* You could see it coming. The proposed Trump budget: “MAGAnomics.” It’s a meme for a $1.1 trillion deficit–as well as priorities that include a border wall and hikes in defense spending, as well as cuts in economic safety-net programs, environmental spending, education and the Affordable Care Act. How grating is that?
* We know what Trump unscripted sounds like. For anyone else, it would be “GaffeGate”–from the Comey firing, Charlottesville equivocation and Access Hollywood vulgarities to Vlad Putin fealty and Kim Jong-un infatuation.
Speaking of Kim, who Trump “fell in love” with, this just in from North Korea’s deputy foreign minister, Choe Son Hui. After, ahem, announcing that Kim was considering the resumption of nuclear and missile tests, Choe blamed John Bolton more than Trump, saying the relations between the two leaders was “still good.” In fact, “the chemistry is mysteriously wonderful,” Choe added. Say what? This sounds more like the relationship between Trump and his Mike Pence-led evangelical followers.
* Not that we should expect much difference in rhetoric between President Trump and candidate Trump–because he’s always in campaign-rhetoric mode–but this was a new low. His re-election campaign sent out this Trump message to supporters: “I look forward to VETOING the Dem inspired OPEN BORDERS & Pro-Crime Resolution! Donate NOW for the WALL & we’ll TRIPLE MATCH your gift.” It wasn’t outrageous enough to demonize Democrats as “pro-crime,” but then doubling down to ask his cult-following base to help pay for the WALL that he had promised them Mexico would pay for.
* Here’s more satirical context for Trump’s “Tim Apple” reference that he has tried to pass off as some eponymous riff. The Trumpspin version: “I referred to him as ‘Tim Apple’ on purpose. I was kidding; of course, I was. No, it wasn’t some presidential gaffe as the ‘Fake News’ would have you believe. Believe me, I’m quite familiar with the names of all of our hot-shot, great tech entrepreneurs like Tim and Sergey Google and Mark ZuckerFace.”
* Much was made of the dozen Republican senators who voted with Democrats to block Trump’s bogus declaration of a national emergency that was a blatant ruse for funding his base-loving border wall. Alas, that’s not enough to override Trump’s veto or undermine his perversion of the political process.
This should be about taking one for your country, living with your conscience and, yes, earning the approbation of non-Trumpsters, who are still the majority of the country. And if sheer, self-serving pragmatism must be in play, as it always is, there’s this career reality for those who might pay a ballot-box price for not prioritizing Trump above all else. A “moderate” GOPster can stay in the game and carve out serious, career-enhancing face time on MSNBC or CNN. Ask Michael Steele or Bill Kristol–or ex-Florida Congressmen David Jolly and Carlos Curbelo. Failing that, there’s always consulting, lobbying or, what the hell, ambulance-chasing.
* As for Florida’s two Republican senators, they split. Clueless, feckless Rick Scott fell in line and voted with Trump. “It’s clear that there is a crisis and it’s long-passed time to fix it,” was his staff-crafted, bullet-point rationale for the blatant misuse of the National Emergencies Act.
As for Marco Rubio, it was vintage because as the de facto secretary of state for Latin America who still harbors Oval Office ambitions, he has a more complex agenda. He said that passage of Trump’s emergency declaration “would create a precedent a future president may abuse to jump-start programs like the Green New Deal.”
How self-servingly nuanced. Rubio’s doing more than standing up to Trump and reasserting Congressional authority. He’s saying that Trump’s wrong–knowing that at some point saying so could help his post-Trump credibility–but Dems are still Dems, of course. They just can’t be trusted with their socialist schemes.
*How important is it that the final Mueller Report goes public? The U.S. House couldn’t have been more emphatic. Even though it’s non-binding, the House voted unanimously (420-0) to make the report public–with an exception for classified material. The House is rarely unanimous on anything, although the “ayes” could have been a bit more. Florida Panhandler and Trump lackey Matt Gaetz actually voted present.
* George Conway, the conservative, ex-Republican Trump critic–and husband of Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway–has been commenting on Trump’s mental state. As in, it’s worrisome–or worse. His Twitter assertions included screengrabs from the “Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,” most notably the ones referencing anti-social and narcissistic personality disorders.
Most establishment Republicans won’t agree with G. Conway on the record, because, in effect, they’d be calling out the Trump base who remain in lockstep fealty following their “very stable genius” cult leader. BTW, the odd-couple Conways make James Carville and Mary Matalin look like Ma & Pa Kettle.
* How unconscionable that there was even a passing reference to Trump in that 47-page manifesto of the New Zealand mass murderer who slaughtered 50 Muslims in Christchurch. The white-nationalist killer called Trump “a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose.” Yet another reminder that America’s president matters far beyond our electoral shores.
* Will the charismatic, high-energy, fund-raising marvel that is Beto O’Rourke, 46, be a factor in the 2020 presidential election? Only if he makes sure that his feisty followers stay the course for the Democratic nominee when he’s not on the ticket. His time still awaits. And when it arrives, he should be able to point to a track record that no longer includes opposing the Affordable Care Act but does include winning an important statewide race–not losing to one of the most disliked members of Congress.