. “Wouldn’t they get hurt? Seriously? I’ve never seen a retard play football? That must be dangerous. Someone should stand up for these people and stop this show. Sick!”

Even with Ivanka physically restraining him the inner Donald wants to come out. The inner Donald must come out and show everyone how being supportive to people with extraordinary problems is exactly what "the problem (is) with this whole country. Right that's our biggest problem, being supportive and caring.

We all witnessed his embarrassing characterization of the reporter. We all cringed.

And now this:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/trump-rebuked-tough-watch-paralympics-article-1.3959604

President Trump, who infamously mocked a disabled journalist on the campaign trail, said Friday he had a "tough" time watching American Paralympians compete in South Korea.

Trump made the off-color comment while congratulating U.S. athletes who participated in the Olympic and Paralympic games in Pyeongchang last month.

"What happened with the Paralympics was so incredible and so inspiring to me," Trump said, standing on the White House North Portico surrounded by members of the Olympic and Paralympic teams. "And I watched — it's a little tough to watch too much, but I watched as much as I could."

2) The Context

Shameful, embarrassing to the country, gut wrenching to anyone with a brain and an ounce of empathy.

But it is the context that makes this the most difficult, cringe worthy in our nation's history.

The fellow that finds the uplifting and inspiring Special Olympics "tough to watch too much" is the Commander in Chief. As you read this Secretary of State Pompeo is laying the ground work for a military attack on Iran, as we were reading Sunday lol cats this was released

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-usa-pompeo-saudi/us-secretary-of-state-pompeo-stresses-need-for-gulf-unity-against-iran-idUSKBN1I0096

Pompeo reassured Saudi Arabia that the United States would abandon the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, reached under President Donald Trump’s predecessor, unless talks with European partners yield improvements to ensure the Islamic Republic never possesses nuclear weapons.

“Iran destabilises this entire region. It supports proxy militias and terrorist groups. It is an arms dealer to the Houthi rebels in Yemen. It supports the murderous Assad regime (in Syria) as well,” he said in joint remarks with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.

“Gulf unity is necessary and we need to achieve it.”

Pompeo also addressed the rift between Qatar and its neighbours, telling reporters after leaving Riyadh: “We are hopeful that they will, in their own way, figure out how to remove the dispute between them.”

Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, cut off travel and trade ties with Qatar last June, accusing it of supporting terrorism and arch-rival Iran on the other side of the Gulf.

1) There is no perfect deal. A good agreement is when both sides get a lot and both sides wish they had gotten more.

2) There isn't going to be any amendments or renegotiations. You can't have countries signing an agreement and then demanding a change every 2 years because somebody new has been elected. Europe isn't going to agree to it. China and Russia, who also signed on to the agreement isn't going to agree to it. Iran isn't going to agree to it.

3) Improvements between South and North Korea will embolden the inner Trump. Saber rattling has worked for Donald for 5 decades, and now he has nuclear sabers and a huge military.

4) In 1953 the US reversed its opposition to Britain's desire to overthrow the popularly elected Prime Minister (Mohammad Mosaddegh, the first Persian to get a doctorate in Europe) and reverse the nationalization of the Anglo-Iranian Oil co. After the CIA installed the Shah as the head of government resentment against the brutal 26 year dictatorship and loss of sovereignty erupted and sent US/Iranian relations downward, until this agreement. Trump is going to set us back another 50 years.

5) After decades of anti Iranian propaganda (which was assisted by the idiot Mahmoud Ahmadinejad populist statements - similar to Trump in kind and quality) most people have a more favourable view of Saudi Arabia but the comparison should make us more weary of Saudi Arabia than Iran
- civil rights are better (especially for women) in Iran than Saudi Arabia
- It is Saudi Arabia that is the sponsor of radical Salafi or Wahhabism which is the basis for all of the radical jihadist movements. Saudis were on the planes on 9/11 not Iranians.
- The administration will talk about the adventurous foreign policy of Iran but it is Saudi Arabia that is bombing an entire country (Yemen) back to nothing and throwing its weight around the gulf trying to dictate policy to the other smaller gulf states.

Why is Trump not worried about the mid term elections?

Simple. In a fight for his life against prosecutors, facing a blue wave he knows that if he can provoke a war by September he has a good chance of keeping the Senate and possibly the House. A good chance because that is what Americans have done before.

The unvarnished Trump who can't watch the Special Olympics is simply a window into the disturbed mind of Donald Trump who now has the enormous powers of state to carry out his fantastical schemes to get more power. A war with Iran will cost hundreds of thousands of lives and set relations in the region back decades, so I am not going to be distracted by the obvious hit on Joy Reid, the faux uproar about the comedian who shocked everyone by pointing out the President is someone who grabs women's 'pussies', or any of the other distractions they put in the way.

Pompeo is laying the foundation for war with the Saudis, Bolton is cherry picking the data to amp up anti-Iranian hostility and the President needs a war to survive Mueller in the House and the Senate.

[unblock]

1. honestly i'm amazed he hasn't played the war card yet.

when he "won" the election, we feared his abject incompetence might lead us to disaster.

turns out, it may be his abject incompetence that saves us all.

[poboy2]

2. Bolton just got there. Hang on a sec. -nt

[grantcart]

3. He had to get the "war team" in place. The mainline right wing doesn't want the deal to go away

Tillerson et al, Corker, don't want a nuclear Iran and a ME nuclear arms race.

[unblock]

4. exactly, he's way behind the curve on this one.

shrub used to be the gold standard of incompetence and he had drooling warmongers ready to go even before 9/11. hell, bolton himself was banging the war drums before shrub was even inaugurated.

donnie's term is more than 30% over and he's only now getting a war team in place? he couldn't find incompetent grifters who are also warmongers at any point during his first year in office?

[grantcart]

5. They need the shock and awe to hit in Septembet. Remember sweeps is in Nov

[unblock]

7. what will be our reichstag fire?

[pnwest]

6. Holy cow, how did I miss the news

about what he said about “retards”, AND Ivanka trying to physically constrain him! I’ve not really bought into the dementia theory, maybe a touch, but I blame his just being a stupid, narcissistic asshole for his behavior more than anything. Picturing Ivanka shitting her pants hearing him start to spew that crap, and grabbing his hands to try to wrest his attention back to reality and shut him up changes my mind a bit.

[grantcart]

8. Its the classic Trump conundrum "Is he evil but clever or a high functioning idiot"

You go back and forth several times a week.

Obviously I am the evil but clever side. Tomorrow I will be back on the idiot side.