New Democrat House Member Calls for Trump Impeachment

I want to state at the beginning that I will not censor so-called profanity in this post. If you find such words objectionable, then discontinue reading this and retreat to your safe zone.

Rashida Tlaib is half of the duo that became the first Muslim women to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, the other being Ilhan Omar, of whom I wrote about when some became upset when they believed the removal of the House ban on headgear would allow Omar to wear a Hijab on the House floor.

I've come upon a few comments on Facebook by some folks who've gotten the vapors over Muslims being elected to office. Ironically, these are the same folks objecting to government discriminating against Christians. If someone wants to cast their vote for a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Atheist or worshiper of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, then it's none of our business.

It isn't Tlaib's religion that has her in the news today. Speaking to a crowd at an event sponsored by progressive Democrats - yes, I know I'm being redundant - Tlaib said, regarding President Trump, ".......we're gonna go in there and we're going to impeach the motherfucker."

Of course, that comment caused more Americans to get the aforementioned vapors. One isn't allowed to say the word "motherfucker" in polite society, after all.

Others were upset that the vulgar word "impeach" was also used.

Obviously, I'm not easily offended by the word "motherfucker" - I wouldn't have used it so many times in this post if I were. You know, "sticks and stone......." and all that.

I just see the absurdity of trying to impeach Trump. Sure, there are enough far-out Democrats -again I'm being redundant - in the House to impeach him, but the whole thing will come to nothing because the Republican controlled Senate will not vote to remove him from office.

Any Democrat who believes otherwise is just a stupid motherfucker.

Obama Fans/Trump Fans - Birds of a Feather

A little over three years ago, before Trump was elected President of the United States, I wrote a blog post where in I said that Barack Obama and Donald Trump were two sides of the same coin. Now, after two years into the Trump presidency, my belief in that position is even stronger.

I observed as early as January 2016 that both Trump and Obama are narcissists with followers that have fallen victim to a cult of personality.

When I read Internet comments of Obama lovers/Trump haters and the Internet comments of the Trump lovers/Obama haters, I see that both sides are operating under intense emotions with little or no objectivity.

A quote from an article on goodtherapy.org can be used to describe both groups :
"A common theme in hatred is a complete negation of the humanity of the other person or an inability to believe that the other person has any redeeming qualities or any worth".

Neither side is able to accept any criticism of their guy and anyone speaking in the least way about a positive quality the other might have is branded an enemy as well, and perhaps the spawn of Satan.

Both sides love comparing the other guy to Adolf Hitler without realizing that you immediately lose any argument once you've resorted to Reductio ad Hitlerum.

I haven't gained any friends or changed any minds trying to point out the flaws in either side. I'm attacked while attempting to remain reasonable.

The Trump haters will say vile and vicious things about Trump's wife and children just as the Obama haters will give no quarter to his family.

Sadly, I don't see any end in sight and I'm not optimistic about the sanity of the United States.

Oh, He's Such a Trump

Anyone who has read this blog for any length of time should know two things about me -
1) I enjoy reading
2) When it comes to buying books, I'm very cheap.

2018 will be, unfortunately, a year in which the number of books I've read through out the year will be far less than usual. As I've mentioned often enough, most of the books I've read over the past few years have been e-books, downloaded from either fadedpage.com, project gutenberg australia or the much larger project gutenberg, where books out of copyright and in the public domain are available free of charge.

Getting most of my reading material this way has lead me to read quite a few books written during the late 19th century or early 20th century.

Two particular novels I want to mention here were written in 1917; one written by Ethel M. Dell, The Hundredth Chance and the other, The Road to Understanding, by Eleanor H. Porter.

In both novels, a word is used to describe men, who are, as Merriam Webster might put it, as " dependable and exemplary persons".

That word is "trump".

In Chapter X (The Head of the Family) of The Hundredth Chance, after the character Jake helps his friend Bunny, we have this:

"You're no end of a trump!" said Bunny with tears in his eyes.

In Chapter IX (A Bottle of Ink) of The Road to Understanding we find this:

"What a trump dad had been to offer it! What a trump he had been in the way he offered it, too! What a trump he had been all through about it, for that matter. Not a word of reproach, not a hint of patronage. Not even a look that could be construed into that hated 'I told you so.' Just a straight-forward offer of this check for Helen, and the trip for himself, and actually in a casual, matter-of-fact tone of voice as if ten-thousand-dollar checks and Alaskan trips were everyday occurrences".

I note all this because I'm amazed at how the word has changed these past 100 plus years. Once, it was considered a high compliment to be called a "trump", while now, some still might look at it as a compliment, many people in the U.S. might consider being called a trump fightin' words.

Trump's Military Parade

Everything has become so predictable. This is especially true regarding any and all reactions to President Trump.One group will support the President, regardless of what he says or does. Likewise, another group will attack Trump as a matter of course.

The Trumpanistas probably would support the POTUS if he committed a murder on Times Square and the Leftist anti-Trumpists would attack him even if he favored something which they had supported themselves.

Folks like myself, who try to remain objective, will not receive slack from either side should we say something even slightly for or against the President.

It came as no surprise to me when I received an email from change.org alerting me to a petition against Trump's plan to have a military parade and anyone who reads Mark Shea already knows how he'd react to the parade.

Just as we all know that the folks at the hill.com would love the idea of a military parade, we all know the Huffington Post would declare the parade to be a waste of money.

I'm not even surprised that the Atlantic would publish 2 opinion pieces - one 'fer it and one agin it.

Me?

Maybe, as an American living outside the USA, some might say I shouldn't have a say in all this. Perhaps they're right. But, really, this parade kerfuffle seems a bit much about nothing. Not even as a nothing burger.....more like a nothing tuna sandwich.

Mark Shea Reluctantly Finds Agreement With Jonah Goldberg

In a recent post, Mark Shea reluctantly finds himself in agreement with conservative writer, Jonah Goldberg. I say reluctantly because I suspect that Shea does not normally agree with Goldberg on very much, but now, because Goldberg is being critical of Donald Trump, Shea gives Goldberg faint praise.

I've been a fan of Goldberg for quite a long time. His 2008 book, Liberal Fascism is a favorite of mine. Goldberg's criticisms of Trump do not surprise me at all.

In Shea's blog piece - linked to above - he mentions re-reading Perelandra. My immediate reaction was that it's so typical of Shea to reference "sci-fi nerdy stuff" when trying to make a point. In all fairness, I haven't read any of C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy and I should give it a shot before being too harsh toward the work. I'm hoping that the trilogy is better than Lewis' The Screwtape Letters. I read that book in 2016 and was sadly disappointed.

The books in the trilogy - Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra and That Hideous Strength - are in the public domain in Canada, and are available as pdf at a Canadian website. A Google search of each title, plus "pdf" will lead one where one wants to go in order to download the books.

Trump Equals "1984" ?

A month ago, after having read George Orwell's Burmese Days, I added 1984 to the list of books I'd be reading (or re-reading) this year. Even after reading 1984 a few weeks back, I can't recall if I had actually read the novel in my younger days. I have a vague memory of having read it in the 1970s, but I can't recall if I actually finished reading the book all those many years ago.

I bring up the novel today because of an article I came across on apnews.com, George Orwell’s son says his father’s ‘1984’ was ‘prescient’.

The article states,

One edition of “1984” saw sales jump by 10,000 percent since January, when Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway defended incorrect claims as “alternative facts.” It instantly drew comparisons to Orwell’s terms “doublethink” and “newspeak” and to the type of government manipulation the author wrote about nearly 70 years ago.

Of course, we knew that someone, somewhere would be comparing the world under Trump to Orwell's dystopia. The comparison of Orwell's novel and a U.S. President isn't a new phenomenon , however. Life in the U.S. has been compared to 1984 for as long as I can remember - well before the year 1984 came and went.

I'm not saying life isn't becoming more and more like 1984; we can all see that it is. But, this isn't new under Trump's presidency. Governmental surveillance of our daily lives didn't begin yesterday. Orwell could see it in 1948. The problem has been around for ages, but the techniques and methods used by governments today are becoming more sophisticated.

There are some who want to put the problem down to Trump - as in Trumpian equals Orwellian. The situation didn't begin with Trump. If Barack Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize wasn't Orwellian, I don't know what is.

Trump is simply the latest manifestation.

Sometimes Mark Shea is Right

Sometimes, I actually agree with something Mark Shea writes. Perhaps this goes along the lines of how a broken clock is right twice a day, but I will give credit where credit is due.

I am in agreement with Shea on the abolition of the death penalty, and he and I agree on man's contribution to climate change. Where we might part ways on climate change, is in how I see his views on the various climate accords and solutions put forward by leftists as mostly virtue signaling. In his quintessential Trump hatred he has seen Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate accord as Trump actually wanting to destroy the planet.

Although I consider a good deal of Shea's attacks on the President as a case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, he does have a recent post damning Trump, where I agree that, in this case, Trump's actions can be vile and disgusting.

Entitled Trump steals from children with cancer, Shea's post links to an article on The Hill, which itself links to an article at Forbes.com, documenting how Donald Trump took control of the Eric Trump Foundation, diverting money donated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis into revenue for the Trump Organization.

When Trump and HRC were duking it out in the POTUS campaign, I stated in more than one post that having to chose between those two was like choosing between mustard or mayo on your fecal sandwich. After the election, I was willing to give Trump the benefit of the doubt. He's not my favorite POTUS by any means, but let's see what he does before we impeach him, OK?

Shea ends his post - "Impeach this vile human being now."

While I agree that Trump's actions toward St. Jude Hospital are vile and disgusting, I don't know if (legally) his actions are an impeachable offense.

Trump and the Paris Climate Accord

 President Donald Trump has announced that the U.S. is withdrawing from the 2015 Paris climate agreement and blogger Mark Shea has unleashed a firestorm of anti-Trump vitriol. In Shea's opinion, by his withdrawal from the agreement, Trump has flipped off Pope Francis and now, "Trumpian Catholics" are cheering.

I wanted to leave a comment on Shea's post, but as I've been banned from commenting on his blog, [twice, actually] I have to address his post here.

First of all, as I've said time and again, I did not vote for Donald Trump and I wish someone else (other than Hillary Clinton) had won instead. Secondly, I support Pope Francis. In a battle between Trump and the Pope, the Pope wins every time. Thirdly, although I see the discussion over climate change as more political than scientific, I lean on the side that maintains that the planet is warming and human activity contributes to that warming.

With all that being said, I find all the weeping and moaning over the Paris climate agreement withdrawal ridiculous.

Trump supporters claim withdrawing from the accord will make America Great Again. The anti-Trumpers says Trump's action will destroy the planet. Both sides are full of the organic matter I spread on my garden.

I've read the Paris agreement (found as a pdf thanks to NPR) and it is, as Hillary Clinton might say, the "biggest nothing burger, ever."

As an aside, thanks to Hillary, we can now dispense with phrase "nothing burger" from this point forward.

My reasons for being against the Paris agreement are the opposite of Trump's. Trump doesn't believe in climate change, probably hasn't read the agreement - but believes signing it hurts Americans.

I, on the other hand, believe in the science behind climate change, I have read the agreement and believe the accord to be 31 pages of useless crap. Like everything thing else Liberals support, it is a useless document written to make people believe they are accomplishing something when they aren't actually doing squat.

Stressed anti-Trumpers Turn to Yoga

According to this piece from USA TODAY,

"President Trump’s election and the political cacophony that followed are driving waves of people to yoga and meditation, seeking a respite from the roller-coaster ride but also trying to recharge and build energy for a political pushback."

Liberals in America find the Trump presidency particularly stressful and many are turning to yoga and meditation to relieve that stress.

Although this is just being reported at USA TODAY, the claim appeared earlier, when in February it was reported that, more women are turning to yoga now that Trump is President.

I guess you could say that the Yogis believe electing Trump was a boo-boo.

Neil Gorsuch Isn't Pro-Life

In the following Youtube video, we see Trump's SCOTUS nominee, Neil Gorsuch state that the fetus is not a person.

Gorsuch also maintains that Roe vs Wade is settled law.

I do not support Gorsuch's nomination. If this is the best Trump has to offer the pro life community, then we are in bad shape.

Melania's "Lord's Prayer" Evokes Typical Responses.

Melania Trump opens a Melbourne, Florida Trump rally by reciting the Lord's prayer and the reactions are just as we'd expect.

The anti-Trumpers are condemning her for committing the worse offense imaginable from a Leftist's prospective, while not surprisingly, Fox News came to her defense.

Some of the nicer criticisms came in the cries about....you guessed it....."separation of church and state". But as haaretz.com sanely points out, the First Lady did what several U.S. Presidents (from Obama to George Bush) have done - demonstrate their Christian faith publicly and openly. Besides, not being an elected official, Melania Trump is not the government.

I know that there are some who are declaring that this is the end of world as we know it, as Trump's Fascist Dictatorship takes over. Others are proclaiming that America has returned to its Christian roots and Greatness.

Most everyone is over reacting.

To the Trump lovers, I'd point out that not everyone prays the Protestant version of the Lord's Prayer. I would have rather she not done it, but I'm not having a conniption over this. To the Trump haters, I'd just say, "Relax and breathe. Take a chill-pill and give it a rest".

Mark Shea's Quintessential Trump Hatred

During the 2016 election campaign I made it very clear on this blog that I did not support either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton for POTUS. On more than one occasion, I stated that choosing between either candidate was much like being asked if you prefer mustard or mayo on your fecal sandwich.

In a post from last April, I opined that Trump's narcissism was even greater than Obama's - which is off the charts. Trump is Obama squared. In one post, I even went so far as to call  Trump - Benito Mussolini with (Bad) Hair.

However, with all that said, after Trump was elected, I was willing to give Trump a chance.

Others, on the other hand, have increased their anti-Trump rhetoric. Blogger Mark Shea has one of the worst cases of Trump Derangement Syndrome of anyone on the Internet. In a recent post, Shea maintains that Trump's ongoing battle with the Press shows Trump to be in the same league as Stalin, Chairman Mao, and worst of all, Richard Nixon.

Shea goes on to show how evil Trump is by posting a quote from Thomas Jefferson regarding the Press -

The way to prevent these irregular interpositions of the people is to give them full information of their affairs thro’ the channel of the public papers, and to contrive that those papers should penetrate the whole mass of the people. The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” – Thomas Jefferson, 16 Jan 1787

Shea's use of Jeffersonian quotes is not unlike some folks' use of the Bible to prove whatever point they might hold. Just as you can find any number of contradictory quotes from the Bible to prove whatever you may believe, the same can be done with Thomas Jefferson.

Below are a few examples of Jefferson's disdain for the Press:

"From forty years' experience of the wretched guess-work of the newspapers of what is not done in open daylight, and of their falsehood even as to that, I rarely think them worth reading, and almost never worth notice." --Thomas Jefferson to James Monroe, 1816. ME 14:430

"Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to those who are in situations to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies of the day." --Thomas Jefferson to John Norvell, 1807. ME 11:224

"As for what is not true, you will always find abundance in the newspapers." --Thomas Jefferson to Barnabas Bidwell, 1806. ME 11:118

"Advertisements... contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper." --Thomas Jefferson to Nathaniel Macon, 1819. ME 15:179

It's unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any antidote for Trump Derangement Syndrome in its advanced stages, such as the one Mark Shea is in.

Trump : Are We Finally On "The Road to Understanding" ?

In a post written in early January, I mentioned that I would download and read the top ten best selling novels of 1917. As I write this, I am on #4 - The Road to Understanding by Eleanor H. Porter.

In Chapter IX - on page 149, the main character, Burke Denby thought this about his father, John Denby :

"What a trump dad had been to offer it! What a trump he had been in the way he offered it, too! What a trump he had been all through about it, for that matter. Not a word of reproach, not a hint of patronage. Not even a look that could be construed into that hated 'I told you so.' Just a straight-forward offer of this check for Helen, and the trip for himself, and actually in a casual, matter-of-fact tone of voice as if ten-thousand-dollar checks and Alaskan trips were everyday occurrences".

I won't go into the full details of the story, but at this point, the younger Denby is very happy about an offer made to him by his father, and to compliment his father, he refers to his father as a trump. In the above paragraph alone, he calls his father a trump three times. In later paragraphs, he again refers to his dad in that way.

After seeing that, I had to check the dictionary in my Kindle. According to Merriem Webster, one of the meanings for the word trump is "a dependable and exemplary person".

My, how things have changed since 1917, when being called a trump was considered a compliment.

Valid Criticism or Trump Derangement Syndrome?

Regarding POTUS Donald Trump's statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, it has been noted that the words "Jews" and "anti-Semitism" were left out of the 3 paragraph statement. In addition to the Washington Post article linked to above, Mark Shea implies in his blog that this omission is further proof of Trump's own racism and anti-Semitism.

The complete statement follows below:

"It is with a heavy heart and somber mind that we remember and honor the victims, survivors, heroes of the Holocaust. It is impossible to fully fathom the depravity and horror inflicted on innocent people by Nazi terror.

"Yet, we know that in the darkest hours of humanity, light shines the brightest.‎ As we remember those who died, we are deeply grateful to those who risked their lives to save the innocent.

"In the name of the perished, I pledge to do everything in my power throughout my Presidency, and my life, to ensure that the forces of evil never again defeat the powers of good. Together, we will make love and tolerance prevalent throughout the world."

While I admit that Trump's omission of the words "Jews" and "anti-Semitism" does appear odd, I look to the first sentence in the statement -
"It is with a heavy heart and somber mind that we remember and honor the victims, survivors, heroes of the Holocaust. It is impossible to fully fathom the depravity and horror inflicted on innocent people by Nazi terror.

The obvious question for Trump's opponents would be, who is Trump talking about when he mentions "the victims, survivors, heroes of the Holocaust" and "the depravity and horror inflicted on innocent people by Nazi terror"?

If, as his critics maintain, Trump is a racist and anti-Semite, why would he even bother to give a statement regarding the International Holocaust Remembrance Day? The idea that Trump would issue the statement simply because it's expected of him contradicts Trump's normal refusal to do something simply because he is expected to do it.

I suspect that, had Trump's statement had included the words in question, his critics would have claimed that Trump didn't actually write the statement himself.

Look, I am not a Trump supporter, but I suspect that this is mostly another case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.

Trump Wrong on Torture

As anyone who has read my blog for any length of time should be aware, I did not support either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton during the campaign and I did not vote for either candidate. I've stated on several occasions, that choosing between Clinton or Trump is like choosing either mayo or mustard on your shit sandwich.

That said, I decided, after Trump was elected, that I would give him the benefit of the doubt and support him as POTUS up and until he proposed something which I believe goes beyond the pale, morally speaking.

With this article on Trump's support of torture, it appears that time has arrived. As a Catholic, I cannot support the use of torture under any circumstances. Trump believes torture "works". There may be disagreement on the effectiveness of torture, but that is beside the point. The Church has made it perfectly clear that "there exist acts which per se and in themselves, independently of circumstances, are always seriously wrong by reason of their object" and like homicide, genocide, abortion, euthanasia and voluntary suicide, mutilation, physical and mental torture is included among those intrinsically evil acts.

Trump recently took the appropriate step of reinstating the Mexico City Policy which stops U.S. taxpayer funding of the abortion industry overseas. While he deserves praise for that particular Executive Memorandum, his views on torture are unacceptable.

Mark Shea Cracks Me Up

Mark Shea cracks me up.

No, really - he does.

Anyone who has read anything written by Shea lately knows that Shea despises Donald Trump. That's fine; I'm hardly a big Trump fan myself, but Shea's attacks on Trump verge on Trump Derangement Syndrome. He should, at least wait until after the inauguration and Trump has actually done something as POTUS.

What really has me laughing at Mr Shea, is his recent post, The Dear Leader revokes WaPo’s press credentials, where he posts an eight month old link, from the Washington Post telling how candidate Trump pulled The Washington Post’s credentials to cover his campaign events. Shea writes;

"Any time any media says anything the Vandal Chieftain and his horde don’t like, they will scream 'fake news' and their gullible base of willing suckers will chant it in unison. This is not a demographic that thinks. It’s a demographic that takes marching orders. And when they have command of the guns, I think it’s quite possible their Dear Leader will see if he can get away with jailing people who criticize him as well as shutting down critical media. And his base–in the name of Freedom and America and Patriotism and Unity–will *love* that if it happens. They long to crush free speech now just as much as Safe Spacers on the academic Left do, for they have become the enemy they hate. He is an authoritarian and his followers are enemies of liberty and hungry for power and punishment of what the Dear Leader calls his 'enemies': namely half of the American people".

Shea calls Trump "authoritarian" for shutting down critical media, yet Shea himself will ban folks from commenting on his blog at the slightest provocation. I've been banned from commenting at Shea's blog on more than one occasion for disagreeing with Shea. The thought of Mark Shea calling anyone "authoritarian" has me rolling on the floor, laughing uncontrollably.

It does my heart good to see Shea switch to writing comedy.

Et tu, U2? More Trump Derangement Syndrome

In a spectacular display of Trump Derangment syndrome, U2 has decided to delay their upcoming album after Donald Trump's election as POTUS.

Really?

What a load of pretentious, self absorbed twaddle.

U2's guitarist, The Edge (that's not pretentious, is it?) told Rolling Stone that with Trump's election, the world is a different place. Cuz like, you know, like the 80's and Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher and whatever.

But then again, how seriously can we take a band whose leader believes we should combat ISIS with comedy?

The Ever Clueless Meryl Streep

Speaking the at the Golden Globes Awards, Meryl Streep had this to say about Trump's America -

"Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners and if we kick them all out we’ll have nothing to watch but football and Mixed Martial Arts, which are not the Arts."

First of all, I know a good many people who would be ok with just football and MMA on television. She could have included NASCAR as well, since it isn't known to be a hotbed of "outsiders and foreigners".

Secondly, neither Trump, nor any of the folks who support him, is calling for the deportation of all foreigners from the U.S.A.. This is simply Leftist propaganda; removal of illegal, undocumented aliens, yes -removal of all foreigners, no.

The Leftists and elitists in Hollywood need to face the reality that they are, in many ways. responsible for Trump's election. The everyday, typical American is tired of being lied to by these people who believe themselves to be our betters. Meryl Streep doesn't understand that, whenever she opens her mouth, she's driving people into Trump's camp.

The "cool kids" are fooling themselves when the think their blathering is important to everyone else.

Article Asks, "Is Donald Trump Mentally Ill?"

According to the Huffing and Puffington Post, 3 Professors Of Psychiatry Ask President Obama To Conduct ‘A Full Medical And Neuropsychiatric Evaluation’ of Donal Trump.

The three "experts" - Judith Herman, M.D.Professor of Psychiatry Harvard Medical School, Nanette Gartrell, M.D.Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry University of California, San Francisco and Dee Mosbacher, M.D., Ph.D.Assistant Clinical Professor Department of Community Health Systems University of California - wrote a letter to POTUS, Obama stating that, although professional standards do not permit them to "venture a diagnosis for a public figure whom we have not evaluated personally", they never the less believe that Trump displays symptoms of “Narcissistic Personality Disorder” (NPD).

As early as January of 2016, I noted that I believed Trump to be a narcissist, but in that post - as well as one written in September, I opined that America's love for Trump was in many ways similiar to its earlier love for Obama. I felt then that America could very easily replace one narcissistic sociopath for another. The results of the 2016 POTUS election appear to have proven me right.

In the Huffington Post article linked to above, 9 criteria for NPD are listed. The article goes on to claim that if an individual has 5 out of the 9 they have a confirmed diagnosis of this illness. Many of the criteria which is supposed to fit Trump fit Obama as well.

The thing that I find especially amazing about this letter from the psychiatric experts is there call for Obama have trump undergo tests. Under what authority do they imagine Obama could order an incoming POTUS to undergo any tests what-so-ever? Do these people actually believe that Obama can demand that these tests be given?

Schemes such as this may have been used in the old Soviet Union - using psychiatry to quiet political opponents - but it won't work in the current U.S. of A., no matter how much progressives may want this to happen.

Trump's 'Flag Burning Tweet'

In response to recent protests involving the burning of the American flag, Donald Trump tweeted:

"Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag - if they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!"

Of course, we all know none of that is going to happen. The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that flag burning is symbolic speech and can't be outlawed. On top of that, in a 1967 case, the Supreme Court ruled that citizens of the United States may not be deprived of their citizenship involuntarily. The government can't take away a person's citizenship for burning a flag.

So, why did Trump make this comment?

Rush Limbaugh has his own take on it. Rush believes that, by tweeting this, Trump is simply taunting the media and the assorted Leftists who might be inclined to burn the flag. Rush believes that Trumps wants these protesters to burn more U.S. flags. According to Rush, the more Trump's detractors display their Trump Derangement Syndrome by burning flags, the better it makes Trump look to normal, everyday patriotic Americans.

There may be something to Rush's theory. Rush maintains that Trump's detractors take him "literally, but not seriously". Contrariwise, Rush says that Trump's supporters know to take him "seriously, but not literally". That might be the best way to approach Trump.