Trump is a "Moron"
America's secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, spoke for the nation the other day when he reportedly called Donald Trump a "moron".
But HL Mencken foresaw the arrival of an idiot in the White House almost 100 years ago while he was working at The Baltimore Sun.
The man wasn't known as the Sage of Baltimore' for nothing, you know.
Trump Knows Nothing (20/07/17)
Donald Trump Jr's attempts to distance Daddy Trump from his incriminating meeting with a 'Russian Government lawyer' appears to have been taken rather too literally, if this headline in the London Evening Standard is anything to go by!
Trump Turning Turtle (03/10/17)
The BBC has a thoughtful piece today on how Donald Trump turned turtle over gun control - from someone one who supported a ban on assault weapons in 2000 to his support for President Obama's call for more firearms regulation in 2012.
Yet in 2017 Trump is now a full-throated supporter of the gun lobby and the NRA which speaks volumes about the state of American politics today.
Trump's new found 'love of the gun' is about opportunism and has nothing to do with the politics of conviction or bringing about much needed social change in the land of the free and the brave.
America's Dunblane (15/12/12)
There are obvious parallels between the Dunblane massacre in Scotland in 1996 - and the cold-blooded murder of innocent children in Connecticut yesterday.
16 years ago an inadequate man with a grudge and a gun walked into a local school in Dunblane - a nice, middle-class part of Scotland - and deliberately killed 16 young children and the teacher - before the turning the gun on himself.
In the leafy suburbs of Connecticut yesterday - a young man, armed with a variety of weapons, killed his mother at home before making his way to the school where she had taught - Sandy Hook Elementary - and shot dead 27 people including 20 children aged between 5 and 10.
The response in Scotland was swift and already tight gun controls were tightened even further - so that now you can't even buy an air gun (a BB gun in America) without a licence and a police check.
Now this doesn't make Scotland a better place than America - but it sure as hell makes it a safer one because there hasn't been another similar incident in Scotland since 1996.
Whereas in America these violent shootings seem to occur every few months as disturbed and/or inadequate people - with easy access to a wide array of firearms - decide to settle some score and make a name for themselves.
Now I don't underestimate the difficulty of changing things in America - because I know a few Americans and even some of the more liberal-minded ones buy into this business - about a citizen's right to bear arms.
I can see their point - up to a point - but yet again a major shooting incident has occurred but despite the proliferation of guns in America - the shooter is not stopped dead in his tracks.
Instead he kills himself with his own weapon - or as in previous incidents he is caught by the police after carrying out his foul crime.
The word 'his' I use quite deliberately since men have been responsible for all such incidents as far as I know - from Dunblane to Norway to America.
One thing's for sure, there will now be a big public debate in America - the one that was so noticeably absent from the recent Presidential election - which Barack Obama won, of course, but by steering well clear of any confrontation with his country's gun lobby - as did his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, to be fair.
If any progress is to be made, I suspect this will only happen if the politicians avoid the kind of strident behaviour and language - that turns people off and sends them back into their bunkers - instead of encouraging people to think rationally and reflect carefully.
I can understand an argument that says the more people who carry guns - the safer things are for everyone - because the bad guy can be dropped dead with a single shot before he carries out his evil plan.
But that's a recipe for everyone carrying a lethal weapon - even teachers and young children at an elementary school - and sounds like something from the movies not real life.
So let's hear from you President Obama - people say that in American politics 'you campaign in poetry but govern in prose' - but this is a time for the kind of words and leadership which inspire a great country to change.
16 years ago an inadequate man with a grudge and a gun walked into a local school in Dunblane - a nice, middle-class part of Scotland - and deliberately killed 16 young children and the teacher - before the turning the gun on himself.
In the leafy suburbs of Connecticut yesterday - a young man, armed with a variety of weapons, killed his mother at home before making his way to the school where she had taught - Sandy Hook Elementary - and shot dead 27 people including 20 children aged between 5 and 10.
The response in Scotland was swift and already tight gun controls were tightened even further - so that now you can't even buy an air gun (a BB gun in America) without a licence and a police check.
Now this doesn't make Scotland a better place than America - but it sure as hell makes it a safer one because there hasn't been another similar incident in Scotland since 1996.
Whereas in America these violent shootings seem to occur every few months as disturbed and/or inadequate people - with easy access to a wide array of firearms - decide to settle some score and make a name for themselves.
Now I don't underestimate the difficulty of changing things in America - because I know a few Americans and even some of the more liberal-minded ones buy into this business - about a citizen's right to bear arms.
I can see their point - up to a point - but yet again a major shooting incident has occurred but despite the proliferation of guns in America - the shooter is not stopped dead in his tracks.
Instead he kills himself with his own weapon - or as in previous incidents he is caught by the police after carrying out his foul crime.
The word 'his' I use quite deliberately since men have been responsible for all such incidents as far as I know - from Dunblane to Norway to America.
One thing's for sure, there will now be a big public debate in America - the one that was so noticeably absent from the recent Presidential election - which Barack Obama won, of course, but by steering well clear of any confrontation with his country's gun lobby - as did his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, to be fair.
If any progress is to be made, I suspect this will only happen if the politicians avoid the kind of strident behaviour and language - that turns people off and sends them back into their bunkers - instead of encouraging people to think rationally and reflect carefully.
I can understand an argument that says the more people who carry guns - the safer things are for everyone - because the bad guy can be dropped dead with a single shot before he carries out his evil plan.
But that's a recipe for everyone carrying a lethal weapon - even teachers and young children at an elementary school - and sounds like something from the movies not real life.
So let's hear from you President Obama - people say that in American politics 'you campaign in poetry but govern in prose' - but this is a time for the kind of words and leadership which inspire a great country to change.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41478293
How Trump turned against gun control
By Anthony Zurcher - BBC North America reporter
Media caption - Trump on Las Vegas shooting: 'It was an act of pure evil'
When attempting to interpret Donald Trump's statements on firearm regulation, and how they could shape a presidential policy response to the Las Vegas mass shooting, the key is to note when he said them.
As with many of his political opinions, Mr Trump's views on gun control have shifted to the right over the years.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Mr Trump expressed support for a ban on so-called assault weapons - long rifles with military-style features to more easily fire multiple rounds.
"I generally oppose gun control, but I support the ban on assault weapons and I support a slightly longer waiting period to purchase a gun," he wrote in his 2000 book, The America We Deserve.
In 2012 Mr Trump praised Democrat Barack Obama's call for more firearm regulation after the shooting at a Newtown, Connecticut, school that claimed 26 lives, including 20 children.
Conservative bona fides
As Mr Trump began more seriously contemplating a bid for the Republican presidential nomination, however, his views on gun control changed. By the time he announced his entry into the race in 2015, he was well within the mainstream of the Republican Party, which viewed most forms of additional gun regulation as a violation of Second Amendment constitutional protections.
It was Mr Trump's way of establishing his conservative cultural bona fides - proving that he wasn't the big-city liberal he had at times seemed.
In an October 2015 Republican debate, for instance, he boasted that he carried handguns "a lot" and said government-mandated gun-free zones in places like schools, churches and military bases were a "catastrophe" and made for "target practice for the sickos".
Mr Trump would frequently say the answer to mass shootings was having more citizens with firearms - contending that the death toll in the Paris and San Bernardino attacks would have been much lower if bullets had been going "both ways" - towards the victims and the assailants.
The NRA's man
Image copyright - GETTY IMAGES Image caption - Trump at a National Rifle Association event, the largest US gun lobby, in April
To the surprise of many, Mr Trump secured the endorsement of the National Rifle Association in May 2016, at a time when some Republicans were still uncomfortable with the New Yorker as their presumptive nominee.
"Now is the time to unite," NRA Executive Director Chris Cox said at the time. "If your preferred candidate got out of the race, it's time to get over it."
From then on Mr Trump - in his statements and on his campaign website - largely echoed the NRA's hard line on firearm issues. The group would end up spending more than $30m (£22m) to support Mr Trump's presidential bid.
During the general election, Mr Trump attacked Democrat Hillary Clinton as being in favour of stringent gun control and pledged that he was the candidate that would protect the rights of the estimated 55 million Americans who currently own firearms.
There was one moment during last year's campaign, however, when Mr Trump did break with the NRA's line. After the Orlando nightclub shooting in June, he appeared to endorse limiting gun purchase for national security purposes.
"I will be meeting with the NRA, who has endorsed me, about not allowing people on the terrorist watch list, or the no fly list, to buy guns," he tweeted.
Nothing came of that meeting, however, and as president Mr Trump appears to have made little effort to follow through on it.
To the surprise of many, Mr Trump secured the endorsement of the National Rifle Association in May 2016, at a time when some Republicans were still uncomfortable with the New Yorker as their presumptive nominee.
"Now is the time to unite," NRA Executive Director Chris Cox said at the time. "If your preferred candidate got out of the race, it's time to get over it."
From then on Mr Trump - in his statements and on his campaign website - largely echoed the NRA's hard line on firearm issues. The group would end up spending more than $30m (£22m) to support Mr Trump's presidential bid.
During the general election, Mr Trump attacked Democrat Hillary Clinton as being in favour of stringent gun control and pledged that he was the candidate that would protect the rights of the estimated 55 million Americans who currently own firearms.
There was one moment during last year's campaign, however, when Mr Trump did break with the NRA's line. After the Orlando nightclub shooting in June, he appeared to endorse limiting gun purchase for national security purposes.
"I will be meeting with the NRA, who has endorsed me, about not allowing people on the terrorist watch list, or the no fly list, to buy guns," he tweeted.
Nothing came of that meeting, however, and as president Mr Trump appears to have made little effort to follow through on it.
'If crooked Hillary got elected...'
Mr Trump's only significant action on guns as president has been to sign a law rolling-back Obama-era limitations on the ability of those being treated for mental illness to purchase firearms.
During a recent campaign rally in Alabama, Mr Trump even revisited his old attacks against Mrs Clinton, warning "you'd be handing in your rifles" if she had been elected.
Congress is currently considering legislation that would make it easier for Americans to purchase silencers for their weapons - a proposal Mrs Clinton criticised in a tweet after the Las Vegas attack.
The president, so far, has not commented publicly on the legislation, which was expected to be approved by the House of Representatives but has little chance of passage in the Senate.
Image copyright - EPA
If the legislation becomes the centre of post-Las Vegas political controversy, however, it may be difficult for the White House to stay above of the fray.
A time to heal
In the meantime, Mr Trump now has the unenviable task of trying to heal the nation after yet another "deadliest mass shooting in modern US history" and explaining what - if anything - he proposes to do to stop future tragedies.
George W Bush's turn came in April 2007, as a shocked nation mourned 32 dead on a Virginia college campus.
Barack Obama had his moment in June 2016, following the Orlando Pulse nightclub attack that left 49 dead.
"This massacre is … a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people in a school, or in a house of worship, or a movie theatre, or in a nightclub," he said after Orlando.
"And we have to decide if that's the kind of country we want to be. And to actively do nothing is a decision as well."
If the legislation becomes the centre of post-Las Vegas political controversy, however, it may be difficult for the White House to stay above of the fray.
A time to heal
In the meantime, Mr Trump now has the unenviable task of trying to heal the nation after yet another "deadliest mass shooting in modern US history" and explaining what - if anything - he proposes to do to stop future tragedies.
George W Bush's turn came in April 2007, as a shocked nation mourned 32 dead on a Virginia college campus.
Barack Obama had his moment in June 2016, following the Orlando Pulse nightclub attack that left 49 dead.
"This massacre is … a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people in a school, or in a house of worship, or a movie theatre, or in a nightclub," he said after Orlando.
"And we have to decide if that's the kind of country we want to be. And to actively do nothing is a decision as well."
Media caption - Barack Obama’s mass shooting speeches
No easy answers?
The story of Mr Trump's response is still unfolding. The number of dead has risen to 58, with the estimated number of wounded an astounding, incomprehensible 500.
After tweeting out his "warmest sympathies" to the victims of the Las Vegas shooting on Monday morning, Mr Trump took to the lectern at the White House to deliver a statement heavy on prayers, mourning and calls for unity but light on hints of what comes next.
Image copyright - GETTY IMAGES
During his morning remarks the president said that, in the search for "meaning in the chaos", answers do not come easy.
In coming days and weeks ahead, many answers for how to respond to the bloodshed in Las Vegas will be offered. They're already pouring in from the president's friends and critics.
Many will be policies - often contradictory - that Mr Trump, at one time or another, has supported.
During his morning remarks the president said that, in the search for "meaning in the chaos", answers do not come easy.
In coming days and weeks ahead, many answers for how to respond to the bloodshed in Las Vegas will be offered. They're already pouring in from the president's friends and critics.
Many will be policies - often contradictory - that Mr Trump, at one time or another, has supported.
Trump's America (21/08/17)
Another great cartoon making fun of Donald Trump after his toxic remarks about there being some 'fine people' on the recent match in Charlottesville by the KKK, white supremacists and Neo Nazis.
Trump's America (20/08/17)
Donald Trump is seems intent on destroying his already beleaguered presidency with ill-judged comments about there being some 'fine people' among the Ku Klux Klan, Neo Nazis and white supremacists who marched in Charlottesville the other day.
Ben Jennings 'nails it' with this great cartoon depicting Trump in a corner, tweeting away furiously, unconcerned about the enormous harm he is doing with his crazy, out of control behaviour.
Trump's America (16/008/17)
Politicians are not necessarily responsible for the people who pledge loyalty to their cause, in much the same way as football clubs can't stop supporters from following their favourite team.
Unless, of course, said supporters step out of line, start behaving like hooligans, turn violent and threaten other people's safety, at which point those in positions of leadership have a duty to respond.
By any measure you care to use Donald Trump has failed this test of leadership because while he speaks of 'unifying' America he has a track record of goading and encouraging the worst instincts of his fan base.
The obvious example being his 'birther' campaign President Barack Obama which candidate Trump used to smear a Democrat President in a vile, racially motivated way.
The young child wearing a Ku Klux Klan suit is a symptom and a symbol of Trump's America.
Trump's America (02/01/17)
Yet another Trump supporter, Trent Bennett, a science teacher from Arkansas, has been exposed after making ugly racial comments about President Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama whom he described as a 'chimp".
Now of course there are out of control supporters in every highly charged political situation, but this kind of vile behaviour is inexcusable and deserves to be condemned out of hand buy the President-elect himself.
Except that Donald Trump has encouraged his followers to believe that Barack Obama is not a legitimate POTUS with this involvement in the so-called 'birther' campaign alleging that President Obama is really not an American citizen.
Trump accepted subsequently that these allegations are completely false but lots of his supporters don't seem to have got the message - or don't want to perhaps having been whipped up into a frenzy of anger and prejudice.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trent-bennett-resigns-malvern-high-school-racist-facebook-posts-barack-michelle-obama-a7501521.html
Teacher resigns after posting racist Facebook comments about Barack and Michelle Obama
Trent Bennett also promised to delete his social media accounts
By Justin Carissimo - The Independent
First Lady Michelle Obama and U.S. President Barack Obama wait for leaders to arrive for the Nordic state dinner on the North Portico at the White House, May 13, 2016, in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer/Getty
Trent Bennett, a science teacher at Malvern High School in Arkansas, resigned from his position on Thursday after posting racist comments against Barack and Michelle Obama on Facebook.
While commenting on KTHV-TV’s Facebook page last week, Bennett called the first lady “Michelle Obummer” and “America’s First Chimp.” He also admitted that he was happy to see "that nasty chimp and her spider monkey hubby gone for good."In subsequent posts, he repeated the false assertions that President Obama was born in Kenya—he was born in Hawaii.
The teacher also complained about the protests over the police shootings of African-Americans by calling protesters "monkeys."
Trump's America (30/12/16)
Lots of Donald Trump's supporters are successful, intelligent and often people, but a significant number are lumpen 'hillbillies' like this chap who believes that Barack Obama played a big part in the 9/11 terror attacks on America in 2001.
Now that was fully seven years before Barack Obama won his first presidential election in 2008, but why let the facts get in the way of a good story, as the saying goes.
But that's the state of American politics these days where ugly lies and fake 'news' stories are all 'grist to the mill' of Trump's right wing supporters who have taken over the Republican Party.
Ape in Heels (14/12/116)
Now there is no doubt that these words from a public official amount to ugly, unacceptable and racist language - from one of his own "Make America Great Again' supporters.
So you would think that the President-elect would have no hesitation in condemning such vile behaviour in the strongest possible terms.
But while Donald rails against Saturday Night Live (a satirical programme) for poking fun at his (often bizarre) behaviour, he's as quite as a church mouse when it comes to denouncing this racial abuse of America's First Lady.
Pamela Ramsey Taylor says 'it will be refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady in the White House'
By Shehab Khan - The Independent
Michelle Obama - AP
The director of a non-profit organisation in West Virginia will return to work after being suspended for referring to Michelle Obama as an “ape”.
Pamela Ramsey Taylor, a director at Clay County Development Corporation, West Virginia, posted the comment on Facebook and was suspended from her role at the Development Corporation.
She is now set to return to her job later this month, according to a letter seen by Charleston Gazette-Mail.
Ms Taylor initially took to Facebook in support of Donald Trump’s victory in the US election.
The Washington Post reports on the ugly behaviour of two public officials in West Virginian who mocked Michelle Obama, America's First Lady, as "a Ape in heels."
Pamela Ramsey Taylor, a director of Clay County development corporation posted the following comment on Facebook after Donald Trump's election as president, ushering in Michelle Obama's replacement as First Lady by Melania Trump:
"It will be so refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady back in the White House", before adding:
"I'm tired of seeing a Ape in heels."
The local mayor Beverly Whaling is then reported as replying with the words:
"Just made my day Pam."
"What the fuck's wrong with these people?" is the question any reasonable person is bound to ask and, of course, Team Trump bears some responsibility given the hateful tone of the recent election campaign.
Read the full story in via the link below to The Washington Post, but as usual having been caught red-handed the two individuals involved deny their behaviour was racist.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/11/14/ape-in-heels-w-va-officials-under-fire-after-comments-about-michelle-obama/?wpisrc=nl_most-draw8&wp
The director of a non-profit organisation in West Virginia will return to work after being suspended for referring to Michelle Obama as an “ape”.
Pamela Ramsey Taylor, a director at Clay County Development Corporation, West Virginia, posted the comment on Facebook and was suspended from her role at the Development Corporation.
She is now set to return to her job later this month, according to a letter seen by Charleston Gazette-Mail.
Ms Taylor initially took to Facebook in support of Donald Trump’s victory in the US election.
Trump Supporters (16/11/16)
The Washington Post reports on the ugly behaviour of two public officials in West Virginian who mocked Michelle Obama, America's First Lady, as "a Ape in heels."
Pamela Ramsey Taylor, a director of Clay County development corporation posted the following comment on Facebook after Donald Trump's election as president, ushering in Michelle Obama's replacement as First Lady by Melania Trump:
"It will be so refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady back in the White House", before adding:
"I'm tired of seeing a Ape in heels."
The local mayor Beverly Whaling is then reported as replying with the words:
"Just made my day Pam."
"What the fuck's wrong with these people?" is the question any reasonable person is bound to ask and, of course, Team Trump bears some responsibility given the hateful tone of the recent election campaign.
Read the full story in via the link below to The Washington Post, but as usual having been caught red-handed the two individuals involved deny their behaviour was racist.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/11/14/ape-in-heels-w-va-officials-under-fire-after-comments-about-michelle-obama/?wpisrc=nl_most-draw8&wp
