There Ya Go
Donald Trump went on Meet the Press. I know it’s necessary to dumb things down when talking to Chuck Todd, but … really?
Chuck Todd: “Who do you talk to for military advice right now?”
Donald Trump: “Well, I watch the shows. I mean, I really see a lot of great– you know, when you watch your show and all of the other shows and you have the generals and … you have certain people that you like.”
Sgt. Bilko? Gomer Pyle? Hogan’s Heroes? McHale’s Navy?
I would say M*A*S*H would offer good military advice, but I’m not sure if they’re still working with George W., who created a war and then managed to stretch it into 11+ seasons just like the TV show.
Catch 22 would be a good backup, because Trump already knows how to buy eggs at 7 cents, then sell them at a profit for 5 cents. Both business and military methods in the movie/book are right up his alley.
1For me, it would be M*A*S*H. For Trump it would be Gomer Pyle, or maybe Gomer in the Catch-22 setting.
… Anybody else notice that “Gomer” and “Gohmert” sound a lot alike? And the names are similar too.
2Sounds like he took a page from Alaska Sarah’s playbook.
3What a mouthful of muddle that was.
I bet he reads all the magazines, too.
4Funny but sad that people are dumb enough to be thinking that is great
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84RldfG1MQo
5COURIC: And when it comes to establishing your world view, I was curious, what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this — to stay informed and to understand the world?
PALIN: I’ve read most of them again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media, coming f—
COURIC: But like which ones specifically? I’m curious that you—
PALIN: Um, all of ’em, any of ’em that, um, have, have been in front of me over all these years. Um, I have a va—
COURIC: Can you name a few?
PALIN: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news too. Alaska isn’t a foreign country, where, it’s kind of suggested and it seems like, ‘Wow, how could you keep in touch with what the rest of Washington, D.C. may be thinking and doing when you live up there in Alaska?’ Believe me, Alaska is like a microcosm of America
6No wonder he wants to put Palin into his fictional administration.
7Pay no attention to that funny looking guy behind the curtain!
8Stay in the race, Mr. Trump! Bless your heart, we all just love that you are running!
9He gets a D- for not finishing any sentences. Sheesh.
10He’s apparently doing well in the Iowa “corn poll” where people drop a kernel of corn into a jar with the name of their favorite candidate. That’s not going Iowa’s reputation any good, if you ask me, but then no one did. One of the Austin news stations thought that was worthy of some time this evening. Showed people asked if they would vote for Trump and they were saying yes, because he “says something.” Dear God, Iowans, I can say “something” too. So can everyone. “I hate dogs!” “I love dogs!”
Trump’s answers combined with his assertion that he’s smarter than almost everyone sure prove that he’s fooled himself. But not me.
11I also wish interviewers were knowledgeable and tough enough to go on and ask the next question. “You’re familiar then with the careers of general officers in the 20th and 21st century? How would you compare the command styles of Abrams and Westmoreland? Schwartskopf and Franks? What’s your assessment of the influence of the CCC on the health, fitness, and readiness for military service of the US population in 1941? What’s your assessment of the value of investment in human capital in warfare? Have you read any of the seminal books on warfare and military science: specify.”
My guess is that he could barely get through “The Defense of Duffer’s Drift” or “The Defense of Hill 781” let alone Xenophon, Caesar, Clausewitz, the many books on how to lose battles and wars, or any of the books by Keegan or Dunnigan that bring real thought to military history and science. (BTW, anyone who’s at all interested in military stuff should find a copy of “The Defense of Duffer’s Drift”–a British book designed to teach young officers a few basic things they needed to know in South Africa. It’s really good. The US “Defense of Hill 781” is designed to teach officers how to handle a more complex problem involving armor, artillery and infantry, but it’s based on the earlier book. )
12@Elizabeth Moon
13Gosh EM, I would have figgered anybody that was anybody had read Message to Garcia, Duffer’s Drift or Lee’s Lieutenants.
This is one of the funniest things I’ve read, and it’s in a serious column in the Minneapolis Star Tribune!
“Donald Trump, meanwhile, has captured the early enthusiasm of Republican voters, in part because of his self-styled claim to be a wealth creator. The real story is very different. Trump has become rich by borrowing huge sums of money, taking a cut for himself and losing the rest for other people through bankruptcy. He has destroyed more wealth than a small-scale war.”
Hahahahahahahaha! The author is Roger Feldman, an econ prof at the U of Minnesota. Here’s the URL:
http://www.startribune.com/the-2016-campaign-good-governor-good-president/321926611/
BTW, using this author’s measure, pRick was a good governor. Keep your barf bag handy if you’re going to read that part.
14I have a theory that, despite obvious differences, much of the appeal of Trump is for the exact same reason as for Sanders. People are just sick of the mainstream, phony, bought-and-paid-for party candidates.
That doesn’t mean I think Sanders can win (and certainly Trump can’t), but I get the appeal. That said I will vote for whatever Democrat can beat the Republican candidate. There is a real difference.
15http://dakotafreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Screen-Shot-2015-08-17-at-7.21.01.jpg
Which entity looks smarter?
16A big thank you to Cory Heidelberger at DFP for this shot.
17Too damn bad Trump has never seen the PBS Ken Burn’s “Civil War” series. But heck with his attention span, he would have bugged out of that in just seconds.
Also, I am reminded of what I learned decades ago in my singlehood. When starting to get interested in a guy, I had to take a moment and ask myself, would I bring this one home and introduce him to mom and dad? For some strange reason, the majority of guys I ended up dating back when had excellent formal education backgrounds and surplus wealth, kinda like Trump. However, if they had opened their yap and called one of my parents or any member of my family living or dead a loser, daddy would have yanked his head off without a moment’s remorse. So there ya have it, folks. Trump is the guy a gal might date but never take home to mom and dad, especially if dad was an immigrant.
As for all the “I’m gonna”, Trump hasn’t a clue. He thinks he can fire the Vice President, Congress and the Supreme Court cuz, hell, he’s Trump and he’s the Prez. He also is most likely to call the Queen of England a loser if he ever met her, for one example. Yeah, he might be vocalizing what a lot of people are thinking and thereby kind of legitimizing such ideas, but no way is he a winner.
18Yep, Palin on testosterone.
19Everyone knows that Shrub/Cheney/Rice/Powell modeled foreign policy after what they saw weekly on “24.” They even admitted it. They thought Kiefer Sutherland was a real agent of the government,not an actor mouthing lines from a scriptwriter.This is the level to which the Shrub administration sunk us.I don’t know if we’ll ever recover.
20Micr: Anyone qualified to be President either knows they’re a military blank, or has read some of the basics and can come up with the right names to say when asked. I’d consider acceptable having read one book each by a military historian (like Keegan), one contemporary analyst who can talk about the cost of war in $$ and human lives (like Dunnagin), one (ideally Grossman’s _On Killing) by a military psych expert, one by an American general about a specific war in which he commanded. Doesn’t have to be exactly the books I’m mentioning. Does have to be a book you’d find in the library of a well-educated field grade officer. (A lot of company grades will have them, or have read them, but the more studious O4 – O6 will own them.) A President, as Commander in Chief, benefits from having some knowledge that overlaps that of the military he/she commands. Four books. That’s not a lot to ask. Ideal would include having read books on all the wars the US has been in and having looked into what the capabilities and limitations of current weapons systems are and what some of the internal controversies are (e.g. religious pressure by Christian fundamentalists at the military academies: who Mikey Weinstein is, what the MRFF is.) None of it’s beyond the IQ of anyone fit to be President. None of it’s secret, military or otherwise. It’s alarming to suspect that right now, judging from what they’ve said publicly, I have more military background and knowledge than any of the potential candidates but Clinton (she’s had direct exposure more recently; I don’t know if she’s got the base, but she’s certainly not as ignorant as the GOP bunch.) Lots of people know a lot more about military operations, history, etc. than I do, but they aren’t running for President.
21Okay. If we are going to use TV shows as the basis of how to govern, could we at least get the writers from “West Wing”?
Then I might make it through the “season” without a barf bag.
I am voting for the candidate that has a (D) after their name, even if it hurts. The (R) candidates are looking to restore a past that never existed. The ones who get their information only from TV and by virtue of being old, are scared, are voting the way that their parents did because they think of R’s as Eisenhower, even Nixon–in a world that white men were absolute rulers of. When 9/11 happened–I had a houseful of 70++ aged white women, sick, vulnerable, who had grown up with us being the “good guys” and they could not wrap their minds around the changes–I spent the entire next two days explaining basics of stock market, American political policies, oil politics, tons of stuff I knew but they had never (ever) had to think about. And I was so inadequate to the task. These were women who had raised families in the most comfortable time anyone had had–all middle to upper middle class, not racist (passive if they were) and knew what they needed to, to be that, and not much more. They were R and D’s and could be civil about it. So much has changed, because, I think of drug use and the destabilizing effect of divorce on families and lack of education, that we are looking at TV shows as legitimate sources of how to run the government–which I find terrifying–starting with Saint Ronnie as a legitimate president and going down, down, down the rabbit hole ever since…
22“Bite me” cookies or little cakes should be the theme for whoever wins the (R) nomination–because we will be stuck in “Neverland” for a long, long time if they win.
E. Moon,
Well, Trump was shipped off to a military academy in his youth. So presumably he was exposed to some military history and theory. But I’m guessing he probably sat there in class doodling little houses and dollar signs, and purchased or bullied his way to a passing grade.
23Let’s start with Smedley D. Butler’s ‘War is a Racket.’
24F Troop…Fort Trump…
25