On Thursday, the Rageaholic-In-Chief found time during his "very busy day" to tweet 120 times. He ranted - WITCH HUNT! - he told insane lies - Ivanka has created 14 million jobs, more than double the U.S. economy's six million new jobs! - - he bullied a heroic 16-year-old trying to save the planet in an attack "breathtaking in its meanness," ditto its hypocrisy after FLOTUS threw a BeBest hissy fit about involving children in politics after someone merely spoke her untouchable son's name. But with all his rampaging, we're surprised Trump didn't get around to assailing the truth-telling diplomats, analysts, veterans, policy wonks and other honorable public servants that TIME just named Guardians of the Year - patriots Trump has reviled for two months as "traitors" and "human scum" who were committing "treason" because they dared to do their jobs and name his crimes.
In the face of that "collapsing the space for dissent," TIME editors wrote, the intelligence analyst who exposed the Ukraine plot and over a dozen other concerned officials "came forward to tell their stories anyway" and paid the price, from threats to insults to slander about their service. In their citation, TIME praised the whistle-blower and those who faced the glare of publicity to testify - veteran diplomat Marie Yovanovitch, her successor William Taylor, Russia expert Fiona Hill, Ukraine expert Lieut. Colonel Alexander Vindman - for "shouldering the 241-year principle of speaking truth before the American people." "The idea that government can be dangerous is encoded in the DNA of America," they noted, "and so is the remedy: a tradition of dissent that holds the powerful to account." Citing the oath taken by every federal employee - yes including every president - to defend the Constitution, they wrote, "The courage they summoned was not to break the law, but to follow it." Bravo to them all.
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Williams and Vindman. Photo by Gabriella Demczuk for TIME
You wanna see "scum"? Ladies and gentlemen, the purported president of the United States.
While we are discussing Trump's despicable attack today on 16 year old Greta Thunberg who has autism and has been an inspiration to millions who also have autism, here's a reminder of Trump during 2016 campaign mocking a disabled reporter for laughs at his rally: pic.twitter.com/B96PUrT4JS
— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) December 12, 2019