Very stable genius at work
by digby
Trump closes the news conference by acknowledging Putin has a point when he says that western-style liberalism is obsolete, citing "what's happening in Los Angeles, where it's so sad to look," and adds that "at a certain point, I think the federal govt maybe has to get involved" pic.twitter.com/WZ7TWOA45w— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 29, 2019
That’s the man we’re supposed to believe is capable of thwarting adversaries like Putin, Xi and MBS. Let’s just say they it’s not that hard to get his number. He’s an imbecile.
Putin was expressing a broadly fashionable argument that he has promoted for years, and that has recently taken hold among reactionaries in several Western countries, including the United States. Their critique is not of liberalism in the sense of the American center-left tradition identified with the Democratic party, but the longer historical tradition of liberalism that emerged from the theories of John Locke, John Stuart Mill, and other traditional philosophers whose beliefs created the foundation for democratic government. Most graduates of an elite college who took any humanities courses would have some rough familiarity with their work, which is a cornerstone of what’s called a “liberal education.” The “West,” of course, refers to Europe and the United States, where liberal ideas first took hold.
Trump did not recognize this debate at all. Instead, he concluded that “the west” means California, and “liberalism” means the Democratic Party.
Believing Putin had criticized life in California rather than America’s philosophy of government, Trump explained that, yes, Putin is correct that things are terrible in cities in California (“he does see things that are happening in the United States that would probably preclude him from saying how wonderful it is.”) But, Trump added, this is the fault of the Democrats, not him. He then assured reporters he’s not offended, because Putin has congratulated him on the overall state of the American economy.
It’s not important that a president has read Locke and Mill. But a normal president would have been briefed on this interview with Putin and would certainly know that he wasn’t talking about California fergawdsakes!!!
Here’s the interview in which Vladimir Putin said he thinks Western democracy is finished. It’s very revealing. He sounds like Steve Bannon.
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