A pinned tweet. That's the tweet I called "Kind of disturbing actually" last night. Why "disturbing" when it suggests good news, doesn't it? I found it kind of disturbing because of the oddness of getting news this way — it's coy and it's social media. It feels like the way a friend might begin to tell us that she's fallen in love.
To my ear, the "has" gives it a special feeling. "Something very big has just happened," not "Something very big just happened." The "has" elevates it, makes it feel rather grand.
The NYT story at the moment is "Special Operations Raid Said to Kill Senior Terrorist Leader in Syria/The identity of the target was not confirmed, but President Trump was scheduled to make a statement on Sunday morning":
United States Special Operations commandos carried out a risky raid in northwestern Syria on Saturday against a senior terrorist leader there, two senior administration officials said late Saturday.That's the form and tone I'm used to reading when the news is serious.
A senior American official said commandos and analysts were still seeking to confirm the identity of the terrorist, who the officials said was killed in the operation when he exploded his suicide vest.
But a person close to President Trump and a senior American official said that the target of the raid was believed to be the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. A senior administration official said that the president had approved the mission....
This makes me think of something My name goes here wrote in the comments on last night's post:
In the "old" days an important announcement would be learned and then shared with favored journalists who would then tell all of the other journolists and they would get to be all smug and righteous when they, the favored few, would break the news about this developing story. They would lie to the audience that they are learning about this just now and they are sharing what they learn, then have 3 lined up "analysts" that already know the softball questions to expect to knit the narrative.I added the link to "journolists" to indicate that it's not a typo.
As long as Trump is president, it appears that those days are gone. Who did he tell first? Us. Tomorrow when the press carries whatever Trump's announcement is, they will be learning about it for the first time.
I like this. It pulls the Presidency into the 21st century.
Will the next President talk to us like this? Trump's antagonists expect him to be gone and to stop occupying the position of President when he is not a real President. Only when he's gone will we see what the presidency has become. Will there be a reversion to the old form, or will the new President step into the new form of President created by Trump? I don't think we can go back, but I also think there can never be another Trump.
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When Trump says that something big happened, listen to him, Althouse. He'll give you the details only when he is ready to.
And here’s what the Daily Mail has to say:
“ ISIS leader 'dead': Dramatic blast footage claims to show moment US Special Ops forces 'blitzed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's Syrian lair as he detonated his own suicide vest' “
How much of Trump’s style gets adopted into presidential norms depends on whether he is re-elected. But you’re right, there will not be another Trump because whatever of his behaviours get adopted, they will be based on him—they will have a history. They are only groundbreaking when Trump does it.
DNC sad............/s
I think Trump is the only one that knows how to draw in audience and speak to them directly, such that the press is unnecessary. He didn't need to go on Sunday talk shows to get his message out. The television media often refuses to carry his remarks. Yet, Trump can still reach his audience and deliver his message.
Historically speaking, this relegates the Press to the position of the US Post Office. The US Post Office was created to allow federal officials to reach the population. It is still used that way, but primarily it is used to provide unwanted ad circulars. The Press wasn't created by the government, but the advent of radio and television gave the press the ability to allow federal officials to reach the population faster. Now the President can reach us as fast as he wants and tell us whatever he wants. It's been a possibility since Whitehouse.gov was created, but Trump charisma (good or bad) causes people to look at what he has to say.
Happened means it's come to a close. Has happened means the state in question continues into the present.
If true, that’s the good news.
The bad news - there’s plenty more Muslims where he came from.
my name goes here nailed it. Trump has raised the bar. Former state if the art style, technique and strategy is now defunct. One of the many reasons Hillary looks so old, and why the deep state isn’t getting traction.
The next cycle may try to revert but we’ll all cringe...
It’s funny to see leftie media and politicians experimenting with the Trumpian style. They think it’s about the insults and tough talk. They don’t really get it...
Goffman said that the person who says he's torn up his prepared speech in order to speak to you directly has torn up the wrong speech.
You know what Trump could do to troll the media further? At 9am make a different announcement. Maybe talk about the economy etc :p
In response to John Kelly explaining that Trump is being impeached because he surrounds himself with ‘yes’ men, his press secretary released the following statement: “I worked with John Kelly, and he was totally unequipped to handle the genius of our great President.”
Imagine having as your job the task of pretending to believe drivel like this. Not only is it completely self-defeating, since it directly validate Kelly’s point, but it is demeaning on a global stage.
The standard ISIS joke is that the number two man is always being killed in a drone strike and replaced. They've gone through dozens.
In a little known prior negotiated agreement, Pence is now the number one man in ISIS.
You forgot to close the circle.
The favored journalists then write fawning Op-Ed pieces disguised as news about the President, making sure they remain in his good graces.
Thus, the public is duped yet again.
"The bad news - there’s plenty more Muslims where he came from."
The difference, if what I read on Ace is correct, this guy declared the Caliphate and himself as leader of it. Apparently, he had the connections / background / lineage to make it believable.
In Islam, all Muslims, no matter where, are required to support the Caliphate in any way possible.
Now, this may be as effective to Joe Muslim as Ralph Roman Catholic, but to the True Believers, it's argued that this is a serious blow against ISIS.
Democrats hardest hit.
It is a mistake to build up the jihadists by trumpeting it as a great victory when a leader of some faction is killed. Another, or several, will immediately spring up to take his place.
The news should be announced more as an everyday thing and, if anything, stressing how ineffectual the man has been in his leadership, always on the run and in hiding, clad in rags and eating American MRE's at best, etc.
I was discussing this with a guy who is in high frequency trading. He says that they have devices set up to analyze his tweets, based on keywords, I guess, and instantly trade on them. I asked him if that wasn’t better than letting insiders know what he was planning to do first, so they could all set up their positions in the market, then announcing it through the press, which adds another layer of insiders. He just said “Trump’s a crook!” with no further evidence, so by him short circuiting the line of reasoning like that, I take that to mean he got my point.
Reject first, ask rhetorical questions later is a lot of how liberals keep from thinking.
Genghis Kahn wiped out the Caliphate, hunted down every possible heir and killed them, as far as Egypt, I believe. Still men pop up to lay claim, but they struggle with legitimacy in the eyes of all Muslims.
"Imagine having as your job the task of pretending to believe drivel like this.”
I don’t know, ARM, tell us what it is like to pretend to take everything Trump says literally?
Will we get a picture of Trump in the situation room?
Imagine that it was your job to have to pretend that the half truths and outright lies coming out of Adam Schiff represented some version of reality grounded in factual truth. What’s that like ARM?
Now we know why Adam Schiff is holding his hearings in the basement.
And SNL's little giving ISIS jobs skit falls flat on the same night.
Note the legacy press reference to a “risky” operation. That childish, impulsive Trump is doing risky things that endanger our operators. Will they call it a “gutsy call” on his part?
The other good news, that will not be mentioned in the NYT or WaPoo is that Trump outsmarted Putin by leaving him in the middle between Assad and Erdogan.
I was surprised that Bloomberg would post this.
Such bipartisan agreement (That Trump made a mistake)is rare in Washington these days. But it underestimates the wisdom of Trump’s decision, the benefits for U.S. interests in the Middle East and the nasty trick he has played on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump calls Syria a “bloody sandbox.” He’s right about that. It is also a briar patch of warring tribes and sects, inexplicable ancient animosities and irreconcilable differences.
The president is not prepared to take responsibility for this complicated place, or to get caught up in it. If leaving creates an opportunity for Russia to fill the vacuum, as American lawmakers believe, then it is one Trump is happy to cede. The Russian leader struts on the world stage, but he has not exactly won a victory.
Sooner or later, al-Qaeda, Islamic State or the next iteration of jihad will break loose in Syria. When that happens, the Russians will be the new Satan on the block. Their diplomats in Damascus will come under attack, as will Russian troops. More troops will be sent to defend them. Putin’s much-prized Mediterranean naval installations will require reinforcement. And so on. Soon enough, jihad will inflame Russia’s large Muslim population. Moscow itself will become a terrorist target.
Trump left Syria leaving Putin the check.
Syria will have to be rebuilt, costing billions. Russia doesn't have the money.
Some people did something.
NBC trying to downplay the event and spin it as nothing much before Trump's appearance was hilarious.
I guess this means all those Republican "hawks" (aka war mongers) are less likely to declare Trump's foreign policy a failure.
More terrorists dead?
Fewer Senate Republicans to defect?
#DemocraticsSad
Skylark said..."I was discussing this with a guy who is in high frequency trading."..."Reject first, ask rhetorical questions later is a lot of how liberals keep from thinking."
Your observation tells me this clown isn't thinking ahead as to what an Elizabeth Warren administration would do to his livelihood.
"I also think there can never be another Trump."
In other words, "there is no Trump but Trump." I think they should force school kids to say that or get an F.
Uh-oh: sounds like some of our dogs might have been killed in the blast.
So that's why we pretended to leave Syria! 3-D chess, amirite?
There can be another Trump, just not in our lifetime.
I didn’t vote for him, I voted against Evita and hoped for the best. I rarely listened to president’s speeches, even if I liked the person, so I never listened to Candidate Trump. I may have watched 1-2 episodes of “The Apprentice.” I never really cared about him or his life, still don’t, but when I turned on the TV at around 10:30-11 PM on November 8, 2016, and was SHOCKED, I stayed up to listen to his acceptance speech.
I thought to my own surprise, he’s this generation’s Ronald Reagan. It took almost 30 years, but it can be done.
Professor, you might be judging him on his methods. I’m judging on his spirit.
@ARM "Imagine having as your job the task of pretending to believe drivel like this." Imagine how hard today's America must be for the half of the country that lacks a sense of humor.
Good for special forces and deep stayeers who got the guy
Imagine having as your job the task of pretending to believe drivel like this. Not only is it completely self-defeating, since it directly validate Kelly’s point, but it is demeaning on a global stage.
Lololol
AA said: Only when he's gone will we see what the presidency has become.
_____________
Only when he's gone will we see what the COUNTRY has become!
Fify
Trump mentions we have spent $8 trillion in the Middle East (since 9/11?) and we won't spend like that under his leadership.
Normals: Sounds reasonable.
NeverTrump: OrangeManBad!!
Pierre Delecto: Sacre Bleu!
Democrats: Impeach, some more.
Skylark, Trump’s the crook because it sounds like he cut off the crook’s gravy train, broke his rice bowl. They have to work for it now.
I’ve been thinking about this for awhile; Trump is kind of like John Adams. Adams clamped down on the graft/skimming and the bog hated him for it. That’s one of the reasons he was a 1-termer.
Since the country was new, the swamp was a baby. Lololol
https://babylonbee.com/news/trump-when-there-was-only-one-set-of-footprints-america-it-was-then-that-i-carried-you
Trump's departure could make this poignantly true.
"Your observation tells me this clown isn't thinking ahead as to what an Elizabeth Warren administration would do to his livelihood.”
Not true at all. From talking to various people who are "not shy of a bob,” as. the saying goes, who fucking hate Trump, they will vote for him over Warren. Same way I voted for him the first time, holding their nose and throwing up a little bit.
@ Skylark - Well said.
Further more Trump wealth is not invested in stock market
I was hoping they would superimpose the photo of Obama looking on intensely as they did in the photo of the Situation Room during the bin Laden capture. I still think he was photoshopped into that photo. It would have been hilarious to do it again, now.
But I suppose that would have lead to another breathless media month. First Charlottesville. Now this.
It is my belief that Warren voters are disgusted with Biden and will stay home and any Biden voters that haven’t defected to Warren by now are as likely to vote for Trump over Warren, or stay home as vote for Warren.
The secret to chess isn’t playing six moves ahead, it’s creating and exploiting a position of strength, and right now Trump has that position. A lof of it not of his own creating, perhaps, but he recognizes it, in a way that Jeb! never would have.
"I still think he was photoshopped into that photo.”
No, I think they would have found an image that projected command, had they done that, not that mousey little pose of a child in a room full of adults that they published.
"Imagine having as your job the task of pretending to believe drivel like this. Not only is it completely self-defeating, since it directly validate Kelly’s point, but it is demeaning on a global stage."
What's funny ARM, is that is exactly what you did for Obama. Of course with a lot less material to work with. Like him or hate him Trump at least does something. Often to great effect. We haven seen this many people working since the 60s. Which means that prior administrations and congress did it wrong. And . Oh yeah. Free Hong Kong.
Who did he tell first? Us.
'My name goes here' has it right. Yes, we the people scooped the press! And your question about future presidents? Can you imagine going back to the boring days of the pompous press feeding us what they think we should hear?
The United States won a victory.
I am still not tired of all the winning.
"Has happened" is present perfect tense. It means the event is still occurring in the present, but initiated in the indefinite past. Now, I don't know if Trump has any idea about tenses, but the fact is native speakers have an intuitive sense of them all the same.
Seeing Red @ 8:47
As I have said before. Trump is hated because he is interrupting the flow of graft. Imagine a congress person who has to live on his/her congressional salary. We might finally get semi honorable people in congress.
Once again a lot of people got caught watching Trump's left hand while he did his magic trick with the right. You would think people would learn, but I guess it's tough to do when you have ideological blinders on. Trump pulled 50 soldiers out of harm's way in a clearly tactical maneuver that any right minded commander would have made. Meanwhile he has plans cooking for a raid on the head of ISIS (his preferred target); has a plan for defending the Syrian oil fields so the Kurds we "abandoned" weren't really; allowed Erdogan to exercise his sovereignty up to a point then put the brakes on him; and to top it all off, so far not one American life has been lost.
Is this where we declare victory?
minnesota farm guy,
A country doesn't achieve victory by declaring it so.
A country achieves a victory by letting the other guy declare defeat.
al-Baghdadi won a massive defeat last night.
With apologies to General Patton.
Blogger Howard said...
Good for special forces and deep stayeers who got the guy
Not everybody in CIA is a crook like Brennan. Read "Jawbreaker" or Bob Baer's book about how he asked for a Turkic speaker when he was about to retire, and they sent him a specialist on sexual harassment. No languages. CIA has 50,000 drones reading newspapers all day.
There are probably about 500 people who earn their salary,
Blogger Ray - SoCal said...
Will we get a picture of Trump in the situation room
__'''''''
Isn't that set up to be SCIF.
My Q: if Trump tweet last night from inside then IMPEACHMENT.
It doesn't make any sense to mock Kelly when Trump is the one getting impeached, as Kelly predicted would happen. It simply compounds stupidity with obliviousness.
Trump is getting impeached in the same way I am.
"It simply compounds stupidity with obliviousness.”
That’s you to a tee, ARM. We will see if the 30 Democrats from red districts vote to impeach Trump on pretty much zero evidence. It could happen, but I don’t think Pelosi, who is maybe the only grownup among the Democrats lets that vote happen.
Why would Trump get rid of a guy who accepts the Democrat strategy as accomplished fact?
Here’s a free clue, if the Democrats think a Trump guy is “smart” then that Trump guy needs to go because he is accepting the premise of political defeat.
Teresa from Hershey said...
Democrats hardest hit.
Cue outrage from Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar in 3...2...1....
But he got your attention. And he got you to blog it twice -- first the teaser, then the actual news. Three times, if you count your piece on the WaPo obituary.
you can sure see, WHY the media HATE him so much
he's RUINED their scam
Skylark wtote: 'He just said “Trump’s a crook!” with no further evidence...;
My standard response in such occasions is to softly but clearly say ”Be that as it may" and repeat my question.
Once again, late to the thread. But, I made the front page of Althouse. Achievement Unlocked!
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