It’s hard to believe, but some people missed the memo that the Republican Party had nominated a wall-building, immigrant-bashing, Muslim-banning, Putin-loving, tax-hiding, deal-breaking, gold-plated buffoon who rolls each morning in a vat of Cheetos (the crackly crunch kind, always insist on the crackly crunch).
For foreign policy experts, having the gilded ape come smashing into their shop this week has generated some shock.
“This is unprecedented — it is one of those things that seems to be genuinely new in international relations,” said Paul Musgrave, a University of Massachusetts professor who studies American foreign policy.
After a long pause, Mr. Musgrave added, “Being shocked into speechlessness is not the sort of thing you’re really used to in the business of foreign policy analysis.” …
“Nobody ever — and I think I can be confident about this — nobody ever stood up at a podium and said, ‘Bring it on,’” said Jeremy Shapiro, a Brookings Institution scholar of foreign policy, referring to Mr. Trump’s invitation for a foreign power to meddle in his own country’s politics.
Just one little point. I think someone might have used that ‘Bring it on’ thing in an inappropriate way before. But … carry on.
William Inboden, a University of Texas professor who served on President George W. Bush’s National Security Council, told Politico the comments were “an assault on the Constitution” and “tantamount to treason.”
Don’t worry. No harm, no foul. Because Trump says he was just being sarcastic. Though how we’re supposed to tell sarcastic (giant wall, pay-as-you-go NATO, no foreign Oreos) is a bit hard to define.
And it’s not just those ivory tower types who got fooled. Even people who you might think would notice the buffoonitude, based on their talking with Trump every damn day of the week, appear to have been surprised to learn that his foreign policy consists of the parts left at the bottom of a game of Mousetrap.
Joe Scarborough: [Putin] is doing a better job that Obama is. That is breathtaking. … Was he also joking about looking into Crimea and recognizing the invasion of Crimea and sanctioning it Was he just joking when he was asked point blank if he would tell Vladimir Putin to stay out of this election, this American election, and he refused to do that?
It depends, Joe. Did it offend you? If it offended you, then no. He wasn’t joking.