Our Embarrassment in Chiefs International Trip Is No Laughing Matter

[babylonsister]

https://www.thenation.com/article/embarrassment-chiefs-international-trip-no-laughing-matter/

Our Embarrassment in Chief’s International Trip Is No Laughing Matter
Let’s not grade a guy holding the nuclear codes on a curve.
By Joshua Holland
May 23, 2017

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But let’s not grade a guy holding the nuclear codes on a curve. Three days into the trip, and Trump’s already showed the world that the United States is being governed by a brittle man-child. And if he manages to get through it without causing a major international incident, it will only be because foreign leaders have done a competent job dumbing down any complex diplomatic issues that may arise and feeding the insatiable ego of our embarrassment in chief.

Prior to the trip, foreign diplomats advised their governments to speak slowly to Trump and make sure to use only small words. That’s a slight exaggeration, but Peter Baker reported for The New York Times that “foreign officials and their Washington consultants say certain rules [for dealing with Trump] have emerged: Keep it short—no 30-minute monologue for a 30-second attention span. Do not assume he knows the history of the country or its major points of contention. Compliment him on his Electoral College victory. Contrast him favorably with President Barack Obama. Do not get hung up on whatever was said during the campaign. Stay in regular touch.” The rest of the world appears to have concluded that our president is an idiot.

Anyone who’s traveled with small children can tell you that being in unfamiliar places can be stressful. You have to do whatever you can to make them feel at home—make sure to pack their blankets and bring along their usual snacks. And so it is, apparently, with at least one 71-year-old real estate tycoon. The AP’s Julie Pace reported that “White House aides were on edge about how the president would take to grueling pressures of foreign travel: the time zone changes, the unfamiliar hotels, the local delicacies.” As a result, there’s been “a worldwide effort to accommodate America’s homebody president,” which includes serving him well-done steaks slathered in ketchup wherever he goes.

Nonetheless, after two days of travel, Trump—who repeatedly called both Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton “low energy”—skipped a scheduled event because he was “just an exhausted guy,” according to an aide. Last week, The Washington Post reported that the president “eschews exercise because he believes it drains the body’s ‘finite’ energy resources,” so perhaps it could have been worse still. In any event, “NATO is scrambling to tailor its upcoming meeting to avoid taxing President Donald Trump’s notoriously short attention span,” according to Foreign Policy, and Trump canceled a planned trip to Masada, ancient fortifications where Jews faced off against the Roman army 2,000 years ago, because the Israeli military wouldn’t let him land a helicopter on the fragile archeological site.

snip//

So while we might laugh at his awkward dance moves or marvel at his capacity for malapropisms, we need to keep in mind that it’s really not funny at all that the president of the United States is a national disgrace.

[longship]

1. This post deserves more attention.

An R& is the best I can do other than encouragement.

[3catwoman3]

2. "The rest of the world appears to have...

...concluded that our 'pRezident' (can't make myself use the word) is an idiot."

The rest of the world is right.

[rock]

3. K&R

+1

[dalton99a]

4. The Ugly American is now The Ugly Moron

I left out American because he doesn't represent America