Plouffe challenges Trump, who lashes out at Obama with unbridled idiocy

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Donald Trump -- if the media and especially the (heavily right-wing) business media are to be believed -- may be the most amazing man in American history, the glorious personification of all that is good and decent with America, but he sure has a thin skin:

The White House stopped just short of dismissing Donald Trump as a clown Sunday - calling him a "sideshow" act with "zero chance" of becoming president.

Chief Obama adviser David Plouffe unleashed a barrage of stinging comments on Trump, who has recently trafficked in fringe conspiracy theories about Obama's place of birth while taunting America with hints of a presidential run.

"There is zero chance that Donald Trump would ever be hired by the American people," President Obama's chief adviser David Plouffe told ABC's "This Week with Christiane Amanpour."

*****

Trump countered that he represents Obama's biggest nightmare in the 2012 race and that the White house is running scared.

"I know for a fact that I am the only candidate they are concerned with," Trump told The Daily News. "They are very concerned because I am challenging him as to whether or not he was born in this country where there is a real doubt."

"He should focus on properly dealing with the Chinese, the Saudis and all of the other nations that are ripping off the United States instead of making up quotes about Donald Trump," the "Apprentice" host blustered on. "Barack Obama has done a terrible job as president."

Oh... where to begin?

First, Trump can't know that for a fact, because it isn't a fact. There's no way the White House is concerned about a Trump run. Trump is simply full of shit. The question is whether he believes his own shit.

Second, there's no legitimate issue about where Obama was born. He was born in Hawaii. We have the official documentation to prove it (statement of live birth). Trump has taken up the Birther cause, and is running wild with it, but it merely destroys what little political credibility he had.

Third, you can't really be a good Republican if you're not kowtowing to the Saudis and the Chinese, mostly for business-related reasons. They have the oil (Saudi Arabia), the lucrative export market (China), and the keys to America's economic future and fiscal well-being (China).

Fourth, how exactly has Obama been so terrible? Well, of course, I assume that Trump would rather not extend health insurance to tens of millions of Americans most in need, given how little he cares about those lower than him on the wealth scale, but bailing out Wall Street? Really? Trump opposed that? Given how many times Trump himself has been bailed out over the years, after failure upon failure, he should have a little more appreciation for government handouts to the banks, particularly with so few strings attached. Of course, it's hard to know what exactly Trump thinks about anything given how insanely partisan his rantings are and how he has embraced the crazy conspiracy-mongering of the far right.

Fifth, it is embarrassing, and that's putting it nicely, that anyone takes Trump seriously, particularly those in the media who, if I may give them some undeserved credit, should know better. And yet all we seem to get -- just watch any Trump TV appearance -- is a revolting display of sycophantic fawning. And all because he has money, which buys you credibility in America's depraved political and media culture, and has successfully cultivated the mythology of himself as all-American success story.

But you know, I have to disagree with Plouffe. Trump doesn't have "zero chance" of becoming president. He has a less than zero chance. He's that much of a sordid, massive sham.

The real fight

By Carl 

The drums have been beating for months over this fight, ever since the GOP took back the House in November. This week, they get much louder. The time is at hand:

"Obviously, we need to look at all corners of government," said Obama senior adviser David Plouffe in announcing the speech on NBC's Meet The Press. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., on Fox News Sunday, said, "we've had to bring this president kicking and screaming to the table to cut spending."

Obama's forthcoming plan to reduce the government's red ink will also re-frame a variety of budget-related political battles. 

Cantor's comment is particularly irritating, since Obama's original budget proposal cut $33 billion dollars, which is eerily close to what Boener caved in on for the continuing budget resolution.

But I digress...

What this week's battle will really be about is the debt ceiling. Approve it, and the nation can go on and try to get a handle on the bills. Turn it down, and the nation will instantaneously lose any and all credibility in the world, becoming no better than Uganda or Zimbabwe or Myanmar or Greece or Portugal, or any number of nations who have repudiated or otherwise abrogated their responsibilities to the world.

Like those other nations, we will have sold out to tyrannical dictators, only ours won't be in office, only the men behind the curtains.

The Republicans have already signaled they will agree to the raise, but in exchange they want spending cuts.

Um, duh. Then ur doin et rong, if you're going to play brinksmanship without the very real threat you'll go over the edge. After all, what's the thrill in seeing someone swim in the Niagara River if he's tied by a rope to the mainland? It just amounts to an exercise in exhaustion.

What this really amounts to is the Bush tax cuts, which will expire next year after an extension... again... in 2010. Allowing these to expire would of course immediately cut the deficit and the growth of the debt, but it would also inflict pain on the überrich and the corporatocracy.

Pain, in this case, being defined as the bite of the mite that sits on the gnat that's piggybacking on the mosquito on the collective butt.

The rest of the debate is really just smoke and noise and amounts to next to nothing in terms of cuts... no one seriously thinks Paul Ryan's plan is worth the paper it's printed on... and really is just the GOP saving face from the charge of being the Party of No.

Which they are. You really ought to embrace your inner hater, boys.

(Cross-posted to Simply Left Behind.) 

Addendum: I just wanted to add my voice to those who are expressing their regrets over the loss of one of our very best and brightest here at The Reaction.

Creature, in your retirement, may you find the thread you believe you've lost and come out fighting again really soon. You will be missed.