Althouse: Trump holds a meeting in front of the cameras and proves he's not demented.

January 10, 2018

Trump holds a meeting in front of the cameras and proves he's not demented.

I made a clip. It's only 8 seconds long. You've got to see this:

We'd been really worried, ever since this:

44 comments:

rhhardin said...: He has small hands.; 1/10/18, 5:25 AM
Humperdink said...: Steve Bannon is known for his dribble glasses. Just a precaution.; 1/10/18, 5:28 AM
Bob Boyd said...: Not helpful, Althouse.
If Kim Jong Un sees that he'll pull the clunky red phone right out of the wall and go back to launching missiles.; 1/10/18, 5:28 AM
Amadeus 48 said...: The sneaky bastard. How dare he?; 1/10/18, 5:32 AM
dreams said...: It's just not presidential, I guess.; 1/10/18, 5:35 AM
SteveBrooklineMA said...: That’s the least sincere drinking of water I’ve ever seen! Just another lie!!; 1/10/18, 5:51 AM
Humperdink said...: TPM watched the video and reported Trump was mocking war heroes Bob Dole and Daniel Inouye.; 1/10/18, 5:54 AM
Francisco D said...: The two hands on the water glass are often a sign of anxiety.

He has anxiety. Time to impeach!; 1/10/18, 6:03 AM
rehajm said...: He has small hands.

In golf parlance his hands are called cadet.

In bear parlance his hands are called paws.; 1/10/18, 6:35 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Let's get Doctor Bandy X. Lee in here to analyze his water drinking technique for signs of psychopathy.; 1/10/18, 6:52 AM
Gk1 said...: IMPEACH NOW!; 1/10/18, 7:54 AM
Michael said...: You can bet that prior to becoming POTUS Trump ran a thousand times more meetings than his predecessor.; 1/10/18, 8:30 AM
Darkisland said...: At the top of Drudge right now is a link to Bloomberg saying that China will stop buyhing Treasuries.

So much winning, I am beginning to wonder if President Trump was right about too much. Not yet, though.

There are two reasons this is a good thing for the US.

1) The swamp runs on borrowed money. If there is no money to borrow, from China, the swamp becomes self-draining

2) I am assuming that China wants to continue selling to the US. That means they will have dollars burning a hole in their pocket. If they are not going to loan it to us, there are only 2 other options. They can invest in the US such as they are doing with the $83bn chem plant in WestVA. Or they can buy more US goods and services. Either way, great for the US.

I am more free trade than 99%. I support NO restrictions on anything that is legal to sell in the US. The problem is that when we trade, our partners have to do somethign with the dollars we pay with. When they lend it to DC they perpetuate the swamp. If threats of trade restrictions can cut this lending (as in buying treasuries) then I am reluctantly in favor of some restrictions. The minimum that it will take to accomplish this goal.

John Henry; 1/10/18, 8:35 AM
Chuck said...: As Ann Coulter rightly said, the performance of Trump in this episode only proved how utterly clueless Trump is on the negotiation of immigration policy.

As Coulter said, "When Kevin McCarthy is the 'immigration hawk' in the room, you've got trouble." It was a "disaster" to Ann Coulter.

Trump had to be corrected by Kevin McCarthy on the record; did Althouse see that? Trump's language actually put him to the left of the most leftward/pro-Amnesty Republican.

It was a profound shock, to any conservative and immigration hawk who knows what is going on and who cares.

Ann Coulter Twitter:
https://twitter.com/AnnCoulter?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Ann Coulter on Lou Dobbs program talking about all of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vCW4vZ-AAc

#PresidentMoron.

Althouse, did you realize any of this? Because what I think you understood (correctly) was that the whole show was intended to display Trump on tv as someone who was smart and not demented. And as Coulter rightly says, for anybody who has been paying attention to the immigration debate, it totally proved the opposite.; 1/10/18, 8:40 AM
Meade said...: @Chuck, have you called the White House to tell them what you think of "comprehensive" immigration reform? (WH comment line is 202-456-1111). Now is the time. You already have? Good for you.; 1/10/18, 8:46 AM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Chuck, suddenly you are praising Ann Coulter's stance on immigration just because she is criticizing Trump?; 1/10/18, 8:48 AM
Meade said...: If that number is busy, try the WH regular switchboard: 202-456-1414

Tell them: no DACA amnesty until chain migration is ended, Wall is built, and mandatory E-Verify in place.; 1/10/18, 8:52 AM
Jaq said...: China is rip shit pissed over the corporate tax cuts that put them at a competitive disadvantage. Too late boys!; 1/10/18, 9:03 AM
M Jordan said...: The shrieking Ann Coulters on the right are just another type of NeverTrumpers. They are ideologues whose ideologies are toys. They have built this perfect toy, see, and STOP TOUCHING IT!!!; 1/10/18, 9:04 AM
Meade said...: Or, Chuck, are you in favor of granting amnesty to 11 million illegal immigrants? Perhaps you are.; 1/10/18, 9:04 AM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: Democrats have set the bar so low, Trump can't help but exceed expectations. If they don't figure this out soon, hello to 7 more years of Trump.; 1/10/18, 9:08 AM
Meade said...: Click here if you want to leave an electronic message.

Please be polite, Chuck. Refrain from using gratuitous profanity.; 1/10/18, 9:09 AM
Chuck said...: If anybody has really read my comments here for any length of time, you'll know that I am pretty much of an immigration hawk within the Republican Party.

I do differ from Trump, in that I think that the border "wall" is mostly a silly and wasteful idea; we'll never build a "great wall" from the Gulf of Mexico to Baja California, and if we did it would be a huge expense.

And I have always gone out of my way here to say that I quite like Ann Coulter. Anybody who wants to check me on that, have at it. Post links to anything that you find. I know I have disagreed with some parts of her Trump fandom. But I agree with her on this, and she's no Trump fan today for sure.

What amazes me is Althouse's cluelessness on what a policy/negotiating disaster this was. Unless, of course, Trump is acutally signaling that he is going to make a deal with Democrats on immigration that will be every bit as bad as the deal made in the Senate with a few select Republican defectors in the waning years of Obama. That was the deal that ultimately went nowhere in the House.

Somebody is surely going to quietly woodshed President Moron on this. I'll be interested to see how the weaseling-out goes.; 1/10/18, 9:10 AM
Sydney said...: I miss your stable genius post. I thought it was genius.; 1/10/18, 9:10 AM
Chuck said...: No, Meade; I really object to amnesty or any pathway to citizenship, for any illegal.

My problems with Trump's supposed "strength" on immigration issues were his fascination with the stupid and inflammatory ideas; a dumb "border wall" and his "total and complete ban, on Muslims entering the United States until our representatives can figure out what the hell is going on..."

Those two ideas were idiotic.

But other ideas -- no amnesty, tough border enforcement, aggressive deportation policies, enhanced visa enforcement, strict e-verify -- are all very good and important to me.; 1/10/18, 9:15 AM
Meade said...: So you DID call WH?; 1/10/18, 9:17 AM
Original Mike said...: "If anybody has really read my comments here for any length of time,"

Bueller? ... Bueller? ...; 1/10/18, 9:18 AM
Chuck said...: Meade said...
Or, Chuck, are you in favor of granting amnesty to 11 million illegal immigrants? Perhaps you are.

No! But Trump said something very much like that, yesterday. Of course, Trump might not be responsible, because he is so stupid that he probably didn't realize what he was saying.

This little kerfuffle seems to be more proof of the Cult of Personality surrounding Trump. That Trump can effectively give away core immigration debate issues, and TrumpWorld comes away relieved that Trump isn't quite as moronic as he was portrayed in "Fire and Fury."

Except that technically, Trump was every bit that moronic.; 1/10/18, 9:19 AM
Chuck said...: Meade said...
So you DID call WH?

I am pulling an Althouse here, Meade; I'll call the White House, and send them an email, and do a letter, if you will pay me $450 an hour to do it all.; 1/10/18, 9:21 AM
Meade said...: Apparently you don't really care that much. Noted.; 1/10/18, 9:27 AM
n.n said...: China is rip shit pissed over the corporate tax cuts that put them at a competitive disadvantage.

They still have labor, regulatory, and environmental (e.g. green blight) arbitrage, and we have the cheap stuff, progressive government, and windmill gauntlets.; 1/10/18, 9:30 AM
Vance said...: See, I've often pondered this. Chuck claims to be an immigration hawk now. But he hates Trump more than any person I've ever seen.

Why, since Trump is the most hawkish on immigration of any president in my lifetime? Why wouldn't an immigration hawk want to ban Muslim immigration for a time? Heck, an immigration hawk would want to ban all immigration, so starting with Muslims seems like a good start.

Walker and Jeb flamed out over their support of unlimited immigration; I hope Walker learned his lesson if he runs again. In fact, only Cruz was pro-enforcement, along with Trump. Not coincidentally, Cruz and Trump were the last two standing (Kasich was technically there, but then, that's true of the entire campaign: Kasich was only technically there.)

Poor Chuck, caught on the horns of an existential dilemma: That man Trump is enacting policies Chuck likes, but he's not doing it politely, and Chuck would rather lose and be polite than win.

Or he's a lying Democrat moby, which is also very possible.

--Vance; 1/10/18, 9:49 AM
Big Mike said...: $450 an hour? Is that what they pay you for pretending to be a Republican and trolling the Althouse blog?; 1/10/18, 10:09 AM
Big Mike said...: I enjoyed Roger Simon’s take on this meeting:

“He even urged them on to a more global solution on immigration, reminding the politicians at the table they were closer to that goal than they realized. If that's crazy, maybe we need more of it.“; 1/10/18, 10:11 AM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: People with arthritis in their hands need to hold their glass with two hands sometimes. I wouldn’t say it was a sign of senility to do so. Also depends on the size of the glass if it can safely be picked up with one hand by people with arthritis.; 1/10/18, 10:30 AM
SayAahh said...: Two hands on a glass are a common geriatric tremor related necessity. Tremor is exacerbated by stress related conditions. But Trump, of course, is never exposed to stress.; 1/10/18, 10:44 AM
Roy Lofquist said...: Or, most probable, the glass had been refrigerated and was slippery from condensation. It was a wide glass thus less easily gripped with one hand.; 1/10/18, 10:53 AM
Chuck said...: Vance, I imagine that it is quite possible, that I hate Trump more than anyone you know.

If anybody takes the time to do it, my complaints with Trump on immigration is that his own signature ideas (the wall, and the "Muslim ban") were stupid and would never be put into law or any budget. I still think that I am right about all of that.

And if anybody takes the time to read my comments on immigration issues more generally, they'd find that I have almost always referred to myself as an immigration hawk, and that I would never have dealt with Dems on the issue if I had been a Senator back in 2013. That sets me apart from McCain, Rubio, and a dozen others.

I oppose amnesty in all its forms. If you define "amnesty" as a pathway to citizenship. I understand the Chamber of Commerce position on immigration. I'm not that much different from them. But I don't want any pathways to citizenship. Work permits, yes. Citizenship, no. Chain migration, no. I have my doubts about birthright citizenship being given to babies of illegals.

I have been consistent on all of this. Trump is now NOT being consistent. Trump's leadership of that meeting yesterday was much, much worse than any compromises by Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio or John McCain on immigration.; 1/10/18, 11:32 AM
Chuck said...: Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle)
[Trump] "Sounds like @JebBush!"

https://twitter.com/IngrahamAngle/status/950791126981718022

Naw; now, I admit that to Bush-haters and real conservative immigration hawks, Trump maybe did seem like Jeb Bush. But I think Jeb would have been a thousand times more careful and articulate.

Still, props to Laura for honesty.

And also Tucker Carlson: "What was the point of running for president if you support DACA?"

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/01/09/tucker_carlson_to_trump_what_was_the_point_of_running_for_president_if_you_will_support_daca.html; 1/10/18, 2:03 PM
Birkel said...: Chuck preferred John McCain to Trump but Chuck really seriously wants immigration reform.

Chuck would have preferred Lindsey Grahamnesty to Trump but Chuck really seriously wants immigration reform.

Fopdoddles sometimes have to fopdoodle just a little bit harder to get those of us who remember well to forget that Chuck preferred every other Republican in the primaries even though every other Republican in the primaries was less likely to be an immigration hawk.

$450 is the sort of fee I'd pay you to kneecap yourself, fopdoodle. On video.; 1/10/18, 2:14 PM
Chuck said...: I preferred McCain, to Obama.

I preferred Romney, to Obama.

I preferred any/every Republican, to Trump.

I preferred Trump, to Clinton.

There are few people, and so of course few politicians, with whom I agree on absolutely everything.

I have never agreed with McCain on everything. I think that by far, my biggest disagreement with McCain, was the BPCRA (or "McCain-Feingold") one of the handful of best Senate speeches of my lifetime was Senator Mitch McConnell's "You're lookin' at the plaintiff" speech in protest of McCain-Feingold, which passed by a whisper.

Perhaps my second biggest area of disagreement with McCain was his immigration compromises.

But never, ever, would I have been so stupid, so insulting, so ignorant, and so asinine as to have imitated an Al Franken joke and said of McCain, "I prefer people who weren't captured."; 1/10/18, 3:14 PM
Birkel said...: Yeah, fopdoodle. If I were you I wouldn't respond on substance either.

You support every Republican ahead of Trump, including those who are pro-amnesty and pro-illegal immigration, e.g. McCain and Grahamnesty.

But you're really put out that Trump might do something that both of those guys would have done eight years ago if actual conservatives hadn't stopped them.; 1/10/18, 4:38 PM
PJH said...: President Trump embraces the drink with two hands because he is used to drinking from a chalice.; 1/10/18, 6:03 PM
Chuck said...: But you're really put out that Trump might do something that both of those guys would have done eight years ago if actual conservatives hadn't stopped them.

No; I didn't like the old deal. I don't like Trump's dealing. I am consistent. I want nothing like amnesty or a pathway to citizenship, and I side with the Republicans who stood their ground on that.

But folks like you, who professed to be the immigration hawk true believers with Trump, now seem satisfied with anything, just because it is Trump.; 1/10/18, 6:57 PM