August 5, 2017

"@BarackObama played golf yesterday. Now he heads to a 10 day vacation in Martha's Vineyard. Nice work ethic."

A 2011 tweet from Donald Trump, quoted in "Trump's 17-day holiday causes a stir" (BBC). The article also quotes Trump's book "Think Like a Billionaire": "Don't take vacations. What's the point? If you're not enjoying your work, you're in the wrong job."

Is Trump a hypocrite? One answer is, it's not really a vacation. He's just relocating to his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey. He's calling it a "working vacation," and even though you can call things whatever you want, presumably all presidential vacations are to some extent or another working vacations.

More important: "The entire West Wing staff is required to vacate the premises in August while the building's 27-year-old heating, air conditioning and ventilation system is replaced.... Other maintenance includes repairing steps on the side of the executive mansion facing the National Mall as well as painting, replacing carpets and curtains, and fixing, ahem, water leaks in the press office."

So, BBC asks "Why is Trump being criticised?" That's just a funny question, isn't it? Whatever Trump does, he will be criticized. There's a large sector of media that watches whatever Trump says and does and asks: What's the best way to say that's bad?

IN THE COMMENTS: Henry quotes — "The entire West Wing staff is required to vacate the premises in August while the building's 27-year-old heating, air conditioning and ventilation system is replaced.... Other maintenance includes repairing steps on the side of the executive mansion facing the National Mall as well as painting, replacing carpets and curtains, and fixing, ahem, water leaks in the press office" — and quips:
Wait! So the White House actually is a dump?

97 comments:

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

So, yes, he is a hypocrite?

Michael K said...

It's an industry. There are thousands who would be adding to the unemployment statistics if he were not there to write about.

Fernandinande said...

Bitches Be Crazy.

Craig said...

This is maybe the best instance of Althouse's Trump Derangement Syndrome Derangement Syndrome we've seen yet. "Cruel neutrality," indeed.

Birkel said...

The White House doesn't sound like it is in great shape.

The question about hypocrisy assumes an equality between the workloads of the two presidents in question. I have no evidence in either direction. But it's a bad look on Trump.

Laslo Spatula said...

The White House is being temporarily closed to update all the listening devices the NSA has hidden.

I am Laslo.

rhhardin said...

They're installing new batteries in the white house bugs.

Laslo Spatula said...

8:24: the rhhardin/Laslo Continuum.

I am Laslo.

Henry said...

More important: "The entire West Wing staff is required to vacate the premises in August while the building's 27-year-old heating, air conditioning and ventilation system is replaced.... Other maintenance includes repairing steps on the side of the executive mansion facing the National Mall as well as painting, replacing carpets and curtains, and fixing, ahem, water leaks in the press office."

Wait! So the White House actually is a dump?

rhhardin said...

Nature abhors a vacation.

tcrosse said...

The complaint about Trump is that:
a. We hate whatever he's doing, because he's the one that's doing it.
b. He's not doing enough of it.

Humperdink said...

Question posed at 8:05.

ARM responds in the affirmative at 8:10.

You are really disappointing me ARM, that is took you five (5) minutes to analyze the question. Of course, you could have been getting coffee.

All seriousness aside (ha), I don't care how much vacation our presidents take. And it's really a ridiculous statement to think the president(s) are not being briefed everyday.

Laslo Spatula said...

Perhaps he wants to see if the leaks follow.

I am Laslo.

David Begley said...

"There's a large sector of media that watches whatever Trump says and does and asks: What's the best way to say that's bad?"

Althouse figured out the central operating principle of the MSM.

traditionalguy said...

Fixing leaks in the Press Room is gonna be one job that will come in over budget and late.

Gahrie said...

If Trump discovered a cure for cancer tomorrow, the headlines would be "Trump throws doctors and researchers out of work".

Kevin said...

Perhaps the point was Obama was going on a 10-day vacation and still had to play golf on his last "working day".

The "work ethic" comment could have been about all the work-day golf outings, rather than the vacation days.

HT said...

"presumably all presidential vacations are to some extent or another working vacations."

- which is to say (getting back to the point of it all, Trump’s quote) he was wrong about Obama.

rhhardin said...

Tweet wasn't a verb until 1872.

Fernandinande said...

Birkel the Weasel Boy squeaked ...
I have no evidence ...


So what else is new?

Unknown said...

Obviously changing the hvac is euphemism for wiretap sweep.
That other thing I noticed is the obvious lie that trump has been on vacation. Being away from White House so that deep state cannot spy on him seems smart to me
More please

Narayanan said...

Why not formulate a dictum

All politics is ... Continuing a tradition of hypocrisy.

traditionalguy said...

The best journolist coordinated attacks this week are that Trump got nothing done because he cannot lead Congress, and that his hyperbole approach results in a string of lies.

Scott Adams hardest hit. Adams thought these were good persuasion tools for Trump. The attack press had better stick to Impeaching him for whatever imaginary trick Russia did to steal the election.

rhhardin said...

Babies never get a vacation.

Ann Althouse said...

"Tweet wasn't a verb until 1872."

Nice device to get me to look it up in the OED for you. The correct date is 1851: G. Meredith Poems 92 The little bird..Tweets to its mate a tiny loving note.

The Twitter-specific usage is traced to 2006 @CyberWanderlust 27 Dec. in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) "Got the new phone, so you can tweet me again, you sick bastards!"

I like that the original appearance addressed "sick bastards."

Narayanan said...

Q: is COS Kelly staying behind to keep order and discipline over the work crew?

AllenS said...

Maybe Trump wants to call some world leaders. Would be ever call them again from the White House?

Hagar said...

Not to mention the rats - fourfooted ones, that is.

buwaya said...

On the whole, it would probably imorove national security to outsource such things as managing communications and telecoms to the Russians. They at least will keep all this secure from third parties and the public.

So whenever foreign officials deal with their US counterparts, they can be assured that its only the Russians listening, not everyone and his brother.

Humperdink said...

If Trump used Hillary's communication devices, his transcripts would never see the light of day.

Gahrie said...

The best journolist coordinated attacks this week are that Trump got nothing done because he cannot lead Congress,

It's not Trump's job to lead Congress..that's McConnell's and Ryan's job...and they're doing a pretty shitty job of it.

Why weren't Republican budgets written and ready in January? Why wasn't an Obamacare repeal bill written and ready in January? They knew for months that they had won control of the entire government.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Gahrie:

I agree how hard would it be to write a bill like the one below to repeal Obamacare:

Every citizen and every business must elect to opt in or opt out of the ACA requirements. The election must be done by the end of 2017. The election will be effective for a minimum of ten years and can be changed every ten years. Period.

William said...

Is there any consensus on who was the laziest American President? Presidents have had their vices, but it doesn't seem that laziness could easily coexist with their drives and ambition......The Dems are better at PR and spinning narratives than the Republicans. Eisenhower was portrayed as lazier and more golf prone than Kennedy, but that was far from the case in actuality. I think JFK, at least in the popular mind, has a better rep than Ike. That's how good the Dems are at it...... Eventually the Dems will probably succeed in their attempt to destroy Trump and his reputation. All the most talented and imaginative people in America are devoting their energy and talents to this cause. It's bound to have an effect....,,I don't think Trump is lazy, and I don't think Trump is Putin's catspaw. No matter. Trump has lots of flaws. Eventually they'll hit on one that resonates with the public and hit home with it.

tcrosse said...

If the House and Senate have low approval numbers, is it because they're not liberal enough ?

buwaya said...

McConnell and Ryan understand where their future wealth is coming from, or rather, in McConnells case, where it presently lies (hint: his father-in-law).

And so for all of them. Its a tangled web of interests with tremendous investments in the status quo.

Freder Frederson said...

Not only is he a hypocrite, he is a liar. He promised he would stay in Washington because there was so much work to do. He has spent more than half of his weekends outside Washington,mostly at his resorts. As for golf, he is on track to be the golfingest President in history.

Birkel said...

Wait, so golf is now a bad thing?

buwaya said...

To be fair, golf actually is his trade.

One day the Americans will elect a plumber, that might be awkward.

Inga said...

"Whatever Trump does, he will be criticized. There's a large sector of media that watches whatever Trump says and does and asks: What's the best way to say that's bad?"

There usually is no need to ask if it is bad, it very clearly just is. Most people who aren't desperately looking for ways to make him look good or even normal, have no need to be outraged that the Press has noticed the bad behavior and reported on it.

Birkel said...

Another change for Inga?
The cut and paste will reveal all.

tcrosse said...

One day the Americans will elect a plumber, that might be awkward.

Didn't work for Nixon.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Wait, so golf is now a bad thing?

Evidently. Presidents are not allowed to have hobbies or relaxation. Granted they shouldn't be golfing more than working, but seriously....everyone needs some time to relax.

Maybe golf is too public of a hobby. Perhaps the President should take up knitting. Small, inexpensive, portable and pretty relaxing.....until you drop and GD stitch!

Bonus....he could wear his latest sweater and endear himself to all the other secret knitters in the United States.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

until you drop and GD stitch!


Edit Drop a GD stitch. Then you either use a crochet hook and pick up the mistake rows back or throw a tantrum and frog the thing back to the mistake.

Frog = rip it, rip it, rip it.

Knitting teaches you patience. Perhaps Trump could use some?

tcrosse said...

What we need is a President who goes bowling.

Birkel said...

I remember when clearing brush was bad. That was 1981-1989 and then again from 2001-2009.

I wonder what would happen if Trump cleared brush.

MisterBuddwing said...


Just for a chuckle, here's a 2013 Althouse post on one of President Obama's golf outings, along with comments:

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2013/09/obama-plays-27-holes.html

Only one poster uses the term "lazy" to describe Obama.

Achilles said...

"There usually is no need to ask if it is bad, it very clearly just is. Most people who aren't desperately looking for ways to make him look good or even normal, have no need to be outraged that the Press has noticed the bad behavior and reported on it."

Althouse wrote that statement as a parody, not as a guide.

The problem for the leftists is you really can't write a parody that is more ridiculous and embarrassing than reality as Inga's predictable and stupid blurb demonstrates. ARM took 5 minutes to come up with his sentence of brilliance.

The 80's called and they want their foreign policy back idiots.

Achilles said...

"I wonder what would happen if Trump cleared brush."

Someone would get cancer and die.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Note the media NEVER discussed Obama's much worse hypocrisy.


All that replacement of old HV/AC - - Will they remove listening devices? Or plant new ones?

William said...

I think Harding is at least a semi finalist for the title of laziest American president. I've never read any biography of him so I won't comment. I do take note of the fact that Wilson after his stroke lay immobile on his bed for months. I suppose you would describe that as sickness rather than laziness but it adds up to the same thing. Plus he also absented himself from Washington for a protracted period whilst he went off to Paris to engineer the peace to end all peace. Nonethelesss, Harding has the reputation of the negligent wastrel who left a mess, and Wilson used to have the rep of a dynamic idealist who was betrayed by America's parochialism.......In recent times Wilson's rep has taken a hit because of his record on civil rights, but I believe it is still higher than that of Harding.

William said...

@Inga or Federson: Do our truly think that JFK was morally and intellectually superior to Eisenhower. Was Clinton morally and intellectually superior to the elder Bush?....My guess is that you prefer these two men because of their party affiliation or their policies and to hell with morality and brains. Why shouldn't Republcans use the same dynamics in choosing a president?

Otto said...

In our culture,what once was gossip is now known as news or in depth analysis. Much like this website. That happens when you go bottom feeding.

cacimbo said...

Both Japan and China's leaders were treated to visits at Mar-a-Lago, media threw a fit over who was paying. Another Mar-a-Lago visit media condemned the room used for meetings as 'not secure'. I don't recall what world leaders Obama hosted during his 'vacations'?

Michael K said...

"Harding has the reputation of the negligent wastrel who left a mess,"

Harding badly needs a good biography.

I think Amity Schlaes was working on one. but haven't seen it. She took an extra year with her Coolidge biography so she may be working on it.

The 1920s prosperity, which resembled the 1990s in many ways, was largely Harding's programs that were followed by Coolidge.

The similarities to the 1990s economy were the innovations like radio and small electrical appliances produced by Insull's companies. A lot of the criticism of the "Roaring Twenties" was retroactive from the 30s and because of Prohibition, plus Sinclair Lewis' books.

Michael K said...

"What we need is a President who goes bowling."

Nixon. There are even posters.

Rosalyn C. said...

What I found disingenuous about Obama was how prior to his election he advertised himself as a devoted basketball player. Recall all the stories about him being fanatical about basketball in high school, the PR shots of him on the court, and Michelle's talking about how her brother vetted Barack on the basketball court, etc.? I was expecting a basketball playing president, a very energetic guy. What we got was a guy who worked out with 10 lb. weights and was an avid golfer. Not that there's anything wrong with either of those things.

Also, Obama used to fly to Hawaii or Florida for his golfing vacations, and have to rent expensive homes, paid for by the taxpayers. I don't know for sure but I don't think Trump is charging the taxpayers for the use of his own properties, considering he is not taking a salary, I doubt it. I haven't seen any press reports about this.

David said...

General Kelly is delighted. He will be ready with his whip when they return.

Jael (Gone Windwalking) said...

Here is where I love Trump.

It's not just his 17-day plan to drain the swamp that I like. Because artificial selection guarantees increases in social complexity and affirms our intuitions that any number of steps in a vacation algorithm that solves the swamp-draining task must be, by definition, the most convenient measure.

That's the easy stuff.

I credit Mr. Trump that the press fails to understand the effectiveness of Trump’s swamp-draining algorithms and the press hates, even more, how Trump truly enjoys it all. I shall return another day to promote my third-party Perot channeling modalities.

Today deservedly belongs to Trump in paradise.

Narayanan said...

I am verklempt ...
Speculate among yourselves ....
What would Hillary s vacation be like?

Buwaya you be really funnyyyy

Narayanan said...

Is Trump charging secret service for housing - a la Biden?

Big Mike said...

What Gharie wrote at 8:38.

And in response to his comment at 9:03, McConnell would find it easier to do his cat-herding if he bounced McCain from the chairmanship of Armed Services and Murkowski from her chairmanship of Energy. Just sayin'

Freder Frederson said...

Wait, so golf is now a bad thing?

According to Trump, the president playing golf is a bad thing. To be clear, I don't begrudge the president playing an occasional round of golf, but there are a couple of good military courses near DC (e.g Andrew's) that require a whole less security than Mara Lago or bedminster. Also, when you continually berate the president for taking vacations and playing golf you should expect criticism when, as president yourself, you are taking more vacations and playing more golf than the person you criticized.

Michael K said...

Freder is concerned about Trump playing golf. If Trump was not playing golf, Freder would be concerned about something else.

If Trump walked on water, Freder would complain because he didn't like getting wet.

traditionalguy said...

A major remodeling and refurbishing of the White House, and of the Capitol Building, is needed every 30 years or so.

But this new flashing Hologram projection "Trump House" is over the top.

Gk1 said...

This will be an interesting social experiment as the democrats/media have fast forwarded their continual, focused hatred against a republican president like Bush in 2006. Can they sustain their constant picking, sniping and griping this long without turning off the rest of "normals" they need to win back?

Michael K said...

Politico is starting to worry that the Russia obsession might turn off voters.

Nah. Just ask Freder.

Snark said...

"According to Trump, the president playing golf is a bad thing. To be clear, I don't begrudge the president playing an occasional round of golf, but there are a couple of good military courses near DC (e.g Andrew's) that require a whole less security than Mara Lago or bedminster. Also, when you continually berate the president for taking vacations and playing golf you should expect criticism when, as president yourself, you are taking more vacations and playing more golf than the person you criticized."

All true. But with Trump it is also necessary to see any lie or apparent hypocrisy as part of an agressive general pattern of gaslighting to erode the whole concept of truth. When you see intelligent people fingering the media as the source of the issue rather than Trunp himself, you can see how he's succeeded.

buwaya said...

Snark, its not the media as the source of "the issue", its their owners.

As for gaslighting, that has been the main armament of the American liberal establishment through my entire aware existence, and considerably prior, reading back.

Freder Frederson said...

Freder is concerned about Trump playing golf.

You might be a good surgeon, but your reading comprehension sucks.

Is not the golf that bothers me, it's the lying and the hypocrisy

buwaya said...

Freder,
If lying and hypocrisy concern you so, I suggest you have a great deal to catch up on, on matters of rather more significance.

cacimbo said...

Never mind vacations, This morning NPR did another segment explaining how job growth and stock market climb can NOT be attributed to Trump. Went so far as to explain the rich are really the ones benefitting. That is third segment in two days trying to down talk the economic numbers. You either should not credit the President, or if you do - then credit Obama. They are twisting themselves in knots.

Michael K said...

" as president yourself, you are taking more vacations and playing more golf than the person you criticized. "

Speaking of reading comprehension.

Sebastian said...

"What I found disingenuous about Obama" You mean, besides everything? About the man who fabricated his own "autobiography"?

Anyway, the US monarchy, I mean presidency, is a part-time job--perfect for lazy bums like O, a little boring, job-wise, to busy businessmen like DJT.

R.F.Hirsch said...

William (10:20): "I think Harding is at least a semi finalist for the title of laziest American president. I've never read any biography of him so I won't comment. I do take note of the fact that Wilson after his stroke lay immobile on his bed for months. I suppose you would describe that as sickness rather than laziness but it adds up to the same thing. Plus he also absented himself from Washington for a protracted period whilst he went off to Paris to engineer the peace to end all peace. Nonethelesss, Harding has the reputation of the negligent wastrel who left a mess, and Wilson used to have the rep of a dynamic idealist who was betrayed by America's parochialism.......In recent times Wilson's rep has taken a hit because of his record on civil rights, but I believe it is still higher than that of Harding."

Harding actually INHERITED a huge mess from Wilson. Harding found that each part of the government submitted their own budget to Congress and met with their own friends about it. Harding created the Bureau of the Budget and had as its Director Charles G. Dawes, one of the greatest employees of the Executive Branch ever. Harding inherited a collapsed economy, and solved it by letting people be free of regulations. His Secretary of the Treasury was Andrew Mellon, who is one of the most highly regarded of all who held this position. His Secretary of Commerce was Herbert Hoover, perhaps the most highly regarded American statesman in Europe for his relief work after the war.

Harding initiated the Washington Naval Conference, which led to the Washington Naval Treaty, the first world-wide arms control treaty. His Secretary of State, Charles Evans Hughes, was one of the most prominent Americans of his time.

Harding gave a notable speech in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1921 calling for racial equality. He was the first President ever to give such a speech in the South. Harding twice asked Congress to outlaw lynching, but the Democrats in the Senate prevented passage of the bill. Harding sought to reverse Woodrow Wilson's extreme segregation of the government and enthusiasm for the KKK.

Harding freed the hundreds of socialists and communists that Wilson had put in prison ("McCarthyism" really is "Wilsonism", as McCarthy never got anyone imprisoned). As Wikipedia notes: "En route home, Debs was warmly received at the White House by Harding, who greeted him by saying: "Well, I've heard so damned much about you, Mr. Debs, that I am now glad to meet you personally.""

Harding did have some serious scandals, but they seem less significant today. The Attorney General's ones were serious and Harding did not remove him (shades of Obama and Holder and Lynch!). And the widespread VA problems of Obama were comparable to those of Harding.

Achilles said...

"All true. But with Trump it is also necessary to see any lie or apparent hypocrisy as part of an agressive general pattern of gaslighting to erode the whole concept of truth."

"If you like your doctor you can keep your doctor."

"What, like, with a cloth?"

"I did not have sexual relations with that woman!"(wag that finger)

"The emails were personal emails about weddings and yoga practice "


Watching democrats accuse Trump of lying is really quite boring at this point.

Birkel said...

It's the scale and importance of the alleged lies that matters to me. I'm not all that worried about the normal sort of lying like "we are monitoring the situation in GiveaFuckistan closely". That's irrelevant.

The lies that affect other people matter.

Bad Lieutenant said...

You know what Trump's "lies" or foibles are in a level with? Obama's "quitting smoking." Worth a chuckle, no more. Imagine the GOP trying to impeach Obama for sneaking a Parliament from one of his secretaries.

Jim at said...

The comparisons between Trump's vacations and Obama's are a waste of time.

I looked at Obama's daily schedule when he was 'working' and I look at Trump's, too.

Obama didn't do a damn thing when he was supposed to be working. So, taking time off, flying around the world on junkets, living large on the taxpayer dime with vacations in Hawaii, Martha's Vineyard and every, other luxury resort he could find - not to mention golfing in California with the wife and spawn hit the slopes in Aspen - is not even remotely comparable to what Trump has or has not done while in office.

And now that EVERYBODY has to leave the White House for repairs and you leftist assholes are bitching about that?

FOAD. Seriously.
Just FOAD.

Michael K said...

Harding did have some serious scandals, but they seem less significant today

Harding was quoted not long before his death, "It's not my enemies that worry me. It's my friends that are hurting me."

Albert B Fall, his Sec of the Interior and deeply involved in the Tea Pot Dome scandal was given the spot to try to improve relations with Mexico that had fought a small war with Wilson's admin. Fall had been governor of New Mexico and was supposed to be an expert on Mexico, not oil.

Harding had similar problems with others, the Sec Navy was another.

Jim at said...

"but there are a couple of good military courses near DC (e.g Andrew's) "

And if he golfed at Andrews, shitheads like you would bitch that he's preventing service members from golfing instead.

Chuck said...

It is so odd, to see fans of Trump trying to have fun with the "[White House] is a real dump" story.

It could have been another oddly funny story of Teump's curious manner of self-aggrandizing trash-talk.

But Trump denies having said it. He called it (all caps) FAKE NEWS.

So now it isn't a funny story anymore. Either two respected golf writers, one of whom has been known to and trusted by Trump for years, are lying in print and about their multiple sources; or the President of the United States is lying and in the process is professionally defaming the two writers.

I suppose this line of thinking turns it into what Althouse considers as "boring." A dull black-and-white issue about Trump's personal credibility.

For my part, given that Trump himself offers nothing interesting by way of ideology, or policy, or personal beliefs, or political history; Trump's quantity and quality of lying is the most interesting thing about him.

Michael K said...

Chuck just being chuck.

Anybody got a good story ?

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

...presumably all presidential vacations are to some extent or another working vacations.

Yes, not as if he could totally break contact like a Governor can, and go hiking on the Appalachian Trail or something.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

...while the building's 27-year-old heating, air conditioning and ventilation system is replaced....

Yet another problem Obama sidestepped, dodged, and kicked down the road (to conflate metaphors).

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Listening to Amity Schlaes COOLIDGE (from Amazon/Audible) as I walk evenings.

Per Schlaes, Harding ran as a budget cutter, promising to trim back the size of the Feral Gummit after the Great War. In office, he was a soft touch. His own father is reputed to have said "It's a good thing you were not born a girl, Warren, you would be in a family way all the time. You just don't know how to say no."

That in addition to the noteworthy Veteran's Bureau and Teapot Dome scandals.

Calvin Coolidge. What a guy!

Gahrie said...

I hope you are charging Trump rent Chuckles, because he's certainly living in your head.

Freder Frederson said...

Yet another problem Obama sidestepped, dodged, and kicked down the road (to conflate metaphors).

I'm no expert on HVAC systems, but 27 years doesn't sound like a particularly old system for a commercial property.

Achilles said...

Freder Frederson said...
Yet another problem Obama sidestepped, dodged, and kicked down the road (to conflate metaphors).

I'm no expert on HVAC systems, but 27 years doesn't sound like a particularly old system for a commercial property.

*chuckle*

Birkel said...

Chuck doesn't want us to have fun with the FAKE NEWS. Noted.

Also, he thinks golf writers are "trusted" for their reporting on presidential asides. Noted.

Trump was always a developer but I'd no idea he was living rent free in so many heads all these years. It's a wonder he's no richer.

Michael K said...

Do ylu suppose the failing HVAC system is why Trump is spending weekends out of DC ?

Just a thought.

Now, if we could just turn off the HVAC system in the DoJ.

Gk1 said...

I think new presidents are always a little taken aback how shoddy the government buildings are on the inside, particularly people who have been successful in life outside of govt. like trump. I still remember Obama saying the same thing about Pentagonthe war room and how he was disappointed because it looked dated and all analog and not anything like he saw in the movies.

Big Mike said...

Gk1 is quite right.

Chuck said...

Gk1 said...
I think new presidents are always a little taken aback how shoddy the government buildings are on the inside, particularly people who have been successful in life outside of govt. like trump. I still remember Obama saying the same thing about Pentagonthe war room and how he was disappointed because it looked dated and all analog and not anything like he saw in the movies.

So you are saying that Trump may have been quite right to refer to the White House as a dump.

But Trump aggressively denies it. That is what the story is, now. Somebody is lying. And if President falsely called me a liar concerning something I had written, I'd want to dig into that fight. Personally, if not professionally, I'd want to hurt him somehow.

ganderson said...

RF Hirsch: Good comment on Harding. An underrated President
William: I am a fan of Coolidge's, but I always liked this HL Mencken quote:
American Mercury, April 1933.

"In what manner he would have performed himself if the holy angels had shoved the Depression forward a couple of years - this we can only guess, and one man's hazard is as good as another's. My own is that he would have responded to bad times precisely as he responded to good ones - that is, by pulling down the blinds, stretching his legs upon his desk, and snoozing away the lazy afternoons.... He slept more than any other President, whether by day or by night. Nero fiddled, but Coolidge only snored.... Counting out Harding as a cipher only, Dr. Coolidge was preceded by one World Saver and followed by two more. What enlightened American, having to choose between any of them and another Coolidge, would hesitate for an instant? There were no thrills while he reigned, but neither were there any headaches. He had no ideas, and he was not a nuisance."

I think I'd like that on my headstone: "He was not a nuisance."

Birkel said...

One wonders what the word "aggressively" is doing. Oh, wait! Now I remember, it is telling me about the commenters deranged view of the world.

I wonder what would happen if people had different memories of the same events. Would we call anybody whose memory was different from our own a liar? I would not.

samharker said...

Take every article written during the Bush administration. Delete "Bush", insert "Trump". Publish. Done.

Bad Lieutenant said...

And if President falsely called me a liar concerning something I had written, I'd want to dig into that fight. Personally, if not professionally, I'd want to hurt him somehow.
8/6/17, 5:54 AM


Dear USSS,

The man who writes this stuff is a little sly, so may be ably skirting whatever laws exist on what may and may not be said; but despite that, he is as much of a threat to the president as he can possibly be, and you really should give him the Mark One eyeball. Not every murderer confesses, but some of them write "If I Did It."

You like to tell Althouse what to do. I'm a little smarter than that, but you would absolutely be on my top ten list for not to be allowed within President Trump's presence with sharp or heavy objects. I hope that a presidential assassin's posting on her blog would not reflect badly on her.

But then, I don't really know what she could do about it, other than banning the crazy person or reporting him to the authorities, and as a lawyer, she's probably focused on the fact that you haven't said anything actionable.

But then if I were going to kill the president, I wouldn't say anything actionable either.