We thought this was worth preserving: Long ago and far away, Barbara Res worked for Donald J. Trump.
She worked for Trump in a high capacity within a rather small organization. For that reason, she is sometimes invited to come on TV and describe her former boss.
On Monday night, Res appeared with Brian Williams for the first time. We thought the following remarks by Res were worth preserving:
WILLIAMS (4/22/19): What's it like for you? It's been two years plus to watch this...I mean, for you to watch this guy who was in your head and in your life, and the center of your work universe for so long, what's it been like?Res is not a pathologist. That said, she described an apparent change in cognitive capacity, and an apparent change in values. She isn't the first past associate of Trump who has described such changes.
RES: It's something that was really quite hard to—because, you know, I have very mixed feelings about, and we were closer at a point in time. And as it evolved, I couldn't believe some of things he was doing, to be honest with you. I didn't think he was quite like this. I'm surprised at him.
He's not human. He does terrible things. He's destroying the environment. He's hurting families. He's doing terrible things.
WILLIAMS: Did he know he had that in him?
RES: I did not know he had that, and I knew he was mendacious. I know that there was, you know, trickery. I knew that there was that kind of thing, but not like he is now. No.
[...]
WILLIAMS: Well, it must be interesting to be you. I mean, starting with tonight's Twitter fuselage. He was always verbal. He worked here for 14 years and—
RES: He communicated better in the older days. He's more childish now. He speaks like a kid almost. He doesn't have a good vocabulary. And he doesn't seem to focus, so he's changed in a lot of ways.
WILLIAMS: Thank you very much for coming in.
RES: My pleasure, thank you for having me.
WILLIAMS: It's a pleasure, great to get to know you. Our thanks to Barbara Res for joining us here in the studio tonight.
Has something happened to Donald J. Trump? At the start of 2018, the New York Times told the world that the press corps shouldn't discuss such questions.
Please don't discuss these life-and-death matters! This peculiar request lies at the heart of our failing upper-end culture.
Barbara Res didn't discuss Trump's cognitive decline either. Brian Williams asked what he was like and she said he was different. She didn't say he was mentally ill or had dementia or anything like that. She said he didn't appear to focus and he talked like a child.
ReplyDeleteAll politicians decrease their vocabulary when talking to the public. Those who don't, don't win. Lack of focus is understandable in a distracting environment, and Res wouldn't have seen him in private.
Somerby keeps wanting to say that Trump is mentally ill. The same characteristics described by Res could apply to someone with ADD. ADD doesn't go away in adulthood -- people learn to cope despite it and they select jobs and leisure activities compatible with it (less demanding of focus than school). Trump may have never been able to focus but been better at coping in the less demanding environments where he could control things more. The presidency isn't such an environment, so his coping is failing. That explanation is just as compatible with Res's remarks as Somerby suggestions.
Because Trump will not permit an actual evaluation, we cannot know whether he is cognitively impaired. That means we cannot seriously talk about removal on that basis, and neither can the NY Times, without being sued (and Trump has shown himself very willing to sue). It is no surprise that the NY Times, financially struggling, doesn't want to climb out on that limb.
So then we have to ask why Somerby doesn't seem to understand these realities. I believe it is because he wants to find fault with them and any example will serve that purpose. I doubt it is because of any abiding concern about Trump and what he is doing to the country. Those topics don't find there way here. An actual liberal would be talking about Trump and his malfeasance daily, as all the other liberal bloggers are doing. Somerby plays his broken record, over and over. I find it more interesting to wonder what is wrong with Somerby, not Trump. It is obvious what is wrong with Trump and no one here needs Barbara Res to tell us about it.
Somerby has dementia.
DeleteTrump never communicated well, always was childish, always spoke like a kid, never had good vocabulary, never had focus.
Trump was given the privilege of tens of millions of dollars from his father, squandered it all, had to be bailed out repeatedly by his father, and then later by Russians, a complete failure.
Last November we saw Americans respond to Trump, that trend continues.
@3:57
DeleteI hear you, and makes sense, but conshider thish:
Trump's Brain Bizarrely Glitches, Again
"He's not human"
ReplyDeleteIronic, innit, coming from a zombie?
I would have more confidence in Res's evaluation of Trump if her comments hadn't shown her to be extremely partisan. Trump is not "destroying the environment." His policies have hurt some illegal immigrant families. OTOH his economic boom has helped millions of families
ReplyDeleteForget the New York Times. Where is the GOP? Where are the congressional Republicans? Where is Fox News?
ReplyDeleteAs Trump (supposedly) sinks more and more into cognitive decline (if we are to believe Somerby), his popularity amongst Republicans remains quite strong. They see his rallies. They read his tweets. They hear his pronouncements. But they don’t watch MSNBC and in general don’t read the New York Times. They see either silence or praise from their tribal leaders. Therefore, if he is indeed mentally ill (and that is frankly debatable), it is up to *their* party, *their* leaders and *their* media, and frankly, themselves to speak up. Until they do, nothing is going to change. The GOP are in no mood to remove him from office, and they show every sign of offering him their full enthusiastic support in 2020. Liberals and the mainstream media calling him mentally ill seems guaranteed to win him more votes, unless more voices on their side join in.
I read the New York Times, even though I live in CA. I get a paper copy on Sunday and have a web subscription daily. But, I don't necessarily believe that New York Times. I certainly don't trust their editorials or any reporting involving numbers or mathematics or statistics.
DeleteRes's comments are disturbing, but I don't necessarily believe her. OTOH based on reliable statistics, I do believe that crime is down, employment is up, salary levels are up, the stock market is booming, and unemployment is way down. I see judges making more decisions based on law and fewer based on policy preferences. I see a real effort to deal with illegal immigration, although Trump is doing less than I would like.
As long as the country is running so well, I will be happy to stick with Trump.
I think Somerby is off base calling Trump mentally ill, and criticizing journalists for not discussing that. Aside from going against Somerby’s own distaste for speculation and innuendo (and that is what calling Trump mentally ill is), it also shows how oblivious Somerby seems to be about how that looks to “the other side.” He thinks he is being magnanimous or sympathetic by believing in Trump’s mental illness, but he is instead engaging in the worst kind of name-calling that should be worrisome to him or anyone else.
Delete"but he is instead engaging in the worst kind of name-calling that should be worrisome to him or anyone else. "
DeleteIt's Okay, Bob is not trying to insult. Bob is saying those things because Bob is special.
Where are they? MIA. They don't care because he makes them feel good about their resentments. That's all they care about.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why rational people expect honor and integrity from Republicans. They have no principles. So what else is new?
Alan - What I resent is people who call me deplorable, even implicitly.
DeleteOTOH, many so-called liberals are oblivious to the enormous economic gains made by poor black and Hispanic Americans since Trump was elected. Few so-called liberals noticed the 1,800 increase in annual black murder victims between 2014 and 2016. In short, too many liberals don't really care about the poor and needy. They don't really care about black students. Some of them seem to be substantially motivated by their resentments -- namely resentment of Donald Trump and his supporters.
It would be nice if we could stop attacking Trump personally and spend our energy working together to deal with the challenges facing the country.
We progressive liberals are not bothered when called things like racist or deplorable; it rings hollow because our policies do not exhibit those traits, as such we are unaffected by such attacks.
DeleteThere are zero Trump policies that have led to the positive gains mentioned, those gains are merely a continuing trend over the last decade.
The murder rate for all races increased over that time period and have since dropped, it was a blip in the trend line.
Republicans have zero policies to help minorities or the poor or the needy; this is intentional, Republicans believe in biological hierarchy and personal responsibility with no regard for context.
Trump is demonstrably corrupt and that is the source for attacks on him. Corruption is the natural response of those entrenched in capitalism.
"...as such we are unaffected by such attacks."
DeleteHmm. I suppose that might be true, as your pharisaic belief in your superiority is indeed unshakable.
But I noticed that a lot of your fellow prigs do get upset when identified as members of a zombie cult.
So, the zombie cult must ring true, eh?
David, the former John Bircher from California, is being much too modest. For instance he never mentions the large decrease in Eskimo on Eskimo murder rate. Nor does he ever brag about the fact the since the election in 2016, lions are lying with lambs and wolf and sheep have become friends.
DeleteNice projection, dembots, very nice indeed. Can we have more?
ReplyDeleteWe've still got till November 2020 to see an unemotional summation of what dumb bunnies want.
DeleteYour odds are better here than elsewhere. Hold on.
Wow. Reread this and cringed. I was not labeling people dumb bunnies who disagree with me about politics. It sure sounded like it though.
DeleteI was referring to my conservative dumb bunny tribe. Bad attempt at irony.
I meant to convey that I think Somerby is the liberal blogger most capable of ascertaining and fairly summing up our differences.
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