June 23, 2016

Donald Trump Is Frying My Brain

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Here is Donald Trump talking to an evangelical audience on Tuesday about how he raised his children:

I always tell people, “No drugs, no alcohol, no cigarettes.” And I add to some — if it’s appropriate: I say, if they go to church and if they start at a young age, that’s a tremendous asset…. I went to Sunday school at First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica…. It was like, you go to Sunday school, you have to do that…. Today, I don’t think it’s so automatic. And maybe we can get back into a position where it’s automatic.

I know I’ll never get an answer, but I have to ask: Did any of Trump’s kids go to Sunday school back in the day? Does Barron go to Sunday school now? Does Trump ever attend church? How about his grown kids? Just asking.

You might have noticed that this item is from yesterday. So was the picture of Trump with Jerry Falwell Jr. My post this morning about Utah v. Strieff is two days late. What’s going on with that? Well, you know how your inbox can get filled up and you just get behind on everything? That’s how I feel. My brain is hopelessly backed up and I’m behind on everything. Sometime tomorrow I’ll finally figure out what happened today.

I blame Trump for this. He’s brought a level of gobsmacking idiocy to the news that worms its way into my brain and won’t let go. I get obsessed with what he’s blathering about. Did he really say that? And people believed it? There has to be something more to it. But what? Has our national bullshit detector suddenly gone pear shaped? Why? How is it that 45 percent of the country apparently doesn’t realize that he’s basically just a talented used car salesman? It makes no sense. There’s no way that anyone with even the slightest experience of real life could fail to see that he lies practically every time he opens his mouth. That he can’t be trusted to do even the smallest thing he promises. What’s going on? WTF. IS. GOING. ON?

This is my brain on Trump. It wants answers. But there are no answers. Just endless, endless spinning. It is trapped in a world gone haywire.

I'm hopeful because of readers like you. Will you pitch in today?

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I'm hopeful because of readers like you. Will you pitch in today?

We see the headlines on a weekly basis: the claw backs in public media, the gutting of The Washington Post, the bending over backwards to appeal to Trump and his allies.

But not here.

When Mother Jones started publishing 50 years ago, our founders made a critical decision: to be a reader-supported nonprofit. They knew that no corporate owner would be interested in a muckraking newsroom; they also knew that no muckraking newsroom would be interested in following the agenda of a corporate owner.

And so, we’ve been reader-funded for half a century. We rely on contributions from our readers—readers like you—whether it’s $50, or $15 a month, or whatever fits your budget. People give what they can, and every donation makes a difference for our newsroom, which has grown tremendously—in size and reach and renown—since its inception in 1976.

You may be wondering: What does it take to publish an investigation? And what does my donation actually fund? The answers are one and the same: It takes people, resources, and time. And that’s what your donation funds directly.

Every donation Mother Jones receives from readers fortifies our newsroom, whether we’re covering underreported scandals out of Washington, DC, or the most important news of the day. And right now, each donation will be doubled thanks to a $50,000 match. So when you make a donation, it’ll go twice as far.

Your support keeps us going. If you’re able, donate today.

Thanks for reading.

—Monika Bauerlein, CEO

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