6/26/19: Every so often a day goes by, and the president says nothing stupid and does nothing illegal.
Today is not that day.
Trump warms up early, speaking at a meeting of the Faith and Freedom Coalition – which is ironic, since he’s just been accused of rape, and he’s been a serial adulterer, a business cheat, and a liar his entire life.
Yet, he’s a favorite of the Christian crew.
Once again, pettiness proves to be his stock in trade. He decides it would be fun to insult a dead war hero, albeit without naming John McCain. As Vox explains, “President Trump gave a dizzying, rambling speech to an evangelical group on Wednesday, including a very weird aside about the late Sen. John McCain.”
McCain, who died last August, cast the
decisive vote against repeal of the Affordable Care Act in the summer of 2017,
which is still a personal sore spot for Trump.
“We needed 60 votes and we had 51 votes,
and sometimes, you know, we had a little hard time with a couple of them,
right? Fortunately they’re gone now. They’ve gone on to greener pastures,”
Trump said, “… or perhaps far less green pastures, but they’re gone ... very
happy they’re gone.”
Yes, Trump is very happy another human
being is dead. Maybe they went to Hell! That would be even better.
*
AS IF THAT wasn’t enough, Trump decided to attack an individual U.S. citizen. The attack came in the form of a Twitter tirade aimed at Megan Rapinoe, a star forward on the U.S. National Women’s Soccer team.
I mean, why not? Why
salvage the last shreds of dignity of the office? Why remember that you
represent all Americans, not just the ones who cheer at your rallies or
kiss your lard ass?
 |
Rapinoe: way better at her job than the president. |
____________________
“I am now inviting the TEAM, win or lose. Megan should never disrespect our Country, the White House, or our Flag, especially since so much has been done for her & the team.”
President Trump,
after Rapinoe makes it clear she doesn’t want to visit the White House
____________________
What exactly got Trump fired up? Rapinoe made it clear in an interview, after the American team defeated Spain 2-0, that she would not be visiting the “fucking White House” if the U.S. won the World Cup.
Ms. Rapinoe is a lesbian.
And you can see why she might not want to visit with the leader of an administration that if, for example, she was a teen soccer star and wanted to attend the school where Vice President Pence’s wife works, would not be allowed to play. Or attend. No gays or lesbians are allowed. That might rankle.
It might bother her that
this administration has barred U.S. embassies from displaying the rainbow flag.
Rapinoe might not feel personally welcome in Trump’s White House. In any
case, she makes it clear she isn’t going to visit even if they win the
championship and says Trump won’t invite the team anyway.
It takes Trump six of the fifty tweets and retweets he issues in one day to carry out his attack. At 9:27 a.m. he makes his first strike:
Women’s soccer player, @meganrapino,
just stated that she is “not going to the F...ing White House if we win.” Other
than the NBA, which now refuses to call owners, owners (please explain that I
just got Criminal Justice Reform passed, Black unemployment is at the lowest
level...
....in our Country’s history, and the
poverty index is also best number EVER), leagues and teams love coming to the
White House. I am a big fan of the American Team, and Women’s Soccer, but Megan
should WIN first before she TALKS! Finish the job! We haven’t yet....
...invited Megan or the team, but I am
now inviting the TEAM, win or lose. Megan should never disrespect our Country,
the White House, or our Flag, especially since so much has been done for her
& the team. Be proud of the Flag that you wear. The USA is doing GREAT!
So, let’s sort this out. First, Trump has never invited a team that didn’t win a championship to the White House. He’s only trying to score cheap political points, on penalty kicks, as it were.
Second, at 9:42 he repeats the same three tweets, meaning he devoted a good part of his morning to tweet-hating a female athlete who had the audacity to show him the disrespect he deserves.
Third, Ms. Rapinoe can talk if she wants. The First Amendment assures her that right. She doesn’t have to “WIN first.” She scored both goals in the victory over Spain, or the U.S. team might be headed home.
Rapinoe was also a star on the U.S. women’s team that won the World Cup in 2015. So, she doesn’t have to “finish the job.”
Fourth, she’s not disrespecting the flag. (You could argue easily that Trump is the one disrespecting the flag: what with cozying up to Putin, and with his 2016 campaign courting Russian help.)
Fifth, she’s not disrespecting a building. She’s saying she doesn’t want to come to the “fucking White House” because of the fucking idiot in the Oval Office.
Lastly, she’s not disrespecting the country.
Trump isn’t the country. He represents Rapinoe and
all his critics and should never forget that all are protected by the freedoms
he and his MAGA hat crowd claim they care so much about.
*
THE PRESIDENT has so much fun insulting the late Sen. McCain, and then the soccer icon Rapinoe, he decides to go international next. He’s soon scheduled to head for the G-20 summit in Osaka. But first he’d like to have fun insulting another allied nation.
Or all of them, combined.
First, he targets Japan, hosting the gathering.
See also: Trump insulting the mayor of London before visiting Great Britain, Trump insulting Angela Merkel of Germany, Trump insulting Justin Trudeau of Canada and Trump insulting NATO members, despite death and wounds to their troops, backing us in Afghanistan.
(See also: Trump NEVER insulting Vladimir Putin.)
In a rambling telephone interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, the president explains how the whole world takes advantage of old Uncle Sam. He complains that Japan is getting a free pass on America’s back. “If Japan is attacked, we will fight World War III. We will go in and protect them with our lives and with our treasure,” he says. “But if we’re attacked, Japan doesn’t have to help us. They can watch it on a Sony television.”
But wait, why insult just Japan?
Trump adds: “Almost all countries in this world take tremendous advantage of the United States. It’s unbelievable.”
Yes, forget those
countries who helped us in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the First Gulf War,
the War in Afghanistan (ongoing) and the War in Iraq. Forget allies who helped
us work out a deal to keep Iran from going nuclear (deal now terminated by Trump)
and helped us bomb the hell out of ISIS of late. Forget our allies who often
add their strength to ours to keep large parts of the world’s population
free. According to Trump, they take “tremendous advantage” when their young men
and young women die fighting in wars they didn’t start – so that the young
Trumps of every generation can remain home, with all their body parts still
intact.
*
TWO TRUMP administration officials, Bill Wehrum, the head of the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, and David Harlow, the office’s senior counsel, are resigning. Democrats launched an investigation into whether the two “improperly aided former energy industry clients after joining the EPA” and rolled back air quality rules their clients wanted ended.
“Wehrum did more damage to the Clean Air Act
than any other person in the last 40 years,” Brett Hartl, government affairs
director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “His
legacy will be more premature deaths, more hospital visits and more asthma
attacks to our most vulnerable citizens.”
*
“A fragile egomaniac obsessed with crowd size.”
IT QUICKLY becomes apparent that Megan Rapinoe is not alone in her disdain for the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Ali Krieger, a teammate, makes it clear she stands with her teammate.
Nor are these two women alone. Several teammates are on record, indicating they won’t show at the White House if an invite does come. The Golden State Warriors, winners of the 2017 NBA championship, made it clear their team would not visit. LeBron James said if the Cleveland Cavaliers (their NBA Finals opponents that year), won, he’d skip the trip. The Minnesota Lynx, winners of the WNBA championship in 2017, weren’t invited. The Golden State Warriors weren’t any more anxious to show up after they won again in 2018. So: No invitation. Danny Green of the Toronto Raptors, the 2019 NBA champs, says if an invite is in the mail, he’s not showing up. Only half the New England Patriots appeared after winning the 2018 Super Bowl – although some may have begged off, having been to the White House before. At least five players, however, made it clear that they stayed away in a protest over Trump administration policies. They weren’t showing disrespect to the country or flag or mom or apple pie.
Trump policies and Trump, personally, were the problem.
Still, that was a better showing than 2017. When the Philadelphia Eagles were invited, after winning the Super Bowl, the number of players willing to stand behind Trump for a photo op could be counted on one hand, with the middle finger left over. In his typical petulant way, Trump disinvited the entire team. Then the White House tried to cover up the total embarrassment by promising to hold a celebration for all “Eagles fans.”
The Business Insider explains what happened next:
The
mayor of Philadelphia then called Trump “a fragile egomaniac obsessed with
crowd size.” The White House instead hosted a ceremony for “Eagles fans” to
celebrate the American flag. When most of the 1,000 fans showed up in business
suits and only one Eagles jersey was observed, many speculated that the
event was staged [emphasis added].
Tim Furlong, a Philadelphia TV
reporter, was skeptical from the start:
It didn’t help when he asked six “Eagles fans” to name the starting quarterback on the Super Bowl winning team.
Not one could.
(Nick Foles, you fools!)
Still, harsh reality never bothers Trump. For the sake of TV cameras present, he bragged, “This is a beautiful, big celebration. Actually, to be honest, it’s even bigger than we had anticipated.”
(Sure.)
He had a problem with Trump.
So, is it the flag that’s the problem? Or the country? Or the White House? North Carolina won the NCAA men’s basketball championship in 2017. They were invited but cited “scheduling problems” and never showed. The South Carolina women won the NCAA women’s basketball championship that year. They were not invited. The Houston Astros won the 2017 World Series. Two Hispanic stars refused to visit. The problem was and remains Donald J. Trump.
Let’s give the last word to Alex Cora, manager of the Boston Red Sox, winners of last year’s World Series. After Boston was invited, the Puerto Rican-born Cora made plain he wouldn’t go. Several players also refused, including Mookie Betts, reigning American League MVP, David Price, a star pitcher (both African American), and Hector Velazquez (a native of Mexico). None spit on the Stars and Stripes or insulted the country. Cora explained why he stayed away. He had no problem with America, and was in no way disrespecting our men and women in uniform. He had a problem with Trump. He had a problem with a man who called Puerto Rican lawmakers “grossly incompetent,” and said people on the island “only take from the USA.” (Trump seems to forget Puerto Rico is part of the USA.)
Cora didn’t like Trump tweeting that Puerto Rico wanted to be bailed out “with your tax dollars,” again forgetting that the island was part of this country and that the people of Puerto Rico were U.S. citizens.
White House spokesman Hogan Gidley didn’t help
matters, when in an interview on MSNBC, he twice referred to Puerto Rico as
“that country,” as if the island had not been a part of the U.S. for a century.
BLOGGER’S NOTE: 6/27/19): The U.S. Women’s
National Team defeats France, 2-1, the next day, and wins the 2019 World Cup.
Rapinoe scores both U.S.
goals once again. You know, in his heart, the president was hoping the U.S.
would lose and Rapinoe would break a leg.
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