Sunk in Helsinki by the Donado

Hell, he eclipsed himself this time, fawning
over Putin during their "Summit" (--height
of futility's folly, no?) on July 16th. So far
few of us have heard anything beyond
speculation re: their two hours spent alone
except for two translators. This sort of intimate
private talk worked well for Reagan and
Gorbachev back in 1987, but then, those two
were much smarter than the current duo, much
more interested in Glasnost.

The "clarification"/correction vis a vis "would/
wouldn't" is laughable--gallows humor  only,
that is.  I can see it now: Kelly Kelly, Pompeo
and a few other trusted sycophants gathered
in the Oval Office, poring over the by now
infamous sentence broadcast 'round the world...

"Hmmn, lemme see, oh! Will you look at THAT,
Mr. President--just change would to wouldn't,
issue a clarification, and voila! storm over!"

But no, squalls still erupt as millions of us keep
laughing and shaking our heads about the
effrontery/stupidity of yet another mindless
attempt at creaming over what the world has
known for two and a half years--the Donald
is irrational, narcissistic, heedless and ignorant,
not to be depended upon, unless you count his
determination to fulfill his campaign promises...
the Donado continues to blow dangerously,
fomenting/threatening wars, further
destabilizing an already fractious planet.

PBS as Tone Deaf as Ordinary Retail American Media

Tonight on WTTW (PBS Chicago) Judy
Woodruff described Jane Ferguson as
"intrepid" after showing the viewers
Jane broadcasting from the field in
war torn Yemen. She had a headscarf
(not covering her hair) at the ready,
but what about her tight little black
leather or leather-like cropped jacket
and faded, tight enough jeans? This
is an Arab country where most if not
all women wear black head to toe
clothing. Reporter Jane should have
done her homework and brought
appropriate clothing to "the field"
especially since she had to be
smuggled in, according to Ms.
Woodruff.

I don't see humane/humanitarian
journalism here, only a spoiled
blond white girl eager for glory
able to dine out on the strength of
her adventures. Western  "I gotta
be me" behavior always, anytime and
everywhere is wildly inappropriate in
the Middle East, especially in nations
of a theocratic Sharia/Sunni turn of
mind.

PBS has not been head and shoulders
above ABC, CBS, NBC, etc. for some
time now...can its tone deaf approach
be more expertly tuned?

Obviously Oblivious, That's the Donald, Funny too

Please see today's Bloomberg Opinion piece,
Trump's Ineptitude No Joke, July 2nd, 2018.
It is a real eye-opener, a jewel of observation
amid uninspired "me too" reams of reportage.
Bloomberg doesn't let his wealth and
Republican Party membership stand in the
way of accuracy and acute observation; his
magazine is excellent, refulgent with the
details required to more fully understand
a complicated issue--these days, there are
many.

USFARTA is the unfortunate acronym of
a White House bill which is currently being
floated, to many detractors' delight and
comedians everywhere. The "ineptitude
no joke" piece from today goes on to
remind us a lot of the Prez's favorite
notions are "entertained" but never
quite become policy, as well as other
astute points.

You may enjoy this article about our
obviously oblivious White House
temporary tenant-- i sure did.