Now We Have Trump To Kick Around

Donald Trump will leave the White House. We have no idea how soon or which tactic he will take. Could he just play golf every day for the next three months? Could he disappear for long stretches of time? Could he flee the nation, knowing that both new York State and the Southern District New York (SDNY) are likely preparing indictments for him and his family right now? I have made many inaccurate predictions about what will happen to Donald Trump. But it appears that Thursday, January 21, 2021 could be the worst day of his life. If I were Jay Alan Sekulow, I’d suggest fleeing the country as an option to both Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani.

Trump has been kicked around by the news media all his adult life. But starting now, he’s getting his ass kicked by the voters, and soon, some prosecutors and banks. If he thought he was “treated badly” before, he’s in for a shock. He will be kicked around for the rest of his miserable life.

In the meantime, we have what may be the most damaging remarks made by a sitting president in our history. Past presidents have done more damage through war, absolutely. But I can’t think of a president who did more damage with words than Donald Trump. His press conference on Thursday November 5 was an atomic bomb of words. It could have triggered one or more gun massacres. It could have blown up our republic. Thankfully, Trump’s followers didn’t act. They had to make dinner or help their kids with their homework, or something. They had more important things to do.

Look at that. That’s far, far worse than, “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.” Play that on loop at the Trump presidential library, which at this stage, will be someone’s basement game room in Nassau county or Alabama.

A presidential library? Can you imagine the grift and fraud just getting the damn thing built?

When Nixon was in his last days as president, he was drinking heavily, talking to the paintings of his predecessors hanging on the White House walls, and asking that famously religious leader, Henry Kissinger, to join him in prayer. I've always thought that Nixon's going round the bend was likely to be the record setter for presidential meltdowns. But you have to hand the crown to Trump. He's utterly, unquestionably unhinged, and I hope the Joint Chiefs are prepared for the possibility of batshit crazy orders in the next two months. It would be wonderfully, hysterically funny, if it wasn’t so dangerous.

Oh, and by the way, we're adding 100,000 new cases of a lethal virus every day in this poor, benighted country, and more than 239,000 of our fellow citizens have died. Other than that, we're doing splendidly.

Uncle Tim contributed to this post.

Trump's Enemies List Is Even More Pathetic Than Nixon's

Here’s a sample of Trump’s enemies list. It’s comedy. Richard Nixon had an enemies list, and it was drawn from politics, journalism and entertainment. Trump, who imagines himself an entertainer and showman, is furious that most people in show business despise him. His feelings were badly hurt that not one actor, singer or musician from the "A list" appeared at his inauguration.

Trump’s attempt at an enemies list reminds me of Marx's famous remark that, "history repeats itself, first as tragedy, and second as farce".

A Fitting Name For A Blog

This blog was inspired by Sadly, No!, which was one of the best political blogs of the Bush 43 era. I forgot what me and my co-founder, Archtype, wanted to call it. It could have been Gin & Tacos, but that's taken now (and is still a good blog). 

Whatever original names I was tossing around, my mom suggested the name I ultimately chose - Modified Limited Hangout. It helped that the domain was available, the name could be abbreviated, and it was a known phrase from the Watergate era. But it was an odd name. Very few people born after 1960 had heard of it. To make matters more complicated, it is a version of the CIA term, "limited hangout," which itself is a technical way of describing a "half truth." Coined on the fly by Nixon lawyer John Ehrlichman in 1973, it's a very unique phrase. A modified limited hangout is the public admission of a wrong in an attempt to hide a more serious wrong, while the media and prosecutors are investigating related crimes. It's a defensive tool in trying to cover-up a conspiracy.

The phrase carries a history, which has been repeated by several US presidential administrations. Back when I started the blog, the Bush 43 administration was dangling some limited hangouts regarding Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, and even the timeline of a hunting shooting accident involving the vice president.

Since 2017, the phrase has made a comeback. The reason for this is obvious. We now have an administration that is simply unprecedented in the number of half-truths it disseminates. First, we seem to have an amazing number of leaks coming out of federal agencies and the White House, as employees are torn between preserving their careers, supporting Trump's aggressive policies, and coping with their inability to work for him. Second, we have a White House communications office that hangs out half truths and straight lies every day. Third, the president’s external legal team, led by Rudy Giuliani, is floating limited hangouts (or downright confirming allegations) every week. And fourth and most significant, we have a president who uses a social media platform to publish limited hangouts on a regular basis. Limited hangouts are back. 

I didn't create this blog to generate a loyal readership. I knew going in that images and keywords would lead people here through Google searches. I made this blog for me. Once it was apparent that I enjoyed writing in this format, I moved this blog from Blogger to Squarespace. It was still a blog for myself, but it looked better than ever. And it continues to be polished today.

Thank you for visiting.