Wondering on Wednesday (v100)

It seems somehow fitting that I would be doing my 100th Wondering on Wednesday post quoting president Trump.

Let us remember, for point of reference, that many in the punditry just got done telling us how 'presidential' Trump was on Monday night when he announced with almost startling clarity that it's different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office. And then,  he clarified that statement by telling us he meant "when you're President of the United States."  I wondered, a long time ago, if he would ever realize he won and it's his job. And now I wonder, has he finally turned the corner on that?

And then it was Tuesday and it was Phoenix. Wonder on these things, or others; you can read the entire transcript here, if you like.

• Trump went off the teleprompter for a diatribe against the sick, dishonest, America-hating media.
• He threatened to shut down the government over the (see-through) border walls
• He threatened (again) to pardon Sheriff Joe Arpaio; 
• He slammed both Arizona senators - John McCain, and the one who won't be named 
• He promised economic growth, jobs, lower taxes, good immigration, and more. 
• He talked about coal you wash after taking it out of the ground, showing his lack of understanding about energy (again) or his sense of humor; we'll be told it's the latter even if it's the former. 
• He wants to change Senate rules to have everything be a simple majority vote, showing (again) his lack of understanding of our government, or his sense of humor (ditto the comment above).
• He claimed Republicans resist, Democrats obstruct. Both do both; always have, always will.
• He claims a better legislative record than Harry Truman - as if it matters to anyone.
• He promised victory in Afghanistan (again).
• He respects Kim Jong Un for respecting him. R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
• He mistakenly stated that leftists "now" want to remove a statue of Teddy Roosevelt; this was a protest act unrelated to Charlottesville that occurred in 2016, proving (again) that he repeats fake news.

Can he really not just stick to the script, folks? How hard can it really be, I wonder? Or, was some of this actually IN the script? I wonder about that part, too.

We also learned yesterday, which was confirmed today, that the part of ESPN that live-streams college sports will not have a guy named Robert Lee narrate the live feed for an upcoming University of Virginia vs. William & Mary football game. UVA, you know, is the university in Charlottesville... The story goes that ESPN fired Lee (not true) or decided to pull him from the game so as not to offend anyone, given the similarity of his name to that of one deceased Confederate general.

Wondering immediately ensued -- what were they thinking? Are they insane? Is this the stupidest thing you've ever heard?

ESPN released a statement in which the noted the following: concerns were raised by the Charlottesville production staff that Lee would be subject to "social hectoring and trolling" as well as that it could become a "distraction" - and that Lee himself had "expressed some personal trepidation" about the game. Instead, we're told, he'll do a different game close to his Albany home.

Amnesty International photo

The last one that fits in tonight's wonder-full post (from a thematic perspective anyway), is the report that what helped drive Trump's Afghanistan decision included being shown a picture of hot Afghan women.

Seriously. There they are - this is believed to be the deal-clinching photo.

One of the ways McMaster tried to persuade Trump to recommit to the effort was by convincing him that Afghanistan was not a hopeless place. He presented Trump with a black and white snapshot from 1972 of Afghan women in miniskirts walking through Kabul, to show him that Western norms had existed there before and could return.

I can't help wondering what Trump wondered when HR McMaster handed him this picture. Or whether McMaster wondered if handing Trump a picture of young hotties was a good idea given his, well you know, given his self-confessed proclivities and all.

But mostly, I wonder how great it would be if it turned out this was just fake news, made up by someone at the White House? You know, to catch those dishonest, America-hating, failing, lying, crooked media elites who live in a much smaller apartment than Trump does, and who went to worse schools than Trump did in a lie?

Yeah, although it's not likely to happen, how much fun would it be?