What a depressing afternoon

Another gray, rainy day in Atlanta.

And that was just the atmospheric backdrop to the political situation.   First, I spent an interminable period of time Wednesday afternoon watching Donald Trump pontificate and lie to TV cameras in a photo-op in connection with a cabinet meeting.

The president was clearly playing to his base in the TV-land audience.  I kept watching because I wanted to hear the commentary of the MSBNC discussants afterward, but it was really really hard to sit there and be insulted by a president who thinks we're all so ill-informed that we don't see through his lies and distortions.

For example, he lamented how long we've been fighting in Afghanistan and claimed he himself would have done better, that he would have been a good general.   He claimed there are over 30 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., when experts put the number at no more than a third of that.    Same about what the Iraq war has cost us.

In reference to Gen. Mattis leaving as Sec. of Defense, Trump said, complainingly:   "What's he done for me?"   Then said, "essentially, I fired him" -- disregarding the fact that his initial reaction to Mattis' resignation was to praise the man and thank him for his service;  but that was before somebody told him that Mattis' letter of resignation (which he probably didn't read) was a thinly veiled criticism of him.   So now he's dissing the man, saying he didn't do good job, didn't accomplish anything in Afghanistan;  and that Obama had fired him (is he mixing him up with Flynn, whom Obama did fire and warned Trump not to hire?).

But here was the worst of all.  Referring to the fact that the DACA plan was being reviewed by the courts as to the constitutionality of its creation by Obama's executive order, Trump said:
     "If the court says that Obama had the right to do DACA unilaterally, then it means that I can do whatever I want on lots of other stuff.  Can you imagine me having this power?   Wouldn't that be scary?"

Yes, the president of the United States said that on live television.  It was pretty terrifying.

And then I went to see the movie "Vice," about Dick Cheney's rise in power to become the most power-driven and powerful Vice President in the history of our country.   It all leads up to his getting a legal opinion, from hand-picked legal minds in the Justice Department of Legal Counsel, that agreed with the concept of the "unitary executive."   Meaning that the president has unlimited power and can do no wrong.

The film follows the facts as presented in the fact-based media, which I believe are the truth -- especially the exposure of how the raw intelligence data was misused by Cheney and Rumsfeld to "justify" their already-made decision to invade Iraq.

Which is more dangerous:   Cheney or Trump?   I think Trump.   Cheney wanted power for the executive, but I don't believe he wanted to destroy our democracy.   He sought legal approval -- even if he handpicked the authority to approve it -- but not willful disregard for the law.

I don't think Trump sees any problem in what he's doing that undermines our institutions and our democratic values -- or even the rule of law.

Ralph