I don't believe for a moment Trump was moved by the poisoned children.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

I don't believe for a moment Trump was moved by the poisoned children. If he was he would be willing to take some of em in. I can more easily believe he did it to distract attention away from his myriad controversies and abysmal polling numbers. I can also believe that a limited strike against Assad for gassing his own citizens is an action a President Clinton, a President Sanders, or a President O'Malley could have taken. As an aside that is why the America Firsters are apoplectic. I can hold all those ideas in my mind at the same time.

[Cary]

1. He is pure impulse

He has the attention span of a toddler.

[3catwoman3]

11. More like a goldfish.

Apologies to goldfish.

[Cary]

16. I stand corrected

[volstork]

20. The cracker.

Not the fish.

[TEB]

2. The strikes accomplished nothing

Assad sent his troops back to work to attack civilians.

[PatSeg]

5. Well

They DID detract from Trump-Russian investigations and the ongoing White House intrigues.

[TEB]

7. I agree but it is temporary

[PatSeg]

9. Exactly

The investigations aren't going away. Hopefully he won't keep using military excursions to divert attention. He has that kind of personality though.

[TEB]

17. To quote a great woman my wife

Trump is an evil simpleton who will toss out shiny objects to save his own ass.

[PatSeg]

19. And your great wife

is absolutely correct. He reminds me of a Saturday morning cartoon villain, but not as smart.

Welcome to DU!

[lastlib]

39. And now (to our sadness), he has shiny objects that go 'BOOM'.

And he's enough of a psycho/sociopath that he'll use them--far too often.

GOPee (you basturds!) YOU let this happen!

[rug]

3. He's not. He takes it as an afront to himself.

"How dare they kill babies while I'm the President? They should have done it before January 20."

[PatSeg]

4. I hate to be cynical,

but with Trump it is inevitable. I found Trump's compassion to be phony and at times even creepy. He is an inherent opportunist and this looked like yet another opportunity to divert attention and glorify himself. As an added bonus, he got to play with things that go "boom". A win-win for Donald.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. I don't think he gets off on that kind of stuff.

I do think he think he would have continued to ignore it if it inured to his benefit.

[PatSeg]

8. I think he has a fascination

with the military. He wanted tanks at his inauguration and talked a lot about "bombing" people. Reminds me of another draft dodger who tried to compensate for missed military experience as president.

[3catwoman3]

13. I have no doubt that he, who never served, totally...

...gets off on being CinC and having the military obliged to obey his orders. The ultimate middle finger to those who criticise his evasion of military service.

[PatSeg]

18. Like all those neo-cons

during the Bush years who liked using other people's children as pawns in their military adventures. War is like a board game to them, with little or no regard for real life consequences. Very few war mongers during that time ever served or had children in the military.

[L. Coyote]

10. Did Trump Attack Assad to End the Russian Collusion Story?

http://www.newsweek.com/did-trump-attack-assad-end-russian-collusion-story-580754

............. The Trump administration’s developing Russia problem would have made it practically impossible for the president to keep clear of Syria. Given the highly publicized and emotionally charged nature of the deadly gas attack, a failure to respond would have been immediately portrayed as a confirmation of Trump’s collusion with the Kremlin.

The administration’s Russia story threatened to overshadow all policy initiatives the Trump team was pushing for. Putting an end to the story was clearly one of the major priorities of the U.S. administration.

Last but not least, Trump’s approval rating hit 36 percent last week, the lowest of any recorded president in his first year in office. As any Russian observer would confirm, we in Russia are tired of watching the Kremlin’s obsession with the president’s approval rates.

If public support is seen as crucial, leaders of a certain type would do anything to prop it up. Both Trump and Putin seem to be that type of leader. For years, Putin has used foreign policy to bolster his domestic ratings. These days, both countries’ foreign policies risk being driven by domestic concerns. ..............

[DemocratSinceBirth]

14. Of course.

Trump can say "Look I bombed Putin's pal. This shows I don't like that guy all that much."

[coco22]

12. Everyone knows it..

media,his talking heads,his deplorables..He doesn't give a damn.

[KPN]

25. But the fucking media's not saying it -- at least not loudly and consistently!

[2naSalit]

15. Like this...

?

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10028911003

[Panich52]

21. He's too focused on how great he is to connect the dots

on any of his policies—like effects of cutting Meals On Wheels. No-one that narcissistic can care enough f/ "poor babies" he won't even allow in this country as refugees.

Read one article that said it was Ivanka's horror at the scene that decided it for him. That's very scary. (Did she threaten no more lap dances if he didn't do something?)

[Tatiana]

22. The "beautiful little babies" was a dog-whistle to the Religious Right.

Last edited Sun Apr 9, 2017, 12:26 PM - Edit history (2)

Much like in his debate with Hillary Clinton, he talked about "ripping babies from the womb," this is a way to remind the evangelicals he's conned to stick with him.

Conveniently it also doubles as an excuse for lobbing some missiles to distract America and the rest of the world from his collusion with Russia to steal the 2016 election.

When have we ever known this man to care about babies? He hates them, of all races!

http://digg.com/video/donald-trump-baby-talk-comments

[dalton99a]

23. Bingo.

[KittyWampus]

27. Good call. Didn't catch that.

[Orrex]

33. I want someone to ask him point-blank how many abortions he's paid for

Any journalist with a shred of integrity should have asked that during the campaign.

He wouldn't give an honest answer, of course, but it would rattle him, and his subsequent temper tantrum would reveal a lot about him to the drooling fundamentalist base that hates women so profoundly.

[Alice11111]

51. Sorry, but I don't think the religious RW cares about THOSE babies.

DT and the religious RW have been seeing these photos for 6 fucking years. I remember when Assad had killed 7000 innocent people and Hillary was calling for action. The genocide was committed by Assad alone, until Putin jumped in, under the guise of fighting ISIS. They are both war criminals and the US has been heartless.

I think maybe McMaster and the generals convinced DT, but his speech belies what he has surely seen over and over for years. This time, and 2013, it's chemical, but it was still killing children.

[KPN]

24. I agree -- he wasn't moved one bit! He saw an opportunity

that was attractive on numerous fronts and took it.

"As an aside that is why the America Firsters are apoplectic. I can hold all those ideas in my mind at the same time." LOL!!!! Thanks for making me smile this morning.

[KittyWampus]

26. Nor do I. Narcissists don't suddenly become empathetic. They know how to act to manipulate others.

[Grammy23]

32. Exactly. People like tRump know when to turn on the charm.

And in this case it was turning on the pathos. There have been plenty of times in the past when he could have and probably should have been moved by the images he was seeing. But this time he had sagging poll numbers to consider. Plus, the Chinese President was literally at his elbow. So he couldn't let the opportunity go by without using it to manipulate the feelings and reactions of people here in the US and around the world. It is his stock and trade. Manipulate people and use opportunities to your own ends. Despicable and self serving....yes, that's our President....sadly.

[ffr]

28. Traitor tRump would never do that. Come on!!!

[ronnie624]

29. US policy has never been concerned about the welfare of women and children.

Our government has murdered millions and created hardship for tens of millions, all over the world.

[lark]

30. I agree.

This was a phony attempt to look strong and show fake distance between him and pootie. That they only bombed one airfield, and gave the Russians 4 hours notice and Syria removed all their important equipment and personnel, and that they didn't bomb the runways just shows this was all done for political reasons. Even Russia's protests sound staged, and Assad bombed the exact same village using planes from the airfield we supposedly bombed to bits also shows this did nothing except fluff drumfp. He doesn't give a shit about the children. When specifically asked about Syrian children and even babies not being allowed refuge here, he said previously they could be terrorists too and weren't allowed in.

[oberliner]

31. I do

He is a pretty simple guy. I think he saw the pictures, thought they were sad, and then wanted to do something. I don't think he gives much thought to bigger picture consequences.

[LeftInTX]

50. I don't think he ever paid any attention to the pictures in 2013 or those poor migrant kids

He would just spout his mouth about Syrian refugees without knowing anything about them.

[oberliner]

55. He wasn't president in 2013

The thing, he is president now, and he is always swayed by the last person he speaks to or the last thing he watches on tv.

Also - many of the military folks were itching to attack Assad, so I am sure they were more than happy to encourage him in that direction.

Sending missiles is way easier and more popular than taking in refugees.

[Eyeball_Kid]

35. This morning's Scott Ritter piece...

offers evidence that Trumpy's impulsive decision was all wrong, that the gas that killed was likely not Sarin, but a chlorine gas compound manufactured in the building that was bombed. Allegedly, the compound was manufactured by an anti-Assad rebel group affiliated with al-Qaeda, if my memory is accurate. The video that Trumpy saw, it should be noted, was produced by an anti-Assad rebel group.

But Trumpy needs no intelligence data, does he? Nope. He apparently still thinks that the IC is useless against his superior intellect.

[dalton99a]

36. Donald Trump Once Cut Off Health Coverage For His Nephew's Ailing Baby...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3382756/Donald-Trump-cut-medical-treatment-nephew-s-sick-baby.html

[mrs_p]

37. He is a conman through and through

He cares about only himself at all times.

[JoeOtterbein]

38. I think he was moved by what he sees as the horror of...

...his low poll numbers!

[zentrum]

40. He's utterly cynical. nt

[KT2000]

41. his execuite orders

have put children at risk without a care. All of his actions re: EPA will harm children.

[Bear Creek]

42. His own glory

His comments and of his staff when the chemical attack occurred was met with distain. He doesn't like anything that makes him look bad. Also he needed to prove he is not Putin's puppet. But he called Putin first? He does not care about anything but himself.

[ailsagirl]

43. I laughed out loud when I read of this

What a phony scumbag

[malaise]

44. Someone believes that?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

57. Even here...

[Fast Walker 52]

45. of course, unless he's so senile he can't remember his own positions, which is possible

[George II]

46. He certainly wasn't moved by the children he killed in Yemen or those killed Thursday in Syria.

[smirkymonkey]

47. He's just been itching to drop bombs on somebody.

This was just an excuse. He will keep looking for more, I guarantee it.

[NastyRiffraff]

48. When he talks about compassion

look at his eyes, and note his tone. Unlike the animation he shows when he brags about himself or insults people, he sounds robotic when he recites the empathetic language from a teleprompter that his staff has written. In the "beautiful babies" (barf!) speech, his eyes were darting all over the place and he spoke in a monotone.

[kacekwl]

49. I believe he thinks anyone who is not in

a position to help him directly or indirectly and is not wealthy is indispensable and or sub- human. No loss to him in any case.

[bdamomma]

52. don the con

only thinks about himself, and his ratings did he end the refugee ban???????...................didn't hear a thing..

Also this assault on the Syrians has been going on for what 5 years not only with chemical weapons but with drone strikes. Recently 200 people were killed in Mosul to by American air strikes, so no this regime does not care who they kill or who they steal from.

[Initech]

53. The GOP doesn't give a rat's fucking ass about children.

Especially if they happen to be female, gay, trans, or anyone who's not white and male. Trump only cares about one thing: Trump. Nothing else matters.

[AwakeAtLast]

54. He killed children in Yemen!

No one brings this up. I did this morning, after watching a repeat of 45's performance. Thought my mom was going to choke on her coffee.

[Bettie]

56. I don't either

he's only moved by money, cash payments to him.

Human people mean nothing to him. Less than nothing.