153 Comments
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Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D.'s avatar

Too late, Lucian... I watched the Davos Disaster as it unfolded, in its entirety, including the Q&A carried on CSPAN3.

When it was over I took a shower with the intensity of how they scrubbed down Meryl Streep's character in the film _Silkwood_, after an apparent bomb-grade radioactive-materials contamination incident.

Kevin Egan's avatar

I don’t know how it’s gonna end, but I do think it would help if Democratic politicians would start making speeches as cogent as Mark Carney‘s – or nearly, to the best of their ability—in which they explained to the American people all the facts about Trump‘s corruption, the way he’s raising the cost of living, his secret bank accounts in Qatary, the pardons of really bad criminals after they paid bribes, all the money lost to the treasury, the catastrophe of American healthcare, and on and on and on. One excellent 15 minute speech a day for excerpting on the evening news. Drip drip drip drip drip.

IanWilliams's avatar

Some of us here in Australia would like our Labor Prime Minister to also make Mark Carney's speech - or at least read it and grow a spine. The Australian Ambassador to Washington is stepping down a year early because Trump doesn't like him ... we are so craven it is sick-making.

Your analysis of the Trump Brain in real estate terms is outstanding. I've always though of Trump as the boorish boofhead "alpha male" at the country club, who wheels and deals to be elected Chairman, and then turns a congenial wonderful place into a toxic mess. All the nice people either withdraw, or simply drift away - the position is unrecoverable.

But I like the real estate metaphor better.

Nancy Sullivan's avatar

As a Democrat, I’m disgusted with my spineless Party.

Grover Zinn's avatar

Oh how I wish for that. But the Democrats have no strategy, no leaders, no speechmakers, etc etc. It will be the Bishops (Episcopalian, Catholic, and others) and preachers (Would that there were a MLKJr) who will finally shout the message. The Democratic Party (at least on present evidence) has no moral core to guide what it has to say. Just a bunch of B grade movie politicians. (Depresses me to write this)

Tom Twain's avatar

Shumer still lives in a fantasy land where he seeks republican approval of everything he does. He thinks we're still living in the '80s where he'll be revered as a statesman and not the useless tool that he is.

celeste k.'s avatar

Not every one, but certainly too few to defend the brand.

celeste k.'s avatar

Maybe, in one of those excellent 15 minute speeches they can explain to the American public why they are approving funding for the brown shirts and gestapo that are assaulting, kidnapping and murdering U.S. citizens.

bluerainbow18's avatar

I wrote to a former Democratic media person months ago begging her to prevail upon a high ranking Dem congressperson to do just what you are suggesting on NPR, PBS, and CSPAN on a weekly basis. Never heard back from her.

Runfastandwin's avatar

Democrats need to fire the consultants and hire the people that make Taco Bell commercials.

Nancy Sullivan's avatar

Many, many Democrats are way too old/out-of-touch to engage effectively. We are the Party of wimps…we had a President in a wheelchair who was 10 times the man as Schumer. Schumer is a one-man horror film.

Janet Robbins's avatar

I listened to some of it, and all I could think was "how in the world is this catastrophic disaster of a presidency going to end?" I have no answer as yet.

Lawrence Dietz's avatar

With, we hope, a whimper, not a bang.

Kathy Hughes's avatar

The speech made it clear Donald lost connection to reality, and he is dangerous due to his erratic behavior. Vance is more intelligent, but just as cracked, and he doesn’t have Trump’s charisma.

Thomas Boardman's avatar

Your eloquence is beautiful. Thank you for allowing me to read your crib notes on Trump's speech. I know if I had tried to listen to his gibberish it probably would have sent me over the edge. Trump is the most despicable human being that has lived in my lifetime.

Lady Emsworth's avatar

I did try - couldn't make it past the first ten minutes. Just a constant stream of lies and lunacy.

IanWilliams's avatar

Rupert Murdoch gives him some serious competition - and arguably has spread MUCH more evil than Trump.

Rich Hope's avatar

I noted the upward movement of the stock market before he spoke. That told me that Trump's pals had placed their bets on Trump reversing his bellicose talk. They are privy to all his bullshit, and they made, as usual, billions on their insider info.

In my whole life I have never seen so many negatives at one time for our stock market, our bonds, or our future. Yet the market is at highs. I trust this as much as I do our stupid electorate. I am 90% cash.

Donald Nathan's avatar

Smart choice - we are all cash; that, and our house.

Stu Weiss's avatar

I simply cannot watch or listen to him. I’m even getting tired of seeing his charicature in cartoons. Thank you for your service, Lucian, so we don;t have to. The sanewashing by the corporate media is disgusting, as is the toadying by so many of our rich self-anointed overlords. When will it end?

Bruce Kopetz's avatar

s/b "caricature". Please toggle auto-spellcheck to ON.

Stu Weiss's avatar

It did not show up in my spellcheck. My spelling seems like cured meat, not sure if there is a profound an analogy there…..but it’s corrected now.

Ellen Franzen's avatar

Us too. And the house is paid for. The cars are paid for and EVs. Solar on the house and storage batteries.

Lady Emsworth's avatar

Ah! _ do you remember the good old days when all we had to worry about was the Russians dropping bombs on us?

IanWilliams's avatar

Do you have a strategy for replacement batteries for the cars - and the house?

Robot Bender's avatar

We've done what we can in an attempt to dodge some of the economic fallout* from the bunch of yahoos currently destroying things. Our house is in a bad place for solar. House and cars paid off. We've been pulling back on our spending, too. If other countries start dumping large amounts of T-bills and bonds, it could getting very bad.

*Let's hope that's the only fallout. Economic will be bad enough.

IanWilliams's avatar

I can't see the point of being wholly in cash - your capital base deteriorates year after year, eaten by inflation, and if the sucker ever really goes down, then the value of your assets are going to be one of the last things you will be worried about.

We keep it balanced and we're happy with that (but we don't include international shares) - I've been hearing earnest pundits claim it's all gonna crash for a lot of my adult life. It's rigged to not fail.

Bruce Kopetz's avatar

Such shrewd investment advice: zero diversification. Why don't you convert it all to gold bullion, so you'll have something shiny to hold in your hands?

Stan Wakefield's avatar

That's a smart move (cash), Rich. I'm moving in that same direction. There's no telling where the stock market will go as long as Felon47 (with his diseased, walnut-sized brain) is in the White House.

Lance Cherry's avatar

The shocking thing to me is that no less than fifty million Americans think this is all right and good. I read the Atlantic, the Bulwark, HCR, and Truscott among other things, and think I have fairly good sources of information and truth. The information these fifty odd million people get is obviously vastly different….

Italien's avatar

Lies!!! Free speech!! My representative here puts out a newsletter repeating the dump’s lies. He’s an idiot military wannabe that is as dumb as a box of hair. I’ve contacted his office, but fat lot of good that’ll do. It’s a cult.

Leigh Van Lydegraf's avatar

Ha Ha...my rep is a former Army JAG Captain who refused to acknowledge the service of the Capitol Police who suffered through Trump's Insurrection.

Pat Ebervein's avatar

That is sadder than sad. You'd think someone who had been in such a trusted position would acknowledge the truth.

Robot Bender's avatar

Mine are 100% MAGA, including Coward Hawley.

JBR's avatar

Fix. Inside financial info. Profiteers

Joan Levine's avatar

And so dangerous. The cognitive impairment and the vindictive hate filled mind. How do Republicans live with this? Educated people, making excuses and endorsing a madman!? It is exactly like the story of The Emperors New Clothes. He is naked as the day he was born and his courtiers cannot stop commending and praising his beautiful clothes

Ellen Franzen's avatar

republicans are morally and mentally unfit for anything.

JBR's avatar

Greed. Voracious unfiltered unstoppable Greed.

JBR's avatar

And he doesn't care one bit about anyone else.

Italien's avatar

Yes, dangerous. To the world.

cal lash's avatar

There is no suprises as trump is going to continue his insanity until he can't.

shee-rah's avatar

“Until he can’t.” You mean when he drops dead?

Catherine Robinson's avatar

Well, Congress is worthless.There is no check on this madness as others have pointed out.

shee-rah's avatar

The courts have been the only check on this president, but there are so many horrors, the courts can’t or won’t reverse everything.

Kathy Hughes's avatar

SCOTUS hasn’t been much of a check on Trump. They enabled him to break the law if he was carrying out presidential powers, which is not compatible with any interpretation of the constitution.

Donald Nathan's avatar

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - 1963

Timothy Cooper's avatar

Thank you, Lucian. I canʻt stand to watch more than a minute or two of that blathering idiot.

As for his statement that fired bureaucrats "love" him, I seriously doubt anyone, any one, loves him.

The accounts Iʻve read and heard say that his blathering was riddled with lies, and Gavin Newsom said the audience was incredibly bored. A sophisticated, educated audience being lectured to by a demented fool. I think the audience is actually not thinking heʻs losing it, itʻs totally gone. Clearly, he watched the stock market tank and panicked. Itʻs his measure of the economy. Public sentiment? I doubt it registers. He babbles about national security, but intersperses it with statements that make it exceedingly clear that Greenland is just a piece of property with valuable assets. Any Trump deal is about money, period. Other factors exist, but thatʻs the driving force.

The thing about the "ballroom" is, itʻs going to be a bunker, from which no one can extract Trump, thatʻs my bet.

Heʻs so insecure heʻs got to put his name on anything he can, not realizing that his name is worth far less than zero.

There are some 56,000 people on Greenland, and they love and respect their island. What about them?

Trump announced that he had an agreement about Greenland, nothing specified. Then he said he had a "concept" of an agreement. When have we heard that word "concept" before and what was the result?

- Karen Cooper

Karen Simmons's avatar

Loved it when he called Greenland Iceland. Not too smart about geography?

Timothy Cooper's avatar

Geography, history, people, facts of any kind, not that it matters to him, or ever did

Ellen Franzen's avatar

Thank you so much Lucian. Another one of your best.

Kathy J's avatar
18hEdited

Oh yes, of course Vlad would not have started the war if Donny was president at the time. Such utter bullshit. If he is capable of dealing with his bestie, the maniac of Russia, by telling him “hands off” then why isn't it working now? Guess he must like what's going on. Or, as any rational person can understand, Putin is a vicious man who will do what he wants to acquire what he thinks is his. Gee, almost seems like Donny is eager to emulate his pal. This crap is more than I can stomach. I thank you, Lucien, for watching and listening to this shit show and reporting on it, because I have no desire to wade into the cesspool that is anything he has to say.

Italien's avatar

I hear that…

Richard Ellison's avatar

Prof. Irwin Corey lives on!!

Wild piece LT4!!

Leigh Van Lydegraf's avatar

Loved the Irwin Corey comparison!

Karen Gates's avatar

so I googled Corey and here's a link to the Wikipedia entry - a fascinating man https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irwin_Corey

Christina Johnson's avatar

How true! Only Corey really was smart to be able to play that part. DJT is really, really stupid, deluded and impaired.

Karen Gates's avatar

and about 50% of us voted for him, and many would do so again. I think it's b/c we are stupid, but also b/c we are mis/dis and uninformed. That really needs to be addressed if we are to survive. Rachel Bitecofer had a great suggestion here https://thecycle.substack.com/p/a-lie-can-travel-halfway-around-the

Ilene Bilenky's avatar

Excellent summation and a poignant, heartfelt call to the servicemen/women in cemeteries all over the world. "Rot" doesn't begin to cover it. Thank you for listening. I congratulate E.U./Canada for moving more I alignment with China as a stable partner.

Charles Austin's avatar

That sums it all up.🫩

Christina Johnson's avatar

My sentiments exactly.

Susanna J. Sturgis's avatar

I listened to part of it but both my brain and my stomach revolted. Thank you for taking one for the team.

I am now on a tear about the 77 million USians who voted for this guy not once, not twice, but in most cases three times. Was it the racism, the misogyny, the ignorance, how much effort it takes to get accurate information about anything? How the hell do we fix this?

Christina Johnson's avatar

Much of his appeal was to persons I don’t consider misogynistic or racist. The wealth preservers see him as their saviour. Pathetic that for gazillionaires to have everything they want, the rest of America has to “suffer the slings and arrows” of this outrageous a-hole! (Forgive me Mr. Shakespeare.) I’m really tired of ducking.

Susanna J. Sturgis's avatar

I don't understand how anyone who isn't misogynist (or sexist) and/or racist can support this guy. Do they actually listen to what he says? The Trump voters I know of aren't "wealth preservers." They've actually been screwed big-time by the wealthy whether they realize it or not. True, the rot in this country goes deep, deep, deeper than racism. Too many voters have no idea how government works or what the president does. I've had to hold my nose to vote for some Democrats, but the alternatives are so much worse that I do it and mark my ballot anyway.

Suzanne Cully's avatar

People who don’t live in the US don’t get how awful it is to live here under this madman. They got a good dose of his insanity in that speech at Davos. I’m so glad Newsom was there to explain that we are subject to his insanity everyday, that we hear those rants all the time. Newsom is pulling no punches when he says he wanted to bring knee pads for all the European leaders.

Your perspective cuts through the noise right to the bone.

Trump is literally making me crazy. He infects my sleep in nightmares that never stop coming. It’s affecting my relationships which are suffering. I try to limit my exposure to trump but I can’t entirely. This is hell. And it just never stops. Everyday it’s a new fresh hell.

Susanna J. Sturgis's avatar

Newsom has pulled plenty of punches in the past. I hope readers realize that and don't go running for the next Great White Hope. We USians keep mistaking talented self-promoters for real leaders.

Christina Johnson's avatar

Yes most Europeans understand how horrid he is, and how, presently, it sucks to be us. Friends and family are offering me refuge. I feel a bit like the elderly version of Ann Frank. I have been offered an attic, an apartment and a garden shed. They truly mean it.

Italien's avatar

God, Lucian. Fuuuuck is right. I really appreciate you’re on this, because I couldn’t bear to watch this asshole blowhard for 5 minutes. So, once again, a million thanks. It’s all so awful and I feel pissed off and frustrated beyond belief. You’re getting the rant out for me. I did see Newsom, no matter what you think of him, on a tirade for the EU to WAKE UP….and I guess our bankster friend Jamie Dimon pissed the dump off with a warning about Powell, the global economy or….something. Now the Nazis are in Maine. And the fascist Roberts court has pretty much given ICE the go ahead to rip it up and tear it up. I feel so much better..w.t.f.