Trump's Retaliatory Impulse Knows No Bounds

In the sports arena players are often cited for fouls in retaliation for a previous slight.  Political counter puncher and President Donald Trump's recent actions feel like a product of a retaliatory foul.

I wrote five pieces from 2012 to 2016 on Hunter Biden, Rosemont Realty and Burisma on my PEUReport blog, so I have a history of questioning the value of having someone who failed a drug test for cocaine (and ejected from the Navy reserves) on an international corporate board.

The problem is a retaliatory foul is still a foul.  In Trump's world there is no referee, he makes the rules.  Anything that appears out of bounds is quickly normalized.

A number of dynamics portend a very difficult time as Congress moves forward in its impeachment investigation.

• Everything either builds up and honors President Trump's greatness or is a personal attack tearing him down.

• Any errors are a result of inadequate underlings.  All successes are due solely to his magnificent efforts.

• There is no capability for self reflection, no ability to see parallels across countries, parties, families or individuals.  

• There is no relationship, only complete and total fealty to President Trump.

When President Trump gets punched he punches back harder.  Things could become ugly very quickly.

Update 12-22-19:  Impeachment passed the House but has not made it to the Senate.  Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci spoke about Trump's penchant for payback and the harm it could do to the Republican Party.

Update 2-6-20:   President Trump punched back hard this morning after the Senate voted to acquit him of all impeachment charges.  "It was evil.  It was corrupt.  It was dirty cops.  It was leakers and liars.... It was a disgrace."  He called them horrible people and stone cold crazy.  Earlier today Trump attacked the faith of House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Mitt Romney at the National Prayer Breakfast, which had a "love your enemies" theme.  Trump only loves compliant followers.

Update 2-9-20:  El Jefe's Senate support ensured Trump's gloating victory rants and subsequent retaliation.

Update 2-16-20:  Trump tweeted ‘When you strike at the King, Emerson famously said, “you must kill him.’  Baker wrote that “a triumphant Mr. Trump emerges from the biggest test of his presidency emboldened, ready to claim exoneration and take his case of grievance, persecution and resentment to the campaign trail.  Shortly after Trump quoted the piece, the phrase “you are not a king” began trending in the United States." A U.S. President with absolute power?  That's a king.

Update 2-19-20:  Loyalty is the only qualification needed.  A Trump Twitter Warrior will be acting Director of National Intelligence.  How will America's intelligence organizations be mobilized for retaliation against Trump offenders?

Update 2-4-21:  Ex-President Trump is bent on revenge.  What a non-surprise!

Update 2-12-21:  Trump's attorneys in his 2nd impeachment trial said:

“Now, nobody in this chamber is anxious to have a primary challenge. That is one truism I think I can say with some certainty. But that’s the way we operate in this country. When the people of a state want to change their representatives and their senators, they can use the electoral process. President Trump told his listeners that if their members of Congress wont fight for their views, then go back home and find others that will.”

Castor was reminding them that if they do vote against Trump’s best interest, they may lose their Senate seat in the next election:

Update 3-20-21:  Trump’s attacks on “disloyal” Republicans seem to be the latest example of the former president’s vengeful attitude about politics and business.

Update 5-31-21:   Revenge is front and center as the Red Team goes after those who would hold Donald Trump accountable for his words and actions.  

Update 9-22-21:  Former President Trump sued his niece and the New York Times in his latest "punch back harder" ploy.

Update 10-4-21:  Former Trump aide said his 2024 Presidential run will be fueled by revenge.  Steve Bannon wants "shock troops" should Trump win the White House again.

Update 10-10-21:  Trump NSC analyst said "democracy is done" if Donald Trump wins reelection in 2024.

Update 10-20-21:  Former President Trump called Rep. Liz Cheney a "psycho," "disloyal" and a "warmongering fool."  He characterized Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as "a stupid person."  Trump disparaged the late General Colin Powell via a statement.  The insult tour continues for the former internet troll.  

Update 10-25-21:  Ex-President Donald Trump announced a new social media site for him to use to degrade, insult and abuse people he doesn't like, however no criticism of the Donald is allowed.

Update 11-10-21:  Business Insider reported "Former aides privately compared the Presidential Personnel Office under President Donald Trump to the Gestapo in Nazi Germany or the East German Stasi.  Under Trump, the office transformed into an "internal police force" that was perpetually looking out for "traitors within.""

Update 2-20-22:  A conservative retired federal judge said "the United States is locked "in a political war to the death" and that "American democracy hangs in the balance."

"Our leaders seem incapable or unwilling to lead us in this moment when we need leadership most. If our leaders refuse to lead us to where we want to go and need to be, then we must go there ourselves — and leave them behind," he wrote.

Update 6-11-22:  Ex-President Donald Trump dissed daughter Ivanka after she told the January 6th House committee that she accepted Attorney General Bill Barr's conclusion that election fraud was minimal and insufficient to change the outcome of the election.  Trump's twisted ego steamrolls family members telling the truth under oath.  

“This is somebody who’s never changed. He doesn’t evolve. And as you said earlier, he has one thing he cares about, and that’s himself. That will never, ever change, no matter who gets in his way, no matter who gets hurt, even if it’s his kids.”

Update 6-13-22:  Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said calls of voter fraud on 2020 election night were not "honest." Stepien also described the events that unfolded after 2020 election night as unprofessional.  Dishonest and unprofessional, that's our Donald.  Imagine Donald's revenge list for Red Team members speaking to the January 6th Committee. 

Update 6-15-22:  A staffer for Vice President Mike Pence said Trump is the bully who inspired rioters to call for her boss to be hanged.  It's interesting to see the number of Red Team members making their way onto Trump's enemy list for speaking the truth (not associated with Donald's social media site).

Update 8-1-22:  Trump threatens to sue CNN for reporting he considered unflattering.  The man who defecated on democracy called CNN's stories defamatory.

Update 8-27-22:   Former Attorney General Bill Barr said Trump is a bad boss.

"The president was bellowing at a number of his Cabinet secretaries and especially the military guys, the DoD secretary and chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and calling all of us f-cking losers at the top of his lungs," Barr said.

"One would think that an executive would have a better idea how to operate with people and manage people, and he's a poor manager of people."

Update 1-15-23:  The Guardian reported:

"Donald Trump called the writer E Jean Carroll a “nut job” in video testimony last year and falsely claimed she had enjoyed being sexually assaulted"

Abusive is as abusive does. 

Update 4-3-23:  Insane Red Senator Lindsey Graham suggested former President Donald Trump "smash some windows, rob a few shops and punch a cop” on his way to the Manhattan District Attorney's office for his arraignment on business fraud charges.

It appears Donald Trump qualifies to occupy several levels of Dante's hell, possibly every level.

Update 4-5-23:  Insane Red Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene compared the arrested Donald Trump to Nelson Mandela and Jesus.  The comparison could not be more bizarre.  Trump is a ceaseless revenger with a never ending scroll of grievances.  It's but another strange line for Malaprop Barbie.

Update 4-7-23:  Trump lawyers want their client to tone down the "death and destruction" rhetoric while Trump allies plan to fight dirty.  Funny, Insane Red Trump doesn't talk like Nelson Mandela or Jesus.

Update 4-27-23:  Trump continues to speak ill of deceased Senator John McCain, some five years after his death.

Update 5-5-23:   Former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr said another Trump presidency would bring "chaos" and be a "horror show."  Barr claimed his former boss doesn’t have “the ability for strategic thinking” or “setting priorities.”

Update 6-14-23:  Trump lost the civil lawsuit from E. Jean Carroll and it took a whole day for him to insult her again.  The Justice Department special prosecutor filed a 37 count felony criminal indictment against Trump who said not one word during the arraignment.  He did use the event to fundraise and offer a fiery speech hours before his 77th birthday. A former Trump Chief of Staff called it a sphincter moment for Donald.

Update 6-21-23:  Donald Trump needs to retaliate against himself for his unforced error.  Former AG Bill Barr added:

Trump is a deeply flawed, incorrigible man who frequently brings calamity on himself and the country through his dishonesty and self-destructive recklessness.

Trump stumbled on his hiring of the very best for his administration and later insulting those who raised concerns about Donald's temperament, intelligence and abilities. 

Trump needs to punch himself twice for these clear errors.

Update 6-29-23:  The Insane Reds in the House of Representatives are intent on revenge for Trump.

Update 7-15-23:  Trump is intent on revenge on government:

"Time and time again, we have seen Donald Trump attempt to remake our government in his image, not based on our country’s ideals and traditions, but based on a personal agenda."

It needs to be remade to burnish Trump's image.

Update 9-15-23:  "Bone Spurs" Trump said Red Team member Mitt Romney failed "to serve with distinction."

AOC: New Congressional Low

Anal Opening Congressman.  Louie Gohmert, the new AOC.  Liftoff!

Update 7-29-20:  Representative Gohmert tested positive for the coronavirus.  He said he would not wear a mask until he tested positive.   "[I]f I get it," he told CNN in June, "you'll never see me without a mask."  Gohmert was scheduled to fly to Texas on Wednesday morning with President Donald Trump and tested positive in a pre-screen at the White House.

The United States of Chaos

Chaos, the state of  disorder and confusion, feels widespread.  I see it everyday I work in a large healthcare company where private equity owners deform our operations for their financial gain.  Executives termed it "a bumpy year" for employees.  Those lucky enough to keep a job characterize it as chaos. Taking a broader view affordable, accessible healthcare remains a major worry for citizens. 

I hear it on television news stations, regardless of channel and political persuasion.  I observe it from our President, who insists on punching back harder than he believes he's been hit, and Red team officials who dare not give anything but 100% fealty.   Many business executives display the same personality dysfunction as our President.  Real relationship is absent. 

I see it in big data which often uses correlation to make critical decisions, ones that impact life and death.  Probability is based on theoretical distributions that often do not exist in our real world.  Algorithms work until they don't i.e. until the fundamental assumptions used in their creation are revealed to be wrong.  Correlation isn't causation. Data does not speak, people do.

Chaos initially referred to a void before it's definition changed.  Our county has a leadership void on both the political and corporate front.  Americans have lower confidence in figures and institutions, according to Gallup.  The vast majority of employees have disengaged from their workplace

 
Chaos has a number of synonyms:

Disorder grows until a natural system reaches a bifurcation point, the point of maximum instability, after which the system reorders itself.    Is the workplace a natural system?

Self serving elected officials and corporate chiefs can choose to atone for their wrongs on this earth.  We will all face our maker, that is assured.    

Update 11-21-20:  Pay levels of US chief executives have increased by an average of 940% since 1978, compared with a 12% increase in workers’ pay.  Trump is in full retaliatory mode after losing the election to President Elect Joe Biden.  Trump's revenge campaign is intended to scorch America's democracy.  How much damage will Trump's foul fart lighting inflict on our country in his last sixty days?

Update 10-13-21:  Chaos President Donald Trump had no White House guardrails in the run up to his January 6th Middle Age Wilding, otherwise known as the Capital insurrection. 

Update 3-24-23:  Adding to chaos is AI.

ChatGPT-4 uses deductive reasoning vs. memorization, which can lead to inaccurate results.

"The thing that I try to caution people the most is what we call the ‘hallucinations problem’" Altman told ABC News. "The model will confidently state things as if they were facts (but they) are entirely made up."

"People’s perspectives can be manipulated as they seek all kinds of answers from AI."

Knowledge is gained from the scientific method, from conducting experiments in the real world.

Conservatism No Longer Fiscal

Bloomberg reported:

The U.S. posted its biggest monthly budget deficit on record last month, amid a 20 percent drop in corporate tax revenue and a boost in spending so far this fiscal year.

The budget gap widened to $234 billion in February, compared with a fiscal gap of $215.2 billion a year earlier. That gap surpassed the previous monthly record of $231.7 billion set seven years ago, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

February’s shortfall helped push the deficit for the first five months of the government’s fiscal year to $544.2 billion, up almost 40 percent from the same period the previous year.

Fiscal conservatism is dead as President Trump and Congress gifted corporations and the wealthy.

Corporations have so far this fiscal year paid $59.2 billion, compared to $73.5 billion at the point in 2018, when the tax law was only partially in effect for some corporations. In 2017, however, the year before the law was enacted, corporations had paid $87.4 billion at this point in the year.

 America's billionaire President serves the billionaire class. 

Update 9-17-19:  The U.S. government’s red ink for fiscal 2019 swelled past the $1 trillion mark. 

Update 9-28-21:  The Red Team balked at Uncle Sam paying his bills, many racked up under President Trump. 

Update 10-8-21:  U.S. national debt rose by almost $7.8 trillion during Trump’s time in office. Red Team politicians suddenly re-found their fiscal nuts and are chattering energetically at this discovery. 

Update 10-20-21:  My Congressman ignored four years of Republican fiscal irresponsibility and voted for the U.S. to default on its debts.  The national debt rose by nearly $7.8 trillion during the Trump Presidency.

Update 11-1-21:  Red Team Senator Rick Scott expressed his concern over fiscal deficits but refused to answer a question on repealing the Trump tax cuts.  The third richest Senator said inflation is "It's hurting families like mine."  There are not many families in the U.S. with $220 million.

Update 5-10-23:  Former Vice President Mike Pence said he and Trump "have done a better job of controlling spending under our administration."  Balanced budgets only matter to the Red Team when they don't control the White House and Congress.  That's been their history.