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Given the president's childish, churlish behavior, perhaps it's time for him to go into political timeout for a few months and figure things out. Case in point: his recent outburst where he indicated he can pardon anyone he wants to because, well, as president he can do that.

That represents a fascinating bit of illogic, namely that if his staff or cabinet have done something stupid, whether they admit it or not, it's OK, because he'll pardon them.

Admittedly there are forces at work, whether they are the media, adversaries such as Russia abroad, and even political factions at home, who don't like Donald Trump and want him out. However, that doesn't mean the president can act like a smug, spoiled brat.

Instead he's got to figure how best to work with both sides of the aisle while at the same being more judicious in choosing his staff and Cabinet and passing his legislative agenda. It's clear that the president has gotten off on the wrong foot regarding his staff, Cabinet and closest advisers. No president in recent memory has made so many bad choices about those he wants to help him govern the nation.

Of course, all of us could be wrong. In a month or a year or the end of his term in office, we might find he's smarter than we thought and done a fantastic job governing the nation. I think I'll check Las Vegas and see what the odds are that will happen.

Dean Dranias, Plainfield

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Donald Trump needs a 'political timeout' - Chicago Tribune

On late-night shows, in stand-up routines and scripted sitcoms, the opposition to President Donald Trump is more intense than a rally full of pink pussy hats. Hes an endless source of material for joke-writers, but also a five-alarm crisis, with barely a voice in mainstream or alternative comedy that isnt against him. Punchlines morph into earnest manifestos about diversity or health care. The jokes and jeremiads give Trump opponents the release they neednever mind how they might alienate Trump supporters on the receiving end. And they drive Twitter rages from a president who once felt all publicity was good publicityuntil he became pop cultures No. 1 whipping boy.

Maz Jobrani, the stand-up comedian and actor, has been trying to channel his own experience hating and protesting Trump into his work. Marching at LAX against the travel ban becomes one bit. Arguing with his mother about her saying she likes that Trump speaks his mind becomes another. But its hard to be funny when you feel like your country is going to hell, and everything starts to sound more shrill than amusing.

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He has emboldened racists. I say that. Theres no joke. Theres no punch line, Jobrani told me, in an interview for POLITICOs Off Message podcast. But I think if you do that, you better have a punch line coming soon.

But he quotes a line from the comedian D.L. Hughley: Comedy is like giving people their medicine in orange juice. They dont taste it.

Stephen Colbert, who since the election dropped the pretense of playing it down the middle in his new role at CBS, has turned non-stop mocking Trump into skyrocketing ratings. Jimmy Kimmel turned a monologue about Obamacare into what amounted to a viral ad denouncing Republicans perceived cruelty. Weekend Update is coming back early, ahead of the new season of Saturday Night Live, which will have Alec Baldwin back in his Trump wig, though Sean Spicers departure will probably mean fewer Melissa McCarthy cameos behind her rolling podium.

Appearing on Colberts show on Wednesday night, satirical filmmaker Michael Moorea cartoon of the left himself who nonetheless predicted Trump would win last yearargued that McCarthy should get the credit for taking down Spicer. We need an army of satire, he said. A few minutes later, James Corden opened his CBS show following Colbert in a top hat and tux, singing a parody mocking Trumps tweeted transgender ban for the military.

Jobrani knows its all deepening the chasm between conservatives and the entertainment worldbut he doesnt care.

Trump supporters or people on the right, whenever Ive doneeven under Bush, when I would do jokes, they felt like I was attacking them. And Im not attacking you, Im attacking this politician, he said. If youre going to take it personally, like its yourlike Im making fun of your mother, then thats an issue you have.

Jobrani says that people who cant laugh at Trump are just too invested in the president, and not invested enough in the free speech and critical thinking that to him is the whole point of democracy. Hes heard the response that comes back: Well, then, why dont you make fun of Obama? Because he just didnt do a lot of stuff that was funny to me.

Jobrani arrived in America when he was six, on a visa he may or may not have overstayed illegally: His father brought him and his sister on what was supposed to be a two-week trip for their winter break in 1978, but decided in the face of the Iranian Revolution not to go backon such short notice that theyd left his baby brother behind with relatives. He recorded his new comedy special out on Netflix next week, Immigrant, on stage at the Kennedy Center in April with a giant photo of his Iranian passport picture projected above him, inspired by his reaction to Trump.

Raised near San Francisco, Jobrani was in a political science Ph.D. program at UCLA before dropping out for a performing career that started out with many roles as a terrorist. But its the stereotyping hes seeing going on now, in real life, that has him worried.

No matter how American I amIve been here for most of my lifethere are people that still dont consider me American, Jobrani said. Its like, OK, if youre going after green card holders, whats next?

His routine about the travel ban centers around how differently he and other darker-skinned marchers at LAX in February reacted to the police, compared with the white people who were there. In his joke, everyones in it together, marching, chanting, yellinguntil the police show up, and he says the white people got right in their faces, while he and the other non-white people in the crowd quietly edged away.

That feeling is real, he said, accentuated by a climate Trump has encouraged.

I feel, somewhere in the back of my mind, I would feel like they could take my citizenship away, and send me back to Iran, Jobrani said. I honestly do feel that there is a thing in my mind that my rights could be taken away at any minute. And not just my rights; anybodys rights.

Jobrani has been profiled by casting agents and TSA agents alike, but he said he doesnt mind how thats played into his current big role. On the CBS sitcom Superior Donuts, the Iranian-born actor plays an Iraqi, and one with a much stronger accent in English than he has in real life. He asked the writers about making the character, a dry cleaner, Iranian, offering to bring knowledge and a little Farsi to the role, but they saw the humor in lines that referenced living through a war. He noted to them that the Iran-Iraq War could provide that material, but they told him they didnt think most Americans would be familiar enough with that.

Its an awkward fact that playing around with ethnic stereotypes has boosted Jobranis career, as with so many comedians of color. Does that make him uncomfortable? Not really, he insistsbut hes thought about comedian Aziz Ansaris plea to non-white actors to avoid playing up their accents and other stereotypes (a big theme of Ansaris first season of Master of None). Jobrani sees his Faz as in the tradition of Danny DeVitos Louie DePalma on Taxi and Rhea Perlmans Carla on Cheers.

To have a character with an accent making people in middle America, or wherever it is, laugh, I actually think thats progress, because whether hes like, saying ludicrous stuff, or some of his stuff is like sexist or whatever, I still feel that we are taking a step in the right direction, Jobrani said. It reminds you that there are peopleimmigrantsthat are just businessmen, that are going to say stuff that is ridiculous. But I think its a drop in this big pond that goes in the right direction.

Others in Hollywood have pushed for more. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in a recent speech at the Creative Artists Agency, urged the crowd to channel their frustration with Trump and whats happening into scripts and other ways of shaping the popular imagination.

I want them to know that they have power, Schwarzenegger said in his own recent Off Message podcast interview. If they go out and they rally and they go and let their frustration be heard and go and join a movement or whatever it is, be involved and don't just sit there and look at the news and look at the news and look at the television and then complain. Thats not good enough.

Like most comedians, Jobrani is easily boredso hes left most of the material recorded in his special behind and is working on new bits. Hes trying to tell jokes about being a father, about his son and daughter, but up on stage, its the political stuff that ends up getting most of the laughs in spite of his best efforts.

Even though Im not trying to do Trump jokes, I end up doing Trump jokes, he sighed. But Im exhausted of Trump jokes.

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Is Donald Trump Funny? - Politico

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump received applause on Friday when he endorsed police brutality while delivering a speech to law enforcement officers on Long Island, New York.

The president suggested that officers should hit suspects heads on the doors of their police cars.

When you see these towns and when you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in, rough, and I said, Please dont be too nice, Trump said.

Like when you guys put somebody in the car and youre protecting their head, you know, the way you put their hand over, like, dont hit their head and theyve just killed somebody, dont hit their head, I said, You can take the hand away, OK? he added.

His remarks received significant applause.

Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

Trump also made the dubious claim that laws were horrendously stacked against police officers and said he wants to change those laws.

For years and years, [laws have]been made to protect the criminal, Trump said. Totally protect the criminal, not the officers. You do something wrong, youre in more jeopardy than they are. These laws are stacked against you. Were changing those laws.

In his speech, Trump also said that police officers in many parts of the country couldnt do their jobs because they had a pathetic mayor or a mayor who doesnt know whats going on. Those comments also received a lengthy applause.

Its sad, its sad. You look at whats happening, and its sad, Trump said. Were going to support you like youve never been supported before.

Trump also spoke about violence in Chicago, which was a consistent theme of his speeches throughout the campaign and is a topic he has continued to reference during his presidency. Trump recalled speaking to an impressive and rough cookie police officer from Chicago, and said the officer had told him he could straighten out the citys violence problem in a couple of days if he was given the authority.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Trump may not be getting along these days, but the two are on the same page when it comes to policing. Sessions has had the Justice Department pull back from pattern or practice investigations that look into widespread constitutional abuses in police departments.

Zeke Johnson, senior director of programs at Amnesty International USA, said Trumps inflammatory and hateful speech will only escalate tensions between police and communities, putting both officers and civilians at risk.

Police cannot treat every community like an invading army, and encouraging violence by police is irresponsible and reprehensible, he said.

Vanita Gupta, who headed the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division under former President Barack Obama, said Trumps remarks were unconscionable and undermined the positive efforts of local law enforcement to build up community trust.

The president of the United States, standing before an audience of law enforcement officials, actively encouraged police violence, Gupta said. We call on the president to immediately and unequivocally condemn police brutality. We can all respect our law enforcement officers without sanctioning unjust and illegal behavior.

Robert Driscoll, a former Justice Department Civil Rights Division official under the President George W. Bush administration, was also critical.

Read the original here:
Donald Trump Endorses Police Brutality In Speech To Cops - HuffPost

Donald Trump doesnt scare Washington anymore.

That was the lesson from a week of stinging defeats for the President, from the halls of Congress to the homepage of Breitbart. Not long ago, Trump could tank a companys stock price with a Twitter blast and cow Republican allies into silence when he trampled political norms.

But these days, Trump doesnt have much juice in the capital.

The President was disengaged throughout much of the Senates dramatic fight over healthcare reform, even though his administration made the repeal of the Affordable Care Act its first big legislative priority. When Trump finally waded into the fray late in the gameafter Republican leaders had failed to rally the votes for the plan they crafted and Trump blessedhis tweeted threats failed to sway GOP Senate holdouts.

Lisa Murkowski was the primary target of Trumps ire. On Wednesday, the President took aim at the Republican senator from Alaska, tweeting that Murkowski, a moderate in her fourth term, really let the Republicans, and our country, down yesterday. Too bad! Then Trump tapped his Interior Secretary, Ryan Zinke, to ramp up the pressure. Murkowski received a phone call warning that a vote against the bill could jeopardize her states chances of getting approval from the administration on energy projects.

How did Murkowski respond? By standing her ground. First, she went public with the threat, which embarrassed the administration and led Democrats to threaten an investigation. Then she went to the Senate floor early Friday morning and cast one of the three votes required to tank the Republican repeal plan.

Sen. John McCain, whom Trump targeted for derision during the 2016 campaign, joined Murkowski and Maines Susan Collins in voting against the bill. His decisive vote followed impassioned pleas from Vice President Mike Pence and a call from Trump himself, Republican officials say.

When the President went to war on his own attorney general this week, conservative media outlets normally friendly to Trump leapt to Jeff Sessions defense instead. Breitbart News, one of Trumps top cheerleaders, called Sessions a man who embodies the movement that elected Donald Trump President. Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh criticized Trumps handling of the spat. Outside groups rallied Tea Party leaders and lawmakers to Sessions defense, and Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley publicly warned his committee would not consider another nominee for the post this year. The battles lines had been drawn, and conservatives stood on Sessions side.

Meanwhile, congressional Republicans were making life difficult for Trump on another sensitive front. Both houses of Congress voted nearly unanimously to impose new sanctions on Russia, sending a bill to Trumps desk that the White House has criticized. The move put the President in a bind: veto the billwhich Congress can override anywayand risk looking as though he was taking a soft line on Moscow in the midst of deepening investigations into whether members of his campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election. Or sign it and risk retaliation from President Vladimir Putin.

White House officials expect Trump to sign the legislation, but to issue a signing statement outlining his reservations on the bill. Whats clear from the vote tally is that House and Senate Republicans didnt much care about putting the President in a predicament. After all, theyd watched Trump twist arms to help get the healthcare repeal bill over the line in the House, only to turn around and call the legislation mean.

Even the military pushed pause on their commander in chiefs orders this week. In a series of tweets this week, Trump announced that transgender men and women would no longer be able to serve in the U.S. armed forces. The decree caught the Pentagon by surprise, with even the Joint Chiefs left unaware beforehand of Trumps order. The Pentagon swiftly put the burden of clarifying the policy on the White House, and informed commanders that Trumps tweets had no practical effect until that happened.

Trump remains a formidable foe. He has the bully pulpit of the presidency at his disposal and a loyal base that has largely stuck with him through the fumbles and controversies that marred his opening months in office.

But the series of sharp rebukes this week highlighted how quickly Trumps political capital has eroded. Presidents are typically near the apex of their influence in the months after an election, riding high off their inauguration and enjoying a honeymoon in the polls. But Trump is shattering convention there as well. His approval rating hasnt been north of 40% in more than a month, setting new records for unpopularity so soon into an administration.

Maybe its no wonder few people in town seem afraid of him.

The rest is here:
Who's Afraid of Donald Trump? Good Question. - TIME

Chances are that you can't. In fact, if you're like most of the political world, Monday feels as if it happened a month ago.

This is the nature of time in the Donald Trump presidency. There are so many storylines every single day that it's impossible to keep up with them even for a 24-hour news cycle. Some of this is, of course, strategy on the part of the President -- if you throw 1,000 balls in the air, any one person can only hope to focus on a few in hopes of catching them.

But, ascribing strategy to every ball Trump throws may be giving him and his White House too much credit. The truth is that this is a President who creates chaos in and around him. He acts, and then watches the wildness that ensues. The plan, seemingly, is that there is no plan.

He's the man knocking down the first domino in a massive chain that spiders in a thousand different directions. Or, maybe even more apt: He's smashing the ice on a thinly frozen pond and watching as the cracks spread out around him -- endangering both himself and anyone else unlucky enough to be sharing the ice with him.

Every week at the manic pace Trump keeps feels like a blur -- none more than this week, in which the President and his administration lurched from controversy to cataclysm to convulsion and back, all in the space of five days.

Let's go through the week that was:

"McMaster is at odds with President Trump on many key national security issues," reported CNN. "McMaster has also found himself undercut by others in the President's orbit like chief strategist Steve Bannon."

Later in the day Trump delivered a humdinger of a speech to police officers in Long Island on the dangers posed by the MS-13 gang, which he derided as "animals." He also appeared to condone violence against criminals; "And when you see these towns and when you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon you just see them thrown in, rough I said, please don't be too nice," Trump said.

Just before 5 p.m. Eastern Time, Trump announced -- via Twitter -- that he had fired Reince Priebus as chief of staff and replaced him with John Kelly, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

It was a month's worth of bad news -- and maybe several months' worth -- in a single week. (And the week isn't even over yet.)

Consider this: If an episode of "West Wing" had the plot outlined above, Aaron Sorkin would likely have rejected it as too fantastical. There won't ever be THAT much -- and that much bad for the President -- happening in a single week, you can imagine him saying.

And, up until Donald Trump became the President, he'd have been right. But in this reality show presidency, the truth is stranger than fiction. And a week can seem to last a month.

This story has been updated.

Original post:
Donald Trump's manic, fantastical and utterly disastrous week - CNN