Response to The Wreck

(See: Just Above Sunset: The Wreck)

I need to retract what I wrote the other day, when I advised Hillary not to engage in insults with Donald Trump, since she'd only lose at that.

In fact, her speech on Friday was quite good, and demonstrates that she should be able to handle him just fine. It was just the right blend of foreign policy substance and President Trump's (shudder!) inadequacies. Trump was apparently unprepared for her calling him out for being totally unfit for the presidency, especially when it comes to international relations. He had little response except to say, “Reading poorly from the teleprompter! She doesn’t even look presidential.”

First off, of course she uses a teleprompter, just as all actual presidents do! She uses a prompter because she, unlike him, has something to say, rather than just blurting out little turdlets of nonsense that he thinks up as he goes along! (Also, she actually reads the prompter pretty well! I was watching closely and could hardly tell she was even using it!)

And second of all, while all actual presidential-looking presidents feel the need, from time to time, to use a prompter when they give a speech, I know of no president in history who ever went out in public with such a tacky comb-over, looking like he just came from the tanning salon, complete with that goggle-eye effect. (Well, okay, maybe James Buchanan did, nobody knows for sure, but he wasn't much of a president anyway.)

So I've changed my mind. I think Hillary should maybe continue going on the offensive, although she should be careful to not to overdo it, and to always link his shortcomings to why they disqualify him for the job.

And speaking of Trump's disqualifications, Josh Marshall mentions something interesting that Donald Trump told the Wall Street Journal about the federal judge presiding over his Trump University cases:

The fact that [Judge Gonzalo] Curiel was born to immigrant parents in Indiana in 1953 is relevant, according to Trump, because Trump's been so vocal against illegal immigration. “I’m building a wall. It’s an inherent conflict of interest."

So I guess that seals it!

The fact that Trump's family immigrated to America from Germany means he has "an inherent conflict of interest" in running for our presidency, since our country fought his country in two world wars within the last 100 years (and whupped 'em good, I might add!), so he can't help but have it out for all of us real Americans, and obviously wants to see our country fail!

Want proof? Just look what he's been able to achieve so far in destroying our electoral campaign system!

But something that makes me question even that theory is seeing the number of things that Kevin Drum tells us Trump should know, but doesn't, about foreign affairs:

He doesn’t know what the nuclear triad is. He favors Britain leaving the EU but has never heard of “Brexit.” He doesn’t know where Iraq’s oil is. He doesn’t know the difference between Hezbollah and Hamas. He’s blissfully unaware that Germany cares a great deal about Ukraine. He was taken by surprise when he learned that US companies aren’t allowed to sell planes to Iran. He thinks Iran is the main trading partner of North Korea.

So who are North Korea's main trading partners?

According to CNN.com in 2013, "The CIA World Factbook said China accounted for an estimated 67.2% of North Korea's exports and 61.6% of imports in 2011. South Korea accounted for 19.4% of exports and 20% of imports, while India received an estimated 3.6% of exports and the European Union provided about 4% of imports in 2011." Iran's not even on the list.

Per United Nations sanctions, only certain items can be traded, none of them being weapons. North Korea's #1 main export? According to Wikipedia, it's "Coal; Briquettes". (Yikes!)

And who are Iran's main trading partners?

Per europa.eu, in April; "The EU used to be the first trading partner of Iran, but due to the sanctions regime, China, the UAE and Turkey are now Iran's main trade partners, followed by the EU." North Korea's nowhere in sight. And per UN sanctions, only certain items -- but not weapons or planes! -- can be traded.

But the blatancy of Trump's lack of knowledge (and seeming lack of interest) in international affairs leads me to another theory, that being that Donald Trump's whole run for the White House may just be the world's greatest performance art project, all designed to show the Republicans the natural consequence of their outrageous belief systems!

Yes, they were right when they said he was, in fact, a liberal in conservative's clothing, just posing as a Republican candidate, but as a means to point out to them the error of their ways! In other words, the GOP has just been punked! Look for Trump to come clean and drop out of the race immediately after his acceptance speech at the convention in Cleveland!

Although I am willing to concede that I might be wrong about this theory, too. It's just that I can't figure out the real reason that he's involved himself in all this silliness.