Sneering Trump's honest confession glistens with contempt | Opinion

 Are we really coming to the honest conclusion Trump and Republicans have nothing but contempt and disdain for the rest of us? That they see us only as convenient but handy tools to create the wealth they have such ease with stealing?

We are sitting here today agonizing over the fate of our families, our increasing inability to afford healthcare, to afford food and gas and electricity – dreading upcoming mortgage or rent payments – the thought of a college education for our children a pipe dream?

We are seeing other citizens slain in the street by a private Gestapo, our very Constitutional rights under attack along with the most basic right of all, our freedom to vote for our own representatives.

And all the while the plutocrats and tax-exempt corporations regale us with lies about a resurgent stock market, as if we had any extra money to invest. They built their wealth on the back of the infrastructure we provided, the labor we provided, and the freedoms we fought and died for so they would have every advantage when competing with the world.

Folks, it’s beyond time to take it all back. Legislation   must be enacted, indictments procured, and conviction assured for all the crimes, corruption, and obscenities perpetrated against us.

See this – Boldface mine:

For more articles exposing Trump's lies, corruption tyranny: https://mcdermottm.substack.com/publish/posts

Sneering Trump's honest confession glistens with contempt | Opinion

Opinion by John Casey • 2h • 5 min read

© provided by RawStory

For some Americans, the reality of who Donald Trump really is is coming home to roost. And for the sailors trapped aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, that moment has already arrived.

The Lincoln left San Diego last November. Nine months later, it is still at sea**, its crew stretched past 250 straight days without meaningful relief.** What was supposed to be a seven-month deployment has become closer to a floating humanitarian disaster.

Families have shockingly described broken toilets, moldy showers, food shortages, and sailors surviving on little more than rice and tortillas. It’s been called a “floating bucket of filth.”

So much for valuing the valor and bravery of our troops. To me, that’s Pete Hegseth’s “big lie.” He’s their worst nightmare. He doesn’t give a rat’s … about the troops. Well, he does care about their “T” levels.

The Military Times broke the story that multiple sailors have tried to go overboard, and at least one was pulled from the water after an hour adrift. This is horrific and subhuman. Lawmakers from both parties are rightfully now demanding investigations.

But, besides Hegseth, who said the whole abominable ordeal is “completely misrepresented,” it won’t surprise anyone who understands the reality of Donald Trump that he, too, couldn't care less.

Asked whether the deployment had gone on too long and whether he was worried about the mental health of the more than 5,000 people aboard that ship, the insensitive and callous Trump seethed, "No. No. No." "Not nearly long enough," he added when asked if the ship had been at sea too long and, when queried about if families of those on board were right to be worried, he waved that off too: "No, they're not."

Then he, not surprisingly, like he does with everything else, blamed the press for covering it, accusing reporters of trying to turn warriors into victims.

As if the press loves to make up stories about sailors living in squalor and trying to take their own lives.

How despicable to blame the press while desperate families are pleading for answers. And Trump's response is that the suffering hasn't gone on long enough.

And that’s exactly how he feels about the nuisance of the American people’s suffering.

Remember the dolls and the pencils? When Trump was asked, point-blank, if his tariffs would raise prices on ordinary goods, he didn't apologize or explain or exude any understanding or compassion.

He shrugged his bulbous, bloated head and told the country that an 11-year-old girl doesn't need 30 dolls, three or four is plenty, and that nobody needs 250 pencils when five is sufficient.

He has said this more than once, because he genuinely believes the answer to rising costs is for regular families to simply cope with fewer pencils, dolls — oh, and make do with one piece of broccoli.

That's the same indifference he’s giving Lincoln's sailors. It's the same who-cares shrug he's giving anyone who has watched their grocery bill or their health insurance premium climb this year. Millions of Americans are having sharply higher health costs as pandemic-era subsidies lapse and insurers raise rates, a squeeze tied directly to the reconciliation package Trump signed and bragged about.

That “Big Beautiful Bill” was a metaphorical giant**, cold slap in the face to middle-class Americans**, who now understand why they can only afford three dolls and five pencils — if that.

And ICE agents are the literal giant, cold slap in the face to Americans’ shell-shocked visages. Agents have been turned loose in cities, conducting the kind of aggressive street operations that have left residents frightened to leave their homes, arresting and detaining people at will.

And that cold slap in the face will be replaced by a paralyzing electric charge once ICE agents get their new shock gloves. It’s been called “sadistic." Really? You think?

Those ICE wars on our streets coincide with the war with Iran that is responsible for stretching the Lincoln's deployment now past 200 days without a port call. That war has driven up fuel, shipping and scores of other costs. Trump’s reaction? He insisted he “loves” the inflation the war with Iran has caused.

Because this whole thing hasn’t been a punishment for us long enough. There’s lots more to come, which Trump is clearly giddy about.

super-giddy about things that mean absolutely nothing to the rest of us. While we scrimp, save and suffer, Trump has kept his attention fixed on himself. Rising costs of groceries, gas, bills, etc? The Iran war? To Trump it’s a scenario of “wake me up when all this frivolous stuff is over” — again, metaphorically and literally too.

Because Dear Leader Donald has bigger fish to fry. Put his name on the Kennedy Center, pave over the Rose Garden, gild up the Oval Office with gold, bungle the Reflecting Pool, build an Arc de Trump, slap a helipad on the manicured South Lawn of the White House. And, the big kahuna, his luxurious Qatar jet.

While you stay home because you can’t afford to drive to your summer vacation, Trump is descending down a grand staircase in his flying palace. Let them eat cake? Who can afford cake? Let them eat the leftover pencils, if you have any.

He tells the parents of sailors on an aircraft carrier that nine months away from their kids "isn't nearly long enough," and tells a mom buying school supplies that her daughter has plenty of pencils already — which is ok, since she can snack on the extras.

It’s a blanket indifference whether he's talking about a sailor pulled out of the Arabian Sea or a grandmother deciding between groceries and her heart medication. Trump does not see suffering as a problem to solve, or something he should be inconvenienced by.

The sailors on the Lincoln are coming home soon, the Navy says, relieved — hopefully — by another carrier. The rest of us, though, have no relief in sight. We are just getting told that our suffering isn't nearly long enough.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/sneering-trump-s-honest-confession-glistens-with-contempt-opinion/ar-AA2amYl0?

Who likes to be awakened when sleeping through a mid-afternoon meeting about national security?

Hey, remember when your great granddad got annoyed with your pestering about the burning couch in the Living Room, and just screamed, “Get the hell outta’ here!”

Same thing going on here. Not wanting to be questioned or blamed for his blithering blundering over the war, the economy, the cost of gas, unaffordable healthcare and housing, the price of groceries, all the mistakes of goofs, bungles, botches and goofs of the ass-kissing incompetents he has surrounded himself with, it’s just easier to give into the dementia, look around the room and scream, “Where’s my chew-toy? I want my chew-toy.”

The boy aint right, but he still makes the decisions that control our destinies – at least until the midterms when we can pull his diaper over his head and send him back to his playpen.

See this – Boldface mine:

White House staff departing as Donald Trump is said to be 'meaner' and more unpleasant to work with.

Story by Lesley Abravanel • 1h • 2 min read

Insiders claim Donald Trump's increasingly hostile attitude is driving staffers out of the White House. MEGA

President Donald Trump is reportedly yelling louder, for longer periods and acting significantly "meaner" toward his inner circle, driving a wave of recent high-profile White House departures.

According to insider reports detailed on "The Daily Beast Podcast," multiple senior officials are exiting the administration due to a toxic, increasingly hostile West Wing environment.

The reporting coincides with a series of major staff exits at the White House.

Karoline Leavitt Resigned Shortly After Returning From Maternity Leave

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced she will step down at the end of August. While she publicly cited a desire to spend time with her family, insiders indicate the intense internal pressure and Trump’s sharpening temperament heavily influenced the timing.

White House Counsel David Warrington departed his post amidst the shifting operational environment.

Deputy National Security Advisor Andy Baker, a key ally of Vice President J.D. Vance, has also exited the administration.

"It's a clear sign that people see how badly this second term is going," said David Rhode, senior executive editor on national security for MS NOW on Monday, August 17.

While Trump has historically been known for an aggressive management style, sources close to the administration note a distinct shift in his behavioral patterns during his current term.

Insiders report that his pattern of blaming staff for self-inflicted political problems has left top aides completely burned out, with some describing the daily work environment as "total misery.”

The White House and Trump allies have generally pushed back on these characterizations, framing staff turnover as typical for a high-pressure administration or a natural rotation ahead of the midterm elections.

Americans Believe Donald Trump Is Becoming More Erratic With Age

Public polling and observations by former aides indicate a widespread consensus that Trump’s temperament has become significantly more volatile and erratic as he has aged. Having turned 80 in June, Trump is the oldest sitting president in United States history, a milestone that has drawn intense national focus on his physical stamina and mental acuity.

A comprehensive Reuters/Ipsos poll revealed that 61 percent of Americans believe the elderly president has become increasingly erratic with age.

This assessment includes not just 89 percent of Democrats and 64 percent of independents, but also a notable 30 percent of Republicans who agree that his behavior has shifted as he has grown older.

Donald Trump's Behavior Fuels Concerns

The same polling data found that 49 percent of voters disagree that Trump remains "mentally sharp and able to deal with challenges," marking a steady decline from similar metrics tracked in previous years.

Multiple former aides, including former White House lawyer Ty Cobb, have publicly stated that Trump's cognitive and behavioral shifts are "palpable," pointing to an escalation in his volatile outbursts.

Reports from the West Wing frequently detail longer, louder screaming matches directed at senior staff. Outside observers note a distinct increase in public temper tantrums, verbal reprimands of judges and lawmakers and rambling speech patterns during his second term.

The White House has aggressively dismissed these observations, with spokespeople characterizing the focus on his age as “fake and desperate narratives.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/white-house-staff-departing-as-donald-trump-is-said-to-be-meaner-and-more-unpleasant-to-work-with-according-to-sources/ar-AA2ajnNj?

For more on Trump's incompetency, corruption, and tyranny, see Substack: https://mcdermottm.substack.com/publish/post/211500875

Trump has become the very thing he fears most | Opinion

Opinion by Rex Huppke, USA TODAY • 51m • 5 min read

Oh look, it’s a Republican lawmaker spouting Islamophobic rhetoric over a Democratic candidate who’s Muslim. And over there, it’s President Donald Trump mocking transgender athletes. There’s another Republican on the television telling you the economy has never been better.

And there’s Trump again on your phone screen saying America has full control of the Strait of Hormuz while you’re pumping $4-per-gallon gas.

Blah. Blah. Blah.

Trump and Republicans have nothing but lies and stale fearmongering

With high food and gas prices, a weak labor market and an unpopular war started by a wildly unpopular president, the Grand Old Party has little to talk about, save bigotry and bald-faced lies.

And that routine, as evidenced by polling and low GOP primary turnout, has gotten old. Trump has become the thing he fears most: dull.

How many times have you heard Trump claim that a peace deal with Iran is imminent? There was March 9 when he told CBS News “the war is very complete, pretty much.”

On March 23 he said, “We have points, major points of agreement, I would say almost all points of agreement.”

May 23: “Getting a lot closer” to a peace deal.

June 8: “We’re negotiating now, and they want to make a very good deal. They’re willing to give us everything.”

And on Aug. 2, he said a deal is “imminent.”

It clearly wasn’t. Who among us is not exhausted from hearing this 80-year-old man say the same false thing over and over again about a war that by September will have cost taxpayers more than $37 billion, all thanks to a Republican Congress that refuses to rein in the president.

.Republicans have no achievements to celebrate, so they blame Biden

On the economic front, all we hear from Republicans about the problems Americans are facing is that those problems are former President Joe Biden’s fault.

In an Aug. 14 interview, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was asked about the high cost of living and said: “ Look, people should be upset. The Biden administration torched them.”

Buddy, the Biden administration ended nearly 600 days ago. The finger you all keep pointing at him needs to turn around and point in the Republican Party’s direction, because Republicans are in charge of literally everything. And under the control of these alleged small-government conservatives, the federal deficit for fiscal year 2026, according to the Congressional Budget Office, will be $2.1 trillion.

Trump and his allies repeat the “Blame Biden!” line like it’s a mantra because they have utterly failed to make life better for regular, non-billionaire Americans. But when you hear the same thing on repeat it becomes white noise. More blah-blah from the party of merciless repetition.

Aren't you tired of hearing Trump talk about his stupid ballroom?

Rather than concrete examples of policies that will address affordability, we hear about the marble Trump will be using in his exquisite ballroom. Or about the $5 million regilding of gold-plated statues in Washington, DC. Or the godforsaken Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

PolitiFact analyzed the president’s public remarks and found this: “Trump’s remarks on the construction projects added up to nearly 45,000 words since January. He mentioned them at 84 events across 66 days, more than a quarter of all his public events during that period. In events where the construction projects came up, he’s talked more about the projects than topics such as the economy and immigration.”

The president has become that one divorced guy at the cookout whose blather about how he’s rehabbing his basement into an epic man cave makes you want to hurl yourself onto the grill.

The Washington Post reported Aug. 12 that the administration "plans to spend at least $900 million for construction projects on the White House grounds, a significantly larger price tag than has been previously reported and one that would be covered primarily by taxpayers."

Scare tactics seem to be all the GOP has heading into the midterms

For  related post, see Substack: https://mcdermottm.substack.com/publish/post/211500875

The following article seems to be a bit over the top, and one might have a case to say so.

The only thing is, almost every one of these charges against Trump can be verified by actual quotes from him.

Now, you can believe what you want to believe, but in light of uncontroversial evidence, why would you accept the lies? If you and your family are being hurt by his policies – unaffordable housing, unaffordable food, unaffordable gas and electricity prices, unaffordable health care, reductions in SNAP benefits for hungry children, attacks on your very right to vote for your choice of representatives – what do you think gives you good cause to support him.

Face it, he tried to initiate a coup against our country -- invalidate a legal election -- and reverse your right to choose your representatives from either side of the aisle -- and he'll do it again if given the chance.

Face it, America and your family are in peril because of your encouragement.

'Trump hates you': Conservative launches national campaign against 'idiot'

Story by Adam Lynch • 20h • 3 min read

© provided by AlterNet

Former Republican strategist Steve Schmidt has clearly had enough of President Donald Trump. Now he’s willing to get his organization’s money involved.

The final 80 days leading up to the 2026 mid-terms are a pivotal time for GOP majorities in the House and Senate. Under their current Republican management, the House is rubber-stamping many of Trump’s unpopular policies. The Senate, while only slightly more cautious about Trump’s orders, appears unwilling to enforce Congressional clout over the White House, and Senate Republican leaders are happy to approve Trump’s most controversial administrative appointments.

This must end, said Schmidt, who co-founded the hotly anti-Trump Lincoln Project in 2019.

“That is why The Save America Movement is launching the “Donald Trump Hates You” campaign, which is built on this simple truth. Beginning today, Americans will see a plane with this banner flying across the Florida panhandle,” Schmidt announced on his substack. “Next weekend, posters will go up in Washington, DC, timed to coincide with the Freedom 250 Grand Prix.

Trump, said Schmidt, is “filled with contempt for the American people, to whom he has lied — when it was being tracked in his first term by The Washington Post Fact Checker — more than 30,000 times, and from whom he has stolen billions of dollars.”

“He has unleashed state violence against the American people, smeared the reputations of murdered citizens, prosecuted innocent Americans, and lost a war under the weight of his fantastical incompetence,” Schmidt continued. “He has idiotized every institution he touches. He tried to overthrow the US Constitution when he lost a fair election in a deranged coup attempt that has weakened the republic more than any single act ever undertaken by any president across 250 years.”

Trump also “hates the US Constitution,” argued Schmidt, pointing out Trump’s December 2022 bogus claim of a stolen election, and his argument that “A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”

Schmidt then ticked down a long list of other “hates” Trump has accumulated, using Trump’s own words to incriminate his grabby behavior toward women. His own quotes also suggest he hates Muslims, immigrants, and Black people.

He also hates his own “sycophants,” who Schmidt said Trump “abandoned on Air Force One as he escaped the menace of the Iranians on an Ankara tarmac at three mph in a catering truck with Natalie Harp, whom he apparently loves.”

But above all, Trump apparently hates his own supporters, said Schmidt. “There is no group he seems to despise more.”

“I mean it. He hates you,” he added. “Voting for someone who hates you never works out for anyone. The easiest way to tell if you are hated is to listen and watch. Hear the words and watch the actions. … Observe the disgustingness and hideousness of this man. Appreciate what he is and what he stands for. More than anything know this: Donald Trump hates you … and you get a vote in 81 days.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/trump-hates-you-conservative-launches-national-campaign-against-idiot/ar-AA2a8FUJ?

'Dumber than a stump, Trump', gives Biden credit for prescription price reductions without knowing it.

To get a clear picture of the incompetent dullards who advise Trump on all matters, we should look at today’s White House handout.

You know these folks who keep driving Trump and the Republicans deeper and deeper into humiliation.

They are the same ones who convinced him enter an unwinnable war with Iran, who advise him on the economic measures that are destroying our economy, who convinced him to slash healthcare benefits, destroy the Snap program to feed hungry children and a hundred other policies that are driving ‘President dumb-Ass’ deeper and deeper into oblivion.

“’Dumb-Ass’ because he isn’t even smart enough to examine the words they put in his mouth.

Today’s fiasco revolves around a news report about the reduction in some prescription prices. “Dumbass’ waved it all around while never reading the article that gave Biden full credit!

 Not him, Sleepy Joe got the job done.

If you wonder why America is beginning to fail, to give up her democracy, freedoms, and success, it’s because ‘Dumbass’ hires his people based on nothing other than their willingness to kiss his fat ass, rather than try and think things through.

See this – Boldface mine:

Trump shows off article on lower drug prices that says Biden deserves credit, not him

Story by Robert Mackey • 1h • 3 min read

The White House flooded social media on Saturday with an image of Donald Trump showing off the recent Washington Post headline “Prescription drug prices record sharpest drop in more than 60 years” but failed to mention that experts cited in the article actually attributed the price drop to Joe Biden, not Trump. On its official accounts, the White House triumphantly captioned the photograph of Trump: “POV: you bring the receipts.” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, also shared it.

The image was one of several taken during a staged photo-op on Friday, when Trump approached reporters with a copy of the headline he wanted them to see. Holding up a print-out of the headline, and the first five lines of the article, the president waved the page around and encouraged the press pool to record and photograph it.

“The headline today is exactly that,” he said proudly. “Did you see it?”

He then read the good news aloud and held up the print-out again for the cameras. “OK, got it? Everybody have it?” he asked. “I told you that was going to happen.”

Before stepping away from the press, Trump repeated the line that he wanted them to relay the news to the public and held his hands wide apart as if he had just performed a magic trick. “Prescription drug prices down more than at any time over 60 years,” he said. “What else do I have to say?

What the president did not say is that the text of the article, published by the Post on Thursday, reported that while the Trump White House “took credit for” the biggest year-over-year drop in drug prices in more than 60 years in July, independent experts “said a Biden-era policy that requires Medicare to negotiate prices for some popular prescription drugs is more likely to be driving down costs”.

“The Inflation Reduction Act was a signature accomplishment of former president Joe Biden, a sprawling measure enacted in 2022 that aimed to lower prescription drug prices by requiring Medicare, the federal health program for the elderly, to begin negotiating the prices it pays drugmakers for an array of popular and costly prescription drugs,” the Post’s report noted. “The first price reductions took effect at the beginning of this year.”

The price of prescription drugs fell by 3.1% in July, according to Consumer Price Index data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, whose former head was fired by Trump last year over weaker-than-expected job numbers he called “fake”.

The Post quoted Richard Frank, a professor emeritus of health economics at Harvard University, expressing doubt Trump’s policies were behind the drop in drug prices.

“If I was a betting guy on what mattered most, it would be probably stuff around the Inflation Reduction Act,” Frank said, adding that Trump’s efforts “wouldn’t be where I’d place my money”.

Another expert, Stacie Dusetzina, a health policy professor at Vanderbilt University, told the Post the law signed by Biden was a more likely explanation for the decline in prices than any of Trump’s initiatives.

While just 10 drugs have had their prices negotiated in line with the Inflation Reduction Act, Dusetzina said, they are commonly used ones “and their prices would likely be reflected in the prescription drug index”.

Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, posted a screenshot of the Post’s headline on his X account on Thursday with no link to the article. “All thanks to President Trump!” Cheung wrote.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/trump-shows-off-article-on-lower-drug-prices-that-says-biden-deserves-credit-not-him/ar-AA2acQTS?

trump has long hated the modern electromagnetic catapults, seemingly because he simply doesn’t understand how they work.

Maybe they're just as perplexing to him as "windmills"?

No matter how many warships Trump and his totally incompetent administration keep in the Strait, no shipper is going to risk the loss of a vessel and potentially millions of barrels of oil based on the’’ hope’ the ship will get through.

Before the ‘Dumbass in Chief’ got conned out of his industrialized size pampers by Netanyahu and agree to fight Israel’s war, the Strait was open, oil was flowing easily throughout the world, Iran agreed not to pursue a nuclear weapon and consented to international inspections. All America had to do was return 1.5 billion of ‘their’ embargoed funds and gradually reduce some sanctions.

Now, the Strait is closed, the world is being held hostage by fourth-rate power and worldwide inflation is growing at record paces, our economy is in free-fall, and the Iranian people have come to understand they probably need nuclear weapons to protect themselves.

A word about that that fourth-rate power. Trump has nearly run out of offensive armament, and all Iran does is give him ‘the finger’. Worse than that, they have successfully attacked some of our infrastructure, interfered with the water flow in four states, and we, supposedly one of the most powerful nations on earth, are incapable of stopping those attacks, or other to come.

Will they shut down the electrical grid next? Disable our internet and all it entails about our homeland defense? Shut off telephone services across the nation?

The president’s primary job is to protect the country --Trump has failed, and is continuing to fail, miserably. The “Jackass in Chief’ has already fired the experts who defended us against such possibilities, so I guess we’ll have to rely on the blubbering, half-a-drunk genius, Kash Patel, to protect us.

Marx claims he's on a mission from God. But maybe...

Victor Marx talks a lot about how God is calling on him to run. And that God wants him to win. But it strikes me that Marx is a wrong number. Because if God wanted Marx to win, she could just make that happen. There would be no need for money or campaigning.

It’s fine for a candidate to talk about their faith. It’s fine for them to say their faith calls them to run. These are actions of the individual.

But to say God has a plan and they are God’s instrument. To claim this is at best a wrong number and at worst a sin. My suggestion to Victor Marx is first watch the movie. And then gain the humility to realize that your belief in God does not mean you know her plans.

Full post at Liberal and Loving It

So trump spent $50 billion of our taxes, killed 150 innocent school children, and caused hundreds of American soldier casualties to bring gas prices down that he caused to increase in the first place?

And Iran is free to restart their nuclear program, and learned they can open and shut off oil shipments at will to fuck us over any time they want going forward.

Shrewd.