This wasn't a slip of the tongue, a gaffe, an ill-advised impromptu remark. This is what happened when he sat down to write an official, formal statement about a controversial matter in US foreign policy--aided, one presumes, by a wealth of aides, advisors, speechwriters--
copy editors, proofreaders, and, I assume, pollsters. So we know this is really what he meant to say.
The man who wrote that is the public persona of the United States. He symbolized our country, its legitimacy and sovereignty.
The man who wrote that is the public persona of the United States. He symbolized our country, its legitimacy and sovereignty.
He's the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.
He holds all of our lives in his hands. If he makes a mistake, he could incinerate us all.
It's not a parody. People aren't meant to understand it as tongue-in-cheek.
He holds all of our lives in his hands. If he makes a mistake, he could incinerate us all.
It's not a parody. People aren't meant to understand it as tongue-in-cheek.
Donald Trump thought it over, aware that many people were concerned about this issue, domestically and abroad. After lengthy meditation, he concluded that the statement you read was the most appropriate thing to say.
In many ways, I've lost my ability to be shocked.
In many ways, I've lost my ability to be shocked.
But then something like this happens, and the comforting stories we tell ourselves don't seem that plausible, do they. "Surely there must be adults working behind the scenes to keep us safe," right?
Well, apparently not, or at least, no one in his ambit said something like,
Well, apparently not, or at least, no one in his ambit said something like,
"Mr. President, if you publish something like that on official White House letterhead, the people will think you've lost your mind. They'll demand the invocation of the 25th Amendment, and we won't be able to stop it."
Either that thought didn't occur to them, or they have confidence in the people: confidence that the people will tolerate anything. Confidence that there's no such thing as a point below which the President must not sink.
Confidence that Trump can say or do anything he pleases and the electorate will be fine with it, even if he issues statements like that one, statements that seem to have been written by someone who's about seven or eight years old. pbs.org/parents/child-…
