Not Crazy

Donald J. Trump is fully aware of what he is doing.

Oh, there is plenty of evidence to the contrary. Only this morning, at 5:37 a.m, Trump made up another whopper:

The Democrats are making a strong push to abolish ICE, one of the smartest, toughest and most spirited law enforcement groups of men and women that I have ever seen. I have watched ICE liberate towns from the grasp of MS-13 & clean out the toughest of situations. They are great!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 30, 2018

To which Malcolm Nance responded

Trump lives in a fantasy world where he & his police force, ICE, are “liberating” American cities. He is deranged & delusional. THIS IS NOT MOSUL. NONE OF THIS IS TRUE. NOT ONE WORD! #SaveDemocracy https://t.co/qollIn6892

— Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) June 30, 2018

Surely, he is wrong about MS-13.  Hannah Dreier, who has been "spending the year reporting on MS-13 members and their associates" while "combing through their text messages," talking to detectives and victims of the gang, writes

Trump's Justice Department says there are about 10,000 MS-13 members in the U.S., the same number as 10 years ago. There’s also nothing new about MS-13 alarmism. Back in 2005, Newsweek ran a cover story about the group, citing its 10,000 members, under the headline, “The most dangerous gang in America.”

On Long Island, the murder people cite most often when talking about MS-13’s brutality is the killing of a two-year-old and his mother back in 2010. But the gang’s history goes back much further than that; the FBI set up a Long Island task force to crack down on the gang in 2003. And MS-13 never invaded the U.S at all. It was founded in Los Angeles in the 1980s, and then mixed with California prison gang culture and was exported to El Salvador.

The group remains significantly smaller than the Crips, the Bloods and the Latin Kings; it’s also smaller than several gangs you’ve probably never heard of, like the Gangster Disciples in Chicago. Even the Center for Immigration Studies, which has been labeled an extremist group for its anti-immigrant ideology, can’t come up with more than an average of 35 murders per year attributed to MS-13—far fewer than that Chicago gang you didn’t know existed.

Nonetheless, he is not deranged or delusional.  Asked by CNBC's Maria Bartiromo whether he will ask prospective appointees to the Supreme Court seat to be vacated by Anthony Kennedy, Trump cagily replied 'well, that's a big one, probably not. They're all saying "don't, do that, you shouldn't do that' but I'm putting conservative people on."

Democrats- as they should- want to hang around Trump's neck his assurance as a candidate that he would appoint only anti-choice judges to the Supreme Court. Friday he suggested he won't- "probably not." But he's holding out hope to his anti-abortion rights supporters that he will ask. And more importantly, he gives them a figurative nod and wink, reassuring them he will be "putting conservative people on" meaning, as they correctly assume, opponents of reproductive freedom.

Ironically, Nance knows better than almost anyone that Trump is mendacious and unpatriotic, not sick or out-of-control.  His latest book is entitled "The Plot to Destroy Democracy: How Putin and His Spies Are Undermining America and Dismantling the West" and has spoken extensively of the President's effort to destroy the Trans-Atlantic Alliance. He tweeted Saturday

He is in debt. Payoff is Soft ideological take over of America & Europe’s democracies & ending Sanctions & the Atlantic Alliance. This deal was made in 2013 at Nobu restaurant Moscow. Trump’s paying up. https://t.co/qyOSEj5bHf

— Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) June 30, 2018

 When a guy sells out his country for financial considerations- especially if he gets away with it- the best description may begin with a "d."  However, that would not be "deranged" or "delusional," but simply "dangerous." Highly.




Share |