Joe Conason - Ramble On: At CPAC, Trump Rants Until Auditorium Starts To Empty

[DonViejo]

Joe Conason

Ramble On: At CPAC, Trump Rants Until Auditorium Starts To Empty

March 2, 2019 8:24 pm

When Donald Trump showed up for his annual appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington on Saturday afternoon, he must have anticipated a happy ending to a very bad week. Here seated before him were thousands of buzzing cult followers, eager to rise and applaud repeatedly even as he rambled on inanely for hours. Scheduled to speak for 50 minutes, according to the CPAC schedule, Trump just couldn’t tear himself away from the “love” in that big hotel ballroom, as he put it. So he just didn’t stop for a long, long time.

Well before he finally did stop, however, people started to stream out of the ballroom — just around the moment when his meandering remarks turned to crowd size, one of his favorite topics. It was amazing to hear him boast that nobody had left while he spoke, even as he watched them walking out the doors — and then to hear him predict that the media would report people had left, as if it were untrue. (At that point, someone in the rear yelled, “Fake news!”)

That scary little moment showed again how Trump gaslights his base and how susceptible they are to his tricks. No doubt those who walked out while he was talking would later agree with the president that nobody had out. Anyone who laments the loss of presidential dignity would find no agreement among these fine people, bless their hearts. They jump up and cheer when they hear him scream “Bullshit!” and “We kicked their ass!”

As for the speech itself, we’ve all heard most of this guff before. Trump remains obsessed with many of the same matters that have preoccupied him for years, from the number of rubes who attended his inauguration to his theory that tariffs can make America rich. At first, the speech text focused on trade policy — with Trump hilariously claiming that he personally had “found” several dusty US statutes that justified his tariffs — but soon veered “off script.” He had won the presidency by going off script, he gibed, and he isn’t about to change.

Perpetually self-indulgent, Trump just lets it all hang out. And in recognition of that stream-of-consciousness style, let’s not pretend that he delivered a coherent speech at CPAC — and instead, simply note a series of moments:

Early on he reminded us that his election in 2016 “was the greatest of all time.”

He reasserted the wisdom of firing FBI director James Comey, a “bad cop” who “did a horrible job…Everybody hated him.”

He wanted to be sure we know all the reasons why Robert Mueller should not be investigating him, including that he wanted to be FBI director, that “Comey is his best friend…and those are a few of the conflicts.”

When the Supreme Court overturns Obamacare, he promised, “we will get together with the Democrats” to bring America “really great health care.” (That sounds very familiar.)

Blasting the “socialist” Democrats, he explained: “Socialism is only about one thing. Socialism is about power for the ruling class.” (But obviously it’s not socialism to appoint a cabinet of billionaires.)

He renewed his ridiculous claim that Mexican drug cartels flourish because ICE “doesn’t have a border wall behind them.”

Mocking Senators, including Republicans, he lispingly noted that they’re “concerned about precedent” set by his national emergency declaration. Well, he’s concerned about murderers and rapists flooding across the border.

By the way, we have to fix “our broken immigration system,” especially “chain migration.” Please don’t tell Grandpa Drumpf — or Melania’s parents.

He complained that media saw midterm election as “a humiliating defeat” for him, when it was truly a great victory. “I wasn’t running!” he cries. (Although he told everyone to vote as if he was.)

Never ever call those other people “the Democratic party,” Trump instructed. Always call them “the Democrat party” — because “it sounds bad.” (He’s really a “conservative” now, see?)

There can be no collusion, he argued, because Melania once said: “You never spoke to anyone from Russia, darling!” (OK, forget collusion. Does anyone believe she called him “darling”?)

The failed summit with Kim Jong Un was “very productive…And we haven’t given him anything yet.” (Except for exactly what the dictator wanted.)

We should feel sorry for Trump, not the Warmbier family. Although he lampooned their suffering, he loves the Warmbiers, including their late son Otto. But he needed to suck up to Kim, whose regime tortured Otto to death. “I’m in a horrible position,” Trump said.

###

http://www.nationalmemo.com/ramble-on-cpac-trump-rants/

Posted with the permission of the author

[spanone]

1. When will the USA apologize to the world for this asshole?

[WhiteTara]

7. When we can get rid of him.

We will then deeply bow and show our shame for allowing this to go on so long.

[irisblue]

24. The US hasn't apologized for Shrub & Cheney, both who are & were war criminals

[robbob]

32. Or Vietnam

Where 6-10 million Vietnamese and Cambodians were exterminated on the pyre of an unwinnable war.

[ZZenith]

35. Started under false pretenses.

And please, let us not forget to apologize for the tens of thousands of Laotian casualties.

[cstanleytech]

37. A good starting point would be putting him and every Repugnant in Congress that jumped on board

with him into prison for life without parole or pardon but then thats just an idle dream of mine

[Girard442]

2. At this point, Trump can't really lose any more supporters.

The ones that remain are full-on Jonestown Kool-Aid drinkers. Anything bad that comes out about Trump will be fake news, even if they witness it with their own eyes.

[llmart]

4. You are absolutely correct.

No amount of trying to change their minds will work at this point. This is why we need to expend our energies on an even bigger blue wave in the next election so we have the Senate too (well, and the Presidency, but that's a given). We can't waste any more time on the Trump cultists. They and he really aren't worth it.

[Yeehah]

8. So true

Limbaugh / Fox "News" propaganda, exploiting the ignorant.

[cstanleytech]

38. Yup, you literally could get him on video paying for a doctor to perform an abortion on one of

mistresses and they would tune it out even though they claim to be against abortion.

[Aussie105]

43. Sorry

In Jonestown, it was the fruit drink Flavor Aid. Spiked with the poison potassium cyanide and several sedatives – including Valium and chloral hydrate.
(Google told me.)

Wouldn't want Kool-Aid to sue you, right?

[Girard442]

45. Right, actually.

The idiom has become "Kool-Aid drinkers", inaccurate as it may be. The Kool-Aid people are, no doubt, pretty unhappy about that. The Flavor Aid folks weren't too thrilled either, I imagine.

[Ohiogal]

3. If this "speech"

Doesn’t cement the fact that this dotard is living on the planet Insanity, then nothing will.

When will Republicans bring their heads up out of the sand? Or are they happy with the way he disgraces our country, craps all over the Constitution, and makes us a worldwide laughingstock?

[Perseus]

10. When will Republicans bring their heads up out of the sand?

The ones in Congress and the Senate are too involved, too compromised to change course, they need to save their butts.

The voters who still support him are too stupid to change their minds. I was driving home, and although I avoid listening to talk radio, as I was navigating through the stations I heard a woman say "I believe this is the beginning of the end, thank God." so I stayed, the next caller was a MAGA woman, when the host asked her if she was concerned with the accusations Cohen had made she responded "he ain't done nothing wrong, he is mah president, Cohen must go to jail, mah president done nothing wrong..." The host asked if she was concerned that any of what Cohen, with proof, had said and shown could be true, and the woman just went ahead and repeated herself...at that point I went back to listen to jazz.

I do hate to say it, but the MAGA people are too ignorant, too fanatic to have the ability to do an analysis of what the orange buffoon says and does on a daily basis, the 9,000 lies means nothing to them, they don't have the ability to change their minds, and that is why it is so important to work on the independents, to make sure that people vote, for the Democratic party to be more proactive in avoiding the electronic cheating that WILL occur.

And I wish the Democrats would start campaign to eliminate the "Electoral College", it serves only one purpose, and that is to make republican cheating much easier.

[Ferrets are Cool]

11. I do not believe their heads are "in the sand"

In private, they are sitting with a glass of Johnny Walker Blue in hand, sweating bullets and praying to their imaginary god that Agent Orange doesn't go full nuclear on "them". And by going full nuclear, I mean releasing all the skeletons they have in their closets. Remember, he has FULL access to all the wire taps that were made possible by Cheney. He has access to every evil thing that every Congress Critter has ever done.
They will continue to follow behind him lockstep ONLY because they are more scared for themselves than they are concerned for their Country. Agent Orange OWNS them.

[cstanleytech]

39. Anyone supporting him after all the things he has done and said is unlikely to suddenly wake up and

smell the coffee.

[Achilleaze]

5. The republican endorsement of lies & liars is anti-Biblical

and they will roast in their own HELL for all eternity, according to their own alleged "beliefs." That's a stiff price to pay for the vapid, unpatriotic republican indulgences of supporting a five-time republican Draft-Dodger- & Casino Hustler who pisses on the teachings of Christianity (Thou shalt not lie).

What's up with that twisted republican shit?

[Eyeball_Kid]

14. GOPers use the Bible for convenience/political expediency.

If they can attack their opponents with the Bible, they'll jump on that bandwagon in an instant. If their actions are anti-Biblical, they'll forget the Bible. It's just the way they roll. In essence, they use the Bible just like they use poorly educated people who have no critical thinking skills.

[pazzyanne]

17. But just watch how irate they become if you use the Bible

to contradict the support passages they use to uphold their ideas. I have a trumper sister who truly hates me when I use that tactic with her. I also like to use New Testament when she uses Old Testament passages. This lead me to suspect that perhaps they haven't accepted Jesus yet? Just saying!

[Girard442]

19. Yup. If Hillary's son-in-law owned the building at 666 Fifth Avenue...

...they'd be ejaculating ecclesiastical outrage all over the ceiling, but it's Trump's son-in-law, so, you know.

On edit: I don't think Kushner owns any part of it since 2018. Still.

[world wide wally]

23. If, as they say, Satan is the father of all lies, Shitler is surely the Uncle.

[cstanleytech]

40. "If their actions are anti-Biblical, they'll forget the Bible. " Or distort it to make it ok to do.

[Guilded Lilly]

6. Practiced LUNATIC. And as much as we all have run out of words...

we won’t just go silent in disgust and revulsion or it will indeed become “the normal”...which is exactly what he is counting on.
This twisted conman has relied on wearing out the patience, decency and humanity of everyone around him in his life with lies, lip curling repugnant words and blatant corruption. Devoid of accountability and reeking of sociopathic irresponsibility, he never stops.

To save our own sanity we sometimes have to step away from the constant barrage of repulsive behavior and pathological lies. The Stupid. The Mean. The Soul-Ugly. The fucking rat bastard enabling Congressional Republican sub-Cretins.
I know I struggle daily and have to shut off my brain periodically.
“Tag team” here on DU, when we must.(and a gigantic heartfelt THANKS to my fellow posters who continue to fight on days I am just too overwhelmed with disgust)

Choir-preaching, yeah, but we can’t ever stop trying to remove this stain from office. We will prevail.

[pazzyanne]

18. Amen, Guilded Lilly!

[MoonRiver]

9. This (Chumpy) shall pass. Thank DOG!

[PatSeg]

12. Loved this!

OK, forget collusion. Does anyone believe she called him “darling”?

Bill Clinton was known for going overtime in his speeches, but at least he said stuff. Trump just rambles, repeats himself a lot, and uses a grade school vocabulary.

[BlueIdaho]

21. More like a Castro length speech. nt.

[nolabear]

13. It's going to be so interesting when he's gone.

He’s an anomaly. He might speak to the worst in human nature and give it power but it’s largely because most people are so far from his brand of lunacy we’re paralyzed by it. Shooting someone in the middle of 5th Ave isn’t a boast for most of us, and the ones who are evil enough to profit from him don’t have the sheer lunacy to do what he does once he’s gone.

I swear I wake up every day and check to see if by some miracle he’s gone-prison, anyeurism, what have you. That’s when it all falls apart. It can’t be soon enough.

[stevesinpa]

30. he is only an anomaly in that

he doesn't have the filter most of the republican leadership has. the republican leadership backs trump because they agree with him, the only thing they disagree with him is his loudmouth bragging. that is why most republicans in congress do not speak out against him, because they agree with him, but they know most Americans do not agree and to speak like the subhuman does only drives Americans away from them.

[nolabear]

36. I actually don't think they agree. I think they don't care.

Yeah, they have opinions and they want to keep the jobs so they pander to people with even worse ones, but I think they’re betting the game. They might mouth fake news but they know they need it. They know the Democrats aren’t socialists in the way 45 screams socialist and at some point I think it’ll be to the advantage of those riding that train to have to hop off. When we retake control we’ll have to clean up a bunch of legislation but when he’s gone quite a few will stop courting the sheer insanity vote. No one else will step up in that fascist dictatorial charismatic (yech) way. At least I can’t see anyone doing it.

[BootinUp]

15. Shouldn't someone from "down there" (u know)

Have snatched his soul already?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

29. That happened many years ago.

The Faust legend says that Faust sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for worldly success. Trump has achieved his worldly success dishonestly and illegitimately by ignoring all principles of honor and decency - the Devil's work? But nobody lives forever, and that's when Satan collects on the debt. I don't believe in a literal Hell, but if I did, I'd be 100% certain that's where Trump ends up.

[paleotn]

16. He's a broken record.

But it doesn't matter to them. Most of the hemorrhoids at CPAC don't actually believe his shit. It's easily overlooked for the promise of tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy, sticking it to "liberals" ( i.e. anyone who doesn't believe their bizarre amalgam of right wing nuttery and libertarian bullshit) , and the chance that they too may get a piece of the kleptocracy the crazy old shit represents. The only real connection they have to the doddering fool is they're societal parasites just like he is.

[Solly Mack]

20. K&R

[Dorn]

22. Time to update the term: Gas-lighting -- Trump-lighting

This is a perfect example of trump-lighting:

It was amazing to hear him boast that nobody had left while he spoke, even as he watched them walking out the doors — and then to hear him predict that the media would report people had left, as if it were untrue.

So true, so darned true! This is a quintessential example of trump-lighting.

[Pluvious]

25. I think what Melania actually meant...

... Was that she recalled he'd never met a Russian NAMED Darlingski.

An innocent misunderstanding.

[Yonnie3]

26. I was amused by the Press Pool's comment

and wondered it this reporter would ever be in the pool again.

From: "Drusch, Andrea"
Date: March 2, 2019 at 2:18:51 PM EST
Subject: In Town Pool Report #11


POTUS’s CPAC speech concluded at 2:18pm. He spoke for just over two hours.
Members of the audience left early. POTUS concluded his speech saying not one person had left early.
--
Andrea Drusch
Washington Correspondent for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
McClatchy's Washington Bureau

https://publicpool.kinja.com/subject-in-town-pool-report-11-1833011338

[dalton99a]

27. Kick

[yaesu]

28. ABC news aired 6 minutes or so of hitlers speech but I promptly muted nt

[ginnyinWI]

31. NBC featured a bunch of soundbites strung together.

That was enough to get the flavor of what he said. ABC I don't watch because it is usually pretty shallow. Same really with all the Sunday shows.

[forgotmylogin]

41. President Donald Trump spoke for 2 hours, 2 minutes and 17 seconds

That's 122 minutes. He was scheduled for 50 minutes. He went over by 72 minutes, longer than he was even initially slated for. A skilled orator knows not to go too far over their slotted time. It's rare for even a good stand up comedian to hold an audience for longer than 90 minutes at once.

He doesn't comprehend if he talks for longer than a standard theatrical film that people are going to need breaks.

For reference, Plan 9 From Outer Space and The Intern are both movies that run 122 minutes.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

33. was he as demented as this report indicates?

That's some desperate sounding shit.

[DeminPennswoods]

34. SNL Weekend Edition showed verbatim clips from the speech

plus the entire flag humping event since they could not possibly write a better parody no matter how hard they tried.

[LittleGirl]

42. I'm so glad someone watched to give a cliff's notes version of it

because I can't stand that voice or word salad for more than a few 30 second sound bites. The man raises my blood pressure and the analysts on the talk show panelists make me yell at the tv. They are stupid to defend him. I hope they all lose their jobs once that madman is gone. I never wished harm on anyone before but I hope IQ45's heart or brain explodes some day real soon to take us all out of this misery. If I was a praying person, that's what I would pray for. My goodness that man is insane!

[oasis]

46. +1

[True Blue American]

44. Scarborough is

Moaning and groaning about how awful Trump is, yet is showing a good portion of the Trump speech,including hugging the flag. He is fake,too. I turned him off. He was at the front on the Monica mess. Voted to impeach. He also allowed his dear friend, Donald to call in every day, long after The other stations cut him off on the phone calls.

Scarborough is as fake as Trump.

Conason has been my favorite for at least 20 years.