Trump's Boys' Club
Nobody respects women more than Donald J Trump, says Donald J Trump.
Yet women make up just 20% of his cabinet and men hold all the top jobs - an elite group where the boys can indulge their fondness for 'locker-room' talk, perhaps.
I imagine no one respects Hispanics or African Americans more that Donald J Trump as well, even if these two ethnic groups are underrepresented or completely absent from his new cabinet.
Self-Obsessed Propagandist
Euan McColm's column for Scotland on Sunday yesterday hit the nail on the head about Donald Trump: the 45th American President is never going to grow into his new job and become the kind of leader of which his own country and others can be proud.
In the days since winning the electoral college (while losing the popular vote), Trump has gone out of his way to rub everyone''s nose in the 'exceptionalism' of his victory while banging the drum with his ridiculous 'Make America Great Again' slogan - his supporters wearing MAGA baseball caps which were all made in China.
The man is clearly self-obsessed, finds it hard to hold two thoughts in his head at the same time and has started believes in his own propaganda; the latter being the most dangerous character trait of all.
So while it would be nice to think than President Trump will 'engage' and develop some listening skills there is absolutely no sign that this will happen, quite the reverse in fact, as Team Trump signal their intention to destabilise the European Union (a rival trading bloc) and NATO with America's commander-in-chief abruptly announcing the western defence organisation to be 'obsolete'.
What it means for Scottish politics remains to be seen, but it's certainly going to be a bumpy ride on the world stage for the next few years.
http://www.scotsman.com/news/world/euan-mccolm-america-first-is-a-dumb-example-to-follow-1-4345356
Euan McColm: ‘America first’ is a dumb example to follow
Trump delivers his provocative inaugural address at the Capitol in Washingon DC.
Photograph: Mandel Ngan/Getty
It was grimly compelling, wasn’t it? Donald Trump’s speech after being sworn in as the 45th President of the United States was so ostentatiously awful, so devoid of class or statesmanship that one could only despair that this punk, this lousy huckster duped so many Americans.
Before Trump made his entrance at the inauguration, television cameras lingered on former presidents gathered to witness proceedings. So dreadful is the prospect of President Trump that I looked at George W Bush and wished it could have been him, instead.
A popular delusion since Trump won, last November, has been the belief that he would, on taking office, somehow stop being a puffed up braggart and bully and become a statesmen worthy of the position he holds.
This metamorphosis did not transpire. Instead, Trump delivered without question the worst speech to have been heard at a presidential inauguration. It was petty, it was isolationist, and it was dumb.
President Trump says he wants to make America great again. On Friday, he made America look stupid. That this ridiculous, graceless oaf should now be one of the most powerful men on the planet is an embarrassment to the USA.
Trump’s rambling address was a masterclass in how not to rise to an occasion. His predecessor, Barack Obama, looked on, his presence throwing into sharp focus just how dreadful the new president is.
