The so-called president approval rating has fallen to 35 percent  in the Gallup daily tracking poll, equal to Lyndon Johnson in August 1968.
But LBJ had actually, you know, done stuff. The war in Vietnam seemed out of control, and his apparent lack of a plan for the war had pissed off both hawks and doves, and even Walter Cronkite. He’d been barred from attending the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The nation was reeling from various riots and assassinations. And so on. It was a rough time.
But with Trump, nothing has happened except for his own screwups. Trump dropped to 35 percent by being Trump.
Ronald Reagan also sank to 35 percent at the beginning of 1983, and obviously he recovered from that. At the beginning of 1983 people did not like the way Reagan was handling the economy. His big, splashy tax cuts — notably the “Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981” — hadn’t brought about the promised recovery. However, Gallup says,
His ratings moved back above 50% by November 1983 — not only because the economy was picking up, but also in part as a result of rally effects associated with the U.S. invasion of Grenada and the terrorist explosion that killed 241 American Marines in Beirut, Lebanon.
A sensible nation would have booted Reagan out of office for the invasion of Grenada and the slaughter of those Marines  — Ronald Reagan’s Benghazi. It’s possible we had already passed a point off no return into Crazy Land at that point.
But my point is that Trump appears to be sinking to a point of no return himself. He’s hit the lowest approval rating from which any POTUS has ever recovered. None have ever come back from 34 percent or lower. Note that Trump’s White House staff isn’t nearly as competent as Reagan’s, plus Donnie lacks Ronnie’s people skills.
Now for today’s oopsie: The geniuses in the Trump Brain Trust have realized that much of the border with Mexico is marked by a river. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke revealed that this poses a problem —
“The border is complicated, as far as building a physical wall,” he said. “The Rio Grande, what side of the river are you going to put the wall? We’re not going to put it on our side and cede the river to Mexico. And we’re probably not going to put it in the middle of the river.”
— Wait, what? Does that mean they think they can build the wall on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande? Zinke didn’t specifically say that, this headline to the contrary. But if they don’t want to build it on the U.S. side, and they don’t want to build it down the middle of the bleeping river — where the hell else do they think they can put it?
Tune in soon for another episode of How Low Can He Go, or You Can’t Make This Shit Up.
I am worried about the next Grenada or Cole. He is going to have to do something. Wag the Dog!
where the hell else do they think they can put it?
As far as I’m concerned Trump can put it his stupid effing wall where the sun don’t shine.
Another big problem they’re going to be faced with is putting the wall on private property that borders Mexico. If Trump’s hairbrain idea ever comes to fruition on the scale he envisions, and the United States has to purchase that land through legal maneuvering. It’s going to be quite a pricey proposition and somebody going to make a lot of money. I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump’s cronies were buying up available private lands where the wall will be built in anticipation of turning a huge profit in selling it back to the U.S.
I wonder if Giuliani Partners has recently invested in any acreage along the southern border?
How long before Dumb-‘n-old’ ‘Orange Hugh A. Supergenius’ t-TRUMP demands to know who put that f’in river there, and who can he sue to remove it?
Iz hour Prezdnit smahtuh dan a 5ttt graduh?
FUCK NO!!!
Seems to me that if I build something on my neighbor’s property, he’s entitled to remove it. Without asking my permission. Does the Mexican Army have artillery? Blowing up construction workers would be poor form, so I hope they’d wait until we finished spending $20B before they reduce it to rubble.
I’m getting fat from all this popcorn. Maybe it’s the butter.
No, grannyeagle, it’s all of that winning that’s making us all fat!
35% seems a little high to me.. I guess reality hasn’t fully set in yet. I see that Ivanka landed a job in the White House. I think little Barren is going to be appointed as Secretary of the Navy next. What a circus this is turning out to be.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdiRhzTsSnk
People who own land on the border have already received letters regarding their property for the wall. Trump plans to use eminent domain to take their land so it won’t be that expensive. I don’t have the link right now for the article on this. My suspicion is after he is not president we will discover that the company who owns the land for the wall is actually owned by Trump. The Trump family reminds me of the Corleone family, except the Corleones were much more likable.
He does realize that going into another country and taking land could be considered an act of war, right? Right?
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve spent some time in the West Indies. My earliest memories are of St. Croix, USVI back when it had dirt roads and not very many cars. I’ve known people from nearly all the islands, including Grenada. It still angers me deeply when I think of what the US did there. But, worse yet, is that Trump seems psychologically incapable of compassion and mentally incapable of rational thought. He is extraordinarily good at “treasons, strategems and spoils.” So, I fear that, if he thought it was truly to his advantage, nothing would be off the table regarding Mexico.
Fortunately, he is “a man of promises and not promise,” so we can hope for the weasel option, unless the bottom line is too fat.
“People who own land on the border have already received letters regarding their property for the wall.”
When the Government wants to take your land, they take your land. That said, the affected parties may have some hope if they file a class action suit. If the Government is forced to JUSTIFY a magic wall, they will have a hell of difficult time doing so.
Wuck the fall. Trump needs to grab a colored pussy or two then brag about it. Or get somebody from his cabinet do it. Get his ass some of that outsider street cred mojo back.
(If I could go back to when I was a kid, to see that kids expression at the comment he’d be typing. Yes that’s you kid, typing that years from now. And no, you’re not on drugs. Just a sign of the times you’re headed for.)