"We have a Moron for a President!" Just another Trump Monday.

There is so much to get to today that proves over and over again that the nation...no, the world, is at the mercy of the dumbest most reckless president in history, Donald Trump. We can thank Democratic voters too, who just took a chance, wanted to see what would happen, and who had a problem with Clinton's possible conflicts of interest...unlike anything Trump is getting away with now.

Just today these loosely related stories all made me want to just turn of the TV, radio, computer and burn the newspaper.

1. Trump's grasp of history is...well, "people don't realize, you know?"

"People don't realize, you know, the Civil War...People don't ask that question. But why was there a Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?"

2. Or the massive press coverage over the revised Republican plan to let states opt out of covering preexisting conditions, a tip to the tea party Freedom Caucus, wasn't something Trump was aware of. Even my favorite author and conservative Norm Ornstein was uncharacteristically fed up:

“Pre-existing conditions are in the bill. And I just watched another network than yours, and they were saying, ‘Pre-existing is not covered.’ Pre-existing conditions are in the bill. And I mandate it. I said, ‘Has to be.’”

3. Or Trump's war with the constitutionally protected free press. It was a real head turner hearing Reince Priebus admit that Trump was looking at ways to punish the press; change libel laws so anyone can sue the media out of existence. What's so crazy about that? 

4. Rubbing shoulders with brutal dictatorial leaders, many who have killed journalists, Trump is now inviting them to the White House, while criticizing and distancing himself from U.S. allies: 

Russia, Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Egypt, Turkey, the former Ukraine, Georgia, are concrete examples. What do these regimes have in common? They have ‘elected’ leaders. That’s the democratic part. Virtually every other aspect of their governance structure looks a lot like authoritarianism run rampant.

President Donald Trump has invited Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte to the White House "to discuss the importance of the United States-Philippines alliance," according to a White House readout of the leaders' phone call on Saturday.

"It was a very friendly conversation. President Trump enjoyed the conversation and said that he is looking forward to visiting the Philippines in November to participate in the East Asia Summit and the U.S.-ASEAN Summit."

Duterte is a controversial and polarizing leader with a deadly and ruthless reputation. Since taking office last year, he has been outspoken in his support of extrajudicial killings of thousands of citizens accused of dealing or using drugs. His crackdown on suspected drug dealers and users has left nearly 2,800 people dead purportedly in gun battles with police. Another 6,000 deaths are being investigated.

But Trump loves a good dictator/tyrant for their popularity and power...

5. Trump may think North Korea's Kim Jong-Un is dangerous, but that's what makes him what Trump calls a "smart cookie..."

6. Here's Trump on Obama's wire tapping allegations that he's still not willing to prove. This is Trump folding under media pressure, the little baby:

A much needed lesson for Republicans on the Civil War.

Racist Republicans have successfully muddied the concept of what is racism. Rationalizing away any guilt an individual might feel

Ken Burns from Face the Nation and Raw Story:

Historian Ken Burns reminded supporters of the Confederacy on Sunday that the Civil War had been primarily about slavery, and not states’ rights as many conservatives have claimed. Burns recommended that Americans read South Carolina’s Articles of Secession to get the real story on why the states went to war against each other.

“[T]hey do not mention states’ rights. They mention slavery, slavery, slavery,” he pointed out. “And that we have to remember. It is much more complicated than that, but essentially the reason why we murdered each other — more than 2 percent of our population, 750,000 Americans died; that’s more than all the wars from the Revolution through Afghanistan combined — was over essentially the issue of slavery.”

“The main American theme, I think, is freedom. But we also notice that race is always there. Always there. When Thomas Jefferson says all men are created equal, he owns a couple hundred human beings and he doesn’t see the contradiction or the hypocrisy and doesn’t free anybody in his lifetime and sets in motion an American narrative that is bedeviled by a question of race.

And we struggle with it. We try to ignore it. We pretend, with the election of Barack Obama, that we’re in some post-racial society. And what we have seen is a kind of reaction to this. The birther movement, of which Donald Trump is one of the authors of, is another politer way of saying the N word. It’s just more sophisticated and a little bit more clever. He’s ‘other,’ he’s different.”

“What’s actually ‘other’ and different about him? It turns out it’s the same old thing. It’s the color of his skin.”

Here's Col. Ty Seidule, Dept. of History at the U.S. Academy in West Point, no slouch when it comes to war:

Was the Civil War about Slavery?

via Democratic Underground and cross posted at Mikeb302000