April 30, 2017

Trump did his Harrisburg rally, and the White House Correspondents Dinner stumbled on without him.

We watched the Trump rally, then tried to hang around for some of the WHCD, but we got tired of the blah-blah from faces we didn't know and when they launched into giving themselves awards, it was way too tedious. It's just another banquet. Who would watch an industry banquet — giving out awards to itself — on TV? There was a long draped table on the dais, and little heads slumped back behind big, embarrassing floral arrangements.

I'd be bored if I were in the industry and forced to attend and sit at one of the stodgy tables, so why would I watch such a thing on TV? Because it's on television? Because at some point — they're promising — a comedian will appear behind the lectern and tell jokes? Because the jokes will be about the President? But all the comedians have for years been telling all the Trump they can think of. What could possibly be new? There was the possible newness of Trump having to sit there on the dais while the jokes were being made, but that depended on the participation of Donald Trump. Those jokes Donald Trump made impossible were jokes artificially launched by their proximity to the real-life entity that is Donald Trump.

I could only imagine that the jokes without the excitement of the presence of Donald Trump would just be like all those other Donald Trump jokes I've heard for so long, the main one of which is that Donald Trump is a walking joke, a clown, a buffoon. That's the joke: Donald Trump! Well, Donald Trump was out there, in Harrisburg, so according to the theory of all the Donald Trump jokes, the best comic show of the evening was Donald Trump himself, doing his Donald Trump routine, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

I can't find the transcript of his remarks, but I remember him saying that he'd rather be right there — in Harrisburg — than anywhere else and he'd rather be with those Pennsylvanians than with anybody else.* It can't be true, but non-haters get it by not taking him literally. Donald Trump would rather be adored by the glamorous media and entertainment folk of his new hometown Washington, D.C. He'd rather enjoy the trappings of the presidency as they came to be understood during the reign of Barack Obama. But Donald Trump can't have that. He'd like it, but it can't be had. He won the presidency by looking around and figuring what could be had, and now he's got it, and he's practical enough to love the best things that are actually available to him.

________________

 * Here's video of that part of the speech:

88 comments:

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Who would watch an industry banquet, giving out awards to itself on TV?


Handing each other awards, slapping each other on the back while parading around in expensive clothing draped in jewels, is a leftwing-D phenomenon. Leftwing-D ARE Hunger Games. It is long past tired and tedious. Agreed.

mezzrow said...

He won the presidency by looking around and figuring what could be had, and now he's got it, and he's practical enough to love the best things that are actually available to him.

He's also practical enough to capture the narrative and turn it against those who hate him. And people wonder why he watches so much tube. Maybe he knows something we don't.

Next thing, he'll be making the newsers irrelevant in their own beltway playground. Times are a changin'

The horror, the horror...

roesch/voltaire said...

No we would rather watch yet another campaign speech of braggadocio and lies-- for example there were no Hollywood celebrities at the press dinner, but this divider in chief loves to construct the straw men of the evil other whether it is the CIA or China's weather hoax.

rhhardin said...

Ana Marie Cox did the perfect review of attending the correspondents' dinner in Wonkette long ago.

Wine and anal sex were involved. Maybe it's online somewhere.

David Begley said...

"Donald Trump would rather be adored by the glamorous media and entertainment folk of his new hometown Washington, D.C. He'd rather enjoy the trappings of the presidency as they came to be understood during the reign of Barack Obama."

Disagree. He knew those glamorous people back in his old life. They now hate him and are crazy nuts in opposition to him. As to the trappings of the Presidency, he owns at least one house bigger than the White House. He owns a big jet. No, he'd rather be with the people who love him and elected him President when all of the glamorous people said Trump could never win.

Obama rarely did campaign-style rallies once elected. I expect Trump to continue this throughout his Presidency. Trump loves his peeps.

Tommy Duncan said...

He won the presidency by looking around and figuring what could be had, and now he's got it, and he's practical enough to love the best things that are actually available to him.

They say the secret to happiness is not getting what you want, but rather wanting what you get.

Danno said...

Thank God for our orange-haired superhero, fighting for us, the American public in "the never ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way."

Unknown said...

I think this is a contender for your best post ever.

Sebastian said...

So Trump trumps (yeah, sorry) the WHCD, and the WHC illustrate his point about the dishonest media while he's making it in Harrisburg. Too much winning.

James K said...

"for example there were no Hollywood celebrities at the press dinner"

Actually there were, even if you don't count the host, who was from The Daily Show, which I would consider Hollywood. But don't let facts get in the way of your narrative.

Ann Althouse said...

"Disagree. He knew those glamorous people back in his old life. They now hate him and are crazy nuts in opposition to him. As to the trappings of the Presidency, he owns at least one house bigger than the White House. He owns a big jet. No, he'd rather be with the people who love him and elected him President when all of the glamorous people said Trump could never win."

I said he'd rather have those glamorous people loving him. He won the presidency but he had to do it without keeping the love of those people who were with him back when he was only a real estate magnate and TV star. He'd rather have them still loving him. I think he thought they'd come around. He can't do White House concerts and galas the way Obama did. He couldn't get anybody big to perform as his inaugurations. That must have hurt. It's a huge version of something that often happens to people when they achieve a long-desired goal. They get there, and it's not like what they'd pictured. You work so hard and achieve so much only to find you have less love than when you started. People keep their distance, they're envious and want to think that they or somebody else they know should have what you got.

Ann Althouse said...

Thanks, David Ragsdale.

rwnutjob said...

Holding his rally on the night of the Nerd Prom is weapons-grade trolling.
The press had to cover it.
Hysterical

tcrosse said...

Norm Macdonald has said that Trump wanted money, and he got it. He wanted women, and he got them. He wanted power, and he got it. So now, if he wants the love of the People, don't bet against him getting that, too.

David Begley said...

Trump is like Churchill. Churchill thought he was the greatest man ever in England. Only he could save England and he could only do it as PM.

Trump has said he would only run for President if "things got really bad." And he was mocked for his convention speech where he said only he could save America. But it looks like Trump was right.

The fake news media is working hard against Trump and what he wants to do 24/7. Trump wants to make the phony MSM irrelevant and he's doing a good job. Althouse has stopped watching the Sunday shows.

David said...

And with all this Trump is not bitching that he "Can't Have Nice Things."

Rob said...

You have to admire the courage of comedians, at the WHCA dinner and on TV, who tell the audience exactly what it wants to hear.

AllenS said...

As far as Trump having those glamorous people loving him like they did when he was a real estate magnate and TV star, maybe he realized back then that those people were a bunch of frauds, and that he didn't ever need them. Trump is his own man. That's what winning does to a person.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

If you look back at the celebrities who agreed to embarrass themselves on "The Apprentice" - they were not big-name celebrities. They were all D-list.

A-list celebrities are too good for Donald Trump. Then an now.

Ordinary Americans do not really care about A-list celebrities - not so much anymore.
I agree that Trump would like the adoration of the A-listers - the George Clooneys, the Julia Roberts, but Julia and George are far left-D's. Most major celebrities are far-left D.

The A-list celebrity party is only open to the popular kids - and all the popular beautiful people are far-left D..

Trump shouldn't worry because the beautiful A-list far-left celebrity-D are dropping off in popularity and influence these days.

Karen Galle said...

Another great Trump idea to circumvent the DC Beltway press. I live across the Susquehanna River from Harrisburg and get the Sunday paper. Headline above the fold "'I LOVE THIS STATE'", with a photo of a GWOT vet in uniform giving a thumbs up gesture with a pair of American flags to the left. That's the story in a supportive Trump area (excepting Harrisburg itself of course) - Dauphin, Cumberland, York, and Perry counties. No front page mention at all on jokes about the President from a DC press circle-jerk rubber chicken extravaganza. Trump took that annual (if your a Republican) beat down and re-invigorated the base. I should note the Patriot-News is down to 3 papers a week - Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. When I arrived in the late 1980's to chase my now wife, the paper had a seven day schedule, with an afternoon edition as well. One may wonder why.

Humperdink said...

James K responded: "Actually there were (Hollywoood celebrities), even if you don't count the host, who was from The Daily Show, which I would consider Hollywood. But don't let facts get in the way of your narrative."

Hoping you are including Reverend Al in your tally. He was there!!!

Karen Galle said...

Just double checked...the emerald ash borer has a front page listing, but not the Correspondents Dinner. So a nasty larvae has more local interest than the DC press corps. Stars are aligning......

Bad Lieutenant said...

Blogger Todd Galle said...
Another great Trump idea to circumvent the DC Beltway press. I live across the Susquehanna River from Harrisburg and get the Sunday paper. Headline above the fold "'I LOVE THIS STATE'", with a photo of a GWOT vet in uniform giving a thumbs up gesture with a pair of American flags to the left. That's the story in a supportive Trump area (excepting Harrisburg itself of course) - Dauphin, Cumberland, York, and Perry counties


Does anyone here - PBJ-Liar, ARM, Inga, TTR, Cook, whoever - think the Democrats can win in 2020 without PA?

Bad Lieutenant said...

Blogger Todd Galle said...
Just double checked...the emerald ash borer has a front page listing, but not the Correspondents Dinner. So a nasty larvae has more local interest than the DC press corps. Stars are aligning......
4/30/17, 8:43 AM

Foolish, in a way, as the Press Corps is much more dangerous and harmful than natural parasites. But you always worry more about the pest in your own backyard.

Anonymous said...

"....the main one of which is that Donald Trump is a walking joke, a clown, a buffoon. That's the joke: Donald Trump!"

An unfunny joke played on America.

I don't think Trump got what he wanted when he became president. He seems to long for his old life in a recent interview. No one knew it was so hard to be President, eh?

Darrell said...

Trump should have made sure that not a dime of taxpayer dollars went for that dinner. Let them pay for their own shit.

whitney said...

Practical. That's what comes across for me too. Trump is practical. Also, seems to be blessed with a somewhat sunny disposition.

Darrell said...

Cocksucking Lefties make the job hard.

robother said...

Comedians "telling all the Trump they can think of...." Even Ann's typos are insightful, telegraphing her point that Trump IS the joke to Blue America.

Big Mike said...

I agree with the Professor's analysis, but I also think that Donald Trump is and has been learning on the job and that's a good thing. I don't believe that anyone at the WHCD has ever learned anything since their J-school teachers had them recite "Republicans ba-a-a-a-d, Democrats go-o-o-o-o-d" over and over.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Thank you PA, WI and MI, FL and the Carolina's. - for sparing us the unthinkable horror - the corruption of Hillary Clinton and John Podesta, the real life nightmare of assured institutionalized corruption and crony insider money-grubbing.

Anonymous said...

Trump really wanted to be at that Correspondence Dinner and be adored by the people there, which he realized wasn't going to happen, so he decided to have a rally with his loyal followers, to get what he most desires, adoration. He was in his element there at his rally. It would've been a disaster for all concerned if he had attended the dinner, so it was good he stayed away.

James K said...

"Hoping you are including Reverend Al in your tally. He was there!!! "

The host was someone I'd never heard of called Hasan Minhaj. He's supposedly funny, but I've seen no evidence of that based on the clips and quotes from the dinner.

Karen Galle said...

Bad T. - While I agree generally agree regarding the press, but in PA and west NY, these little bastards could be a billion dollar curse in lost lumber.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

It all started when Trump sat quietly in that room while Obama and Obama's butt-licking celebrity D-jokesters like Seethe Myers, mocked Trump.

LOL - jokes on you, losers.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Trump
"A large group of Hollywood actors and Washington media are consoling each other in a hotel ballroom in our nation’s capital right now," Trump said to loud boos from the crowd. "If the media's job is to be honest and to tell the truth, the media deserves a very, very big fat failing grade."

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Very.

EdwdLny said...

" Trump loves his peeps. " More importantly, he respects them. He respects their opinions, their concerns, and, their values. BO never has, still doesn't, and the left doesn't care about any of that.

Anonymous said...

"LOL - jokes on you, losers"

The joke is on America. If you're not American, only then you can exempt yourself from being laughed at for putting this man in power. So you're a loser too dummy.

Karen Galle said...

Inga, I would encourage you to look at the optics. Why on earth would a president attend an event that end in a 'disaster'. That would be like Hillary collapsing at a 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony and being thrown into an SUV like a side of beef.

Michael K said...

"No we would rather watch yet another campaign speech of braggadocio and lies"

I know you love Dan Rather but doesn't that get old ?

The lefties don't understand that Trump spent years with those people and now he is getting a ,ot of positive vibes from real people.

I think he is having more fun than he anticipated.

He is also learning fast. I've seen that all along including during the campaign.

tola'at sfarim said...

Do the 'white house correspondents' consider themselves opinion journalism or 'unbiased' news reporters?

Michael K said...

" So you're a loser too dummy."

Inga, I wonder if you can see the changes happening around you.

The Democrats are so wrapped up in their anger at losing that they may not see opportunity when it appears.

Trump has invited their help on some legislation. I think they will stay on the sinking ship out of spite.

The Labour Party seems to be doing the same thing.

Paco Wové said...

"Who would watch an industry banquet, giving out awards to itself on TV?"

You mean, like the Oscars? Not that I understand why people watch that either.

Bob Boyd said...

I'm not so sure Trump would rather be in a room full of sycophants and sociopaths telling him they love him than surrounded by genuine people expressing genuine enthusiasm and seeing him as the embodiment of their hopes for their country and it's future. Trump's been to a lot of banquets and been given many awards by pretty people with phony smiles, but how many people get to be at the center of a rally like that? Damn few.

cacimbo said...

"I don't think Trump got what he wanted when he became president. He seems to long for his old life in a recent interview. No one knew it was so hard to be President, eh?"

Trump always knew winning the Presidency would result in a loss of income and change of lifestyle which is why during the campaign Trump framed his run as an obligation to save the country - NOT something he personally wanted. In May of 2016 he was attacked for telling Blitzer “I’ve given up a tremendous amount to run for president.” Trump has acknowledged the job is more difficult than he expected.He is accustomed to business people who normally do what is in the best interest. Now he is dealing with politicians - who do not behave in rational ways. But Trump is a quick learner, I expect he will adjust.

Anonymous said...

"I think he is having more fun than he anticipated."

He obviously has fun at his rallies. He seems to need them to replenish himself. He doesn't seem to be having much fun doing the mundane and difficult task of being POTUS. He longed for his old life in that recent interview, the man isn't having "fun", that's pretty evident. With all the defeats, the failure to get funding for Wall by Mexico or the Congress, the repeal of the ACA, the blocking of his Muslim Ban, the blocking of his Sancuary Cities EO, he's longing for the days of being the "boss" in his own real estate empire. He now has to answer to the American people and even the rest of the world. I think he's deeply dissapointed he's not the King of America.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Inga - Hillary was the alternative.
You lie and claim you didn't vote for her.

David Begley said...

CNN listed the top 10 lines from the comedian I'd never heard of who was the headliner last night.

Not funny. Maybe you had to be there.

Segesta said...

Aside: Don't refer to it as the "Nerd Prom." Nerds are smart.

tcrosse said...

If Hillary had been elected, and had chosen to attend the WHCD, I imagine all the jokes would still have been about Trump. None would have dared mock Her Majesty.

ga6 said...

I thought Jesse Jackson Sr was going to appear at the dinner and lead the MSM in his trademark chant and repeat "I am Somebody, I am Some body" followed by a good will offering.

Michael K said...

With all the defeats, the failure to get funding for Wall by Mexico or the Congress, the repeal of the ACA, the blocking of his Muslim Ban, the blocking of his Sancuary Cities EO,

You don't understand and I am not surprised. The Sanctuary Cities EO was a restatement of existing law.

This explanation is from a guy who really doesn't like Trump.

The executive order was not changing the law. It did not strip federal funds from sanctuary cities. It directed federal officials to enforce existing law and then larded up that directive with meaningless legalese that made the order look far more dramatic to the untrained eye.

French is a #NeverTrumper but the law is the law.

You are going to be disappointed, Inga, if you keep this fantasy view of the world.

The Wall will probably not be along the whole border but it will get built.

Obamacare will be repealed.

Anonymous said...

"You are going to be disappointed, Inga, if you keep this fantasy view of the world."

Well, I'm in good company with your daughters.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

tc-

If Hillary had been elected, and had chosen to attend the WHCD, I imagine all the jokes would still have been about Trump. None would have dared mock Her Majesty.

This.

Tim said...

The Presidency would be more "fun" if you had all of the press, Hollywood and your own "alleged" party kissing your ass 24/7. Trump knows why and who elected him. He responds to their gratitude.

Kevin said...

"CNN listed the top 10 lines from the comedian I'd never heard of who was the headliner last night."

More fake news.

Dan Hossley said...

last night proved one thing. Trump is more entertaining than White House Correspondents. OK, two things. Trump has more interesting things to say than White House Correspondents.

J Lee said...

I think while Trump does want the media and the A-list celebs to love him, that's not what brought him into the public spotlight. If you go back 40 years to when Trump was first introduced to the public via the pages of Rupert Murdoch's newly-acquired New York Post, a large part of the Trump dynamic was proving to the Manhattan elites who would neither accept him nor his father Fred as anything more than apartment builders for the bridge-and-tunnel crowd, that the bridge-and-tunnel crowd loved Donald Trump more than they loved the Manhattan elites.

That's the relationship Trump and the elites, including those in the media, have had for four decades. He wants their love. But if he can get the love of the majority of the bridge-and-tunnel crowd -- now expanded nationally to basically represent flyover country -- Trump will settle for that.

As for the D.C. media, having a WHCD without the featured resident in the White House exposes the absurdity of the event in ways that weren't possible when it wasn't covered by C-SPAN and the cable news channels. They probably should just dump the thing, but will likely keep slogging on until they finally get a president in the White House who loves them again (though if Trump manages to get his approval ratings above the 50 percent mark between now and the spring of 2020, he'd probably go back to the WHCD just to lord it over the assembled reporters).

Michael said...

All in good time. Five or six years from now, Trump will be at the Nerd Prom and the fancy people will be sucking up to him. They are nothing if not sycophants.

Fernandinande said...

Trump walks into a bar and the bartender asks "Why the long face?"

Trump answers, "I got the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority to declare your bar 'blighted property' and then purchased it for next to nothing. Now get out before my face gets even longer."

Original Mike said...

"he's practical enough to love the best things that are actually available to him."

A key to a happy life.

James K said...

I suspect that Trump has been a conservative for some time, but for business and social reasons kept it under wraps, as do many in the entertainment world. At some point he decided that under Obama and the Democrats things had gotten so bad that he was willing to give up the phony adulation of sycophants, to enter the political arena and try to repair the damage. Would he have preferred that his old "friends" still like him? I suppose, but I doubt he expected it. It was a trade he was willing to make, and a few, like Piers Morgan, stuck by him.

JAORE said...

"for example there were no Hollywood celebrities at the press dinner"

Of course there were. Just not as many as in yeas past. And that isn't even counting those that call themselves journalists but are, in truth, talking head/celebrities.

But I'd bet there would have been many more if President Trump was there. Not Trump supporters, but those wanting to be near ANY spotlight (dimmed considerably without the POTUS) and those wanting to be there as Trump was publicly bashed.

Joshua said...

@James K: The only Hollywood celebrity who I've seen mentioned as attending last night's WHCD (other than Minhaj, the entertainer for the dinner) is Matthew Modine. If there were others, I haven't been able to find any references to them.

mtrobertslaw said...

Clever fellow this Trump. What he has done is make the White House Correspondents Dinner completely irrelevant and an object of national ridicule. In a few years, the organizers of this exercise in mass self-congratulation will be lucky if they can book Joe's Greasy Burger Joint for their chow-down.

readering said...

Seemed like the WHCD was a big success in its own terms. Fact of little interest to general public beside the point.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I have no idea what Trump thinks or would rather have.

But I do know this....who would rather sit at an event where everyone was going to make fun of you, insult you, take jabs at you. An event where you just have to sit and take it? Be the pinata of the evening?

Or would you rather go someplace where you are in charge and people are going to respond positively to your presence.

Duh!

Michael K said...

"Well, I'm in good company with your daughters."

I wonder how much you are in their company if you think it is fantasy.

One, the oldest convicted a group of medical fraud conspirators this week.

The next was interviewed by Apple again for a job with the international design team. It has a total of 20 people who do Apple's design work.

The youngest, like many of her age, ifs conservative/libertarian.

WisRich said...

When you have to say "We're not Fake news" and "We're not the enemy of the American people" you've got ask yourself how you got to this point and that you just might be.

Michael K said...

If you go back 40 years to when Trump was first introduced to the public via the pages of Rupert Murdoch's newly-acquired New York Post, a large part of the Trump dynamic was proving to the Manhattan elites who would neither accept him nor his father Fred as anything more than apartment builders for the bridge-and-tunnel crowd, that the bridge-and-tunnel crowd loved Donald Trump more than they loved the Manhattan elites.

I think this is a key observation. I have not paid much attention to Trump over the years. This sounds about right.

William said...

Speaking just for myself, I wouldn't mind receiving the adoration of Jennifer Lawrence. That would do a lot to help me feel that my existence has been validated. Conversely, I wouldn't mind the the disapproval of Meryl Streep. That would also help me feel my existence has been significant and of use to the world. But you really haven't arrived, until you receive the disdain of Maggie Smith. Maggie Smith is the celebrity whose disdain I would most enjoy, because she's so good at it. Cher, Madonna, Meryl, Barbra are just too clumsy.

James K said...

@Joshua: I was responding to the claim that there were none, and therefore Trump lied. Indeed there were a lot of no-shows, something Trump could not have known, but I'm sure would take (and has taken) great satisfaction from.

William said...

I watched the comedian last night. You can charitably say that he didn't hit a home run.......I think calling conservative white people Nazis is a racist slur and not funny. That wasn't the opinion at the WHCD dinner crowd.

Unknown said...

Professor Althouse touched the nerve of modern media mavens: They allowed themselves to become celebrated. It started with Woodward and Bernstein: I know, I was there. Reporters were, in that day, itinerants, like barbers or bartenders. Then they were teased into believing they were really powerful, and the game became one of exerting that power. A colleague from that, honored at a trade banquet as he was dying of cancer, looked down from the podium and said: "I'm not used to being up here. I'm used to sitting down there in the pit with you guys, throwing spitwads at the guy at the podium. God Rest you, Bill Farr. The reporters have become more important than the story, or so they believe. And as reviled as they people they used to throw spitwads at from the press room. Watch the original Front Page, Cary Grant and Roz Russell, to see how far we have come.

traditionalguy said...

Welcome to P.T. Barnum's Greatest Show on earth. It has an orange haired clown, an old tired Elephant chained up, The famous Kellyanne on the trapeze, and a lion and tiger cage tamer with a whip when he is not playing the orange haired clown.

Seriously, DJT had a renewed energy level last night. He really does love his deplorables.

traditionalguy said...

The best the comedian in charge could come up with was a long riff on Trump being a non-drinker. He was saying that Trump acts crazy with no excuse that he was hammered. Then he repeated that gem. He had no other material.

Trump had better material. Like when he said the Dems are doomed for lack of a leader, and that his old friend Schumer has to read how to books on being a leader, but still cannot get it right.

Mary Beth said...

tcrosse said...

If Hillary had been elected, and had chosen to attend the WHCD, I imagine all the jokes would still have been about Trump. None would have dared mock Her Majesty.

4/30/17, 9:37 AM


You're right that they wouldn't have mocked her, but they would have told jokes about her...or rather, ones that featured her. Maybe something about the problems that come up when you're trying to balance being the president and being a grandma.

The point of the jokes would be to try to make her seem relatable and likeable. The opposite of what jokes about Trump are designed to do. It's the difference between being the star of the joke and the butt of the joke.

Big Mike said...

I'd be bored . . .

@Althouse, this goes along with yesterday's post. Trump's enemies are boring when they aren't being violent. Apparently more people now trust Trump (37%) than trust the media (28%). Since the only thing the media have to sell is their credibility, that ought to make a lot of journalists wet their pants. Now add "boring" to lack of credibility and the death spiral has begun.

Mary Beth said...

Trump's "campaign rallies" didn't stop once he won because he's not a politician, he's a businessman. He didn't campaign so much as network on a massive scale. Politicians stop going out and talking to people unless they need something. Business people keep the network connections open.

cubanbob said...

So Trump decided he didn't want to attend a DNC house organs propaganda event dinner. Oh wow.

Big Mike said...

@Mary Beth, even so, she still would have bitched at her staff and made their lives miserable for a couple hours. When Obama called her "likable enough" in 2008 that was just another of his lies.

Alex said...

I actually dispute the notion that Trump would rather have the 'trappings' that Democrat Presidents enjoyed. I think Trump loves the rallies with normal people. I bet it's still an adrenaline rush knowing he has 20K people in the palm of his hand for an hour. Who the fuck needs stupid WHCD or any of that crap?

Alex said...

Mary Beth said...
Trump's "campaign rallies" didn't stop once he won because he's not a politician, he's a businessman. He didn't campaign so much as network on a massive scale. Politicians stop going out and talking to people unless they need something. Business people keep the network connections open.


I predict Trump never stops doing the large rallies and when it's time to run again in mid-2019 he's already been doing that, so nothing really to change. Somehow he manages to govern and campaign at the same time.

If I were Harvard Business School, I'd follow this very closely and document it for posterity.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...


"With all the defeats, the failure to get funding for Wall by Mexico or the Congress, the repeal of the ACA, the blocking of his Muslim Ban, the blocking of his Sancuary Cities"

Bizarre that anyone thinks that the last word has been spoken on any of these. The Left is like Great War infantry, throwing themselves on the machine guns time after time, and claiming victory because the enemy hasn't advanced. And then one day the machine guns aren't there but the tanks are.

tim in vermont said...

I hope no Republican ever does that dinner again. It would serve to de-legitimize the partisan press and show them for what they are to everybody. I count this as a great Trump success I never expected.

Todd said...

Inga said... [hush]​[hide comment]
"....the main one of which is that Donald Trump is a walking joke, a clown, a buffoon. That's the joke: Donald Trump!"

An unfunny joke played on America.

I don't think Trump got what he wanted when he became president. He seems to long for his old life in a recent interview. No one knew it was so hard to be President, eh?

4/30/17, 8:51 AM


LOL! So Trump didn't know being President would be hard? He runs/ran a HUGE business empire but yep, no CLUE how hard running the entire country might be. Nope. It wasn't like he in any way had relevant experience like (I don't know) being a community organizer or some such!

I am not saying that there is not much to poke at Trump for but darn it, you all aren't even TRYING to poke him in tender spots! It is like you do really have your heart in it, like you are just phoning it in.

Todd said...

Inga said...
"LOL - jokes on you, losers"

The joke is on America. If you're not American, only then you can exempt yourself from being laughed at for putting this man in power. So you're a loser too dummy.

4/30/17, 9:08 AM


Yep, a big fat loser, all the way to the Super Bowl and a shiny new championship ring! I could be a loser like this for the next 8 year!