“Eradicate” Los Angeles or San Diego? This clown thinks Trump has gone too far

I went to bed at a decent time on Monday night and had a great sleep.

I woke up refreshed on Tuesday morning to the news that President Trump appeared to be telling a group of people in Nebraska that if Iran attacked Southern California, that wouldn’t be a bad thing.

“Let them take Los Angeles. Let them take San Diego,” he said in a typically meandering speech, perhaps to justify his repeated claims that a war would keep America safe even as gas prices soared. “It’s a very small price to pay.”

The Nebraska crowd cheered.

California’s electors were scolded.

“San Diego is not collateral damage,” San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said such “dangerous” rhetoric could “potentially jeopardize our safety.”

“He is unhinged and dangerous,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said.

Around 8am I went for a walk with my dog ​​Philly. It’s usually a great time for us. I cleared my head. For 3-year-old beagle Philly, these are mostly business trips.

I started thinking about the parallels between Philadelphia and the daily lives of American presidents.

The thing is, I carry my luggage with me and clean up after the game in Philadelphia. As far as I know, no one on the president’s staff does that. We are at a critical moment in American politics, and we must consider posting signs wherever Trump goes that say, “Please curb your president.”

Cleaning up Trump’s daily mess won’t be easy. What you need is the equivalent of one of those parade waiters wearing overalls and running behind the horse with a shovel.

The White House does not use poop bags. Instead, it uses denial and spin.

White House communications director Steven Chang said critical reaction to Trump’s Nebraska remarks “is not rooted in reality,” claiming Trump was being misrepresented.

We must respect Zhang’s opinion. Is there anyone in the world more experienced at analyzing comments that are not rooted in reality?

Some of you may know that I frequently review two topics in my columns. One is the effects of aging, both good and bad. Another is a failure of leadership.

So I feel very qualified to psychologically analyze the president.

I’m not trying to generalize, but it’s not uncommon for their behavior to change as they age. Some people will mature, they will persevere, they will get into it. Others may become rude, aggressive, or bad-tempered.

Trump not only typifies the latter, but he has become more stubborn as things have gone wrong.

Something is definitely wrong.

The Iran war was a disaster. The president is personally responsible for rising gas prices. His tariffs destroyed the economy. He chose the fight with Canada. He could cost his party seats in the House and Senate as his near-daily outrages breathe oxygen into the long-sluggish Democratic Party.

A normal person would have good judgment to scale back or narrow down.

Trump keeps doubling down on trying to put his name on everything and lashing out like someone does when they don’t know what the bigger picture is — their ego or their insecurities.

By the way, I’ve been to Nebraska. Nice place, met a lot of lovely people.

I love eating corn, with or without the cob.

Popcorn. Caramel corn.

Not interested in “Children of the Corn,” the horror movie based on Stephen King’s short story. But a big thank you to Nebraska, to Fred Astaire, Johnny Carson and Henry Fonda, who, by the way, were born in Grand Island, where Trump talked up California on Monday.

Have those who cheered Trump’s throwaway remarks about the San Diego and Los Angeles attacks thought:

A: That’s not funny.

B: San Diego has one of the largest military installations in the United States, with thousands of personnel currently deployed to the Middle East due to the war in Iran.

C: Maybe we should have higher expectations for people who serve as president and commander-in-chief.

In defending Trump, White House says news media misunderstood and distorted the president’s remarks, causing “media panic.” An article in the White House media specifically mentioned an article in the Los Angeles Times stating that Trump suggested “letting Iran occupy” Los Angeles and San Diego.

“No, he didn’t, you clowns,” the White House said. “He said the United States was working to prevent Iran from having the ability to destroy Los Angeles and San Diego with nuclear weapons — which they would do if given the chance.”

please.

The clown wanted to point out that this is another example of Trump using California as a punching bag to shore up support for the war and shore up his dwindling base. But even some of his longtime disciples know that on dozens of occasions he said the war was over, was ending, or had been won, but not once were those words rooted in reality.

It’s not clear that we in the United States are any safer as a result of the war, although it’s clear that the price has been paid in lives and higher.

So maybe it’s best not to utter gratuitous and unfunny lines about anyone destroying American cities.

I just took my mask off, but I still have extra poop bags.

steve.lopez@latimes.com