The Unpresidentable

Brought to you by…

The National Foundation of Tergiversating Nincompshits: Our world is about possibilities and capacities. To control it, we would, if we only could, shit on you.  

A Deliricum of Wisdom

Republicans and Democrats have always gone to amazing lengths to block and derail each other’s policies. There is nothing new here. This is how this country has operated since the foundation the Republic. To keep reminding each other of the times when Nancy Pelosi did this and Mitch McConnell did that is to distract ourselves from the real issues, and dangers, at hand.

The issue of Russia’s dabbling in the elections is real. The overall impact of it might be exaggerated by some and the whole affair might indeed backfire against Putin, but these considerations do not make the phenomenon itself less real. There is a pattern here that we cannot ignore: contacts between Trump advisers and Russian officials which the Trump Campaign and now the Trump Administration have insistently tried to deny until the mainstream media broke the story wide open, and the fact that Russia is doing the same thing in France and Germany as well in a more overt manner. It’s this latter point should particularly alarm us, as it shows that Russia’s leaders are actively waging war against democracy and the liberal democratic order on a global scale.

Moreover, the growing concerns over Trump’s business interests and temperament are quite legitimate. He is the first entrepreneur ever to be elected into office, and he brings with him a set of unique challenges that the system has never faced. The president has been clearly unwilling to disassociate himself from his business interests, the result: taxpayers now have to pay Mr. Trump’s businesses millions of dollars in order to protect the President and his family. There is no precedent for that on this scale, and scale does matter when the discrepancy is so big. More importantly, and as officials and businessmen from other countries begin to invest in Mr. Trump’s businesses, as they have already begun doing, concerns over the possibility of quid-pro-quo arrangements down the road should not be underestimated. After all, these foreign officials and businessmen have embarked on this course exactly in hope and anticipation of such arrangements. The appearance of impropriety here is by itself quite damaging to America’s image and interests. The fact that Mr. Trump himself doesn’t seem to be bothered by any of this is troubling.

Indeed, it’s Mr. Trump’s temperament that is the most problematic thing of all. Keeping track of his lies, his wild accusations and his silly and petulant rants against celebrities have a deleterious effect on public trust and on America’s standing in the world.

We now have an American President who, while in office, is claiming that the elections are rigged, that America is not innocent when it comes to dealing with political opponents and that an American president actually can spy on his opponents, a president who, by his own actions, shows that it’s OK for political leaders to use their public position to enrich themselves and their families.

The world is watching, and corrupt elite and autocratic leaders all over the world can now point to President Trump is doing to support their claim that democracy is a sham.

Those who are ignoring this or are making light of it, be they members of Congress, policy circles or the media, and who want us to do the same, are allowing their partisan belonging to cloud their judgment. Trump should be opposed not because he is a Republican, but because he is Trump – a banal, narcissistic man-child who believes that his own wants, needs and desires are inherently compatible with national interests and should, therefore, never be questioned. The fact that he managed to get away with behaving like an entitled brat for so long has made him impervious to any advice that conflicts with his opinions, and unwilling to admit wrong or to being corrected. Trump needs to be opposed because the future of American democracy is what’s at stake.

No one is calling for a coup d’état here or for denying the results of the elections. The checks and balances already in place are more than off to do the job of saving this country from the danger posed by this man and some of his advisers. But first we need to agree to take off the ideological visors through which we keep examining everything, and see the man for what he truly is, and the dangers and stakes for what they truly are: it’s the future of the entire country that’s at stake here, and that of democracy itself, not that of a particular political party.

The Delirynth

A rundown of developments from around our labyrinthine world. Readers are advised to constantly remind themselves that we actually do live in the world where these things are happening.

Russia Gate

After issuing at least 20 denials of contacts with Russia, more and more advisers from the Trump Administration are now admitting to meeting with Russian officials. While the meetings in themselves may not be problematic, as this depends on what was exactly discussed, denying them is extremely troubling, especially when done while under oath as is the case with Jeff Sessions. Why could they possibly be hiding? An official inquiry is needed to help us determine the answer. Now it's revealed that Jared met with the Russian ambassador, too – after getting smuggled into Trump Tower for a get-together with ex security advisor Mike Flynn.

As usual, Mr. Trump seems to have chosen to go on war-footing with his critics through recourse to his favorite tactic: sending a barrage of outrageous tweets that demonstrate how little he understands the complexity of our system of governance, and how little he cares about the damage he does to America’s standing in the world each time he engages in such tirades.

If the Feds Did Wiretap Trump Tower, It’s Not Obama Who Should Worry. “If nothing else, Trump’s tweets show he doesn’t understand how the FISA system works. If he did, he may have limited himself to tweeting about Arnold Schwartzenegger quitting The Apprentice this morning.”

Meanwhile, the Golden Shower report seems to have more legs than previously thought: BBC claims a second source backs up Trump dossier.

And another one of Trump’s advisers have come under the spotlight: The Curious Case of Sebastian Gorka, Trump’s New Terrorism Guru. Check the entry on Sebgorkalogy below.

ЯeveЯsed Polarity (ЯP)

Real headlines, news and comments that strain credulity.

Muslim internment flyers posted on UC San Diego campus.

The Deliricon

Sebgorkalogy: An academic nondiscipline that focuses on digging up ancient grievances lingering in the backgrounds of one’s unconscious then projecting them onto one’s analysis of contemporary realities leading to such farcical conclusions as: Radical Islamic Terrorism poses a serious and existential threat to Western civilization. The conclusion is farcical of its failure to explain how terrorists operating in small cells and groups armed with improvised weapons or weapons purchased on the black market and who come from mostly underdeveloped countries, often from failing states, or from marginalized classes within western societies that represent a small fraction of their overall population can actually pose an existential threat to the richest most developed countries on earth protected as they are by the most powerful and advanced armies and most sophisticated law enforcement agencies in the world. Sebgorkalogy texts are considered holy by the Bannonites who use them to rationalize their inherently shitty attitude towards Muslims and others. Indeed, Sebgorkalogists are considered to be a subsect of the Bannonites and, like them, they maintain a strict diet of shit and hot air. The founder of Sebgorkalogy, Seb the Ass, is known to be one of Bannon the Stiff’s close disciples. Temples dedicated to the study of Sebgorkalogy are known as Sebtic Tanks.

Kissing the Yak: In political circles, Kissing the Yak is treated as the equivalent of kissing the ring of one’s political overlords and benefactors, or any of their official representatives. Although the practice seems to have originated in Russia, it has recently been introduced into American policy circles as well, mainly thanks to the activities of Russia’s Ambassador, Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak. The practice is said to have originated in the gulags of Siberia in the late 19^th century before being officially approved by Stalin and incorporated as a standard practice by the KGB. In the Kremlin, a special Kiss the Yak ceremony is said to be held on a monthly basis with Putin’s ass now used as a substitute for the Yak. In doing this, Putin is said to be following in Stalin’s footsteps.

Trumpshitting: A unique formula for bullshitting introduced by now president of the United States, Donald J. Trump. The formula goes as follows: lie, lie biglier, lie crassier, then, lie with a smile and most people, even your enemies, will think that you have finally become presidential. Trump’s address to the Joint Session on February 28, 2017 is considered to be a great example of the formula in action. 

Imbeachment: The term used by people who like peaches to refer to “impeachment.” In a manner of speaking, this would be the political equivalent of beaching the whales, but where people are expected to empathize more with the beach than the whales.

The Exotic Observations & Propositions of Delirian Mundi

* In a democracy, each of us can all live under the illusion that we are right. In an autocracy, only the Leader is right, and that’s no illusion.

* In a democracy, we can all lie if and when we want. In an autocracy, only the Leader has the privilege of lying, and all his lies are true.

* In a democracy, no one counts your breaths because they are not considered precious. In an autocracy, your breaths are always counted for they are always precious, that is, so long as you use them in service of the Leader.

The Cauldron