“It is one thing to live in your own reality when you are a candidate and it’s just words. You can fool enough of the people enough of the time maybe even to get elected. But when you try to govern that way, there is a reality to reality—and reality pushes back.” – Robert Kuttner, The Huffington Post, Jan. 29, 2017
“Where the truth must be fought, there it has already won.” – Carl Gustav Jochmann, 19th century German aphorist, who never heard of crowd size on the mall, voter fraud, or alternative facts.
“Give me a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers, and I do better with that than I do with torture.” James Matthis, Secretary of Defense, as quoted by Donald Trump, NY Times, Jan. 2, 2017. During the Vietnam War, “several friends say he believed that American prisoners of war were more likely to be tortured by the Vietcong if the United States tortured enemy captives.”
“In 2006, General Mattis supported Gen. David H. Petraeus of the Army and other military leaders in the development of a new counterinsurgency field manual that highlighted limits on interrogation tactics. ‘Torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment is never a morally permissible option, even if lives depend on gaining information,’ the manual said. ‘Lose moral legitimacy, lose the war.’ ”
“The ‘pack of cigarettes’ reference … reflects two tenets that are drummed into future military leaders: that information gleaned from torture is unreliable, and that rapport-building can go a long way.”
“If you are ever uncomfortable or are unsure of something, you attribute it. You say, ‘From the president’s point of view, from where he stood, it looked to him like the crowd went all the way back to the Washington Monument.’ … That’s better to say it that way than to use facts and statistics if the facts and statistics are in and of themselves wrong.”– Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, speaking yesterday.
That advice could actually be useful. We’re already familiar with the Bush-era “non-denial denial.” Now we have the “weasel-word alert.” When the press secretary attributes, he seems to be supporting the president without actually vouching for his accuracy. Brilliant.
“… disorganized, chaotic, degenerate, clownish and incompetent” – David Brooks on the incoming administration, NY Times, Jan. 20, 2016. Degenerate?
The president looks for opportunities to enjoy adulation. If he doesn’t receive it – overtly and volubly – he looks for opportunities to take umbrage. With his oscillation between ostentatious confidence and inner insecurity, it is going to be a dizzying term of office, no matter how long it lasts.
“Ignorance and arrogance make a bad combination.” – Kim Philby, referring to the Saudis. Who did you think he was talking about?
“The corruption of power works not by making you do or say outrageous things (at first), but rather by inducing you to persistently shade the truth.” Eliot A. Cohen; read the whole article at http://www.the-american-interest.com/2017/01/17/truth-in-the-age-of-trump/
“Much of the impetus for Trumpism seems to be based on the idea that […] extreme wealth is a proof of competence for practically anything…. Trying to make government work while disrespecting the expertise needed to do so is a guaranteed and short path to failure.” – afdiplomat, in discussion of Cohen’s article.
”Lincoln said, ‘With malice toward none and with charity to all.’ Nowadays they say, ‘Think the way I do or I’ll bomb the daylights out of you.’ ” – Robert Riskin, screenplay writer, “You Can’t Take it With You” (1938)
“If the world were to end in five minutes, I would hope to be on stage, acting.” – Patrick Stewart on CNN, Oct. 21, 2016. Somehow thoughts about the end of the world seem increasingly relevant this week.
hamiltonbeck 