Umpire: “I Calls ‘em Like I Sees ‘em:” Trump is a Racist Blowhard Braggart Bully

“I am the best ever. Don't believe it. Just ask me. 

Believe me, I am the best ever”

Don’t believe him? Then as I note and he often says: “Just ask him.” 

Case in point:

WASHINGTON (The AP via MSN) — It has been a week of bogus boasting by Trump and members of his administration as they took unearned credit for airline safety, pollution cleanup and major advances in care for veterans.

Three specifics with details (my emphasis added):

1.  Trump ignored fatality-free years in aviation during the Obama administration when he declared 2017 the safest year on record and suggested that was because he's kept a sharp eye on airlines.

DING – FAKE, NOW THE FACTS: It has been 4½ years since the last deaths involving a scheduled passenger airline in the U.S. Three passengers died in the crash of an Asiana Airlines plane while landing at San Francisco International Airport in July 2013.

It's been almost nine years since the last fatalities involving a U.S.-registered, scheduled passenger airline in the United States. That was a Colgan Air plane that crashed on approach to Buffalo, New York, in February 2009, killing all 49 on board and a man on the ground.

2.  Trump represented routine and ceremonial proclamations recognizing a day in remembrance of Pearl Harbor and a month in honor of military families as substantive achievements that improved care for veterans.

THE FACTS SPECIFICALLY:  Of the eight achievements Trump cited, two are ceremonial proclamations: National Veterans and Military Families Month and National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

Two are pieces of legislation that extended a troubled Veterans Choice program on a temporary basis. This became necessary because the Trump administration repeatedly miscalculated the amount of taxpayer dollars available in its account to pay for care from private doctors outside the VA system when veterans had to endure long waits for treatment at VA medical centers

A fifth claim involves “tele-health,” that is letting doctors practice medicine across state lines using digital technology. Announced in August, it has yet to take full effect because a proposed VA regulation hasn't been completed. It's now being dealt with in legislation that passed the Senate and is going to the House.

A sixth claim refers to legislation that streamlines the appeals process for disability compensation claims within the VA. This step has had limited impact so far because it applies to new disability claims, not the 470,000 pending claims.

The other two initiatives he listed make it easier for the VA to discipline employees. The department has pointed to more than 1,300 employees who have been fired under Trump's watch. But the pace of dismissals is roughly on par with or a little below that during the Obama administration.

3.  Trump’s *EPA took credit for completing work on seven Superfund sites even though the actual cleaning was done by President Barack Obama's EPA. Plus this tidbit from the fact locker re: Superfund cleanup money: Trump's proposed 2018 budget seeks to cut the Superfund program by 30 percent. More than 1,300 Superfund sites on EPA's list are at various stages in the cleanup process.

*EPA Note: Part of their press release: EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt claims that it completed — or “delisted” — more Superfund sites last year than Obama's EPA did the year before saying in part: “We have made it a priority to get these sites cleaned up faster and in the right way.”

DING – FALSE, NOW THE FACTS: This is a case of people taking credit for other people's work. An analysis of EPA records by The AP shows that the seven Superfund sites delisted last year fell short of the average pace set under both the administrations of Obama and George W. Bush, even in their opening years.

I conclude with this as the great late Paul Harvey used to say: “Now the rest of the story.” Thus, I refer the readers to the entire AP analysis at the link above.

Not that it proves anything beyond what we already know: Trump is a compulsive serial liar and blowhard braggart beyond anyone we have ever seen in the White House, period.

End of the story, but sadly not the end of him yet. We are at an all-time low with our historical prestige around the globe and every day – sometimes several times a day – Trump proves it more so with his boasting and bullying and then backtracking to boot.

Shameful man – just patently shameful. I never thought in my life I’d feel this way about our president – any president.

Thanks for stopping by.