(1) Yesterday, Trump met with Mitt Romney, who, according to the Trump transition team, is under consideration for Secretary of State. Here is Romney on Trump last March 3:
Let me turn to national security and the safety of our homes and loved ones. Trump’s bombast is already alarming our allies and fueling the enmity of our enemies. Insulting all Muslims will keep many of them from fully engaging with us in the urgent fight against ISIS. And for what purpose? Muslim terrorists would only have to lie about their religion to enter the country.
What he said on “60 Minutes” about Syria and ISIS has to go down as the most ridiculous and dangerous idea of the campaign season: Let ISIS take out Assad, he said, and then we can pick up the remnants. Think about that: Let the most dangerous terror organization the world has ever known take over a country? This is recklessness in the extreme.
Donald Trump tells us that he is very, very smart. I’m afraid that when it comes to foreign policy he is very, very not smart.
I am far from the first to conclude that Donald Trump lacks the temperament of be president. After all, this is an individual who mocked a disabled reporter, who attributed a reporter’s questions to her menstrual cycle, who mocked a brilliant rival who happened to be a woman due to her appearance, who bragged about his marital affairs, and who laces his public speeches with vulgarity.
Donald Trump says he admires Vladimir Putin, while has called George W. Bush a liar. That is a twisted example of evil trumping good.
There is dark irony in his boasts of his sexual exploits during the Vietnam War while John McCain, whom he has mocked, was imprisoned and tortured.
Dishonesty is Trump’s hallmark: He claimed that he had spoken clearly and boldly against going into Iraq. Wrong, he spoke in favor of invading Iraq. He said he saw thousands of Muslims in New Jersey celebrating 9/11. Wrong, he saw no such thing. He imagined it. His is not the temperament of a stable, thoughtful leader. His imagination must not be married to real power.
[Snip]
Here’s what I know. Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud. His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University. He’s playing the American public for suckers: He gets a free ride to the White House and all we get is a lousy hat.
His domestic policies would lead to recession. His foreign policies would make America and the world less safe. He has neither the temperament nor the judgment to be president. And his personal qualities would mean that America would cease to be a shining city on a hill.
Secretary of State? Uh, maybe not.
(2) Trump replied to the above salvo by remembering how, eight years ago, Romney had made an airplane trip for the express purpose of standing beside Trump while receiving his endorsement for president. "He was on his knees," Trump recalled, the undertone of having been fellated no doubt intended. So maybe Romney is "on his knees" again. Who really knows? Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House, was plainly at the end of his patience with Trump, and since the election he's been "on his knees," too.
(3) Ben Carson, explaining that he lacks the requisite qualifications, has reportedly withdrawn from consideration for Secretary of Health and Human Services. Does Trump have big plans for that department? Carson was about as under qualified for the presidency as Trump but he gave no sign of being aware of that himself.
(4) Jeff Sessions for attorney general? Boy!
(5) It looks as if Trump plans on being the first Twitter president. Almost his first remark as the president-elect was a tweet complaining about people exercising their First Amendment rights: "Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!"
It's so unfair that not everyone agrees with me! A few hours later, he tweeted: "Love the fact that the small group of protesters last night have passion for our great country. We will all come together and be proud!"
(6) It isn't only protesters that Trump may have changed his mind about. Formerly, he said the lawsuit against Trump "University" was a mere nuisance that he'd never settle since it'd be "easy" to win at trial; day before yesterday, he agreed to pay $25 million to settle. Call me cynical, but I think it was worth $25 million to him not to have the evidence in the case widely disseminated.
Trump's own explanation is that he was going to be too busy as president to defend himself in court. But he could always have delegated his presidential duties to whoever composes his corrective tweets.
(7) I wonder whether the audit of his federal tax return will drag on for at least four more years.
(8) Trump has said he will turn over operating control of his business empire to his adult children--Eric, Donald, Ivanka, and son-in-law Jared Kushner. All four are on the transition team's "executive committee."
(9) Back to things Trump may have changed his mind about: Obamacare. Since the election, he has said he likes the provision that allows children to be covered on their parents' plan up to age 26, and also the one requiring insurance companies to enroll new customers without regard to any preexisting medical conditions. This led to the Borowitz headline, "Trump confirms that he just googled Obamacare." If he keeps working the Google, he may eventually learn that these provisions he likes depend upon the individual mandate. Otherwise, it'd be like if you could wait until after the accident to purchase an auto policy.
(10) Regarding Steve Bannon, the former head of Breitbart news who will serve as Trump's "Chief Strategist and Counselor": nothing I've heard about him would cause me to suspect his ex-wife was lying when, in pleadings filed in their marriage dissolution case, she wrote that he didn't want to send their kids to a slick private school because it had "too many Jews." When she pointed out that another school they were looking at had Jewish students, he asked about the percentage. It's safe to assume neither had any African-Americans. I mean, the schools were being discussed.
(11) While all this was happening, more ballots were counted, and Clinton's lead over Trump has now grown to more than 1.5 million votes.
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