Hear What I Mean, Not What I Say

Today, 12/22/16, President-elect Donald Trump, tweeted the following:

Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump  5h5 hours ago5 hours agoThe United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes

I thought it was off base since both the US and Russia each have enough nuclear warheads to obliterate all mankind several times over. But maybe Trump doesn't know that. Do we need to expand our arsenal so we can render the world even more uninhabitable for an even longer number of years?

As it turns out, Trump's surrogates are now explaining what he really meant.

Trump communications director Jason Miller sent a statement to try to explain the President-elect's tweet on nuclear capability.

He suggested Trump was "referring to the threat of nuclear proliferation and the critical need to prevent it," although that was not referenced in the tweet. He also said Trump was emphasizing the need to "modernize our deterrent capability."

This is typical Trump behavior. He blasts out an ill-conceived tweet or says something off the cuff. Then his Explainer Squad springs into action. They are often led by Chief Explainer Kellyanne Conway although VP-elect Mike Pence and Reince Priebus are right up there too.

This seems to me to be a dangerous practice. Believe it or not, some people take your words literally. I assume some nations do the same. So, do we all have to change our listening and reading habits where Trump is concerned? Do we have to wait until the Explainer Squad has a chance to clarify or deny what Trump said? How long do we need to wait, an hour, a day, a week or longer? Are we expected to know what Trump really means despite the words he used? 

This is just another tactic to render facts and the truth meaningless. 

Trump rarely says what he means or means what he says. A complete reversal of the axiom, say what you mean and mean what you say.

It's going to be a confusing four years.   

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The Electoral College Landslide

By now we should all know that Donald Trump has a problem with the truth. Even when something is good, he can't keep from exaggerating. Embellishment is his middle name. A recent instance of this is the Electoral College predicted results.

The official Electoral College votes have not been cast yet, but Trump will get approximately 306  votes to Clinton's 232. You need 270 votes to win outright. I said approximately because a few of Trump's delegates may not actually vote for him. That won't make any difference in the final results, Trump will still win.

So, Trump won in the Electoral College with 56.88% of the 538 possible votes. The President-Elect and his surrogates have stated several times that this is a landslide victory. Trump said on Fox News "We had a massive landslide victory, as you know, in the Electoral College". His campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway tweeted "306. Landslide. Blowout. Historic". Reince Priebus, Trump’s soon-to-be White House chief of staff, said that Trump’s victory was "an electoral landslide."

In truth, this "landslide" 56.88% ranks number 46 of the 58 presidential elections, the bottom 20%. Let's point out too that Clinton won the popular vote by almost three million.

Reagan won the 1984 Electoral College vote 525 to 13 over Mondale. That's 97.58% of the votes. Mondale won his home state of Minnesota and DC, that's all. It ranks fifth on the all-time chart. That is a landslide.

You can see all the numbers at PolitiFacts.

Trump and his team pulled off a stunning and surprising win. Why can't they be satisfied with that? Almost everything that comes out of the President-Elect's mouth or from his staff and surrogates is a lie, a half-truth or an embellished truth. Take nothing at face value. They apparently can't help it.

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The Post-Truth Era

The Oxford Dictionary new word of the year for 2016 is post-truth. It's ironic that in this age of the Internet when we have access to most of the world's knowledge, facts have become old fashioned. I guess we should have seen this coming when Stephen Colbert coined the word truthiness a decade ago. Colbert was using the new word in response to the Bush 43 administration's trouble with the truth. It was also a play on George W's problems with the English language and his propensity to make up words when the Queen's English escaped him. 

My recollection of most truthiness is that it had some anchor or starting point in actual fact. Well, that apparently was too limiting for many. We have evolved from the ½ truth and ¼ truth to the no-truth. Conspiracy theories are now planks in political platforms. 

Science, we don't need no stinking science. As long as big energy can make money by mining and pumping carbon fuels and afford lobbyists and campaign funding then climate change must be a myth. What do those climate scientists know, they aren't making millions for Wall Street and their stockholders. If you are not at least a millionaire then you are pretty useless and probably stupid.

Our president-elect never lets a fact get in the way of what he believes. He doesn't believe that the Russians interfered with the last campaign and election, so he gives no stock to the evidence collected by our intelligence agencies. He would have won the popular vote except for the millions of illegal votes. No evidence of that. 

Trump doesn't need daily security briefings because he's a smart guy. Besides, the facts in those briefings may contradict his beliefs. 

The new National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, never met a conspiracy theory he didn't embrace. Flynn's son apparently inherited these conspiracy theory tendencies. He believed a DC pizza joint, without a basement, was fronting for a Democratic child sex/porn ring. That ring included Hillary Clinton and John Podesta and was run out of that nonexistent basement. 

PolitiFacts and FactCheck both estimated that 70% of what came out of Trump's mouth during the campaign was mostly or completely false. Is 30% true good enough?

Yes, established newspapers and TV news organizations do make mistakes and occasionally report false news. The difference is that they correct their mistakes and also do not manufacture that news. That manufacturing of false news is now a growth industry on the internet. 

Be careful, be attentive, be skeptical, be curious. Let's make this age of post-truth a very short age in our history.

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Seriously But Not Literally

While watching the news and interview shows, including the Sunday morning political shows, the last few days one thing stood out above all others. That is that Trump's minions are constantly doing damage control and trying to explain what The Donald really meant. 

An operative phrase during Trump's campaign and now the transition period was/is "take Trump seriously but not literally". What the fuck does that mean? It is a pretty good definition of an oxymoron. We should take what he says as a serious statement except when it is not. There is no rhyme or reason as to when we should apply the serious label as opposed to the not literal label. It's a completely random crap shoot and complete BS.

This ambiguity is one of Trump's main techniques. Say something that can be interrupted multiple ways and let people read into it what suits their views and prejudices. If the majority of people interpret the statement negatively, he or his spokespeople say he was kidding or it is not to be taken literally. That's a very clever ploy. Trump can never be wrong. 

He said there were millions of illegal votes in California but had no proof. That's why he lost the popular vote. VP-elect Pence now says Trump was actually referring to voter fraud in general and not specifically to California. So I assume that means our president-elect is not capable of articulating a general concept and must use false specific statements, that we are not to take literally, to make his point. We get to read his mind and intent.

PolitiFact and FactCheck both estimated that 70% of what came out of Trump's mouth during the campaign was partially or completely false. That's a lot of "not literally" shit. The other interpretation is that he believed the BS he was spouting. I'm not sure which is worse, that he is a pathological liar or is completely ignorant of the facts. Neither one is a great option.

Trump is on a mission to drastically reduce the value of truth and facts. I really mean it this time until and unless I don't. 

I grew up being taught that words matter. I was also taught that the truth mattered. If I did something wrong growing up I got in trouble. If I got caught lying about it too I got double or triple punishment. Nixon didn't necessarily face impeachment for the Watergate break-in but he did for the coverup and lying.

Here is my suggestion to Trump. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Words really do matter when you are the president. 

I also think that the news media and citizens must call out Trump and his surrogates when they spew complete BS. Keep their feet to the fire. That is the only way that truth and facts can triumph over fake news and conspiracy theories. The Republicans, Fox News and radio talk shows dissected everything Obama said down to the punctuation. It seems fair to me that Trump should be held to the same standards. Did I mention that words matter? So does punctuation. 

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Stirring The World Pot

It seems Mr. Trump is intent on stirring things up on the world diplomatic front. Two of his first foreign affairs actions were to call Pakistan and Taiwan. 

The call to Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif sounds like a high school chat. According to the Pakistan account, the conversation was full of praise for the "fantastic", "terrific", smart people and leader of the country. If you follow world news, you know that Pakistan is not a "fantastic" country. If not actually a terrorist state it is very close. It's sympathy and support of the Taliban is well known. They are a very unstable and untrustworthy ally. Remember also that Osama Bin Laden lived in a compound just blocks from the Pakistani military college for six years. Hiding right under their noses but they couldn't find him. Right. We don't know what will come of this phone call but it did piss off India, one of our strongest allies and trading partners. India and Pakistan are bitter enemies and they both have nuclear arsenals. In the past, Trump himself has argued that Pakistan “is probably the most dangerous” country in the world and that India needs to serve as “the check” to it. Of course, we all know by now that Trump doesn't really mean most of what pours out of his mouth.

Then to make sure the Pacific rim didn't feel left out, Trump had a phone call with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. There are no real details about the conversation other than to say there were congratulations to each other and economic, political and security ties were discussed. The US has not officially recognized Taiwan since 1979. It's a very touchy subject with the Chinese and the one China policy. China's Foreign Ministry has already lodged a complaint with the United States.

Trump chose to have conversations with two world leaders who are part of delicate and potentially dangerous situations both in their dealings with us and their neighbors. Maybe he should call Canada or Ireland or Sweden or any number of other countries that are less toxic.

A very disturbing point is that Mr. Trump has chosen not to get any briefings from the State Department. I assume because he already knows more than State. He doesn't need the security briefings either. 

When Trump becomes president he can change foreign policy and our relationships with other countries. He can even ignore the State Department. What he should do as President-ELECT is to try and follow the current US policies and protocols. Technically, Trump is still a private citizen but the rest of the world may not make that distinction. He'll have a four year run of his own beginning January 20th. Buckle your seatbelts.

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Initial Post

I have decided to start a new blog to follow and focus on Donald Trump's administration. My other blog BillyJim47 is a hodgepodge of random thoughts on all kinds of subjects. This one will be primarily about Trump but of course, will have to include Congress and the Supreme Court as it affects the Executive branch.

Full disclosure, I am not a Trump fan. I am also not a fan of the current iteration of the Republican agenda, even though I am probably in their target demographic. I'm an old, retired white guy who grew up in the segregated and conservative South. I've lived,worked and traveled to several places during my adulthood. 

I will be commenting on Trump's follow through of his campaign promises. I will attempt to point out the lies and hyperbole that fly out of his mouth. I admit that will be a daunting task since both are spewed at the rate and force of a firehose. I will even comment when I agree with Mr. Trump.

I hope to remain factual and fair. I will try my best to fact check before I post. I am sure that there will be mistakes on occasion. If you see a mistake, I welcome your corrections. Just make sure you are correcting a fact and not just taking exception to my opinion. Of course, you are welcome to disagree with my opinions and interpretations too but remember that facts, beliefs, feeling, and opinions are different. At least initially, comments will not be moderated or require approval prior to being published. It will stay that way until it is abused. Stay civil and you are welcome to participate. I hope you do.

I don't expect much activity prior to the inauguration on January 20th. Maybe a couple of comments on cabinet selections, Trump Twitter rants or other announcements. Until the inauguration though it is just talk. On January 20, 2017, the rubber meets the road. The blog site is still under construction so expect some changes to the look and feel. If you see something that could be improved, let me know.

I am starting this blog so I don't have to clog up Facebook with long entries about politics that many don't want to see or think about. This way I can just post a link to this blog on Facebook, G+, Twitter, tumblr, etc. You can follow by email or your favorite RSS reader on the right sidebar. 

As a final thought, let me state that I want Trump and the country to be successful during the next four years. That is unlike the Republican stance over the past eight years where Obama's failure and obstruction were the main agenda items. 

I hope you read and participate. It should be an interesting four years.

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