Open Thread for Thursday, May 24, 2018

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Since I’ve only had two comments on my last five posts (anybody out there?), I wonder whether it’s worth the trouble. Oh, well, I guess that means I can say whatever I want without anybody arguing with me…

  1. Trump cancels N. Korea summit, calls it a ‘tremendous setback’ — Does this mean he has to give back the Nobel Peace Prize. No, wait… Anyway, now Trump’s back to making threats — against, you know, a nuclear power controlled by an unpredictable adolescent. It seems that The more the U.S. said ‘Libya,’ the angrier North Korea got. Those people are just so touchy
  2. U.S. Commandos vs. Russian Mercenaries: Inside a Deadly Battle — Yeah, apparently we’ve been going toe-to-toe in small-unit combat with the Rooskies. Did you know that? I didn’t know that. Seems like we should have known that…
  3. Bingo cards are here for the Democratic debate — Yeah, I think maybe my friends at the Charleston paper are having a little trouble staying serious about this campaign. Or maybe they’re just bored…
  4. Apparently, Al Amir is struggling — I’m sorry to hear that, because I like the place. Bryan and I ate there just a couple of weeks back. Maybe we should go again. The place used to be packed when it was down south of the State House; I guess it’s just a bit more out of the way now…
  5. The Risky Business of Speaking for President Trump — Why is this interesting? Because the central character in this lengthy NYT Mag piece is South Carolina’s own Hogan Gidley. Y’all remember Hogan. You know, “Chuckles?“… Anyway, that’s him in the middle of the fancy graphic below, which I hope the NYT doesn’t mind me sharing on account of he’s our homeboy…

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15 thoughts on “Open Thread for Thursday, May 24, 2018

  1. Mark Stewart

    Trump and his minions are the Keystone Kops of international diplomacy.

    Pompeo (sp?) might be the worst, actually. Even less circumspect than Bolton, as hard as that was to believe possible.

    I cannot believe that so many would let the country’s international standing plummet just to protect the GOP. It’s more than dispiriting.

    1. Norm Ivey

      It’s more than dispiriting.

      These are the truest, most depressing words I can think of to describe our current situation.

  2. bud

    1. Trump did the impossible, he made Kim Jong Un look like a statesman. And now it’s likely the Chinese will lose interest in any further sanctions on North Korea.

    2. I was somewhat aware that we were gradually getting ourselves involved in more and more small military operations around the world. I guess it’s easier to ask forgiveness that get permission. Congress really needs to do a better job overseeing our President’s military escapades.

    1. Mark Stewart

      Escapades? We were attacked by a brigade of organized Russian mercenaries with heavy weapons – on the agreed upon “our” side of the river. The Russians, for whatever reason, appear to have thought we wouldn’t risk an engagement. But soundly, the US poured fire on them and crushed the attack.

      Yes, Trump royally screwed up the optics on North Korea. We are now in a worse spot with both China and South Korea. Why Trump keeps trying to legitimize Kim is beyond me. It’s like he hasn’t met a despot he doesn’t admire.

      1. Bart

        “It’s like he hasn’t met a despot he doesn’t admire.” Right on point Mark.

        This is who Trump is. He holds what he considers “strong” leaders in high regard and as a reflection of who he “believes” himself to be. While he may belittle the NK leader in public, in private he most likely admires the fact that he can do and say anything he wants to do and not face criticism in his own backyard. And if he does face criticism or opposition, he has the power to destroy the people he perceives as an enemy and has engaged in having opponents and some family members killed. And if we don’t face facts that Putin is still the same Putin who was once head of the KGB and is willing to do whatever it takes to impose his will as president of Russia, then we are guilty of wearing blinders while sticking our fingers in our ears and saying “La,La,La,La” to drown out the voice of truth.

        FWIW, due to business connections in NY, I became very familiar with Trump tactics and they haven’t changed at all. He is trying to run this country the way he ran his business interests. Everything to his advantage without regard to others. If there is not something in it for Trump, he doesn’t do it or finds an excuse to sabotage it. I believe what surprises him is that now he is playing on a stage where the other players are much better at the game than he ever was, is, or could be and he cannot catch up or actually compete. They politely listen to his bluster and then go about doing what they have to do until he is no longer in office.

        Plus one other point. He is not, I repeat, not a Republican. The Republican party I once knew is no longer around. I don’t recognize it anymore and I don’t recognize the Democrat party anymore either. Both have given way to the extremes and closed their doors to the moderates that at one time had control of both or at least a voice that was listened to. What else to say other than the movie, “Idiocracy” is coming very soon to America as a way of life.

  3. Claus2

    Why did my comment on Trump & Obama’s Nobel prize and suggest going to Sahara’s on South Main get denied?

      1. Brad Warthen Post author

        Also… I think irrelevant “What about Hillary?” and “What about Obama?” comments from Trump supporters to be a huge waste of everybody’s time. And, you know, it’s my blog. And we’d already had you and Richard asking, “Well, what did you say about Obama getting the Nobel?,” and even thought it had nothing to do with the topic at hand I’d told you, twice, and I get tired of the same game over and over.

        As for Sahara’s — have you tried it? Is it good?

        1. Claus2

          Regarding Sahara’s… nothing changed but the sign out front. Is it good? All I get are the gyro and fries on Tuesday for $5.00. It’s worth $5.00, I can’t say much for the rest of the menu because as Sheldon Cooper said on Big Bang Theory, “it tastes like feet”.

          1. Brad Warthen Post author

            I like the lamb kebab.

            But I have to say that it was a little undercooked that time I ate there with Bryan recently. That had never happened before; usually it’s just right…

        2. Claus2

          “Also… I think irrelevant “What about Hillary?” and “What about Obama?” comments from Trump supporters to be a huge waste of everybody’s time.”

          Well that’s just your opinion. You repeat your complaining enough that we all have to put up with it, but if we repeat something it’s blocked unless you’re one of the chosen few who’s posts aren’t moderated.

          1. Brad Warthen Post author

            “Well that’s just your opinion.”

            You seem confused about whose blog this is. “Just” my opinion? As W. would say, I’m the decider. If you want to be the decider, start your own blog. We’re all free to do that…

  4. Phillip

    Keystone Kops, indeed, Mark.

    I couldn’t understand for the life of me why Pence and others (Bolton, I think?) kept referencing Libya, as in saying to the North Koreans, you had better renounce all your nuclear ambitions or you’ll end up like Qaddafi…from Kim Jong Un’s perspective, his anxiety about giving up nukes was precisely BECAUSE of what he saw happened to Qaddafi. I can’t tell if Pence and Bolton are just genuinely stupid, or just make up stuff as they go along, or just think everybody is the world is as stupid as they think most Americans are, or what.

    Of course the North Koreans were not going to take well to the Libya reference. Did Trump actually fear the reality of a face-to-face summit? Were they looking for a way out that made the North Koreans look bad again? It’s almost as if they wanted to find an exit strategy.

  5. bud

    1. This just keeps getting worse. Now Trump is grovelling to Kim to try and get the meeting back on. This man is not only clueless he’s feckless. Not a good combination.

  6. Doug Ross

    From The State today:

    A Hilton Head Island Catholic priest denied the children of a married, same-sex couple acceptance to a Catholic school for the coming school year, sparking outrage among some parishioners and feelings of discrimination from the mothers.

    The Hilton Head mothers, who have been legally married since 2009, applied to St. Francis Catholic School earlier this spring in hopes that their two children would attend in the 2018-19 school year.

    The couple requested both they and their children not be named in this story out of fear of harassment.

    One of the mothers, who spoke with the school’s pastor over the phone after receiving a rejection via email, said the priest told her: “Your children have been denied because you’re homosexual. If we admit your children, it will send a bad message to the other families.”

    Yes, this is still happening in 2018… someone there needs to read a Bible.. not just the old testament.

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