He Doesn’t Know the Job

Donald Trump has tried to bend the presidency toward his will instead of letting it shape him.

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Dear Reader (Including those of you who had your last shreds of hope snatched from you when you discovered the staging of the Leeroy Jenkins meme),

President Trump isn’t plotting a coup, but that is not the defense of the man you might think it is. More on that in a moment. 

First, let’s say you took the job of basketball coach for your kid’s rec team. 

You like basketball, but you aren’t a master of the rules and it’s not like you know how to design plays, motivate kids, or do anything that’s generally considered basketball-y. So why did you take the job in the first place? It doesn’t matter—at least, not for these purposes. Maybe the school or your church asked you to do it when no one else would. Let’s just say you did it for good reasons. There was a need and you stepped up. 

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  1. Tim

    Here's a late to the comments thread idea, I think has merit. Why don't Sasse and Romney (maybe a few other R-senators) condition support for connfirmation on Trump accepting premise of peaceful transition; win, lose or draw? 2 R-senators doing this would put Trump in a heck of a Hobbs choice un-alligned with Mitch.

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    Bill Marino

    I’m not so sure that this is being driven by Trump’s ignorance. I think he’s creating a group of followers who are sure to be angry (hopefully) after the election. He’s fanning the flames to pull them closer. What better place to vent anger than watching Trump do his thing on Trump’s new TV network? I’m concerned that when Trump loses, he’s going to continue to nurse the Grievance Party. He’s going to continue to be a destructive force in this country. I’m hoping a bunch of rich folks negotiate a severance package. They put in a few billion dollars to get Trump to shut up, give up his Twitter account and enjoy his new dacha on the Crimea.

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    Linda Beggs

    The US is facing serious challenges, foreign and domestic, requiring cooperation to effectively respond. We must find the grace to de-escalate, turn down the temperature, and work together. Donald Trump thrives on division and discord--which is definitely NOT putting "America First."

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    Richard Cheverton

    Standard progressive MSNBC/WaPo/NYT talking points. Please, come up with something new.

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    Pat Riot

    Well Trump's tax returns are out and he's broke, bleeding cash, and in hock up to his ears and the loans are guaranteed personally, meaning that he's on the edge of *personal* financial collapse, i.e. down to his golden toilet being repossessed if he doesn't make his payments.

    Not only does this remove one of the primary pillars of his appeal for president, it underscores just how exposed he is to foreign manipulation. Yes, indeed, Putin's holding up of Trump Tower Moscow and/or loan guarantees now completely explain his fealty to Russia.

    This is the beginning, not the end, wherein Trump supporters try to say, "wow I never knew" when in fact we *did* know this for four years and only somebody with third-degree TDS could possibly overlook something so obvious for so long. Trump's criminal, stupidity, amorality and incompetence were very, very well documented by multiple bi-partisan sources.

    Regardless, let's get this election past us, let Trump and the Republicans get the hammering they deserve, let the GOP devolve into a fringe party and move forward with a new actually Conservative party that will once again provide a conservative angle on politics that our country's political ecosystem needs.

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    1. Scroop Moth

      If he isn't reelected, he could become homeless.

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      Emily

      Except that they’re not going to say “wow I never knew”, they’re going to cry “Fake News”! They’ll say, but the judges, but dementia, but the MSM is evil! They will do everything they possibly can to squish this bit of information into the deepest recesses of the mind.

      And actually I don’t envy them the cognitive dissonance caused by trying to convince themselves he’s worth another term despite almost daily evidence to the contrary. Maybe I’d be doing the same thing if the shoe were on the other foot.

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        Pat Riot

        Certainly we've all seen this rodeo before:

        1. News comes out that Trump does something terrible.
        2. The right-wing media complex denies it happened, fake news, etc.
        3. Then they admit it happened, but it's not that bad, everybody does it, etc.
        4. Then they admit it was really that bad, but the judged, etc.
        5. Then Trump does something even worse because he knows nothing matters to his base.
        6. Goto #1.

        Except this time I think it's different. Trump didn't fight this event for five straight years, teams of lawyers going all the way to the Supreme Court and pay a tremendous political price because he thought this was no big deal. Rather, he went to all of this trouble because it strikes at the very core of his own ego: that he's a loser.

        Certainly a fair chunk of his base will still be fine with supporting a loser who inherited $400 million from his father who helped put him in business only to blow it all and end up broke and in debt, but *he* will feel bad about it, and it will effect what little hold he has on reality.

        The debate on Tuesday--if it still happens--is going to draw the largest audience in the history of the world...

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          Emily

          You’re probably right, especially about the degree to which the release of the returns will negatively impact his ego and grip on reality. The last time he had an ego hit, when people were making fun of him for going to the bunkers during the protests at the White House, he orchestrated that awful Bible photo op and the escalation of police against the protesters.

          I am suddenly queasy wondering what his response to this will be. Cos, yeah, it mattered to him a whole lot.

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    Richard Cheverton

    There is only one fact that matters in the election. Like him or not, think he is a nasty person, think that he talks too damn much, find him insulting--you name it--he is the last bulwark against the radicalized Democratic party. If you live in a state that has been controlled by that one party (I live in Portland...'nuff said) you know exactly how these people standing in the wings behind Biden operate. Hand 'em a nation, and let's "Portlandize" everyone, everywhere.

    The folks behind Biden are dead-serious about their Long March toward absolute power. They are going about it methodically and ruthlessly. Think how many have lost jobs for simply saying the wrong things? How many have been forced to undergo "re-education?" How many top echelon jobs in media, education, even the arts are occupied by people who think our nation is basically illegitimate and that the two century republican experiment is so foul that they must replace it. With...?

    Whether or not I vote for Trump, in Oregon one faction of one party runs all but one office in the state. My vote will be worthless; there is no actual opposition, loyal or otherwise to the rule of the progressive machine.

    I don't want to see my nation taken over by these people. I know what it's like.

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      Emily

      You see Trump as the bulwark against radicalized Democrats but for him to say, in an official press conference, that there may just be a continuation of power, no matter what “we the people” say, that’s taking aim at democracy itself.

      Having said that, I’m seriously alarmed that the mainstream media is not doing a more balanced job of covering the extremes of the far left. I’ve only become aware of it through diligent searching, trying to find independent sources for some of the things people have discussed on these forums. Things like campus speech codes somehow protecting college students who disrupt conservative speakers invited by other students, like the Evergreen College mini-riot in 2017, like respected professors being forced out by hostile students over things that simply don’t pass the “reasonable person” test... I couldn’t believe these things didn’t get prominent news coverage, because they are newsworthy, even news critical. I’ve been pointing this out to my friends, and they are just as surprised and appalled as I am.

      Here is my perspective for whatever it is worth. The moderate Democrats, who make up the bulk of the party, are largely unaware of how extreme the situation is in places like Oregon and Washington state because they are not focused on politics and because the msm is abdicating its duty. When they/we become aware, which is inevitable, they/we will make a stink. I am fully ready to vote red in the midterms if Biden won’t rein in the far left, and I’ll do everything in my power to make sure the moderates become aware of the inadequate media coverage.

      Living where you do, I get why you don’t trust Democrats in general, but I still think the general trend of Democrats is away from the extreme. Biden has his flaws, but it’s worth noting that Democrats chose the most moderate, least offensive candidate on offer. If the first 2 years of a Biden presidency does not rein in the far left, Democrats will lose big at the midterms, thus restoring some balance.

      Trump is invalidating democracy. He’s already injected so much distrust in the electoral process that no matter who wins, half the country will believe there was fraud. I’m afraid that a constitutional crisis is already inevitable. I do not want to lose the Democratic party to the far left as the Republicans have lost their party to Trump. I want to check that slide before we end up with a candidate that has as much charisma and is as power mad as Trump, and that remains a risk as long as he is the voice of the Republican party.

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      Pat Riot

      So wait, you live on the city block in Portland where there are riots? Have you thought of moving a few blocks down the street where it's quieter?

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        Emily

        I don’t see where he mentioned riots... but that situation seems out of hand to me. Maybe fox over hypes the disruption, but other outlets are underplaying it. I’d be losing my mind if there were months of protests impeding my daily life!

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          Pat Riot

          Are there protests impeding people's daily lives outside of a few city blocks in a few cities? What are we talking about, a hundred people nationwide? I find it hard to believe the commenter here is one of those hundred.

          And even harder to believe that Trump supporters care one whit about what is going on in inner big cities.

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            Emily

            If you live on those few city blocks in those few cities, months of this is intolerable. I worked in downtown DC during the 90s and there were frequent protests outside the White House as Clinton tried to push policies that angered both allies and opponents. I had to go down Pennsylvania Avenue almost every day and yet only one time in 5 years was my daily life substantially impeded.

            It is possible to make yourself heard without trampling on the peace of one’s fellow citizens. Some places are doing that fine, but some places just aren’t.

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    3. Scroop Moth

      I believe you would find Mississippi to be heaven on earth, although your vote wouldn’t make any difference there either.

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      Nick

      I mean, have you considered just moving out of Portland? It doesn't sound like you like it very much. It's a big country! And Portland is probably THE most left-leaning place in the entire USA, bar none. There are probably places you could live that would be more your pace. Don't know what your job is, but whatever you do in Portland could probably also be done in an Atlanta suburb. There are plenty of conservative pockets out here.

      Sending federal agents to arrest random people off the street or mobs of gun-wielding Proud Boys or lockdowns or Trump or Pence or McConnell or *anyone* cannot stop the city of Portland from being Portland. All you're doing by putting people like Trump in power is making them angrier.

      And on another note, you complain about the Left's takeover of media and art, but electing Trump has done *absolutely nothing* to slow that down. He told you he was a bulwark against the left, but that's because he's a conman and wants your taxes to fund his golf. He'll *say* anything to get your support, but he won't *do* anything, because the America he promises can only really be accomplished by the changing hearts and minds, and he is utterly incapable of doing that.

      You are a mark, and you are being conned.

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  7. Joe1776

    He came to drain the swamp not to have it shape him. As it turned out the fbi used nonsense from a a suspected Russian spy to then accuse him of colluding with Russia.

    https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/09/steeles-dossier-source-was-a-suspected-russian-spy/

    Facts keep hurting your trump is to blame narrative.

    I’m not saying Trump is great he is not but the institutions like the media Is much worse. Even the fbi Acted outrageously.

    That the media is barely even covering this recently unrelated information just shows how horrible our media institutions are.

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      Emily

      So, no comment on the anti-American statement about a continuation of power? No concern over his cavalier attitude about knocking down this pillar of democracy?

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      1. Joe1776

        In other words you have no facts. Just opinions containing your subjective assessments of trump. I’m talking about facts and how our media and fbi used bs from a suspected Russian spy to try to bring down a democratically elected president.

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          Emily

          It’s an absolute fact that Trump said there may not be a transfer of power but a continuation of power even if the people choose Biden. That’s the fact I’m talking about and it is beyond dispute. He said it himself in an official press conference, not subjective even a little bit.

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          1. Joe1776

            No you are spinning facts. Facts are exactly what people said or did. And Trump did not say "if the people choose Biden I will try to keep power."

            If you want facts you should read McCarthy's article. It is full of them.

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          Pat Riot

          Yeah, none of that is true. Durham released his report: nothing.

          Manafort, on the other hand, is very much in prison after being convicted by a jury of his peers.

          And Trump's numerous ties to Russia are well documented.

          And his pending deal for Trump Tower Moscow he kept from the American people before the election, which made him an obvious target for foreign enemies.

          And so on. Our FBI did its job insofar as they investigated--but the investigation was killed by Trump before they finished since he's a corrupt traitorous criminal who has everything to hide, as we are seeing today.

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          1. Joe1776

            None of it is true huh? The FBI fisa warrant applications did not rely on info from Steele? Steele did not use a Suspected Russian spy as the source for that info?

            Do you think the FBI lawyer did not plead guilty to altering documents in order to get the fisa warrant against people associated with the Trump campaign?
            https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/08/kevin-clinesmith-guilty-plea-russia-probe-lying-about-lying/
            I will say it again, do not expect to get all the information from so called "moderate news." They simply will not tell you all the facts.

            Sadly the dispatch seems more concerned with defending this sort of rot in our fbi and claiming anyone who attacks their investigation is full of conspiracy theories. But what I am saying is well documented if you bother to look at the evidence of both sides.

            Overlooking this abuse of power by the FBI in order to claim Trump is the one eroding "institutions" that we should be shaped by is simply crazy. We all knew there was a swamp with the media but that the FBI would get so involved should be concerning to anyone that cares about the integrity of our institutions. Trump didn't make the FBI abuse its power in such horrendous ways.

            No one should be surprised the NYT is altering documents in order to peddle anti-trump lies but I didn't expect that from the FBI.

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      Pat Riot

      The FBI acted to protect our country from foreign enemies. That's their job. Hopefully they will keep doing it.

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      1. Joe1776

        By using a Russian spies lies about our democratically elected president? Do you even read the article to get the facts?

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          Pat Riot

          The FBI did not use Russian spies to do anything.

          I get my facts from reputable sources, not Fox News.

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          1. Joe1776

            You don’t know anything about Danchenko because you want to bury your head in the sand.

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    3. Joe1776

      Unrelated= unredacted

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    Johntadian

    Ah, another "He who must not be re-elected" article. Thanks. I was getting worried you'd lost your zeal to see Biden in office.

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    Pat Riot

    "Larry Nasser Doesn't Know the Job"

    Mr. Goldberg is certainly not alone in using the "Trump doesn't know" defense of Trump. It's a defense used by a lot of public voices who would otherwise be Trump's detractors (including his direct political rivals), so I don't single out Mr. Goldberg for using it per se.

    But it is most decidedly a *defense* of Trump in that it deflects from the totality of his culpability and leaves one incapable of predicting what Trump will do next.

    To whit, you cannot guess what Trump will do next by guessing what he *does not know* because that could be anything.

    On the other hand, you can read him like a book when you simply compute exactly what is best for himself personally and remove any morality whatsoever.

    Trump did not "fail to understand" the danger of COVID, he immediately saw it as a political loser for himself and acted to mitigate that loss. Period. End of story. That one million Americans would die or be severely sickened by his actions didn't even enter his mind for a moment, nor would be the worst economic downturn we've seen in 80 years, etc. His only thought--which continues to this day--is how to win the election (which now has turned into, how to stay in power when he loses it).

    Trump didn't "fail to understand" that you cannot use the US government's power to get yourself reelected when he bribed the president of Ukraine into making up stories about his political rival: he knew what he was doing was wrong. What Trump *knew*--and what he was absolutely right about--is that the Republican party would ensure there was absolutely no downside for him if he got caught, so trying it was a no-brainer.

    Trump isn't going to learn about the presidency **because he doesn't have to**. It won't help him get reelected or make more money for himself.

    All of the mistakes he has made, which have destroyed our economy, our standing in the world, and the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans--**are not mistakes** because the Republican party and its media complex are 100% behind Trump and they are doing everything they can to achieve the only goal in Trump's life right now, which is to win a second term.

    Trump has no morality, no patriotism, no thought for any other human being on this planet other than himself. He has contempt for his followers--especially the Republican party itself--because he knows how weak and stupid they are for following him (i.e. just like his contempt for his many girlfriends/wives/encounters through the years).

    Understand that, and then suddenly everything that Trump does makes perfect sense, and everything he will do in the future will be much more predictable.

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    Troy Ault

    This is spot on. The predictable and understandable media + Dem hysteria (and WSJ Ed Board’s poo-pooing) at the statement is lazy and shallow. Evidence that we’ve all become inured to the abnormality of having Bozo the clown in the Oval. Yes, of course we should take seriously even unwitting and prospective incitement of violence. But the real issues remain, 1) that he continues to undermine the legitimacy of 50 independently run elections rather than mobilize the machinery of government to bolster them and 2) that he doesn’t even know the job well enough to know that the words, “peaceful transfer of power” have important historical meaning.

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