Last Call For Barron Of Stature

This was dumb when it was Amy, it was dumb when it was Ron Jr., it was dumb, sexist, and particularly mean-spirited when it was Chelsea, it was dumb  and sexist when it was Jenna and Barb, it was dumb, mean-spirited, sexist and racist when it was Sasha and Malia, and it's dumb when the press picks on Barron Trump.  He's 11.  Go away.

The conservative politics site The Daily Caller—founded by bow-tie aficionado Tucker Carlson—published a “mean spirited” article on Monday about Donald Trump’s youngest son, Barron Trump. 

“It’s high time Barron Trump starts dressing like he’s in the White House,” the Caller’s “entertainment reporter” Ford Springer insisted, complete with a nostalgic look at how your parents probably “forced you to dress up when you were a kid for a special occasion.” 

“Is Barron just better than I ever was at rebelling against my parents?” Springer asked. 

“[Barron’s] dad is always looking dapper and his mom has become a worldwide fashion icon since becoming first lady [sic],” Springer insisted. “The youngest Trump doesn’t have any responsibilities as the president’s son, but the least he could do is dress the part when he steps out in public.”

I don't care guys, please leave the non-adult children of Oval Office inhabitants alone.  This includes Barron Trump, who didn't ask for any of this and deserves this nonsense even less.   Sure, he's a rich private school kid.  He also hasn't actually done anything to deserve the Daily Caller bitching at him for wearing a T-shirt in August.

Stupid as hell, is what this is.

By The Time Trump Gets To Arizona

Donald Trump is charging ahead on his racial gasoline and matches tour next campaign stop later today, despite being asked kindly by Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton to reschedule his visit to the Valley of the Sun in the wake of the tragic events of Charlottesville just nine days ago.  Now Mayor Stanton is being somewhat less kind about asking Donald Trump to stay away.

Nearly 50 years ago, moments after learning that an avowed racist had gunned down Martin Luther King Jr., a young presidential candidate took the stage in Indianapolis to break the news to a largely African American crowd. 

“What we need in the United States is not division,” Sen. Robert F. Kennedy implored. “What we need in the United States is not hatred. What we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom and compassion toward one another.”

It was exactly what the grief-stricken crowd needed to hear. There were riots in many cities that night, but not in Indianapolis. 

President Trump’s response to Charlottesville reminds us that the words and actions of our political leaders in the wake of tragic events matter.

America is hurting. And it is hurting largely because Trump has doused racial tensions with gasoline. With his planned visit to Phoenix on Tuesday, I fear the president may be looking to light a match.

That’s why I asked the president to delay his visit. It’s time to let cooler heads prevail and begin the healing process.

Stanton's real worry is that Trump will show up with not only his usual divisive, hateful, and coded racist language, but he'll show up with a newly-minted pardon for former Maricopa County Sherriff Joe Arpaio.

Let’s be clear: A pardon of Arpaio can be viewed only as a presidential endorsement of the lawlessness and discrimination that terrorized Phoenix’s Latino community. Choosing to announce it in Phoenix — especially in the wake of Charlottesville — would add insult to very serious injury and would reveal that the president’s true intent is to further divide our nation.

For years, Arpaio illegally targeted Latinos in our community because of the color of their skin. Mothers and fathers lived in fear as they dropped off their kids at school. Kids lived in fear of their parents being arrested and taken away. 

A federal court ruled Arpaio’s tactics violated the law. After he defied a judge’s orders, he was convicted of criminal contempt. In convicting him, U.S. District Judge Susan R. Bolton noted that Arpaio “announced to the world and to his subordinates that he was going to continue business as usual no matter who said otherwise.”

Even before his trial and conviction, voters grew tired of Arpaio’s brand of racism and blatant violation of the law. Last year, in an overwhelmingly Republican county, Arpaio lost by nearly 10 points. Although local Republicans helped defeat Arpaio, the white nationalists, neo-Nazis and other racists who shamed our country this month in Charlottesville would surely cheer a presidential pardon.

Our community is moving on and moving forward from Arpaio’s divisive legacy. A pardon won’t change the fact that Arpaio was convicted of a crime, nor will it shake our resolve to keep building a city that is welcoming, is inclusive and provides opportunities for anyone willing to work for them.

Stanton is correct, and there's no reason to make me think that Trump will take the hint, or even that he cares.  Rather, Trump will get to piss a bunch of liberals and Latinos off, and that's literally all that matters with his base.

The rest of us?  Well, we don't exactly count as "America" in Trump's version, now do we?

The New Strategy Is That There Is No New Strategy

Donald Trump's bold new plans for Afghanistan are that he doesn't really have any bold new plans for Afghanistan, but he can't really admit he's doing it the same way Bush and Obama did it.  He's fooling precisely no one, and the Democrats are calling him on it.

President Donald Trump's prime-time speech on his plan for Afghanistan split lawmakers along party lines, with Democrats criticizing the lack of real details and Republicans lauding the move away from arbitrary deadlines for drawing down troops. 

Democrats argued Trump was proposing an open-ended commitment with no exit strategy or ceiling on US troops there. 

"Tonight, the President said he knew what he was getting into and had a plan to go forward. Clearly, he did not," House minority leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. "The President's announcement is low on details but raises serious questions."  

New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said Trump's speech was "terribly lacking" in details, substance and "a vision of what success in Afghanistan looks like." 

And Rep. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat and Marine Corps veteran, accused Trump of "repeating the mistakes of previous administrations." 

"Tonight, the American people should have heard a detailed, realistic strategy with achievable objectives and measurable benchmarks," Gallego said. "Instead, we got only vague promises and wishful thinking." 

Functionally, Trump is going to be sending in about 4,000 more troops, most certainly special operations troops and their support staff, in order to lead more targeted strikes on Taliban leadership and ISIS targets of opportunity, and help Afghan forces secure territory while oh yeah, going across the border to Pakistan and keeping an eye on the mess there.  He can't actually say that, but that's what's coming and everyone knows it.

So he's going to pretend that continuing Obama's strategy is his own brilliant idea.

Leadership for a new era or something, whee.

StupidINews!

• Donald Trump outlined a US strategy last night in Afghanistan that will "change dramatically" from the last 16 years, but he announced no specifics on troop levels, timelines, or locations.
• More Native American tribes in the US are looking to get into the legal marijuana growing business, but federal laws that govern reservation land could be a major problem for growers.
• US Navy divers continue to search for 10 missing sailors after the collision of a missile destroyer and oil tanker near Singapore over the weekend.
• Angola will hold elections on Wednesday as President Jose Eduardo dos Santos will step down after 38 years, the country faces the worst economic conditions since a 2002 civil war.
• Verizon will start throttling video on all mobile plans, limiting bandwidth on both new and existing unlimited data plans to 720p video starting on Wednesday.