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The 45th President of the United States, writes Reich, is "unhinged and dangerous." (Photo: Charlie Neibergall/AP)
'Unhinged & Dangerous': The Old Trump is Back. In Fact, He Never Left
It seems an eternity ago but it was only last Tuesday night when Donald Trump addressed a joint session of Congress and stuck to the teleprompter without going off the deep end - eliciting rapturous praise from the media.
Mar 06, 2017
It seems an eternity ago but it was only last Tuesday night when Donald Trump addressed a joint session of Congress and stuck to the teleprompter without going off the deep end - eliciting rapturous praise from the media.
"Donald Trump at his most presidential,"gushed NBC; "a recitation of hopes and dreams for the nation," oozed NPR; "the most presidential speech Mr. Trump has ever given -- delivered at precisely the moment he needed to project sobriety, seriousness of purpose and self-discipline," raved the New York Times; "he did something tonight that you cannot take away from him. He became president of the United States," rhapsodized CNN's Van Jones.
The bar was so low that all Trump needed to do was not sound nuts and he was "presidential."
But that all ended Saturday morning when the old Trump - the "birther," the hatemonger, the thin-skinned paranoid, the liar, the reckless ranter, the vindictive narcissist, the whack-o conman - reemerged in a series of unprecedented and unverified accusations about his predecessor.
In truth, the old Trump was there all along, and he will always be there. He's unhinged and dangerous. The sooner congressional Republicans accept this, and take action to remove him - whether through impeachment or the 25th Amendment - the better for all of us.
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. Our Year-End campaign is our most important fundraiser of the year. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
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Robert Reich
Robert Reich, is the Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. He served as secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time magazine named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. His book include: "Aftershock" (2011), "The Work of Nations" (1992), "Beyond Outrage" (2012) and, "Saving Capitalism" (2016). He is also a founding editor of The American Prospect magazine, former chairman of Common Cause, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentary, "Inequality For All." Reich's newest book is "The Common Good" (2019). He's co-creator of the Netflix original documentary "Saving Capitalism," which is streaming now.
It seems an eternity ago but it was only last Tuesday night when Donald Trump addressed a joint session of Congress and stuck to the teleprompter without going off the deep end - eliciting rapturous praise from the media.
"Donald Trump at his most presidential,"gushed NBC; "a recitation of hopes and dreams for the nation," oozed NPR; "the most presidential speech Mr. Trump has ever given -- delivered at precisely the moment he needed to project sobriety, seriousness of purpose and self-discipline," raved the New York Times; "he did something tonight that you cannot take away from him. He became president of the United States," rhapsodized CNN's Van Jones.
The bar was so low that all Trump needed to do was not sound nuts and he was "presidential."
But that all ended Saturday morning when the old Trump - the "birther," the hatemonger, the thin-skinned paranoid, the liar, the reckless ranter, the vindictive narcissist, the whack-o conman - reemerged in a series of unprecedented and unverified accusations about his predecessor.
In truth, the old Trump was there all along, and he will always be there. He's unhinged and dangerous. The sooner congressional Republicans accept this, and take action to remove him - whether through impeachment or the 25th Amendment - the better for all of us.
Robert Reich
Robert Reich, is the Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. He served as secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time magazine named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. His book include: "Aftershock" (2011), "The Work of Nations" (1992), "Beyond Outrage" (2012) and, "Saving Capitalism" (2016). He is also a founding editor of The American Prospect magazine, former chairman of Common Cause, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentary, "Inequality For All." Reich's newest book is "The Common Good" (2019). He's co-creator of the Netflix original documentary "Saving Capitalism," which is streaming now.
It seems an eternity ago but it was only last Tuesday night when Donald Trump addressed a joint session of Congress and stuck to the teleprompter without going off the deep end - eliciting rapturous praise from the media.
"Donald Trump at his most presidential,"gushed NBC; "a recitation of hopes and dreams for the nation," oozed NPR; "the most presidential speech Mr. Trump has ever given -- delivered at precisely the moment he needed to project sobriety, seriousness of purpose and self-discipline," raved the New York Times; "he did something tonight that you cannot take away from him. He became president of the United States," rhapsodized CNN's Van Jones.
The bar was so low that all Trump needed to do was not sound nuts and he was "presidential."
But that all ended Saturday morning when the old Trump - the "birther," the hatemonger, the thin-skinned paranoid, the liar, the reckless ranter, the vindictive narcissist, the whack-o conman - reemerged in a series of unprecedented and unverified accusations about his predecessor.
In truth, the old Trump was there all along, and he will always be there. He's unhinged and dangerous. The sooner congressional Republicans accept this, and take action to remove him - whether through impeachment or the 25th Amendment - the better for all of us.
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