Donald Trump suggests that US destroyers should respond to ships with Iranians making obscene hand gestures by shooting them out of the water.

Courtesy of CNN: 

Donald Trump vowed Friday that if Iran inappropriately approached US ships, they would be "shot out of the water." 

"And by the way, with Iran, when they circle our beautiful destroyers with their little boats and they make gestures that our people -- that they shouldn't be allowed to make, they will be shot out of the water," he said at a rally here. 

Taking such action would have tremendous ramifications and would likely be considered an act of war. The comments, even given Trump's penchant for tough language, are unusual for a presidential candidate.

Yeah, well it would be unusual for a presidential candidate if that candidate were actually trying to win the election. 

The incident that Trump is referring to happened two weeks ago, and actually similar incidents have been happening for years.

And let's not forget that one of our Navy boats was captured after it went off course into Iranian waters.

These kinds of interactions are troubling, but in no way do they justify anybody being "shot out of the water."

Donald Trump's constant need to overcompensate for his obvious shortcomings becomes increasingly dangerous when the tools at his disposal include the United States Military. (Remember George W. Bush just wanted his mom to love him and to prove he was a batter man than his father. How many American and Iraqi deaths did that cause?)


I never thought the Republicans could put up a worse candidate for President than George W. Bush, but boy was I wrong!

Chuck Todd is not even pretending to be nonpartisan anymore.

If Clinton campaign was happy with last night's forum, they wouldn't be looking to do a presser this morning to provide new Clinton sound

— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) September 8, 2016

I don't know what forum ole Chuckie was watching but on the one that I saw Hillary came off as smart and prepared, while Trump came off as evasive and incoherent.

By the way Todd is not alone, somebody else also agrees with his assessment.

Hillary just gave a disastrous news conference on the tarmac to make up for poor performance last night. She's being decimated by the media!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 8, 2016

Gee, that's awfully similar.

This is the "presser" Todd is referring to during which Clinton tears a huge chunk out of Donald Trump: 

Hillary Clinton unleashed a torrent of attacks against Donald Trump's preparedness to be commander in chief and questioned his patriotism Thursday morning, hours after an NBC forum exposed her opponent to criticism on multiple fronts. 

"It is a game to him. Everything is a game. It is like he is living in his own celebrity reality TV program," Clinton said at a campaign rally in Charlotte Thursday afternoon. "You know what Donald, this is real reality, this is real people, these are real decisions that have to be made for our country."

"Last night was yet another test and Donald Trump failed yet again. We saw more evidence that he is temperamentally unfit and totally unqualified to be commander in chief. He trash talked American generals," she said.

Yeah I can see why that might get Trump all riled up, but why would it agitate an actual journalist focused on the facts?

Did you all catch Donald Trump's love letter to Vladimir Putin last night?

Courtesy of Vox: 

Earlier in Wednesday’s exchange, Lauer ran through a laundry list of Putin’s sins. 

"He's also a guy who annexed Crimea, invaded Ukraine, supports Assad in Syria, supports Iran, is trying to undermine our influence in key regions of the world, and, according to our intelligence community, probably is the main suspect for the hacking of the DNC computers," the moderator said. 

Trump responded by arguing, in effect, that Barack Obama was just as bad. 

"Do you want me to start naming some of the things that President Obama does at the same time?" Trump asked.

What the what? Did he seriously defend Putin by suggesting that the American President did worse things?

Seriously that right there should have been enough to disqualify Trump from being the GOP nominee, but he went on.

"When he calls me brilliant, I'll take the compliment," Trump said during a televised town hall meeting Wednesday. 

"He does have an 82 percent approval rating according to the different pollsters," Trump said. "By the way, some of them are based here." 

That’s not true — only one poll shows that level of support, and it was conducted by a Moscow-based nonprofit called the Levada Center — but those details are entirely beside the point. Given the chance to back away from his praise of Putin — a position that has alarmed many leading Republican national security figures — Trump chose to instead double down. 

"If he says great things about me, I'm going to say great things about him," Trump said. "The man has very strong control over a country. It's a very different system and I don't happen to like the system, but certainly in that system, he's been a leader. Far more than our president has been a leader."

Jesus Christ somebody get these two a room. 

So to clarify, this candidate for the most powerful political position on the planet has demonstrated admiration for a man who undermines our interests around the world, supports some of the nations with whom we are in conflict, and is currently hacking our computers in an apparent attempt to affect our democratic election process.


How, how, how in the name of Ronald Wilson Reagan is this man the nominee for the party that once spent decades fomenting fear of Russia to justify obscene military spending?

Open Thread for the Commander-in-Chief Forum. Update!

This event is on NBC and MSNBC at 4:00 PM Alaska time, which means 8:00 PM for those of you on the east coast.

I think it is going to be very interesting and possibly quite important as it is the first time before the debates that we will see Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump appear on the same stage, albeit not at the same time.

Hillary is going to take the first half hour with Trump bumbling through the second. 

They will also be taking questions from a live audience comprised mainly of members of the military.

I of course will be tweeting along with this as well and you can follow me by clicking here.

I have to admit that my first instinct tells me that Trump is going to face plant hard tonight, since I have been listening to him speak on military issues lately and it is like hearing a three year old discussing quantum mechanics.

However there are likely to be tough questions for Hillary as well.

Well I have my popcorn and beverage of choice at the ready so let's do this thing.

Update: Crap that was over fast.

Here are a few of my tweets for those who missed this first half with Hillary.

Hillary is killing it on these email questions. #NBCNewsForum

— Gryphen 2009 (@Gryphen2009) September 8, 2016

Yep. #NBCNewsForum https://t.co/72LsGhkOZY

— Gryphen 2009 (@Gryphen2009) September 8, 2016

Hillary Clinton: "I view force as a last resort not a first choice." #NBCNewsForum

— Gryphen 2009 (@Gryphen2009) September 8, 2016

Not enough time for substantive answers. This platform favors the ignorance of Trump over the intelligence of Clinton. #NBCNewsForum

— Gryphen 2009 (@Gryphen2009) September 8, 2016

Hillary Clinton: "We are not putting ground troops into Iraq ever again." THAT is the right answer. #NBCNewsForum

— Gryphen 2009 (@Gryphen2009) September 8, 2016

Next up, Trump. Time to open up the bar.

Update 2: Okay here are a few of my Trump tweets:

Only seconds in and Trump is already attacking Hilary Even though moderator asked him not to. #NBCNewsForum

— Gryphen 2009 (@Gryphen2009) September 8, 2016

Is Trump bringing up his Mexico trip as proof of his leadership abilities? Why yes he is. #NBCNewsForum

— Gryphen 2009 (@Gryphen2009) September 8, 2016

In response to Trump talking about his plan that is not a plan but it might be plan if he decides its a plan. pic.twitter.com/iZziFQtkwX

— Gryphen 2009 (@Gryphen2009) September 8, 2016

Trump is gong all in with defending Putin. Does he not realize that this is on national TV? #NBCNewsForum

— Gryphen 2009 (@Gryphen2009) September 8, 2016

That was supposed to be "going." Drunk tweeting at its finest.

Is now bragging about Putin's control over his country. He kills journalists who write critically about him you idiot! #NBCNewsForum

— Gryphen 2009 (@Gryphen2009) September 8, 2016

In response to the commander-in-chief question. @HillaryClinton : Oh yeah! @realDonaldTrump : Here let me attack Clinton and Obama a little.

— Gryphen 2009 (@Gryphen2009) September 8, 2016

I would not trust @realDonaldTrump to water my houseplants much less run my country. #NBCNewsForum

— Gryphen 2009 (@Gryphen2009) September 8, 2016

If you are still on the fence as to who to vote for you are a fucking moron!

There I said it, and it needed to be said. 

Pentagon officials respond to the idea of a Donald Trump presidency, "This is not the country I joined to defend. I am turning in my papers. I’m moving to a farm."

Courtesy of the Daily Beast:  

The plans of the next president are personal to the officers of the Pentagon, who are threatening to retire if The Donald becomes commander-in-chief. 

Republican presidential candidate and business mogul Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to build up the U.S. military if elected president. 

But it is not clear he will have the experienced commanders within the ranks to do it.

Here is some of what those experienced commanders had to say:

Some said repeatedly hearing Trump and the other GOP candidates spelling out a plan that is only a more brazen—and perhaps reckless—version of the current strategy was not reassuring. 

This Daily Beast correspondent has heard such sentiments from at least a dozen commanders in the past few months. Such conversations can also be heard at common areas—in cafeteria lines and around lunch tables. 

There are fears of being asked to carry out futile war plans that would bring instability. Almost all of today’s commanders are veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They all know someone who died in combat; indeed, they may have sent someone on a mission that ended with death. And because of that they bring a unique vantage point to lessons learned, from the frontlines where the cruelty of warfare is impossible to miss. Those who send them, meanwhile, sit thousands of miles away and learn what is happening through the filter of distance.

And so in the course of conversation, plots of a different kind emerge—contingencies in case Trump really is elected to the White House. 

“By 2016 I will have my 20 years in and can get out of here,” one military official said, referring to the amount of time a service member needs to collect retirement pay. 

“This is not the country I joined to defend. I am turning in my papers. I’m moving to a farm.” 

“Personally, I hope no one will be called upon to serve under a President T… I can’t bring myself to type the words,” said retired Rear Admiral John Hutson.

So apparently they are not buying Trump's quote,  “I will be so good at the military your head will spin.”

Gee go figure.

(H/T to Occupy Democrats.)

The face that now sends a tingle of fear through the spines of Republicans

This is a picture of the intensity on President Obama's face while he and his security team were monitoring the success of JSOC Seal Team 6 as they landed in Bin Laden's compound, and engaged the enemy in a firefight, before ultimately taking the Al Qaeda leader's life thus ending his reign of terror.

That face is the face which will haunt the dreams of the Republican party these next two years.

That is the face which will make those who considered taking President Obama on in 2012, think again. And perhaps even again.

And that is the face which our enemies will picture when they consider their plans to attack this country going forward.

Because THAT is the face of determination which hides behind our President's easy smile, calm demeanor, and self effacing personality.

For anybody who thought this President was a push over, or unfit to command, or lacking the steel spine to stand up against our enemies, I urge you to look at that face again.

Any questions?