Showing posts with label Idiots Being Idiots Doing Idiot Things. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Idiots Being Idiots Doing Idiot Things. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 4, 2020

Book Review | This is How I Lied

 

Rating NO STARS! NEGATIVE STARS! NOTHING!

This book was absolutely atrocious and an insult to everyone who read it. I do not understand how it has such high ratings because it is without a doubt one of the worst books I have ever read in my whole entire life.

There will be major spoilers from here on out to showcase what an absolute shit show this book was, so if you want to read it at any point, you should stop here.

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The premise was decent, intriguing even, although basic - small town, big secrets, unsolved murder of teen girl, a handful of (obvious) suspects, new evidence. I was looking forward to a quick read, a nice little thriller to cleanse my palette after some heavier non-fiction reads.

Things were going along decently, even if a bit tedious at times. The story is told from three points of view - Eve in 1995, the teen who was murdered; Eve's best friend Maggie in present day; and Nola, Eve's sociopathic sister also in present day.

Maggie was the absolute worst and I could not stand her narration because they were just painful and terribly written and nothing made sense. I don't know if the author meant for her to be unreliable early on due to her being heavily pregnant - blaming hormones or something? Whatever the reason, it totally did not work because no one could be that stupid and still make Detective, no matter how small a town, right? We are talking about a small town in Iowa though, and we all know what I.O.W.A. stands for... (If you are not from the US, we like to say it stands for Idiots Out Walking Around.)

Anyway, by 39% I was struggling. Like, I get she was emotional because this was her best friend, she is pregnant now, she is in charge of the case (how would this even be allowed, really? She's way too close to the case - and in more ways than one, but we will get to all THAT bullshit in a minute). I decided to keep going, against my better judgement.

So, I am trucking along from that 39% mark and BOOM! suddenly around 60% the book gets very, very stupid. Turns out not only is Maggie a moron, she is a BIG FAT LIAR. We find out that, "Oops, I left out key information in the first 60% of the book because I WAS THE ONE WHO HAD A FIGHT WITH EVE AND LEFT MY BEST FRIEND FOR DEAD INSIDE THE CAVE WHERE HER BODY WAS LATER FOUND...ALSO BY MEEEEEEEE!"

For fuck's sake, that is not a plot twist. That is lazy fucking writing. How are readers supposed to attempt to unravel anything if HUGE pieces of information are purposely withheld in a pathetic attempt to make them some sort of, "OmG i DiD nOt SeE tHaT cOmInG!"

Under normal circumstances, I LOVE unreliable narrators. But that nonsense the author pulled with Maggie's "big reveal" was so cheap. It did not make her unreliable, it made her a sociopath too, but low-key compared to the other sociopath in the story, Nola, who needed to be locked up. I mean, both should have been locked up, but we will get to that in a minute.

So much of the story was utterly bland and even when characters were described, there was only one thing that made them distinguishable from one another. For example, Maggie the pregnant detective. Nola is the sociopath. Eve's high school boyfriend is abusive. The pedophile is a pedophile. Maggie's husband is just there; I can not recall a single thing about him except that he is incredibly trusting to remain married to a low-key sociopath who left her best friend to die in a cave. I guess that was somehow supposed to make Maggie a complex character? It didn't. She's flat as a pancake, just like every other character in this book.

More on Maggie being awful: Somehow she never managed to have her gun when she needed it. I don't know how many times she went for it, but it was not there. Seriously? She also witnessed things that would potentially lead to the grooming and rape/molestation of a young teen girl by the pedophile. She literally watched from her car as her former abuser (who she was in love with when she was a teen, and was pregnant by - that's what the argument with Eve was about in the cave and what they fought over) singled out one of the girls on the softball team he coached, then DID NOTHING and DROVE AWAY. A POLICE OFFICER, who KNEW this man was a PEDOPHILE, DROVE AWAY. Probably because she was so pregnant and had to pee again, and she was just so uncomfortable, and she had to throw up again, and her belly was ginormous and blah blah fucking blah. Plus, don't forget about the times she trespassed by entering private property without a warrant. Hell, without probable cause even. Then there are also the parts of the story where she contemplated framing someone else to keep her role in Eve's death a secret. That was swell, too.

Let's talk specifically about Nola now, the incredibly NOT low-key sociopath. How this person was not institutionalized as a child is beyond me. She eventually holds Maggie hostage at the end in the cave (because she witnessed the fight Maggie and Eve had the night Eve died), where Maggie then gives birth. Prior to this point in the story, we also know that she planned to kill her mother but held off so the woman could suffer for a longer amount of time; she was constantly harassing/terrorizing Maggie's father, who had dementia. Maggie's brother Colin was another stupid, one-dimensional character who could never keep track of their dad and the poor man just wandered around most of the time; she became a veterinarian and was just as psycho to animals as she was to people - we see her meet with a patient (a horse), and gives it something to help speed death along, while telling the owner to bring the horse in to the clinic under the guise of  possibly being able to save the animal. She did fucked up things to animals and insects when she was a kid also, yet there she is, just out walking around as an adult. We also can't forget the part where Maggie discovered human bones in Nola's home, on one of her illegal walkabouts. Awesome. I'm totally sure the bones were not a trophy of some sort.

The ending was absolute bullshit. Maggie suffered no consequences for her role in Eve's death. Zip, zero, zilch, nothing. I get it that she was not the one who actually killed Eve, but she left out the fact that their fight left Eve severely weakened and she stood no chance against her actual murderer. Nola was charged with 'simple assault'. REEEEEEAAAALLLLLYYYYYY? Holding someone hostage in a cave while they're in labor and wanting to kill them and their baby is simple assault? Sure, okay.

But wait! It gets better!

Nola only had to spend a month in an institution so she could be stabilized, whatever that means. This bitch has been a sociopath her entire life and there are witnesses to this. But sure, a month will totally cure her. Not to mention you can't actually cure a sociopath but again, small details. Once she is out of the place that is supposed to stabilize her, Nola will have to follow the directives of a restraining order that says she must stay away from Maggie. Right. Because that will also be effective.

This book. So bad. So, so bad. Do not waste the brain cells.

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Book Review | A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America

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Rating: ...fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck..........

Honestly, I don't even know how to rate it at this point. I will say that of the books I have read so far regarding this joke of an 'administration', it is one of the best. Aside from Bob Woodward's Fear: Inside the Trump White House, this is the only one I have read so far that is actually written with journalistic integrity.

It's all still a bunch of bullshit, but we will get to that in a minute.

First, I would like to reiterate once again that if you have to repeatedly tell people that you are a genius because otherwise they would not know it by your words and actions, then you are not, in fact a genius. And in this case specifically, you are a fucking moron who was propelled to the presidency by a bunch of other morons and a media that would not stop shining a light on your circus.

Back to the 'bullshit' part now. I think it is absolutely terrible that these people are willing to speak out after they're gone from trump's inner circle, by their own doing or otherwise. That's nothing but cowardice, I don't care how much you say you covertly you repeatedly swiped things off trump's desk because he is an idiot who will sign anything put in front of him. 

Nothing here is too new or surprising, although the update from Woodward's Fear is that we get that start of the attempted Ukraine bribery. We get more details of the behind-the-scenes stuff, more of the direct conversations, but nothing new or earth shattering. This will be one of the text books used when colleges start offering courses on how democracies fall apart when you let a giant orange man-child and his grifter children occupy the highest office in the land.

One thing I did appreciate was clarity on the whole Mueller Report and Barr's release of the stupid memo that actually said nothing close to the truth and presented a 'conclusion' with no context. The situation was made much clearer and I am shocked that Mueller's people declined to read what was written before Barr put it out there. That is a whole lot of trust that does not surprise me, because Mueller expects things to work in a trustworthy and appropriate way. But that's not what happened at all though, because we are dealing with an 'administration' that is anything but trustworthy and appropriate, so it looks like the investigation was all for naught, even though it is beyond a shadow of a doubt obvious that trump is guilty as fuck and should have been removed from office by our worthless Congress.

So in the end, have at it or don't. If you are a trump supporter I don't even know what you are doing here to begin with. If you are not, you might find the book of interest, and/or you might end up paying damage fees to the library because of how many times you slammed it against a wall.

Saturday, February 16, 2019

The Donald J. Trump Presidential Twitter Library

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Rating: 4 Stars

The only thing that kept me from giving this five stars is the fact that it is just so awful. Not the scholarly insights gleaned from the plethora of bullshit spewed by trumplethinskin, but the Tweets themselves. Like, this fuckwad really truly was elected to the highest office in the land. And it SUCKS. Every day it is exhausting to have to hear the same shit over and over.

The book itself is a riot though. It is obviously a lighter read than the other items I picked up at the library yesterday and in other recent visits - you know, the books talking about the actual evidence of collusion and whatnot.

But even so, at the end of the day this garbage sub-human gets to pollute the White House and the world with his bullshit. Blech.

Highly recommended - for the comedy, not the bullshit.

Sunday, December 30, 2018

The Briefing: Politics, the Press, and the President

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Rating: 1 Star

It's exactly as awful as you think it would be.

For the life of me, I can not understand for a single moment how this book became a national bestseller...a Wall Street Journal bestseller...USA Today bestseller...

Because seriously, can trumplethinskin supporters even read?

And with the likes of Megyn Kelly and Sean Hannity, plus trumplethinskin himself saying how great the book is, you know it is a trash fire inside a barrel fire inside a dumpster fire.

It's fucking trash, and written at about a fourth grade comprehension level.

The book summary also claims that "No job is more of a pressure cooker than being a White House press secretary...especially in this White House."

Really? I'm pretty sure that's not actually true. It just so happens that Sean Spicer is a horrible person who lies, lies, lies to further a bullshit agenda from a joke of a 'president'. So, to say his job is tough, when he (and his successor) choose to make it tough by lying constantly, that's on him.

I won't spend too much more time on this trash book, but to share a few 'highlights'. This guy is an even bigger line-towing idiot than we all thought. Who knew that was even possible?

About the Emmy Awards:
"All of them said kind things about my willingness to poke fun at myself. I was actually shocked. I assumed our conversations would be contentious considering their stereotypical politic leanings" (page 249).

So because Spicy and his idiot boss couldn't feign cordiality, no one can?

"It was also a pleasure to see Sarah take the podium. She is very adept at recognizing what works and what doesn't, the needs of the press corps, and the needs of the president. She hit the ground running because she is such a keen observer and a quick learner" (page 245).

LOL!

"Many people think that Air Force One is always the same plane, Air Force One is the official military designation for whichever aircraft is flying the president" (page 237).

No one thinks that. Everyone knows that Air Force One is a designation because we've all seen the movie "Air Force One".

"Many in the media were creating an environment that felt like the opposition party, less interested in reporting facts than in contesting our positions and trying to undermine and embarrass the administration at every turn" (page 218).

First of all, that's what happens when you straight up LIE. You get corrected, time and again. Alternative facts are not a thing. Alternative facts are not the truth. Secondly, this joke of an administration deserves to be undermined at every turn so we can minimize the damage done by this clown and his minions. Perhaps if Spicer would not have behaved like a petulant child at the briefings, the environment would not have become what it did.

One of my favorite sections was when Spicer addressed the whole meme about him hiding in the bushes from reporters so he would not have to answer more questions about Comey's firing. He explains it much differently, of course, just like he always does, with those alternative facts of his. And he's butt-hurt about being a meme. Big surprise. As such, he also takes a few sentences to lecture us on memes and how they are not nice.

"Memes.

They can make us laugh, and we all share them. However, the  longer I was behind the podium, the more convinced I became that there is something deeply dysfunctional in the way our culture  uses memes to elevate tiny details into national moments of outrage or ridicule that push aside any deeper consideration about policy and simply fairness" (page 203).

"The irony of Johnson's report was that I could've completed the first round of interviews, walked back into the White House, and called it a night. But I knew the press was frustrated and wanted more, and I was intent on answering the questions of reporters who had stayed late. My reward for trying to be helpful to the press was Jenna Johnson inventing a whole-cloth untruth of me hiding in the bushes" (page 211).

Come on now, bruh. You hid in the bushes.

Then we have my personal fave, the Holocaust Centers. Naturally, his explanation makes no sense and it just a bunch of bullshit excuses for being an idiot and terrible human being.

"And the number one rule I gave every Republican was don't ever, ever talk about rape or compare anything or anyone to Hitler or the Holocaust.

Ever" (page 195).

"By this point I was feeling flustered, still not fully understanding what had just happened. My remarks were not quite right, and I had the alarming sense that I was digging myself into a deeper hole with each word.

This may have been the lowest moment I had in the White House. I alone had fumbled; no one else had made me do it" (page 198).

His explanation makes no sense. He says he forgot the key phrase "on the battlefield", when he was talking about Hitler not using chemical weapons. But he continued to talk about Hitler using gas on his own people, which is actually exactly what Assad did. Of course, Hitler used the Holocaust Centers to kill people, while Assad just dropped it in the middle of town. Reporters gave him chances, it was even painful to watch. They repeatedly ask for clarification because I think they realized this would be a huge thing. But he maintains he simply forgot the 'key phrase' of "on the battlefield" when addressing Hitler NOT using chemical weapons.

"Donald Trump may not quote Scripture like an evangelical, but I know he is a man of Christian instincts and feeling. I saw this in his desire to share communion with me" (page 192).

LOLWUT.

BTW, trumplethinskin could not understand why Spicer wouldn't go to church with him and the others. Apparently 'Mass' is a hard concept to wrap his mind around.

There is one thing about his book that I want to address, the only thing Spicer and I will ever agree on, and that is the idea of confronting these idiots in public, especially when their children are present.

"Rebecca and I could not go out to dinner without being mobbed - and often being told off or getting the finger, even in front of our young children" (page 246).

This is not cool at all and needs to stop. It is 100% NOT okay to accost someone out with their kids in tow. Not at all. I don't mean that it is okay to do so if the kids aren't around, but come the fuck on. Have some common sense.

I will say though, there is a huge difference between screaming at someone and cussing them out in front of their children, and asking them to leave your restaurant. Sorry SarahSandersHuckabeeSandersSmokeyEyeWhatever, you can't go wherever you want, because you are also a lying liar who lies.

As you might have guessed, this book is trash and a total waste of time. I read it only because I just had to see how trash-tastic it was. If I were rating the book by number of trash cans, it would be a five, no contest. But since I am not, this book stinks and I absolutely do not recommend it, unless you need a good laugh.

Thursday, December 20, 2018

A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership

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Rating: 4 Stars.

FYI, this is not really a review, it is a short rant because I am just TIRED of it all. I have the luxury of choice when it comes to whether I pay attention to politics or not because my race and socio-economic status allow me said luxury. Yet I know that I MUST pay attention and #Resist, and do all I can for those who do not have a voice. I am especially fired up today because of everything that has gone down so far.

When I heard Comey on NPR talking about his book, and he had the audacity to say, when asked about whether or not his memo impacted the outcome of the election, "I hope not"...BOY, BYE! Regardless of his own perception, he HAD to know how the memo releases would be perceived by the public at large. Come on bruh, you KNOW they did, no matter what the FBI's intentions were. Even so, I must begrudgingly say that Comey did the best he could with what he had to work with. I couldn't stand either candidate, but at least I knew that Clinton would not complete tear our country to shreds. She didn't "deserve" to be the nominee, it wasn't "her turn" after "letting" Obama go first. Comey certainly gives his well-thought-out argument for why he did what he did, and when, but it does not make it any easier to handle. I am to the point that I can not even see that douchebag's face anymore without wanting to vomit. His voice grates on my ears. And today, as he is once again propelling us toward a scary future with Mattis resigning, no plan to stop a government shutdown (because of a stupid fucking wall that isn't even going to work), and him insisting that pulling out of Syria is a great idea (great of course, for Russia. And ISIS), we once again see why that 25th Amendment is a pretty good idea.

But I digress. That was a tangent that has nothing reeeeeally to do with the book, except that I abhor trumplethinskin and look forward to the day when his ugly face is out of the White House for good and we can get this ship righted.

There are some interesting stories I had not yet heard before, and Comey is actually a good writer, even if it is a little - I don't want to say pompous, because that is not quite right, almost like he is trying to be too humble and it comes off as not humble at all, does that even make sense? - sometimes.

A few quotes I thought were #OnPoint:

"I did not know Priebus well. He often seemed both confused and irritated, and it was not hard to imagine why. Running the (trumplethinskin) White House would be a difficult job for even an experienced manager, which Priebus wasn't" (page 246).

"(trumplethinskin)'s presidency threatens much of what is good in this nation. We all bear responsibility for the deeply flawed choices" (not me, I caucused for Bernie) "put before voters during the 2016 election, and our country is paying a high price: this president is unethical, and untethered to truth and institutional values...His leadership is transactional, ego driven, and about personal loyalty. We are fortunate some ethical leaders have chosen to serve and to stay at senior levels of government, but they cannot prevent all of the damage from the forest fire that is the (trumplethinskin) presidency. Their task is to try to contain it" (page 275).

Except, there is no containing it now. We are literally going headfirst into a complete clusterfuck and no one seems to know how to stop it - and the GOP doesn't care to, so...

Sunday, December 16, 2018

Fear: Trumplethinskin in the White House

Rating: 5 Stars

Fair warning before you read any further:

Image result for i love jesus but i cuss a little

In this review especially, I cuss a lot (and I actually do own a shirt that says this. I wear it to church sometimes. And my pastors still love me)

You'll have to excuse my not posting a cover. I honestly can't stand to look at his face any more than I can stand to hear his voice. So, we all know what that goober looks like, let's save ourselves the trouble and just go right into the review.

This book once again reiterates why Bob Woodward is such a fantastic journalist. He takes a wholly unlikable douchebag - and while said douchebag remains unlikable - Woodward writes without bias. It's almost like he feels sorry for trumplethinskin and chose to go a neutral route, because that is who Woodward is. A writer of Woodward's caliber has no need to exaggerate or pile on, he need only report the facts, which he does quite splendidly. And if we didn't already know what a douchebag trumplethinskin was, you might start to feel a little sorry for him too. Like, seriously, how does someone live 75 years and not know...anything? ANYTHING?? All the knowledge there is in the world, and trumplethinskin doesn't even have a tiny bit of it. There was a section where someone was literally explaining to him why we can't just print more money; he had zero concept of how that would completely tank our economy. In that section he asks why we can't just "run the presses - print money" (page 56). I can't even.

However, then I remember that this idiot called a bunch of racist assholes "very fine people" and I remember why I don't feel sorry for him at all. And he employs the pompous spray-on-hair-guy Stephen Miller, architect of the plan to rip children from their parents, who are only seeking asylum from the wars and gangs who are terrorizing them in their native countries. Come on now, why would these desperate parents risk their lives and the lives of their children on such a dangerous journey, if the alternative wasn't certain death?

If you are contemplating reading either this book, or Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury, I suggest both. Wolff's book is a hot mess of dysfunction and chaos. Woodward's book is calmer and more even-handed. Yet, both draw the same conclusion: we currently have a giant man-baby instead of a president, and he is someone who does not belong in the highest office in the land, leading what was once the greatest nation on earth. Sad, but true.

I could not fathom being someone inside the White House who has to attempt to reign in trumplethinskin on his most tantrum-y of days. There's stories here of staffers distracting him with other things, while hiding certain memos so he won't see and sign them. SERIOUSLY! HE SIGNS ANYTHING THAT COMES ACROSS HIS DESK! Does that sound like someone who is fit to be in the White House? I don't think so. Yet even as Woodward discussions these instances, he is not mean-spirited or malicious. He remains collected and composed, not giving in to the chaos of his subject, and I think that shows remarkable restraint, because every time I hear that douchenozzle talk, I want to pop my ear drums just so I don't have to hear him anymore.

Much of what is here is not necessarily new, but Woodward provides much more detail. We get plenty of info from Preibus and that psycho Steve Bannon, who is just as disgusting as his former "boss", and deserves no accolades for giving further insight into what he witnessed. Though, on a very teeny tiny itsy bitsy level I appreciate him yelling at Ivanka and calling her a staffer. She and her husband are both just as dirty as her father. There are numerous sources for Woodward to get the full inside picture from, and he protects them all, as he should. This is such an important part of the freedom in our country, that of being able to keep sources anonymous to protect them from arrest - you know, the thing that the first amendment actually talks about (No, your first amendment rights are not being trampled if someone decides not to support your television show with ads. You are as free as you want to be an asshole on television every day, just as everyone else is free to not support you and your asshole-ish ways.) 

One of the scariest aspects of this book is that we see plain as day how even when his own team is trying to impart at least a little bit of knowledge in order to make him understand why something is a good or terrible idea, he can not grasp what they are saying - or he refuses to. Perhaps it is a combination of both. We see again that he has zero understanding of foreign or domestic policy, even though he does have at least some people who know what the hell they are talking about. He really truly lives in some kind of bizarro land where Iran is not in compliance with the nuclear weapons agreement (they are), or that this stupid fucking border wall will keep out undocumented immigrants (it won't). Anything that does not fit into this bizarro fantasy world he has created for himself is automatically FAKE NEWS and then all his supporters get all riled up and whatnot. It's not fake news just because you don't know about it or understand it, morons. Please, I beg of you, educate yourselves. Fox Propaganda will not do that for you, sorry.

If you are not yet convinced that trumplethinskin is a complete idiot, I offer perhaps one of my favorite quotes from the book regarding his interview with John Bolton for the National Security Adviser position:

"His answers were fine, but Trump did not like his big, bushy mustache" (pg 87)

HIS MUSTACHE!

Trumplethinskin didn't want to hire someone because of HIS MUSTACHE! Oh the comedy and horror, all rolled into one. I straight up laughed at that for a good couple of minutes.

I feel like this whole trumplethinskin presidency will have one really positive, really great outcome: it will mobilize those who have stayed home in the past, and drive record numbers to the polls in 2020. It has to, because our very world is at stake here. Not just 'life as we know it', but our world, our planet. The man-baby has appointed people to head the EPA who have gutted it completely and rolled back so many needed mandates to protect our little slice of the universe. If for no other reason (completely ignoring literally everything else that makes trumplethinskin wholly unlikable, a racist misogynist, and a dangerous fucking moron), voters MUST see the need to save our planet, or there will be nothing left to leave for our children. Right now, we are borrowing this earth from future generations. We must leave it in a better condition than we found it in. That is, of course, if all of trumplethinskin's peacock posturing doesn't get every lit up in WWIII. Time and again it has been proven that Democrats win when Democrats come out to vote, Republicans win when Democrats stay home. As the party becomes more progressive (Beto, I have cautiously optimistic high hopes for you, please don't screw this up).

I think the title of the book is extremely interesting. Those who can see the big picture are fearful for our future, the future of our children, and the future of our once-great nation. But trumplethinskin is afraid too, and that makes him even more dangerous. He is paranoid and suspicious, and attacks those that he either knows have information on him, or assumes have information. Comey gets no love from me, due to his bullshit memo that he "hopes" (*eye-roll*) didn't impact the outcome of the election, but he was in man-baby's cross-hairs pretty quickly when he would not let the investigation go; on top of that, he continues attacking the FBI, and Mueller investigation, and those who once worked for him but have since left or been shown the door (Jeff Sessions comes to mind - that really riled him up more than anything, when Sessions recused himself. Damn). He also goes after judges, the media (duh), and certain reporters/journalists in particular (Jim Acosta). There are things that trumplethinskin clearly does not want known, and that is why he is constantly on Twitter, spreading his own lies and misinformation, to detract from the fact that there is a lot of shady business going on (among many other things, the earning money off your own presidency. Not his salary as president, but from every time he goes to one of his reports and the government has to pay for everything for the Secret Service. It is so disgusting. And don't even get me started on the whole 'Melania and Baron stayed in NYC to finish the school year' thing). So yes, trumplethinskin too, is afraid. It makes him more dangerous, because what lengths will he go to in order to really clamp down on the media. It is so incredibly foolish to label the media the 'enemy of the people', yet he has done just that. While I pretty much think they all played a hand in him getting elected also (he wouldn't have to spend a dime on ads or campaigning, they all treated this fucking circus sideshow like the main event, and look where we are now), his 'stable genius' supporters might take matters into their own hands and that is terrifying.

I really wish we could all wake up tomorrow and find that the last two years have just been one long nightmare. I want a country where I am proud to raise my daughter, and right now, this is not it. For all his flaws (as every president has), I long for the days of Obama's presidency. In those days, I could go without hearing his name for two-three days, and that was okay because I knew he was an intelligent and capable adult who cared about the country he was leading and the people he represented - whether they voted for him or not. Not once in those eight years did I go to sleep, then wake up in the morning genuinely surprised to still be alive. That has been my reaction more than a few mornings since man-baby took office, especially in those exceedingly tense days, weeks, months with North Korea. (I am not typically in the habit of learning from murderous dictators, but I did learn from Kim Jong-un what a dotard is.)

I have always been of the mind that if it waddles like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck. Trumplethinskin appointees can say some painfully funny and truthful things about their (former) employer, and yet he always manages to keep the support of his base. I don't get it, I really don't. If you've forgotten, here are a few of my favorites:

"He's a fucking moron" - Rex Tillerson, Former Secretary of State.

He has the understanding of a "5th or 6th grader" - James Mattis, current Defense Secretary.

"I stole it off his desk. I wouldn't let him see it. He's never going to see that document. Got to protect the country" Former chief economic adviser Gary Cohn, on the document that would have withdrawn the US from a trade agreement with South Korea.

"A third of my job was trying to react to some of the really dangerous ideas that he had and try to give him reasons to believe that maybe they weren't such good ideas" former Staff Secretary Rob Porter, who literally stole and/or hid documents just so trumplethinskin would not see and sign them.

"He's an idiot. It's pointless to try to convince him of anything. He's gone off the rails. we're in crazytown. I don't even know why any of us are here. This is the worst job I've ever had" - soon-to-be former Chief of Staff John Kelly.

I was all set to give this book a solid four stars. I appreciate Woodward's professionalism all the way through, giving his audience just about as evenhanded review as anyone can. Woodward maintains that everything in the book is a firsthand account of the goings-on. Then at the very end I was confronted with this now-refuted quote from trumplethinskin's former lawyer, John Dowd:

"...but in the man and the presidency Dowd had seen a tragic flaw. in the politics back-and-forth, the evasions, the denials, the tweeting, the obscuring, crying "fake news," the indignations, Trump had one overriding problem that Dowd knew but could not bring himself to say to the president: 'You're a fucking liar.'"

BOOM! FIVE STARS!