W.J. Astore
Yesterday, I caught President Trump’s speech before the CIA. As he stood before the wall of honor, surrounded by the stars on that wall that represent those who gave their lives for their country, Trump deviated from his prepared comments to boast about how many times he’d appeared on the cover of Time magazine.
Here’s what he said: I HAVE BEEN ON THEIR COVER ABOUT 14 OR 15 TIMES. I THINK WE HAVE THE ALL-TIME RECORD IN THE HISTORY OF TIME MAGAZINE — IF TOM BRADY IS ON THE COVER, IT’S ONE TIME. I’VE BEEN ON 15 TIMES. I THINK THAT’S A RECORD THAT COULD NEVER BE BROKEN.
Really, President Trump? You’re giving a speech before members of the CIA, and what comes to mind is the number of times your own mug has appeared on a magazine cover? And you’re doing this in front of the CIA’s wall of honor, which, according to your own words, is “very special”?
Whatever one thinks of the CIA and its history, one thing is certain from this speech: America has elected an appallingly tone-deaf and callous narcissist as its 45th president.
Bracing Views 
Meanwhile, in Davos, Switzerland where the really mig money meets to decide what happens next in the world:
Chinese billionaire Jack Ma says the US wasted trillions on warfare instead of investing in infrastructure
When I read that headline to my Taiwanese wife, she said: “Ouch. Right through your heart.”
My favorite quote from the article cited above:
“[Mr] Ma was asked by CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin about the U.S. economy in relation to China, since President-elect Donald Trump has been talking about imposing new tariffs on Chinese imports.
Ma says blaming China for any economic issues in the U.S. is misguided. If America is looking to blame anyone, Ma said, it should blame itself.
‘It’s not that other countries steal jobs from you guys,’ Ma said. ‘It’s your strategy. Distribute the money and things in a proper way.’
He said the U.S. has wasted over $14 trillion in fighting wars over the past 30 years rather than investing in infrastructure at home.”
So Big Mouth Donald Trump and the Hanoi Canary, bomber John McCain, want to “rebuild the U.S. military,” which, somehow, never seems to get built right the first place, no matter how many trillions of U.S. taxpayer dollars we throw at it. In the meantime, Russia and China link Eurasia and Europe with high-speed rail lines and natural gas pipelines. The U.S. government, if one can use that word without inducing hysterical laughter, has some very bitter lessons coming real soon when it comes time to make “deals” with other countries that haven’t gone 20 trillion dollars into unrepayable debt playing “let’s get our asses kicked by some Afghan goatherders and poppy farmers for fifteen years.” Generals Petraeus, Mattis, and Flynn — not to mention former Presidents Deputy Dubya Bush and “Assad must go” Obama — sure do know how to do that. If such galactic idiocy can count as “knowledge.”
But, hey, the Big Mouth Donald got his picture on a magazine cover a few times. So? Will that make the CIA and Pentagon stop supporting ISIS and drug-running warlords in Afghanistan? Something tells me that The Donald just dropped a smelly load in his own diapers.
LikeLike
Trump only been on 11 times since 89. Hillary 19 since 2013. Nixon 55 times. His ‘bigly’ alternative facts.
LikeLike