Trump went on another of his Twitter rampages this morning, mostly doubling-down on the inappropriate comments he made over the London terrorism attack. He's like the kid who falls off his bicycle and then rather than admit clumsiness says, "I meant to do that!" Remember when his supporters were telling us that once he was in office, he'd pivot and instead of insulting his opposition, he'd become more "presidential?" I guess they didn't figure on him having more opposition after he was elected than before. Now, this…
- Daniel Larison has a real good, clear explanation of why pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord was a mistake. It makes you feel that Trump didn't even read or understand the accord; merely sensed that his "base" would be thrilled if he did that. More and more, that seems to be what drives this guy's actions.
- Jonathan Chait notes that the Trump administration is trying to tap dance all around the question of whether D.J.T. really believes in climate change. I think even asking this question is kinda dumb. Trump believes in bolstering his personal popularity and in rich people like him making money…and he believes in nothing else. He doesn't have a view on climate change except to the extent that saying certain things may help him with one or both of his only two concerns.
- Chait also notes that Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt is now claiming that due to Trump, the coal-mining industry has added "over 50,000 jobs since last quarter." Not even close to true. Coal is a dying industry and contrary to what some Trump backers seem to want to admit, it's not because those damned environmentalist Nazis have regulated it out of existence. Coal mining is going away for the same reason that delivering telegrams did. Technology has come up with something cheaper and more efficient but somehow, despite Trump's yearning for private enterprise to maximize profits, we have to prop up an increasingly-unprofitable industry mining coal.
- Zeeshan Aleem says that pulling the U.S. out of the accord is going to help one country a lot…and it ain't us. Hey, maybe it was China that did all that computer hacking to help Trump win.
- One reason health costs are so high in America is that we pay more for drugs. A pill that costs two bucks overseas goes for $80 here. On the campaign stump, Mr. Trump vowed that if elected, he would bring those prices down. Democrats have long vowed the same thing. As Matt Taibbi notes, many are willing to promise that. Few are willing to keep those promises.
- John Cassidy on how whenever there's a terrorist event, Trump's first and only instinct is to exploit it to promote his agenda. Most politicians have the class to think, "I'd better express something that sounds like sincere compassion before I exploit this to promote my agenda." Not our Donald.
John Oliver said some very good things last night on his show about the London attacks. He also had a good, long segment on the dishonesty in Trump's claimed reasons for pulling out of the French accord. It reruns all week and is worth catching at least once.