Wow - TPM - "Trump and The Problem of Militant Ignorance". Bravo, Josh Marshall!

[NRaleighLiberal]

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump-the-problem-of-militant-ignorance

By JOSH MARSHALL Published APRIL 14, 2017, 2:36 PM EDT

It is what we might call ‘the consensus judgment’ that President Trump is a deeply ignorant man and perhaps a profoundly ignorant President. But it is worth stepping back and considering just what this means, the different kinds of ignorance that exist and how they differ.

Without making a direct comparison, it is worth remembering that each of the last three Presidents came to office with a steep learning curve about the modalities of the presidency and many aspects of the challenges and issues they would face. Clinton, Bush and Obama were each, in different ways, pretty green. Bush’s father, since he had served in Congress, as head of the CIA and especially because he had served as a fairly active Vice President for the previous eight years, came in knowing quite a lot about the specifics of the Presidency.

Some of the difference with Clinton, Bush and Obama (let’s call them CBO) is that they had good staff or at least knowledgable staff who could help them understand what they didn’t know and advise them on the almost infinite number of details they could never hope to understand in depth. But there’s another key issue. You don’t become President by being excessively humble. Yet CBO each had a sense of what they did not know. At a bare minimum, they didn’t advertise it when they learned something they later realized a lot of other people knew.

What is both endearing, terrifying and hilarious about Trump is not simply his ignorance, really his militant ignorance, but his complete lack of self-awareness about his ignorance. Trump told a reporter for The Wall Street Journal that his understanding of the problem of North Korea changed dramatically after hearing ten minutes of history from the President of China. Needless to say, Trump didn’t need to admit this. But neither was it candor.

edited - snipped - please read it all - it is worth it.

____________________________________________________

THIS - BIGLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[randome]

1. When I read Marshall, I feel smarter. You probably should not have posted the entire article, tho.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]"The whole world is a circus if you know how to look at it."
Tony Randall, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)[/center][/font][hr]

[NRaleighLiberal]

3. ah - good idea - I will do the snip. It was just all so good....

thanks!

[underpants]

2. Ironically I got a pop up for a Mexican restaurant

[greatauntoftriplets]

4. "Mr. Magoo performance"...

A highly appropriate description.

[malaise]

5. Excellent read

This is why it's so terrifying to see M$Greedia cheering him on willing him to bomb North Korea. These fucking people are crazy on steroids

[NRaleighLiberal]

6. when you and I switch from "fugging" to the real deal, it is clear it is fucking time for him to go!

I am so far beyond the end of my rope that it would take a really long rope to even rescue me!

[malaise]

8. Back at you bro

Hehehehehehhe

Seriously this is madness

[KittyWampus]

7. Confident people like Obama surround themselves with truly excellent people cause they're confident.

People like Trump feel threatened.

[NRaleighLiberal]

9. Kick

[lunatica]

10. Clinton is a Rhodes Scholar and Obama a Constitutional Law Professor

No comparison is possible. It just isn't. These Presidents were head and shoulders above Dubya or Trump.

[sharedvalues]

11. We should all read every Edblog Marshall article

He's one of the best news analysts out there.

[sharedvalues]

12. Josh today said DJT is 20-yr FBI informant

It's like Whitey Bulger all over again.

Marshall on Twitter said he's heard from several sources that Trump has been working with the FBI for years and that's why the rest of the world knew about his crimes far before the FBI or American voters. He also said he just can't get the confirmation he needs to report that.

Marshall in a TPM EdBlog article earlier today said everything but the above, noting Felix Sater worked for DJT while Sater was an FBI informant.



Trump is going to prison.
And so are his FBI handlers. Just like Bulger and his handler John Connolly.

[Perseus]

13. endearing???

I don't find anything from Trump endearing...and his utter ignorance when combined with his narcissism makes for a very bad cocktail.

"Endearing" was the wrong word to use when explaining Trump, IMHO.

[hatrack]

14. "Endearing" - like herpes, or a rabid badger . . .

[NRaleighLiberal]

15. kick for the night crew