The Top 50 Trumpaus From The Atlantic

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2018, Free Press Issues, Global Issues, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary, Trump's Staff Picks

The Atlantic has done a series that I found to be both comprehensive and interesting.  What they did was … well, I’ll let Jeff Goldberg, Editor in Chief tell you …

In an October 2016 editorial, The Atlantic wrote of Donald Trump: “He is a demagogue, a xenophobe, a sexist, a know-nothing, and a liar.” We argued that Trump “expresses admiration for authoritarian rulers, and evinces authoritarian tendencies himself.” Trump, we also noted, “is easily goaded, a poor quality for someone seeking control of America’s nuclear arsenal. He is an enemy of fact-based discourse; he is ignorant of, and indifferent to, the Constitution; he appears not to read.”

In retrospect, we may be guilty of understatement.

There was a hope, in the bewildering days following the 2016 election, that the office would temper the man—that Trump, in short, would change.

He has not changed.

This week marks the midway point of Trump’s term. Like many Americans, we sometimes find the velocity of chaos unmanageable. We find it hard to believe, for example, that we are engaged in a serious debate about whether the president of the United States is a Russian-intelligence asset. So we decided to pause for a moment and analyze 50 of the most improbable, norm-bending, and destructive incidents of this presidency to date.

Our 2016 editorial was a repudiation of Donald Trump’s character as much as it was an endorsement of Hillary Clinton for president. It was not meant to be partisan. The Atlantic’s founders promised their readers that we would be “of no party or clique.” This remains a core governing principle of the magazine today. What follows is a catalog of incidents, ranked—highly subjectively!—according to both their outlandishness and their importance. In most any previous presidency, Democratic or Republican, each moment on this list would have been unthinkable.

There are 50 articles in the series, and while I have not read them all, the ones I have read are spot-on.  I list them here, with links, so you can decide which, if any, you would like to read.  Click on any title to go directly to it … all links will open in a separate tab:

  1. Children are taken from their parents and incarcerated
  2. “Very fine people on both sides”
  3. The president still hasn’t released his tax returns
  4. Putin and Trump talk without chaperones
  5. James Comey is fired
  6. Trump declares war on black athletes
  7. Trump picks the wrong countries for his travel ban
  8. The president calls his porn-star ex-paramour “horseface”
  9. Covfefe
  10. “I have the absolute right to pardon myself”
  11. Trump throws paper towels at Puerto Ricans
  12. A new term enters the presidential lexicon: “shithole countries”
  13. Trump mocks Christine Blasey Ford to a cheering crowd
  14. You know you’re in a constitutional crisis when…
  15. The CIA dead become a TV prop
  16. Public humiliation comes for everyone in the White House
  17. Trump threatens to press his “nuclear button”
  18. The president lies constantly
  19. The president learns about the Justice Department
  20. The president learns about separation of powers
  21. Rain stops Trump from honoring the dead
  22. The UN General Assembly laughs at the president
  23. America gets a first daughter
  24. The president can’t stop talking about carnage
  25. “We’re gonna have the cleanest air”
  26. Trump helps the Saudis cover up a murder
  27. Turkish agents assault protesters near the White House
  28. Trump tweets the wisdom of Mussolini
  29. The president tries to kick transgender service members out of the military
  30. The buck stops over there
  31. The White House punishes a CNN reporter for asking questions
  32. Trump disseminates Soviet propaganda
  33. The chief justice of the United States corrects the president
  34. Trump leads the country to the longest government shutdown in American history
  35. Mueller’s “witch hunt” is good at finding witches
  36. Trump threatens to strip security clearances from his critics
  37. The president just wants to go home
  38. Trump holds a top secret confab on the Mar-a-Lago dining terrace
  39. A White House economist creates facts for the president
  40. The president’s most trusted adviser is his own gut
  41. Trump waits 19 months to pick his science adviser
  42. The first president to complain about an election he won
  43. The nation loses its consoler in chief
  44. The WikiLeaks president goes silent
  45. A name-calling feud ends with the secretary of state’s ouster by tweet
  46. Trump tells the Boy Scouts about a hot New York party
  47. An overcompensating press secretary lies about crowd size
  48. The president praises the congressman who body-slammed a reporter
  49. A Cabinet officer likes private planes too much
  50. Donald Trump touches the magic orb

22 thoughts on “The Top 50 Trumpaus From The Atlantic”

  1. “The Atlantic” is one of my go to places for information and entertainment. I had read most of these as they appeared, but this comprehensive list is a must keep, to read those I have not and to revisit those that I enjoyed (all of them). I also enjoy “The Hill”, are you familiar with them? Thank-you!

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    • I don’t often pop over to the Atlantic, unless directed there by another source or unless a Google search turns it up, but they do have some quite interesting articles. Yes, I use The Hill quite often in my research, for it is top-notch for factual reporting.

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  3. I read a few of those links Jill. Most no surprise.

    That one about Ivanka… Her role? She is simply a facilitator. How so? Her husband will figure highly in Mr Mueller’s investigation. Ivanka provides the link for Kushner to manipulate Trump. Donald Trump will listen to his daughter. He has had a rather ‘attentive’ relationship for years. Even Ivanka admits that her first meeting with Kushner was a business inspired introduction. Very convenient.
    And Mitch Mconnel seems to have a few unsavory connections too. I won’t say more, but there is more than collusion to worry about. I would describe the current administration as a nest of vipers rather than anything else.

    I

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    • I certainly won’t argue about that … a nest of vipers is a term I have often used to describe them, even though I feel it is unfair to vipers! It’s funny that in the very beginning, when Trump first took office, I looked for Kushner to be the stabilizing influence. I now realize what a foolish notion that was, for he is in as deep as any. I think his baby-face had me fooled. Beware the wolf in sheep’s clothing. I also once thought that perhaps Ivanka had a conscience, but now I know better. In short, I trust not a single one of his hand-picked troubadour, least of all him. Unfortunately, I think the entire situation will become even more chaotic before it begins to right itself … if it does.

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      • Robert Mueller seems to be making progress with two more filings, but new Attorney General, William Barr may just gag any of the information that comes out of his investigations.
        This smacks of Trump interference whilst he hides just below the legal barrier.
        Trump may not be able to spell the word “hamburger, ” but then he does not need to win a spelling bee to be a gangster.

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        • I was talking about this twice today, with two different friends, and my take is that Robert Mueller is a smart man, and also a man with a conscience. He has devoted his entire life to law enforcement and national security. I believe he knows the very real dangers that his report will never see the light of day, and I strongly suspect he has a backup plan. A ‘Plan B’, and perhaps even ‘Plans C & D’. Somehow, that report will reach the public, I truly believe. You’re right, Trump is a thug, and bringing him down will not be easy. I suspect that his downfall will involve becoming a nation even more divided than we are now, and will involve violence and death. But fall down, he must, for otherwise he will destroy us all.

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  4. Jill, we have an amoral and chaotic man at the helm in the US. The lack of truthfulness, civility and empathy is one thing, but the lack of even-tempered was, diligence and competence has created a level of chaos that unhealthy for our country. Daily, if not more frequent, something unusual is afoot with this man. It is truly affecting the psyche of our country.

    I long for quiet and empathetic competence. Keith

    Liked by 1 person

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    • I certainly share your longing for quiet and empathetic competence, for a wise and intelligent person at the helm. Sadly, I think it is a ways off yet and that the chaos will escalate in the interim. We’re all getting so tired, but we cannot let it wear us down, else we will surely never see our wish fulfilled.

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  7. Dear Jill,

    The list is not exhaustive enough. I have said this before but in my mature days i have this habit of repeating myself. I used to wonder how the Germans could have allowed for a leader like Hitler, but I don’t wonder about this anymore. After he and his GOP cronies are booted out of the US Congress, there’s going to have be lots of healing.

    Today is D-Day in the UK. Let’s wish our friends across the pond the very best as its citizens were Russia’s victims, as well.

    Hugs, Gronda

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    • I have read several books lately about Hitler’s rise to power, and I cannot help seeing striking similarities between the German people in 1933 and the American people in 2018-19. The situation that led to Hitler’s rise was notably different than that which put Trump in a position of power, but the response, or lack thereof, of the people was similar, and now we can see why. Logically, one would expect that it is only a matter of time until Trump is removed from office, but … I’m not so sure. I think that as long as he is still polling in the 40% range, it is highly unlikely that the Senate will grow a pair, and really, at this juncture, his removal is up to them, unless Pence and a majority of the cabinet members find a conscience. I was pleased to hear that Barr, if confirmed, will protect the Mueller investigation, but not so pleased that he may withhold the results from being publicized. Sigh.

      As for our friends in the UK … the result was not good, but certainly predictable. What happens next is anybody’s guess, but it does seem that they are heading toward the same steep cliff that we are headed for. I imagine Vladimir Putin is celebrating tonight.

      Hugs!

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