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Post by poetinahat on May 21, 2017 20:17:50 GMT -5
Wouldn't it be nice if bowing or not bowing were the biggest controversy now - or ever. Next.
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Post by Don on May 21, 2017 20:19:40 GMT -5
I wanna read the Dr. Seuss story implied by the title of this thread.
Please.
Or I'll hold my breath until I turn blue.
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Post by Christine on May 21, 2017 20:35:14 GMT -5
I wanna read the Dr. Seuss story implied by the title of this thread. FTW
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Post by robeiae on May 22, 2017 6:53:44 GMT -5
ETA: And you know, when Obama spoke to these countries (after his deplorable bowing) he talked about human rights. In Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia he hasn't mentioned human rights at all. But at least he hasn't bowed, amirite. Well, I'm not arguing that Trump is better than Obama, that Trump is doing better than Obama. I'm just noting that Obama shouldn't have bowed. As I said, it's hardly the biggest deal ever. But it was an error, both from the standpoint of protocol and from the standpoint of politics, because bowing didn't earn Obama jackshit. All it did was get him a truckload of criticism. And true enough, Trump has already made far more mistakes in this regard, decisions/actions that didn't do him any good but did get him a lot of criticism. Still doesn't make Obama's error into something else.
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Post by michaelw on May 22, 2017 7:15:05 GMT -5
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Post by robeiae on May 22, 2017 8:46:50 GMT -5
It's really not, but I get the partisan game playing on twitter and elsewhere in this regard. Fairly pathetic for WaPo to engage in it, but then that's our media these days: the National Enquirer but with better credentials.
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Post by robeiae on May 22, 2017 8:56:00 GMT -5
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Post by michaelw on May 22, 2017 18:07:25 GMT -5
Personally I think it was more of a curtsy.
But definitely the best curtsy. Trump has all the best curtsies.
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2017 18:21:06 GMT -5
Robo, no one reads your posts.
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Post by Christine on May 22, 2017 18:33:55 GMT -5
This might seem weird coming from me, but that moment was so awkward that it made me feel a little tiny bit affectionate toward Trump. A little bit, mind you. Teeny, tiny little, but it was there. His behavior in Saudi Arabia, from what I saw of the televised portion, was so subdued, so respectful, so solemn as to be commended. (I mean, it's Trump we're talking about.) A couple of times I honestly wondered if his staff had drugged him or something. And then the awkward lean and... squat, or whatever that was. I felt humanity in that awkwardness. I know people are making fun, calling it "hypocritical" (i.e., a bow) but I disagree that it's a bow or that it's mock-worthy, though people will do as they do. (Also, when I die, I would like to be named the Patron Saint of Awkwardness.) Unfortunately, in the clips I've seen of him in Israel, he's back to making his familiar, off-the-cuff, nonsensical statements, such as: I guess he feels more himself around Netanyahu.
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2017 18:40:26 GMT -5
Awkward: arriving in Israel and telling Israelis you just got back from the Middle East.
ETA:
This, like, the bow, falls under the kind of thing I really don't care about. But it did make me giggle.
I rather agree with Christine that if Trump didn't do so many things I find profoundly UNadorable, I might well find his little bloopers and awkwardnesses of this kind adorable. I have a soft spot for awkward, too. (Oh, W and that poncho! squeeee!)
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2017 18:48:45 GMT -5
A Bannon moment I might have found adorably awkward were it not, yanno, Bannon:
/photo/1
Doesn't he look scared?
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Post by Christine on May 22, 2017 18:58:31 GMT -5
A Bannon moment I might have found adorably awkward were it not, yanno, Bannon: /photo/1 Doesn't he look scared? He should be. It's his worst nightmare - he's surrounded by brown people who he assumes are terrorists. (I agree - virtually anyone else and it would be adorable)
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2017 19:15:34 GMT -5
On a serious note, I was overall rather relieved with regard to his Saudi speech on Islam.. I was freaking terrified he'd take the kind of line he took during his campaign -- and use the phrase "radical islamic terrorism." Someone on the more reasonable end in his administration must have convinced him that it would be a disaster if he did.*
I'm curious what his hardcore base thought, though. And, of course, what all of you thought.
*ETA:
I'd love for our president to speak out against oppression of women and on other issues with regard to Saudi Arabia. But there's a time, a place, and a way -- and using his campaign rhetoric at that lunch is not the time, place, or way, IMO!
This wasn't my dream speech or anything. But I think he managed to avoid offending the entire Muslim world, and that's all to the good. All in all, much better than I feared.
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2017 12:41:21 GMT -5
okay, again this falls in the realm of stuff I don't get particularly worked up about, but still makes me groan and cringe. Trump's signature at the Israeli Holocaust museum: I've visited a ton of grim sites in my time -- massacre memorials, concentration camps, KGB prisons, etc. They usually have a book like this. Mostly it is filled with somber reflections on how deeply moved the person was etc. And then every once in a while, there's a "had an AWESOME time here at Auschwitz!" entry. I mean, I'm sure the person meant well, and I suppose it does no real harm, but still -- it is jarring after you've just been through a place like that and are still reeling. The impact is just overwhelming. I pace myself when it comes to sites like this, and follow it with something peaceful, like a walk through a park, just to absorb it and recover. So, yeah, this does no real harm, I guess, but ugh, I wish he'd left out the having an amazing time with his friends stuff. Leave it at "We must never forget" if you can't think of what else to say. And, okay, I do have to say this -- it does indicate that the horror didn't really leave much impression on him. I've been to that museum. I can't imagine for a minute writing this. I wrote something to the effect of "we must never forget," with a reflection or two on some specific things that moved me. I was affected for days. I don't get him, I just don't.
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