[quote]"This fifty-page memo that we would normally give to any other president about what his options are is something Trump literally can't read. The man doesn't read. We've gotta boil this down into a one-pager in his voice. And so I had to write this incandescently stupid memo called something like, 'Afghanistan, How to Put America First and Win.'"
[quote]"And then bullet by bullet, I summed up this highly classified memo into Trump's sort of bombastic language because it was the only way he was gonna understand. I mean, I literally said in there, 'You know, if we leave Afghanistan too fast, the terrorists will call us losers. But if we wanna be seen as winners, we need to make sure the Afghan forces have the strength to push back against these criminals.' I mean, it was that dumb and that's how you had to talk to him."
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 32 | August 1, 2023 11:02 AM |
That Trump has limited intelligence and can't actually read beyond middle-school level was obvious to most objective people, but it's good to actually hear it from a former government official.
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | July 27, 2023 11:28 AM |
Pretend I’ve inserted the Keegan-Michael Key laughing gif here:
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | July 27, 2023 12:03 PM |
It is frightening to think this man may return to the White House.
His base does not read. There is no complexity to them.
They are simpletons like he is.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | July 27, 2023 12:04 PM |
The author (previously wrote the Anonymous OpEd in the NYT) has been making the podcast rounds. It’s very, very frightening. Trump wanted to create his own Wagner Group, loyal to him, wanted to fire everyone in the FBI…and wanted to completely wipe out the VA Medical. Said they were just spongers. We already know he called vets losers. This is what his second term would be like.
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | July 27, 2023 12:15 PM |
The female part of his base is busy pumping out creepy A.I. propaganda. Rapist who?
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 6 | July 27, 2023 12:17 PM |
I have say, as maligned as government civilian employees generally are (not without good reason), it's only due to the sanity, competence & patience of those individuals that we didn't completely implode
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | July 27, 2023 12:39 PM |
He was begging to use nukes. He's a psycho
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | July 27, 2023 12:49 PM |
That photo @ R6 is frightening on so many levels. They might want to rethink A.I.
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | July 27, 2023 1:00 PM |
It's so easy to hop a new boat once a rat is off a sinking ship.. If this was so "incandescently stupid" why didn't the cowardly DHS official report this at the time? He could have fed it to a veracious media that would report anything and everything embarrassing to Trump.
This is what I absolutely loathe about all these people now: they have all these stories, they're seeking attention and martyrdom when they could have done something about it. Chris Christie, Bill Barr, Kaley McElhenney (or whatever her name was), JOE FUCKING SCARBOROUGH and his horcefaced wife who literally followed Trump around during the primaries, laughing him up and giggling and back slapping him.... until he turned on them. Then suddenly, they're on our side.
These people are lower than Trump in my opinion. They should lose their jobs if they still have them
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | July 27, 2023 1:03 PM |
[quote]If this was so "incandescently stupid" why didn't the cowardly DHS official report this at the time? He could have fed it to a veracious media that would report anything and everything embarrassing to Trump.
There were constant reports of Trump's stupidity from other officials during his term. One more voice added to the chorus wouldn't have made a difference. It wouldn't have prevented Trump from making false claims of election interference, it wouldn't have stopped him from instigating the Jan. 6 riot and it wouldn't convince any of his followers that he's anything other than the second coming of Jesus.
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | July 27, 2023 1:10 PM |
There were SO MANY reports at the time that he needed his memos be one page only, with bullet points, and written in sharpie. I don't know what that poster is smoking, but it's quite telling that I have him blocked already.
| by Anonymous | reply 12 | July 27, 2023 1:58 PM |
While I think R10 makes a good point, I think info like this is useful, even after the fact, because a lot of the people who enabled Trump are still around (looking at you, Lady G) with aspirations of becoming Trump 2.0 and/or shitting all over everything Biden does. Reminding of people of how bad Trump was once the shock wore off is important for punishing his enablers for their role in the whole shitshow.
| by Anonymous | reply 13 | July 27, 2023 2:13 PM |
R10 I don't disagree with you. And you can add John Bolton to that list, but we cannot overlook the way the news media covered Trump. Let's look at the NYT for one example. A lot of people knew. There was an acceptance of him. And right now, look at the Hunter Biden/Joe Biden smear. At first I laughed at the extremists railing about Joe Biden being corrupt. But then I Remembered how John Kerry, a war hero was "swift boated." SO now we have Hunter getting fried, and not one word about Jared, Ivanka, Donnie "Cocaine" Jr. or Eric. There's a difference between reporting a story, and covering it. And Trump got a huge pass from the Media. They would report on his "lack of interest" or his inability to concentrate on lengthy reports, but there was an acceptance of that. There is still an acceptance. Right now the whole game plan from the Right is to muddy the waters so that Trump's indictments look like political games lacking any credibility. And if we learn that DoJ is investigating Jared, and the rest of the Trump crime family, it will look like spite. What really upsets me is the possibility that the DoJ and the judges can be bullied into "overlooking" the crimes committed by the Trump family. The problem, as I see it, is that there are a whole lot of people out here who are not engaged in what's going on, and they are affected by the saturation coverage of Hunter Biden. They can't tell you exactly what the legal issues are, just that he's a drug addict who got away with stuff because his father was POTUS.
| by Anonymous | reply 14 | July 27, 2023 3:06 PM |
Corporations that own media are interlocking with those that benefitted greatly from Trumps policies. Especially regarding things like tax breaks and government contracts. They have a lot to loose from biting the hand that feeds them. Recall how the stock market leaped when he came to office. This is how the world works. When it comes to corporate profits the truth is just another game piece.Trump was an idiot but he was the idiot of the wealthy and powerful.
| by Anonymous | reply 15 | July 27, 2023 3:28 PM |
I remember George Bush's officials had to dumb down reports for him as well. But this is even dumber.
| by Anonymous | reply 16 | July 27, 2023 3:35 PM |
Of course Trump is illiterate and uneducated. Of course he is dangerous. Of course we want a president who can read reports.
On the other hand, there is merit in making professionals summarize their reports into succinct and clear points. It should be mandatory. When the executive hires experts for his/her team, it implies trust in the experts' expertise on their fields, and their ability to communicate actionable points to decision-making executives. Attach the lengthy report behind the executive summary.
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | July 27, 2023 3:46 PM |
I think we'd make a huge mistake to dismiss Trump as dumb. He is dumb about government stuff. Definitely. That is not his world and it never was. he doesn't even know the vocabulary that government workers, politicians and lawmakers use to discuss the process. But he is a man of low cunning, and he is a master of tactics that enable him to take advantage of every situation.
| by Anonymous | reply 18 | July 27, 2023 3:56 PM |
R18 here. As an example, look at the Pandemic. He knew as early as December and certainly by early January that it was going to be catastrophic. The Republican Senate caucus held a meeting at the end of January and were briefed. Instead of trying to plan for the crisis, they bought and sold stocks. Jared monetized the supplies and equipment hospitals were begging for. They cynically believed it would be minorities and the elderly who'd perish and they'd all be fine. We saw a catastrophic pandemic,m Trump saw an opportunity.
| by Anonymous | reply 19 | July 27, 2023 4:01 PM |
I'm wondering if Trump is dyslexic or something, as he never talks about reading and doesn't write his own books? And I've long believed Don Jr. writes the tweets: they are exactly like his own.
| by Anonymous | reply 20 | July 27, 2023 4:13 PM |
My read is this is a dumbing down far beyond condensing facts into an executive summary this is highlighting the key, need-to-know facts.
| by Anonymous | reply 21 | July 27, 2023 4:28 PM |
R18, I agree with you. Trump is indifferent to everything that, in his mind, doesn’t matter. But he understand information that is useful, and he really understands how to manipulate other people.
| by Anonymous | reply 22 | July 27, 2023 4:37 PM |
I remember when he learned something new he'd say nobody knows that or something to that effect. For instance, who knew Lincoln was a Republican? Don't get me started.
| by Anonymous | reply 23 | July 27, 2023 4:39 PM |
Forrest Trump. Don't run, Forrest, don't run!
| by Anonymous | reply 24 | July 27, 2023 4:45 PM |
The author of the book said the Cabinet was discussing implementing the 25th amendment (?) , I think this was before the January 7th time. They thought he was nuts. Also he tried to rally a group of staffers to do a mass resignation as a way of protesting Trump but some wanted to wait until after the 2018 elections. Surprise, Trump learned about it and fired them anyway.
| by Anonymous | reply 25 | July 27, 2023 4:47 PM |
What "professionals" are you working with, R17? Every report I've received has an executive summary highlighting the main points — albeit written appropriately. Are you suggesting that every executive is as stupid as Trump and needs his "reports" written at a third-grade reading level, complete with "you know" and " we wanna"? This is clearly Trump's M.O. He's not dumb, but stupid is the best way of describing him and his management style. He's lazy, uneducated, inexperienced (it takes a special kind of stupid to bankrupt what is quite literally a license to print money) and yet so full of himself he thinks no one notices.
The big tell, however, is that Trump demands loyalty more than ability. Notice how his C-suite is full of no names? Anyone with the wherewithal to run a business will not work for Trump. Likewise, he can't lure experienced pols into his cabinet instead opting for charlatans that have been discredited and booted by previous administrations (Mike Flynn, John Bolton, Mark Meadows et. al.) He's wrecked every business he's tried except for the real estate business his father left him, but not for lack of trying. There is no bank in America that will finance a Trump project; thus, he owes Putin and the Russian mob so much money that he has no choice but to do their bidding. Simultaneously, it's also why business loves him: he is easily manipulated.
His only skill is that he is a master salesman good at conning people out of their money, their votes, and as we've seen with the J6 defendants, their freedom. If he could bottle and sale that ability, he'd be a bonafide billionaire.
| by Anonymous | reply 26 | July 27, 2023 6:09 PM |
R14 With all due respect, I’m always confused when I read posts like yours. During his presidency I followed Trump’s press coverage like a rabid dog. The tone of the vast majority of the mainstream press towards him was overwhelmingly negative and critical. And rightly so. The real tragedy is that it didn’t matter. Everything he said and did was so awful, and so harmful to America, the globe and democracy, that the press, like the rest of us civilians, could hardly keep up. There was a fresh Trump scandal every other day or so it seemed.. And he was the POTUS! Ignoring what was happening wasn’t an option either, like some have suggested.
The fault for the whole Orange Menace debacle lies at the hands of the Republican Party, his base of foaming-at-the-mouth cult followers, his enablers in and out of the political sphere, good old-fashioned misogyny, the after effects of Reality TV, a corrupt gerrymandered, system, voter-suppression and the slow to see the danger signs in time opposition. Let’s also sprinkle in American hubris and greed. Maybe the Russians. Oh and Fox News propaganda. A true witch’s brew if ever there was one.
| by Anonymous | reply 27 | July 27, 2023 6:26 PM |
His stupidity and wealth despite being undeserved is exactly what drawscte MAGAts to him. MAYBE that might be *them* someday despite being undeserving chumps.
| by Anonymous | reply 28 | July 27, 2023 9:01 PM |
R10 - Rex Tillerson lasted a scant year as Secretary of State and immediately called Trump stupid upon his resignation in early 2018.
| by Anonymous | reply 29 | August 1, 2023 9:45 AM |
"*We've gotta boil this down into a one-pager in his voice."
In his voice. I have no words.
| by Anonymous | reply 31 | August 1, 2023 10:13 AM |
It's not that he was only stupid and can barely read. It's that he wasn't interested in learning, he was uninterested in anything that he couldn't take personal advantage of or personally MONETIZE while in office.
So, while it's disturbing enough this tard was our president, it's horrifying that's the fact that he's blatantly stupid wasn't the worst of it.
| by Anonymous | reply 32 | August 1, 2023 11:02 AM |
