Words & Phrases

A message from Jen to our loyal Contrarians, then an interrogation into Trump's abuse of the word ‘Perfect.’

Dear Contrarian Friends:

Many of you have asked about my absence from Coffee With the Contrarians. You may have noticed I have been experiencing hoarseness and vocal strain. As much as I hate to miss one of my favorite parts of The Contrarian, I will use my voice very sparingly over the short term so that I can return later this summer at full strength for CWC’s and interviews. And of course, my “voice” will be on the page in daily columns, as it is below.

Thank you for your concern and for your ongoing support for The Contrarian!

Jen

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‘Perfect’ for whom?

Donald Trump, feeling blowback from Republican Party hawks who have grasped that the Iran war has been a disaster that delivered on none of his promises, insists he would only make a “perfect” deal to end the fighting. His comment that he is not thinking about Americans’ finances, he insists, was the “perfect” statement. And he likewise proclaimed his health, after his third “annual” exam in 13 months, to be “perfect.” It just might be that Trump’s “perfect” means something other than its actual definition: “being entirely without fault or defect.”

The Iran deal under review is, predictably, perfectly awful for the United States’ strategic interests, which might explain why Trump is dragging his feet on deciding to accept it. As foreign policy guru Dan Drezner put it, “It only took three months for Trump and his policy principals to realize that all of the assumptions it had made going into the conflict were wrong.” Those faulty assumptions include the expectation that the Iranian regime would crumble, the Strait of Hormuz would remain open, the world economy and energy markets would be unaffected, and Iran’s cheap drones would be no match for our exorbitantly expensive missiles. (A perfect score — 0 for 4! — for the Iranians.)

Trump thought he would get an “unconditional surrender.” But the war’s biggest cheerleaders, as the New York Times reported, are “especially exasperated,” fearing that Trump is about to “relieve pressure on Iran in order to reopen the strait without winning firm Iranian commitments to surrender its nuclear material and stop enriching uranium.”

Having seized the Strait of Hormuz, “Tehran has shown it can effectively close it in the future,” Jonathan Lemire and Nancy A. Youssef wrote for The Atlantic. “At a minimum, the regime has a greater understanding of the economic weapon it wields.” Trump seems to have given up on the demand that Iran ship its enriched materials out of the country and permanently forgo enrichment. (And neither the subject of Iran’s missiles nor its support for terrorist groups seems to come up.) Meanwhile, Iran is poised to get back $17.5B in frozen assets and maybe gain a $300B “investment fund,” dwarfing the puny $1.7B in “pallets of cash” Iran received in conjunction with the JCPOA (a deal that actually constrained its nuclear program with tough inspection measures).

While the deal represents an embarrassing humiliation for Trump, his options are limited. Take the crummy deal, or restart a hugely unpopular war (one which Republicans may even block) that would lead to more casualties (especially if we send in land forces), further erode our scant supply of munitions, and, in all likelihood, produce another inconclusive result. That likely explains why he is dragging this out interminably, continuing to fiddle with a deal to make it “tougher,” in a vain attempt to conceal his strategic debacle. And, as he invariably does, he chose to blame the… Democrats!? … when it is Republican Iran hawks who are fit to be tied.

As for Trump’s “perfect” statement of indifference to the number one issue on the minds of voters, Trump might have made a Kinsley gaffe when he let on that he does not think about Americans’ finances (and, to boot, does not care about the midterms). Democrats think this is the perfect soundbite for the midterm campaign, prompting them to line up to take their swings at the president. Democratic politicians who have argued that Trump “doesn’t care if you can afford groceries or gas” (Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker), “does not care about the economic pain he is causing Americans” (New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker) and just “doesn’t give a damn” (Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries) have been vindicated.

Trump seems determined to prove he cares nothing about Americans’ hardships. While they struggle with soaring gas prices, he is fixated on gold plating horse statues (you cannot make up this stuff), repainting the Mall’s historic reflecting pool to resemble a local YMCA lap pool, turning the White House into a sort of Six Flags amusement park for his cheesy UFC fight event, putting his mug on a $250 bill (roughly what it soon may cost to fill up your tank), and constructing what veterans have called an “appalling” arch blocking the view from Arlington National Cemetery. Each garish tribute to his own fragile ego advertises that he is in this only for himself. The humiliating snubs (first the Kennedy Center, then Freedom 250) and resulting meltdowns reinforce his image as a petulant toddler. (Getting stood up by musical has-beens and having to “headline” his own event is about as pathetic as throwing your own birthday party/military parade, which then no one attends.)

Finally, Trump’s “perfect” health claim is fast becoming a punchline for a nap-prone president with discolored hands, swollen ankles, declining self-control, and consistently slurred, incoherent speech. Margaret Sullivan channels the attitude of most Americans (who think he is not mentally or physically competent):

Given what’s obvious to the naked eye, and what’s logical given his advanced age, the Trump White House owes the American public — and the world — quite a bit more than the usual bombast and bragging.

What tests did he take? What were the results?

Does he have some sort of condition (as former vice-president Dick Cheney’s cardiologist, Dr Jonathan Reiner, suggested recently on CNN) like “severe daytime somnolence” that is causing him to fall asleep during the day? Does that relate in some way to possible dementia, as Reiner suggested it might?

The release late Friday night of a cursory, suspect medical report did little to convince either medical professionals or skeptical Americans that he is in peak physical condition.

Trump’s laughable claims of perfection have become a “tell” that he is covering for a humiliating disaster. Let’s face it: the Iran deal is perfectly awful, his indifference to Americans’ economic plight is perfect fodder for Democrats, and his obviously rotten health is the perfect argument for requiring presidents to release all their mental and physical health records.

No surprise, then, that Republicans fear the perfect storm in November will sweep them out of power.