“I am totally convinced that if Russia raised their hands and said, ‘We give up, we concede, we surrender… we will GIVE Ukraine and the great United States of America, the most revered, respected, and powerful of all countries, EVER, Moscow and St. Petersburg, and everything surrounding them for a thousand miles, the Fake News Media and their Democrat Partners would say that this was a bad and humiliating day for Donald J. Trump, one of the worst days in the history of our Country.’ But that’s why they are the FAKE NEWS, and the badly failing Radical Left Democrats. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!”
—President Donald Trump, on his own social media platform, Truth Social
I was thrilled to see this (Thank-you, Ann Althouse, for reading Truth Social so I don’t have to) today because I had already resolved to post about the unconscionable and, in my view, expressly unpatriotic and destructive mindset of the Axis media as well as, of course, the Trump Deranged, to actively root against the elected President of the United States, their own nation, no matter what he does and no matter what his objectives are.
As I have mentioned before here, this is unprecedented in this country, and indeed rare anywhere in the world throughout recorded history. Trump’s post is accurate, and the real phenomenon he is reacting to is tragic as well as insane. It has been expanding since Trump’s first term, when, for example, Bill Maher said that an economic collapse would be worth enduring to expedite the failure and rejection of then-President Trump.
Not that long ago, Senator Mitch McConnell was excoriated as a bad American because he was (falsely) accused of saying that he wanted Barack Obama to fail so he would be a one-term President. Rush Limbaugh actually did say that, and, as I noted here, it was a stupid and offensive thing for him or any American to say.
Citizens of the United States, regardless of party, ideology or personal interest, should want every American President to succeed, which by definition means that he leads the nation to be stronger, better, and more conducive to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for its citizens. Feeling the adverse, wanting one’s own nation’s leader to fail, is the mark of hostility against not only the USA but its society and public. Yet this is where most of today’s journalists position themselves today. Again, it is unconscionable…and also disgusting.
Trump’s summit with Putin may have been the most throbbing example yet. He’s trying to end a war. The United States has no obligation to stop Russia and Ukraine from killing each other’s soldiers and citizens. This would once have been the mission and responsibility of the now nearly useless United Nations. The Biden Administration did nothing to try to end the war, which began on Biden’s watch. It received scant criticism for this. It also had the ridiculous John Kerry and others flying around the world seeking a fanciful and impossible “two-state solution” to end the war in Gaza, pure virtue-signaling, regarding a conflict that should only end when Hamas is completely destroyed. Again, this nonsense was treated by the news media as if it was a glowing beacon of hope.
Over the weekend, even I was astounded at the gleeful reports in both broadcast and print media that Trump’s meeting with Putin was a failure, that Trump was embarrassed, that he was intimidated, that he looked old, that he was desperately pandering to the Russian dictator and was facing humiliation on the world stage. I say “even I” because I did not think my assessment of the U.S. news media could go any lower, but once again, I was wrong.
Trump’s Truth Social post, unlike his usual outbursts, is neither exaggerated nor hyperbolic. It is 100% accurate. We have a dangerous proportion of American society, led by the Axis news media, that wants our elected leader to fail, even when this means that the nation will fail as well.
This isn’t merely unethical. It is suicidal.
Ethics Alarms 
“We have a dangerous proportion of American society, led by the Axis news media, that wants our elected leader to fail, even when this means that the nation will fail as well.
“THIS ISN’T MERELY UNETHICAL. IT IS SUICIDAL.” (bolds/caps/italics mine)
‘Bout sums it up, Jack; sad!
What’s their answer for “women and minorities affected most“?
PWS
I recall that comment about Obama and, it’s complicated.
It is not that I would have wanted Obama to fail specifically. However, there were policies of his that I did and do disagree with, and I didn’t want those policies to be implemented. Obviously Obama care was implemented and yes, it has turned out to be a poor law with deleterious effects. And then the Republicans, when they had the chance and the power, couldn’t figure out how to replace it. That, too, was hurtful.
Drawing a line in the sand, or a red line, or whatever it was in Syria? That needed to be done, I think. But then pretending it didn’t exist when it was crossed was …. well, it made it stupid to do so in the first place.
I thought the United States ought to have done something in Syria when that civil war ramped up. My take on what our military leaders said was something like “We can’t do anything in Syria because it’s dangerous and some of our people might get hurt.”
I was: Seriously? Some of the people who have volunteered to serve their country, to put themselves in harm’s way, to sacrifice their lives if needed — you dishonor their lives, their courage. Yes, damn it, people do get killed in wars. The purpose of an army is to kill people and break things — and hopefully to buy you the time and space to accomplish your goals.
At any rate, as I was writing this I realized that Syria was a kind of template for Biden’s handing of Ukraine and Gaza. Say brave things but don’t actually do enough to resolve the wars. Ukraine has become a ‘forever war’ in part because we did not help enough when there was a good chance of actually ending the war. Biden was doing the same with Israel but they are relatively much more powerful versus their enemies.
Anyway, circling back to the one term comment. Not a smart thing to say if you cannot adequately explain it. But, you know, Obama’s treatment of Romney in 2012 in pursuit of victory at all costs — there is a direct line from that to Trump. Republicans were tired of their candidates being patsies, never responding to being slimed by the Democrats.
Say whatever you want about Trump, he is no patsy.
“I recall that comment about Obama and, it’s complicated.”
I didn’t think so, it wasn’t to me leastways.
McConnell: “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.“
IMO, that’s what any opposition party member would say after being voted out: Focused on the replacing the elected, and not praying for the downfall of the country to bring that about.
PWS
Ok, yeah, the McConnell statement is pretty straightforward and not complicated.
What I was referring to was the statement about “I want Obama to fail”, whatever the exact quote was. That was the one I referred to as complicated. And, of course, the simple translation of it is “I want Obama to be a one term president”
The President gets this one right. In our home, we sometimes joke about the President’s action vs. the media’s response.
As a silly example…
Action: By Executive Order, President Trump gives a puppy or a kitten to each child seven years and older.
Media Response: Child Cruelty!! Trump denies the most vulnerable and impressionable – children under 7 – the chance to love an animal.
My favorite one:
Action: Trump was seen walking on water today.
Media Response: President Trump cannot swim.
And yet — if he were running as a Democrat, I bet most Democrats would vote for Donald Trump, or Richard Nixon.
Conversely, if Obama had run as a Republican…..
One reason, I am sure, that our Founding Fathers were not fond of political parties.
Unjustifiably high praise of the United Nations.
I’m not sure this kind of thing is unprecedented. I recall quite a bit of it during the Reagan years, always from the same small faction (7 to 13 percent of the adult electorate).
But back then we didn’t have social media amplifying these voices. And even though the legacy media were biased, they were not overtly partisan. Maybe these two factors are what is unprecedented in this country.
I’ve checked: It’s unprecedented. Even the Republicans who hated FDR weren’t rooting for him to lose World War II. Trump is the only POTUS robbed of the office’s symbolic flag/King status as a symbol of the nation itself, that co-exists with its political, “Prime Minister” identity. The office, and the nation, don’t function properly without both solidly in place.
Not wholly unprecedented. There was a time in the 1860s where almost every single living Democrat wanted the Republican President to fail in his efforts.
I regard a civil war as a disqualifying exception.
I, however, cannot let the jab go unjabbed.
This is the weeds left over after the seeds of self-hatred planted in the end of Bush the Elder’s presidency that budded with the advent of Bush the Younger and the coming of social media, that really bloomed in the first Trump administration. I really can’t blame the 60s generation directly, most of them are either gone or sitting in wheelchairs in the nursing homes now boring aides with stories about Woodstock and Chicago, but indirectly they made it possible for higher education and then most education to be taken over by the extreme left.
The extreme left usually doesn’t say this out loud, but they don’t like this nation, or they don’t like it unless they can be the ones in charge to change it to their liking, to make it easier for them to get in power and stay in power until they decide they don’t want it anymore, but they have a hand-picked successor ready to go to make sure nothing changes. They really don’t even like ordinary people. They just want them to run the machines, fill out the paperwork, pay their taxes, ratify the status quo every few years, and not ask too many questions about where their tax money goes or whether a change in the law would be beneficial.
Some of them simply can’t conceive of anything the other side does as being good or even ok. Some of them can but rely on those who can’t to keep believing like that so they can rely on them. Unfortunately for them, their attempt to snatch power back ended up embarrassing them and showing they really had nothing at all to offer this nation beyond “abortion on demand and Trump is a Nazi.” Abortion on demand didn’t put them over the top, so all they have left is Trump hatred. So they pour on the hate.
JM: “The United States has no obligation to stop Russia and Ukraine from killing each other’s soldiers and citizens.” Q: Do you view the Budapest Memorandum as not, actually, creating any obligations on the part of the signatories? No obligation to honor treaties? I believe there was something in there about Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
What actions does the Budapest Memorandum obligate the signatories to take?
None. To “respect”…to “consult.” It commits no one to military intervention or holding peace talks. It’s the epitome of a toothless treaty.
Re JM and MW’s responses re the Budapest Memorandum.
Just did a little more reading on this, and it seems that a key distinction (in English) is between “assurance” — which it seems is cheap talk (thoughts and prayers!!) that creates no actual obligations (?) — and “guarantee” — which is maybe also cheap talk but SUPPOSED to mean more (?) Apparently in Russian (and likely Ukrainian, not sure about that but likely?) the same word is used for both.
Ukraine seems to have done its part — i.e. gave up its nuclear arsenal, which at that point was the world’s third-largest, and joined the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, in return for “assurances” to respect its sovereignty and territorial integrity, which have ended up assuring nothing, because… Russia.
In retrospect, it seems perhaps that Ukraine should have held on to its nukes, or only given them up if it actually got to join NATO, which (most probably / very likely) actually DOES guarantee something (Article 5). At least I hope so….
Here’s a discussion of the history: https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-what-is-the-budapest-memorandum-and-why-has-russias-invasion-torn-it-up-178184
Never have I seen, nor did I expect to see, this level of insanity. It is truly unprecedented in history. I well remember Regan’s two terms, and the most extreme moments of those years wouldn’t even crack the top ten of the current hatred of all things Trump.
One Democrat, former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford Jr., reportedly said Trump would deserve the Nobel Peace Prize if he succeeds, and hopes for an invite to the award ceremony. I have no doubt the ratio of his X feed from the left will be … impressive. Don’t be surprised to see him walk it back.
The tragedy is, he may be the only Democrat who praises Trump for his efforts. Certainly, no current Democrat Congressperson dare do so, and the media only wants to report failure.
Long day in the car today. Tuned into NPR stations. Interesting to see what the goofballs are saying. (Also interesting to hear them asking for money to cover the shortfall resulting from their federal money being deep-sixed.) So, guess who they had on to enlighten the listeners about the meeting in D.C. today. You guessed it. Susan Rice.
Cue Kevin Klein: Bing Videos
I have yet to figure out what Rice’s accomplishment’s were. She gave away the farm when it came to climate change and Iran’s nuclear program. Perhaps the work in Ethiopia and Eritriea might count but she is given credit for resolving a war that did not use the US/Rwandan 4 point plan and was ultimately resolved when Eritrea was on its heels and agreed to to the Organization of African Unity plan.
These short term stints in various positions seems to create the impression that one is extraordinarily successful. I see so many getting accolades for holding a position for two or three years and then moving on. You rarely see anyone be around when the fruits of their labors are on the ground rotting.
This my analysis as well. She’s like a celebrity who’s “famous for being famous.”Oddly, the same applies to Condoleeza Rice.
Now Jack, no snarking on Condi. I could listen to her talk all day, and she seems to have done a really good job leading the Hoover Institute.
Bonus points: What other former Secretary of State could be named to the College Football Playoff selection committee and never raise an eyebrow?