I’m finishing up Homo Deus and just getting into Leonardo Da Vinci (with Grant on deck), but I had to drop the somewhat heavy reading temporarily in favor of listening to Fire and Fury, Inside the Trump White House. The book will likely confirm everyone’s biases, regardless of what those are. Trump defenders will observe, correctly in this instance, that Trump’s critics are never objective and often unfair. Trump’s detractors will have their most negative suspicions about Trump and his inner circle confirmed.
Critics of the book (mainly Trump supporters, beginning with Sarah Huckabee Sanders) have said it’s an untrue and fabricated fantasy. Although no doubt there are some errors, it seems very accurate. It’s filled with loads of quotations from named sources and so many other details that could be easily refuted or contradicted, and yet, so far as I am aware, none have been. Indeed, there are so many direct quotes from Bannon alone that haven’t been denied or refuted (by him or others) that it lends support to the veracity of the other sometimes surprising statements.
Other than a detailed description by Ivanka about how her dad constructs his hair over a completely hairless dome (an lol moment which can be embarrassing if one is listening on earphones with others nearby), there’s not a great deal new about Trump. But one picks up a greater understanding of the changing and petty rivalries between the Bannon and Jarvanka factions, and why we should all be praying for the good health of Messrs. Kelly, Mattis and Tillerson. Although I still think he’s a terrible person, Bannon comes off somewhat better than I expected. He's certainly more savvy politically than the inner Trump circle who are political dunces. Hope Hicks is a spineless sycophant who may be facing some legal problems due, among other things, to helping Trump on Air Force One to craft the utterly false explanation of the Trump Tower meeting with the Russians (although I felt sorry for her when, after explaining why she wanted to help Cory Lewandowski, an erstwhile lover, with his post-campaign career, Trump declared in the presence of others, “Why help him? You’re the best piece of tail he’ll ever have.”). And newsflash, Don Jr. comes off as a dope. I like that he’s referred to as Fredo by Bannon and others still on the WH staff.
I feel a little unclean for having listened to it, but it’s been an entertaining experience.
Critics of the book (mainly Trump supporters, beginning with Sarah Huckabee Sanders) have said it’s an untrue and fabricated fantasy. Although no doubt there are some errors, it seems very accurate. It’s filled with loads of quotations from named sources and so many other details that could be easily refuted or contradicted, and yet, so far as I am aware, none have been. Indeed, there are so many direct quotes from Bannon alone that haven’t been denied or refuted (by him or others) that it lends support to the veracity of the other sometimes surprising statements.
Other than a detailed description by Ivanka about how her dad constructs his hair over a completely hairless dome (an lol moment which can be embarrassing if one is listening on earphones with others nearby), there’s not a great deal new about Trump. But one picks up a greater understanding of the changing and petty rivalries between the Bannon and Jarvanka factions, and why we should all be praying for the good health of Messrs. Kelly, Mattis and Tillerson. Although I still think he’s a terrible person, Bannon comes off somewhat better than I expected. He's certainly more savvy politically than the inner Trump circle who are political dunces. Hope Hicks is a spineless sycophant who may be facing some legal problems due, among other things, to helping Trump on Air Force One to craft the utterly false explanation of the Trump Tower meeting with the Russians (although I felt sorry for her when, after explaining why she wanted to help Cory Lewandowski, an erstwhile lover, with his post-campaign career, Trump declared in the presence of others, “Why help him? You’re the best piece of tail he’ll ever have.”). And newsflash, Don Jr. comes off as a dope. I like that he’s referred to as Fredo by Bannon and others still on the WH staff.
I feel a little unclean for having listened to it, but it’s been an entertaining experience.
Comment