December 10, 2015

"The Trump campaign for months now has had a dustbin of history-like quality to it, from the vacuous sloganeering to the outright lies to even the fake hair—the whole carnival barker routine we've seen for some time now."

Said the White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest.

Trump's response: "Isn’t that disgusting for a presidential representative to make that comment? I assume he was joking, but for a presidential person representing us in such tough times — we have terrorism and all of the problems — for him to make that comment, I thought it was so ridiculous."

What do you think about what Josh Earnest said?
 
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44 comments:

campy said...

Classiest administration EVAH!!

Rick said...

First reaction: Vacuous Sloganeering? Does he even consider how his comments frame the man he works for before uttering them?

Second Reaction: Doesn't that make him a pretty sh***y press secretary?

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Why "the dustbin of history?" Isn't the Obama line to say that people he disagrees with are on "the wrong side of history" Why wouldn't Earnest just say "the future does not belong to people like Trump who slander the Prophet's followers?"

The irony of a spokesman for President Obama complaining about someone else's "vacuous sloganeering" is surely powerful enough to replace some coal-fired electric plants for a few days, isn't it? I Hope he'll Change his tune on that one, but on the other hand if the Media isn't willing to point out how stupid that is...maybe it's not so stupid after all. Hell, if everyone else says the Emperor has on a fine set of clothes, who am I to disagree??

The Bergall said...

Josh Earnest needs to go back on maternity leave..........

Birkel said...

Althouse cannot read minds. Thus, the answer should always be the last one presented here.

Josh Earnest is so inaptly named that I wonder whether Ayn Rand would have used the name if she had thought of it. He is either equipped with no conscience or an IQ below room temperature. Or both.

And Donald Trump is useful in public discourse even if he is not a favorite of mine.

Bay Area Guy said...

Trump 2, Ernest 1

Why would the Presidential spokesman be maligning a candidate's hair?

Popville said...

Until an actual primary vote occurs, I'm ignoring Trump and most other campaigners.

eddie willers said...

I wished they'd fight ISIS with as much as much vigor as the do fellow Americans.

traditionalguy said...

Earnest proudly works for the skilled operative who Crippled America, and laughs at how easy it is to lie to media retards. How's that Myth of Global Warming going?

Jupiter said...

The Obama White House for months now has had a dustbin-of-history quality to it...

exhelodrvr1 said...

It is totally inappropriate for the White House to make that type of a statement. And totally expected for this White House to make that type of a statement.

Drago said...

Rick: "Does he even consider how his comments frame the man he works for before uttering them?"

No.

In the same way that garage cannot remember a single thing he wrote even minutes earlier.

It's just one continuous "Reset" where history starts anew at the drop of a hat.

FullMoon said...

Dignity personified

Anonymous said...

"Dustbin of history" is out of place with the other references in the sentence. Master your metaphors, Josh, don't let them master you.

Michael K said...

I am not a Trump supporter but Obama and his minions are making it more and more likely that Trump will be president.

How stupid do you have to be to fuck up worse than Carter did ? Carter at least seems capable of learning.

Obama, like the Bourbons, "Never learns anything or forgets anything."

madAsHell said...

Cuz..."Hope and Change" has never been tried before?

FullMoon said...

Defining the presidency down, and doing a hell ofa job.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Looks like these comments were expressed as partisan politics paid for by the US Gov't. If that be true, then I say ...

"While individuals are always free to express their own beliefs, no one is entitled to express them in ways that diminish others, or that devalues the presence of anyone that is part of our Badger community."

Jason said...

Pitch-perfect response by Trump.

Skeptical Voter said...

Josh Earnest and the guy he represents make Baghdad Bob look like a paragon of intellectual honesty and truth telling. Now that's not to say that I haven't often envisaged Trump with a shiny red ping pong ball nose, size 24 clodhoppers and a nice white ruff around his neck getting out of a Fiat Topolino in the middle ring of a 3 ring circus. But Ol Josh is in no position (or as the Hildebeest would say when she's doing her cornpone imitation down South), Josh ain't no ways where he can throw stones at such as Trump.

Jeff said...

I think Trump is awful. But he's right on this. Josh Earnest is supposed to be a public servant, not a political partisan. There is no reason for the official White House press secretary to be commenting on anyone's political campaign.

Anonymous said...

Such thin skin the Trumpster has. He insults anyone who dares to oppose him then cries like a little bitch when he gets slapped down? This is Presidential material? Jesus, WTF happened to conservatives? Look at Althouse's poll results. Seriously, you think this buffoon will get the nomination, then go on to win over Hillary? I predict a sweeping Democratic win. It will be an embarrassment to Republicans for generations.

Static Ping said...

"Dustbin of history," like "wrong side of history," is a phrase used by people who do not know what history is. History is a study of the past. While it does have great value in understanding where we came from and how to avoid past mistakes, among other things, in its purest form it does not have a moral component and under no circumstances does it work as some power to guide us to utopia. History is more or less "this stuff happened." Shockingly, stuff that happened and then ceased - the dustbin if you will - has this nasty habit of happening again, much to the disappointment of idiots who think the phrase "dustbin of history" makes them look clever.

It is very much how some people use evolution, especially in popular culture. Instead of a scientific process that describes a natural phenomenon, it gets used as a god substitute that inexorably leads life to perfection, said perfection being defined as the person's personal preferences. Evolution does not provide moral guidance, it does not care what you think the world should be like, and for that matter does not think at all. It simply is. Alas, pop culture uses it as morality for atheists - "what does evolution want?" - which is utter stupidity. Sadly, there are many people who do use science as a religion substitute, which is equally stupid.

To sum up, John is an idiot.

Original Mike said...

One of the reasons I am not a Trump supporter is that after 7 years of boorish behavior by the President and his staff, I was looking forward to a return to some dignity and class.

exhelodrvr1 said...

Amanda,
"He insults anyone who dares to oppose him then cries like a little bitch when he gets slapped down? "

Ironically, you probably don't even realize that that describes Obama to a T.

Paco Wové said...

Makes me wonder if Josh has a copy of "The Wit and Wisdom of Leon Trotsky" ready at hand by his desk.

Michael K said...

"Baghdad Bob look like a paragon of intellectual honesty and truth telling. "

Speaking of honesty and truth telling, Sandy Berger died the other day. Clinton associates don't have long lives.

tim in vermont said...

Vacuous sloganeering? Like "Hope and change"?

Outright lies? Like "If you like your plan, you can keep your plan."

LOL This is why Trump just gets stronger. Somebody said something I heartily agree with, I don't like the people who like Trump, but I really hate the people who hate Trump.

RichardJohnson said...

Jeff
Josh Earnest is supposed to be a public servant, not a political partisan.

To my knowledge, the White House Press Secretary has always been a political partisan. Some do a better job than others. The late Tony Snow was rather adept at replying to the press. In my admittedly partisan judgment, Josh Earnest, like his predecessor Robert Gibson, is a hack.

HoodlumDoodlum
Why "the dustbin of history?" Isn't the Obama line to say that people he disagrees with are on "the wrong side of history"

From Big Apple Blog:
U.S. President Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) described described, in a speech on June 8, 1982, before the British Parliament, “the march of freedom and democracy which will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash-heap of history as it has left other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the self-expression of the people.”

I wonder if Josh Earnest will have a hissy fit upon discovering that he has- albeit unintentionally- channeled Ronald Reagan.

Many Democrats are rather discomfited at Donald Trump's attacking style. The standard Demo attack points don't seem to work on him. His reply to the White House Press Secretary was in the same attack mode. Much of what Donald Trump says I don't agree with, but I like how much Trump upsets Democrats.

John henry said...


Blogger HoodlumDoodlum said...

Why wouldn't Earnest just say "the future does not belong to people like Trump who slander the Prophet's followers?"

Or he could just sing "The Future Belongs to me"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29Mg6Gfh9Co

BTW, Ann: That is a National Socialist reference, not a Fascist reference. The two ideologies are different, although both socialist and totalitarian.

John Henry

J Scott said...

I'm more offended at the cliches the White House uses.

"dustbin of history?" It's not even an American english cliche.

John henry said...

What is with the comments about fake hair? It is butt ugly. Even Trump agrees with that statement. I've never seen any evidence that it is not real though.

John Henry

John henry said...


Blogger Michael K said...
Speaking of honesty and truth telling, Sandy Berger died the other day.

My first thought was "Where was Hilary? I hope she has a good alibi." Then I thought that was pretty silly of me to think that even in jest. Then I remembered how many Clinton associates have died in odd circumstances.

John Henry

n.n said...

Wow. That's some intellectually vacuous projection. My lowered expectations of The White House have been met.

Hint: It's about We the People, and Posterity, too.

JamesB.BKK said...

@ Hoodlum Doodlum: The quote you alluded to is "The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam." This president of the USA said nothing about slandering his followers. No, this president was referring to a guy who's been dead for 1300 years now. Obama must have missed the day in school about defamation law which requires, in relatively free places such as states in the US, that a natural person must be alive to be slandered. We are "perfectly clear" that Obama is against : (1) the right freedom of speech by expressing the wish to impose foreign blasphemy laws on what passes for free people, and (2) the right of self defense by expressing the wish that mass confiscation "solutions" such as imposed in Australia could be imposed in America.

JamesB.BKK said...

The statement emitting from the spokesman has diminished the outward presentation of the White House and Federal Government. It's just dumb "mean girls" high school stuff writ large, but not new for this group.

For the poll, I would have selected, "The Progressives have read the tea leaves and are very concerned that Trump will win and begin dismantling substantial parts of what they've erected during the last century" or something like that. The old adage about taking flak seems apt.

Balfegor said...

Did our White House press secretaries always sound like North Korean propaganda?

the vacuous sloganeering dustbin-of-history campaign of foul carnival-barker arch-capitalist Donald Trump embarrasses the degenerate United States

Doesn't it sound like just the sort of thing a Stalinist mouthpiece would say? Or is it just North Korea that strings together stream-of-consciousness insults like that?

HoodlumDoodlum said...

I haven't heard the phrase "running dog" worked into an insult lately, seems like it's due.

Achilles said...

Amanda said...

"Seriously, you think this buffoon will get the nomination, then go on to win over Hillary?"

Hillary is considered a dishonest person by a majority of democrats.

She is a terrible candidate and a worse person. She is so despicable most Americans realize that voting for her will cost them a piece of their soul. No decent human being is going to vote for her.

I don't think we have fallen that far as a country.

Paul said...

"Jesus, WTF happened to conservatives?"

Amanda...Trump is not a conservative...he is many things...but not a conservative...

Mid-Life Lawyer said...

"Dustbin of history." The first thing I thought was, "The eighties called and they want their foreign policy back."

All this administration knows is fighting the GOP. That's it. The Rabble-Rouser in Chief.

I am not a Trump supporter (Cruz but would settle for others) but I do love how he is making the media and the establishment Republicans look like the frauds that they are. Also, many of the "conservative writers" like Kevin Williamson, Jennifer Rubin et al. are losing their minds on Trump and his supporters, calling them "morons...idiots...." etc. to such a degree that it highlights their restraint on the Obama and Hillary supporters. I mean, Trump is running as a Republican and who is more moronic, a person who would vote for any Republican or someone who voted for Obama, especially in 2012, or Hillary in 2016?

Jason said...

"what has happened to conservatives? What has happened to the once proud GOP?"

-- people who've been calling every conservative a fascist racist Nazi since Goldwater.

Original Mike said...

"Amanda...Trump is not a conservative...he is many things...but not a conservative..."

Another reason I am not a Trump supporter.

mikee said...

I read the quote and immediately thought that using the name "Hillary" instead of "Trump" would make the statement exceptionally accurate.