Trump's Big CON: He's a Different Man Now (Ha Ha Ha, the Jokes on You)

UPDATE V:  That didn't last long.

Read the Washington Post, Trump’s charge that he was wiretapped takes presidency into new territory, which quoted conservative commentator Peter Wehner, who was the top policy strategist in George W. Bush’s White House:

'We have as president a man who is erratic, vindictive, volatile, obsessive, a chronic liar, and prone to believe in conspiracy theories. And you can count on the fact that there will be more to come, since when people like Donald Trump gain power they become less, not more, restrained.'"

Read also the Washington Post, Inside Trump’s fury: The president rages at leaks, setbacks and accusations.

UPDATE IV:  "Like the proverbial canaries in the coal mine, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and national security adviser H.R. McMaster are expected to be early alarms in the event that life in the Trump administration becomes untenable. If the White House fails to build an atmosphere in which they can work, Mattis and McMaster — both of whom are keenly aware that the world is watching their every move — could take their leave. The shock waves caused by their departure would be felt throughout the White House, Congress, and foreign capitals around the globe. The stakes couldn’t be higher — everyone knows that if they aren’t able to make it work, something must be seriously broken. "

Read the Washington Post, Mattis and McMaster are canaries in Trump’s coal mine.

UPDATE III:  "The president’s conciliatory address was a recognition that a softer sales tactic was needed to sell the hard-edge populism on which he campaigned."

Read The New York Times, Speech Wasn’t as Much a Pivot as a Skillful Political Act.

UPDATE II:  "The problem isn’t that Trump honored Carryn Owens at a moment of terrible grief, or that he spoke movingly of her husband’s death. All that was altogether appropriate. Rather, the problem is that he did this after trying to evade any responsibility for what happened, and after the White House cast any criticism of his handling of it as an insult to Ryan’s legacy. In this sense, the entire story raises serious doubts about Trump’s decision-making on matters of national security, and it may be a grim preview of what’s to come."

Read the Washington Post, The pundits are wrong. Trump’s handling of the Ryan Owens affair was contemptibly cynical.

UPDATE:  "The obsession with President Trump’s ability to spend one hour in a disciplined relationship with a teleprompter obscured one of his central goals on Tuesday night: He continued to try to scare the country to death."

Read the Washington Post, Trump still wants you to be very, very afraid.

Wow, after 40 days in office, Trump can maintain some self-control for an hour and read a speech from a teleprompter (which BTW, he frequently criticized Obama for using).

"He delivered a wonderful speech that used the words 'torches' and 'freedom' — not just once, but three times! He did not make lip-farts into the microphone, use the word 'pussy' (It is amazing to think that there was a time when I would have worried about typing that word at a family newspaper. But that was weeks ago, in another country) or mock a reporter, disabled or otherwise. He did not halt mid-speech to level a withering aside at Rosie O’Donnell. In short, it was just like the kind of speech Jack Kennedy would have given.

It was 'the most speech-like speech,' said Brian Williams.

High praise, indeed! I give it a Trump A.

This isn’t grading on a curve so much as it is grading in a deep cave many miles below the curve, but — that is all that America wanted, apparently. . .

Yup, Donald Trump spoke to Congress, and he did not bite a live bat in half.

Trump is finally presidential. That is to say, 'capable of delivering a boring speech full of meaningless platitudes.' . .

What does he want to do with the country, exactly?

Well, don’t worry. He is speaking in fluid sentences and has not paused yet to mock a former Miss USA or complain about the Fake Media. Do we need to trouble ourselves with these niggling details? They will only upset us and turn Vice President Pence’s smile upside down. . .

He listed an exciting agenda, something that these speeches always demand.

He has created many jobs and has started to drain the swamp. (The swamp is almost entirely drained because everyone in it has been offered a job in the Trump administration.)

He has cleared a path for pipelines and made them out of American steel, and he is making the Justice Department form a Task Force on Reducing Violent Crime. (Its first step to reduce all this violent crime will be to hand Trump an accurate set of crime statistics.) . .

It was the Gettysburg Address, by Trump standards. . .

Yup, Trump said words. Words about dreams! Just like the Rev. Martin Luther King, practically.

The facts were not exactly right, and the plans were no less alarming than usual — but they came packaged in such beautiful, coherent sentences. Bravery and freedom, my fellow Americans.

If George Washington were watching, I bet he was shedding proud tears. It was just wonderful. Truly.

Everything but the content."

Read the Washington Post, Great news: President Trump did not bite any bats in half during his address to Congress!

It was what the stock market wanted, today it is giddy.