New top story from Time: Post-White House Donald Trump Continues to Destroy Norms

https://ift.tt/3x6SQP0

This article is part of the The DC Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox every weekday.

At the start of Barack Obama’s presidency, I came to know a routine all too well. President Obama or his top aides would seek to dismiss a reporter’s question about the news of the day—be it attempts to revive the struggling economy after the 2008 collapse, the tricky politics of a Wall Street bailout or the efforts to keep American automakers’ assembly lines roaring—by reminding everyone just how bad things were when the Obamas moved into the White House. It wasn’t always explicit, but the message was clear: they were cleaning up the mess left behind by President George W. Bush after eight turbulent years.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

My editor would ask the obvious question: “Does Dallas want to comment?” Meaning the office of the 43rd President in Texas.

Invariably, the answer was a polite no. Bush understood the pressures facing any President and had learned over his career that nothing should be taken personally in politics—especially once you got to the nation’s highest office. Picking a public fight with his successor would do him—and the country—no good at unifying around its first Black President. Even when Team Obama stretched credulity on the scope of the mess, the answer stayed the same: Bush’s aides would decline to comment and thank us for the call.

That’s what is expected of former Presidents and their families. They can work on causes of varying political intensities, but they generally don’t return to the day-to-day scramble of politics. Politics still intrudes occasionally, of course. Bill Clinton campaigned for Hillary Clinton during her 2008 and 2016 presidential campaigns, Bush supported his brother Jeb’s candidacy in 2016, and Barack and Michelle Obama both helped Joe Biden on his path to the White House. But in the interest of maintaining the quiet dignity of an ex-President, those instances are the exception rather than the rule.

That’s not to say they face exile. During his post-presidency, Bush has worked to help veterans and Laura Bush remains a fierce advocate for literacy. Bill Clinton set out to establish a foundation with a truly global reach while Hillary Clinton traded the White House’s Solarium for the Senate Cloak Room and later the State Department. In their post-White House years, Barack and Michelle Obama have been diligent advocates for voting rights and jobs-training programs in Chicago. And if called back to help out their fraternity’s current occupant of the Oval Office, former Presidents often do it; the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund raised more than $50 million to help Obama with a post-earthquake recovery.

Former President Donald Trump’s return to the campaign trail over the weekend, however, broke many of the unwritten rules of the office. “Do you miss me?” Trump asked his crowd near Cleveland on Saturday evening at his first public, standalone political event since leaving office in January. The 90-minute remarks were a rehash of his old grievances, lies and attacks. His grip on the Republican Party appears as strong as ever, with 36% of Republicans buying the incorrect belief that Trump actually won in November and 57% of them saying Biden won only through election fraud, according to polling released last week from Monmouth University. The fact the question is even necessary shows how potent Trump remains in his party.

For those who like an evening of fact-optional assertions, petty attacks on those who dare disagree with him and baseless theories of massive voting fraud, Trump still brings the show. He played his greatest hits: anti-immigrant rhetoric recited through the lyrics of 1960s pop song “The Snake,” chants of “lock her up” related to Hillary Clinton’s email practices and a maddening lack of Internet connectivity for reporters who traveled to Ohio to witness Trump’s latest roadshow.

The new material came as Trump campaigned against an incumbent Republican, Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, who dared to vote for Trump’s second impeachment following a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Trump went to his district for his first post-White House rally to drum up support for a Trumpist who is running against Gonzales in a GOP primary. For Trump, that failed attack on democracy back in January was nothing to worry about. In fact, many in the crowd wrongly believe Trump is still the valid President and will be restored to power in August, according to the Associated Press’ reporter on the ground.

“This was the scam of the century and this was the crime of the century,” Trump crowed of the election results that show him losing by 7 million votes.

Still, Trump may find on his return to the trail that his rallies lack the utility they once held. Out of power, Trump now has to work a little harder to drum up relevance. World leaders no longer have to monitor his every utterance for hints as to U.S. policy. He is banned from Twitter and Facebook, denying him direct access to his loyalists, and his blog proved short-lived. Lacking a campaign, Trump has had to turn to political action committees and his own wallet to cover the costs of the elaborate rallies. And while he still has Secret Service protection, ex-Presidents don’t get the same trappings of the White House’s aura.

Which is why Trump faces this reality: in order to matter to anyone outside his hardcore supporters, he needs to turn up the volume to draw widespread attention. It’s how he won the nomination in 2016, by spending a lot of time denouncing every living President before him and then picking a fight with the Pope for good measure. His opponents, put simply, didn’t know how to parry. Even at the most deafening days of outrage during Trump’s term, you had to listen really, really carefully to hear criticism of it from the former Presidents. For months, in fact, Obama wouldn’t even say Trump’s name, even as Trump refused to host the Obamas for portrait unveilings.

Now, Trump’s broadsides against Biden are just words. Which is why he’s planning a trip to the U.S. border on Wednesday with Republican lawmakers. He’s going not to highlight the challenges facing U.S. officials struggling to cope with a surge of immigrants, but to troll Biden. Since Trump first rode down that golden escalator back in June of 2015, he has gleefully sucked up all of the oxygen he can from every situation. His post-White House posture is simply more of the same. Still, it can’t help but shock those of us who watched every other former President check his impulses and even his ego to make room for his successor. That’s simply not in Trump’s DNA. He didn’t learn the norms when he was the sitting President, so there’s no reason to think he’ll pick up the cues now.

Make sense of what matters in Washington. Sign up for the daily D.C. Brief newsletter.

Comments

Soldier killed in encounter with terrorists in J-K's Pulwama https://ift.tt/2XGQfvf

A soldier was killed in an encounter with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Wednesday. After receiving information about the presence of terrorists, security forces launched a search operation in an orchard in Kamrazipora village of Pulwama in the early hours of the day.

New top story from Time: R. Kelly Found Guilty in Sex Trafficking Trial

https://ift.tt/3kMSmKc (NEW YORK) — The R&B superstar R. Kelly was convicted Monday in a sex trafficking trial after decades of avoiding criminal responsibility for numerous allegations of misconduct with young women and children. A jury of seven men and five women found Kelly guilty of racketeering on their second day of deliberations. The charges were based on an argument that the entourage of managers and aides who helped the singer meet girls—and keep them obedient and quiet—amounted to a criminal enterprise. Read more: A Full Timeline of Sexual Abuse Allegations Against R. Kelly [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Several accusers testified in lurid detail during the trial, alleging that Kelly subjected them to perverse and sadistic whims when they were underage. For years, the public and news media seemed to be more amused than horrified by allegations of inappropriate relationships with minors, starting with Kelly’s illegal marriage to the R&B phenom Aaliya...

How Muni is Tackling the 10 Worst Delay Hot Spots Across SF

How Muni is Tackling the 10 Worst Delay Hot Spots Across SF By Cassie Halls The SFMTA has had its fair share of ribbon-cutting ceremonies over the last two years. These celebrations draw attention to some of our biggest projects. Also attention-worthy are some of the more incremental efforts happening at the agency. One such effort led by the Muni Forward team is the Transit Delay Hot Spots Program , launched in February 2020 . Muni Forward is known for corridor projects such as the L Taraval Improvement Project , 16 th Street Improvement Project , and M Oceanview Transit and Safety Project . These efforts are increasing the already sizeable 80 miles of transit reliability upgrades since 2014. There are also other ways we’re working to slash travel times and improve reliability across the Muni network. The Transit Delay Hot Spots Program aims to tackle the 10 worst “delay hot spots” each year, where buses crawl between stops at four miles an hour or less. We’re looking cl...

Vaccine-Related Service Changes Go into Effect November 1

Vaccine-Related Service Changes Go into Effect November 1 By Mariana Maguire An SFMTA staff person receives the COVID-19 vaccine at the Woods Muni Maintenance Division To address operator shortages due to the city’s mandate that only vaccinated employees may work after November 1 , the SFMTA will temporarily suspend “short” line service on a few Muni lines. Short service refers to buses that run on a segment of a longer Muni route to help improve frequency on higher-ridership portions of the line. The long routes on these lines will continue to operate, connecting customers where they need to go. There will be no cancellation of any Muni routes in response to staffing challenges associated with the city’s vaccine mandate. Starting November 1, we are planning to temporarily suspend the 1 California Short , 14R Mission Rapid Short (weekends only), 30 Stockton Short, and 49 Van Ness Short (on weekdays only). These changes are intended to reduce impacts to service systemwide,...

Bus Testing on the New Van Ness BRT Corridor a Success

Bus Testing on the New Van Ness BRT Corridor a Success By Nehama Rogozen Muni and Golden Gate Transit staff recently conducted important bus operations testing that is an important step towards the Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor opening this spring. This testing included emergency turns and maneuvers, repositioning buses, verifying signals are working, clearances between passing buses and safe turns while bike racks are deployed. The training also included several staff. Traffic engineers made sure traffic and transit signals were working and reviewed street markings. Transportation planners coordinated closely with operations, training, engineering and construction staff to make necessary adjustments. Outreach staff and ambassadors answered questions and made sure customers knew testing was taking place. Field manager...

New top story from Time: Germany Has Officially Recognized Colonial-Era Atrocities in Namibia. But For Some, Reconciliation Is a Long Way Off

https://ift.tt/3fVRkaO The German government formally recognized colonial-era atrocities against the Herero and Nama people in modern-day Namibia for the first time, referring to the early 20th century massacres as “genocide” on Friday and pledging to pay a “ gesture to recognize the immense suffering inflicted.” “In light of the historical and moral responsibility of Germany, we will ask Namibia and the descendants of the victims for forgiveness,” said German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas in a statement , adding that the German government will fund projects related to “reconstruction and the development” of Namibia amounting to €1.1 billion ($1.3 billion). The sum will be paid out over 30 years and must primarily benefit the descendants of the Herero and Nama, Agence France-Presse reported . [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Although it’s a significant step for a once colonial power to agree such a deal with a former colony, there’s skepticism among some experts and ob...

New top story from Time: A Conversation with Filmmaker Adam Curtis on Power, Technology and How Ideas Get Into People’s Heads

https://ift.tt/2NQRzcY The British filmmaker Adam Curtis may work for the BBC, a bastion of the British elite, but over a decades-long career, he has cemented himself as a cult favorite. He is best known as the pioneer of a radical and unique style of filmmaking, combining reels of unseen archive footage, evocative music, and winding narratives to tell sweeping stories of 20th and 21st century history that challenge the conventional wisdom. “I’ve never thought of myself as a documentary maker,” he says. “I’m a journalist.” On Feb. 11, Curtis dropped his latest epic: Can’t Get You Out of My Head , an eight hour history of individualism, split up over six episodes. Subtitled “An emotional history of the modern world,” the goal of the series, Curtis says, was to unpack how we came to live in a society designed around the individual, but where people increasingly feel anxious and uncertain. It’s a big question, and Curtis attempts to answer it by taking us on a winding journ...

New top story from Time: America’s War in Afghanistan Is Over. But in the Horn of Africa, its War On Terror Rages On

https://ift.tt/2ZEtko9 In a remote corner of eastern Africa, behind tiers of razor wire and concrete blast walls, it’s possible to get a glimpse of America’s unending war on terrorism. Camp Lemonnier, a 550-acre military base, houses U.S. special-operations teams tasked with fighting the world’s most powerful al-Qaeda affiliates. Unfolding over miles of sun-scorched desert and volcanic rock inside the tiny country of Djibouti, the base looks—the troops stationed here will tell you—like a sand-colored prison fortress. Inside, two subcamps sit behind opaque 20-ft. fences ringed with yet more razor wire. The commando teams emerge anonymously from behind the gates and board lumbering cargo planes to fly across Djibouti’s southern border with Somalia for what they call “episodic engagements” with local forces fighting al-Shabab , al-Qaeda’s largest offshoot. General Stephen Townsend, commander of military operations in Africa, describes it as “commuting to work.” The Pentagon has ...

New top story from Time: There Is No Clear Winner in the Israeli Election, Signaling More Deadlock Ahead

https://ift.tt/39bOLip JERUSALEM — Israeli parliamentary elections on Tuesday resulted in a virtual deadlock for a fourth time in the past two years, exit polls indicated, leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with an uncertain future and the country facing the prospect of continued political gridlock. The exit polls on Israel’s three main TV stations indicated that both Netanyahu and his religious and nationalist allies, along with a group of anti-Netanyahu parties, both fell short of the parliamentary majority required to form a new government. That raised the possibility of an unprecedented fifth consecutive election later this year. The election was seen as a referendum on Netanyahu’s polarizing leadership style, and the initial results showed that the country remains as deeply divided as ever, with an array of small sectarian parties dominating the parliament. The results also signaled a continuing shift of the Israeli electorate toward the right wing, which su...

New top story from Time: In New Zealand, ‘Hello’ Has Become ‘Kia Ora.’ Will That Save the Māori Language?

https://ift.tt/2LMKZ6a Kenny Williams began to study the Māori language during his second COVID-19 lockdown . Williams, 36, lives alone and the isolation made him yearn to feel closer to his identity as an indigenous New Zealander—an identity he had spent most of his childhood trying to hide. After he ordered some Māori language books, he found his studies helped him build a connection to his Māori history. “I didn’t know it was a gap that was missing in my life,” he says. It’s not just lockdown isolation—New Zealanders of all stripes are signing up to learn the language of the Māori people, New Zealand’s original inhabitants—“te reo Māori,” as it is widely called. But COVID-19 may have provided a boost: One university reported that 7,000 people accessed a free online Māori language and culture course in a 10-day period during lockdown. The New Zealand government has pledged to ensure 1 million residents are able to speak basic Māori by 2040—an effort to revive a langu...

My precise view

Search This Blog