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Several years ago, Chloe took umbrage when I commented "You're better than this"after she posted something vapid about Trump. Her point was that one shouldn't expect others to live up to your expectations of them. Fair enough.
I now realize that I was simply mistaken as well. https://twitter.com/cvaldary/status/1311718012840542213
I now realize that I was simply mistaken as well. https://twitter.com/cvaldary/status/1311718012840542213
Dear follower, please forgive me if this thread rambles a bit. I have a few points and it's gonna take me a bit to get there.
First of all, let me say that the reason I said what I said to Chloe is that having heard her speak on race and the human condition I have the utmost respect for her intellect. She's an amazing person, worth listening to in her field.
I mean look at this graphic. She did this.
I mean look at this graphic. She did this.
I've always said "treat your friends like your favorite painting and put them in the best possible light."
Chloe says do this with everyone...well except Trump and his family. Let's examine the article from the Atlantic she commends so highly. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/10/what-kind-parent-behaves-like-trump/616561/
Chloe says do this with everyone...well except Trump and his family. Let's examine the article from the Atlantic she commends so highly. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/10/what-kind-parent-behaves-like-trump/616561/
I'll spare you the reading because I adore you all. But first some background on the Atlantic is in order. One of America's great and oldest periodicals, In 2017 it was bought by Laurene Powell Jobs. The widow of Apple founder and notably the founder of the Emerson Collective.
The Emerson Collective is a social change organization focused on education, immigration reform, the environment, media and journalism, and health. It advocates for policies concerning education reform, social redistribution and environmental conservation.
I'll just say the Atlantic isn't doing journalism any more. So this article posits that Trump is a narcissist based upon a comment made by Ivana in her book. Let's unpack that...
We're basing an entire thesis on a comment made by an ex wife who admittedly lied about Trump raping her in divorce proceedings.
“That was all just the lawyers' talk”, she said, after having previously clarified she did not accuse him in “a literal or criminal sense”.
“That was all just the lawyers' talk”, she said, after having previously clarified she did not accuse him in “a literal or criminal sense”.
To me the most telling quote is this:
“I’ve never met a man who paid for something but didn’t want anything in return.” https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trump-rape-allegations-wife-ivana-marriage-interview-fox-and-friends-time-magazine-a7993041.html
“I’ve never met a man who paid for something but didn’t want anything in return.” https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trump-rape-allegations-wife-ivana-marriage-interview-fox-and-friends-time-magazine-a7993041.html
In her book, she claims that Trump said he was concerned about naming Don Jr. after himself because “What if he is a loser?”
So his whole premise about the man is based upon the narration of someone who would make the most heinous false allegation possible to get alimony.
So his whole premise about the man is based upon the narration of someone who would make the most heinous false allegation possible to get alimony.
I wonder why she wrote the book...for money perhaps??
Even if the quote were true, I would simply point out that Don Jr. is in fact names Don Jr...so apparently not that big a deal.
But I'm not done with this article...or Chloe.
Even if the quote were true, I would simply point out that Don Jr. is in fact names Don Jr...so apparently not that big a deal.
But I'm not done with this article...or Chloe.
What sparked this exchange was that the president’s Democratic rival, Joe Biden, sought to criticize Trump’s remarks about U.S. service members being “losers,” as first reported by - you guessed it -The Atlantic.
This report is a lie...a proven lie. https://nypost.com/2020/09/07/trump-points-to-kelly-aide-who-says-he-never-heard-losers-remarks/
This report is a lie...a proven lie. https://nypost.com/2020/09/07/trump-points-to-kelly-aide-who-says-he-never-heard-losers-remarks/
Everyone who was there, including neocon Ambassador Bolton, who has no love for Trump says it didn't happen. "If it had happened, I'd have written a whole chapter about it in my book," said Bolton.
“It’s a fake story and it’s a disgrace that they’re allowed to do it. To me, they’re heroes. It’s even hard to believe how they could do it. And I say that, the level of bravery, and to me, they’re absolute heroes.” - Trump
So in response to this straw man, Biden brought up his dead son's service. To the Atlantic and Chloe, this is not only okay, but laudable. "...when Biden speaks of loss and pain—of Beau, or of the car accident that killed his wife and daughter—he becomes deeply compelling..."
No. It's disgusting. Using your dead son and your dead wife to advance your political career is one of the most despicable things about Biden. And there are many things to despise. I won't go into all of them, but let's consider his sons. He says he's proud of them both.
Beau was groomed to be the front man for the Biden's, the politician. He was doing just that, burnishing his bona fides as an Army officer. But let's not pretend he was Rambo...he was a lawyer in the National Guard. He did a year in the rear in Afghanistan.
He was awarded a Bronze Star but it wasn't for valor. Most officers who are politically connected get them. You want to imagine being high up in the Delaware National Guard and not giving one to the son of a US Senator?
Another National Guard lawyer, Lindsey Graham has one too.
Another National Guard lawyer, Lindsey Graham has one too.
Beau was the front man, but the other son Hunter is the bag man for the Bidens. We all know about the grift they did to cash in on Biden's position as VP...but I digress.
This isn't about the kids. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hunter-bidens-controversies-explained
This isn't about the kids. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hunter-bidens-controversies-explained
It's not even about the hypocrisy of the man who charged the Secret Service ungoldy rent complaining about Trump doing the same. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/joe-biden-also-profited-off-the-secret-service-it-was-also-wrong
It's about the ghoulishness of parading your dead wife and child out every time you want to seem human. No...it's not even that. It's about how people who are otherwise smart are so deranged about Trump that they can't see how awful it is. Not the Atlantic - they're paid to.
But somehow people like Chloe, who talk about loving action (and I don't think it's an act), yet ascribe all sorts of crazy psychological profiles (for which they are clearly unqualified to make) to Trump.
Trump is a narcissist
Trump is a megalomaniac
Trump is Garcon.
No.
Trump is a narcissist
Trump is a megalomaniac
Trump is Garcon.
No.
Trump is the same person he's always been. He's rude (New Yorker). He's arrogant. He's failed spectacularly at times. He's picked himself up. He's done projects that were thought impossible. He's a cad. A womanizer. He's promoted women to very high positions and supported them.
He's made mistakes he admits and some he doesn't. He's been incredibly selfish. He's been incredibly charitable.
He makes deals. He brings everyone to the table. He loves his family and his country.
He makes deals. He brings everyone to the table. He loves his family and his country.
He's a human being with all the flaws that go along with the human condition.
A secret service agent who got to know him said this about him to me: "He's exactly what you would expect of a 70 year old billionaire with no fucks to give."
A secret service agent who got to know him said this about him to me: "He's exactly what you would expect of a 70 year old billionaire with no fucks to give."
But he's more than this, he's a touchstone.
People's reactions to Trump reveal more about them than about Trump. People have a visceral reaction when exposed to him.
People's reactions to Trump reveal more about them than about Trump. People have a visceral reaction when exposed to him.
I never watched the apprentice, it seemed stupid to me. "You're fired" seems an awful garish tag line, and then he bought my favorite Virginia vineyard, which was really annoying. New World red, which was marvelous became Trump red, which rendered it undrinkable for me.
No, my first real exposure to Trump was when he gave a speech after the Pulse nightclub shooting. To say my emotions were raw is an understatement.
Having been horrified already watching ISIS enslave women and torture then kill gay people, I knew the existential threat of radical Islamists was all too real, but at least it was distant.
Suddenly it was here, given life through the importation of terrorists by the Obama administration in the guise of humanitarian immigration.
Trump got it. He not only pledged to end it, he understood the anguish and the inhumanity in radical Islam.
Trump got it. He not only pledged to end it, he understood the anguish and the inhumanity in radical Islam.
I felt the empathy where I expected it the least. Hillary said some words. Then the mass murderer's father turned up at her rally and it turned out he was working for Comey's FBI so they ignored the warnings about the killer.
But I digress.
But I digress.
I understand why some people hate Trump. He is in their business like Gordon Ramsey in other people's restaurants.
I understand why people like me love the guy because he's in these people's business like Gordon Ramsey.
What I don't understand is how people like Chloe completely fail to bring their own principles to bear because Orange Man Bad.
The best I can come up with is that we're all flawed and the best we can do is try to put people in a more loving light.
The best I can come up with is that we're all flawed and the best we can do is try to put people in a more loving light.
P.S. (My first profile here was with my full name. I soon realized that the filter I needed for that would be so restricting there would be little point. I mean if not for relative anonymity I would only opine about that which I have credentials to do so, which wouldn't be fun)
P.S.S. (That account got nuked when I tied Kamala Harris' actions to the dictionary definition of the word for someone who trades sexual favors for money or career advancement.)
P.P.P.S.(My spelling sucks today. I could blame spellcheck, but I won't because that would be a lie. I'll just say I'm sorry.)
