First of all, I'd like to send out my thoughts and prayers to the people of Toledo, because why the hell not? We all need some thoughts and prayers these days.

On Monday, after a weekend of slaughter around the country, El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago proved once again that he is incapable of rising to any occasion more serious than a ball he can kick out of the rough and onto the fairway. The Toledo gaffe was merely the most ludicrous illustration. His affect was flat. He was at SniffCon 4. His prepared remarks were back into the Grand Guignol American Carnage Mode: "twisted monsters," "sinister ideologies," "barbaric slaughters," "monstrous evil," REDJACK! REDJACK!

As for the policies, and we're assuming that he had a millisecond of sincerity, they're a ragbag of old cliches—video games, vague musings about mental health, dire warnings about the "dark corners of the Internet," an accelerated death penalty procedure, as though Texas needs his help to kill people, some side-eyed support for "red flag" laws, and a watery condemnation of white supremacy that likely will last as long as the first moment at his event later this week in Pennsylvania when the adoring goobers all start chanting, "send them back." Hell, not long before dragging himself before the cameras, he was tweeting out that the "fake news" media was to blame.

The Media has a big responsibility to life and safety in our Country. Fake News has contributed greatly to the anger and rage that has built up over many years. News coverage has got to start being fair, balanced and unbiased, or these terrible problems will only get worse!

In short, I was neither moved nor inspired. I don't trust him as far as I can throw a Russian oligarch.



Let the president put out this fire. The Washington Post Getty Images

We have a serious problem with political crazy on the right hand side of our politics, and the president* doesn't have a clue, and the institutions of government and law enforcement seem a bit bumfuzzled on the whole business. The Washington Post had a fascinating look into how and why the FBI is hamstrung in dealing with what is now an actual national security threat.

Dave Gomez, a former FBI supervisor who oversaw terrorism cases, said he thinks FBI officials are wary of pursuing white nationalists aggressively because of the fierce political debates surrounding the issue.

“I believe Christopher A. Wray is an honorable man, but I think in many ways the FBI is hamstrung in trying to investigate the white supremacist movement like the old FBI would,” Gomez said. “There’s some reluctance among agents to bring forth an investigation that targets what the president perceives as his base. It’s a no-win situation for the FBI agent or supervisor.” Gomez said that reluctance stems in large part from the public criticism President Trump has launched against the FBI over the course of the bureau’s investigation into Russian election interference and the president’s conduct.

Let him deny his base. Let him tell his next audience, without the usual nudge-nudge-wink-wink, that public displays of racist anger will not be tolerated at his appearances. Let him shut them up. For decades, Democratic politicians have been told to attack the loudest members of their base, and that's only on environmental regulations and entitlement programs. How about we demand that the president* stand against the members of his base advocating ethnic cleansing, and not just with spoooooooky words?

For the moment, I'm going to associate myself with the words of Beto O'Rourke, who demonstrated over the weekend that he has a pulse, even if his campaign doesn't, at least at the moment.

“What do you think? You know the shit he’s been saying. He’s been calling Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals. I don’t know, like, members of the press, what the fuck?”



I'm thinking seriously of having T-shirts made.

Editor's Note: The president's event in Pennsylvania this week is not officially slated to be a rally.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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