OFF FOR A FEW DAYS

 

Looking forward to a few days on this beautiful little island:

YOUR SUNDAY MOMENT OF ZEN

 

 Many historians and presidential scholars place significant blame on Donald Trump for a decline in America’s global standing and world opinion. While conservative scholars and supporters argue his "America First" policies successfully challenged trade imbalances and forced allies to pay more for defense, mainstream historical consensus and data tracking show a sharp drop in international favorability linked to his actions. [1, 2, 3]

Academic and Historical Consensus

Low Rankings in International Relations: In comprehensive academic surveys—such as the C-SPAN Presidential Historians Survey—historians consistently rank Trump near the bottom of all U.S. presidents. Specifically, in the International Relations sub-category, Trump was ranked 43rd out of 44 evaluated presidents. [1, 2, 3]
Foreign Policy Decisions: In studies conducted by organizations like the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR), specific actions taken by the Trump administration have been labeled among the worst foreign policy choices in U.S. history. For example, historians ranked Trump’s 2017 withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement as the seventh worst foreign policy decision ever made by an American president. [1, 2]

Specific Areas of Blame by Historians

Scholars and foreign policy experts point to several key drivers that shifted world opinion during his tenure:

Abandonment of Multilateralism: Historians argue that withdrawing from major international agreements—such as the Paris Climate Accord, the Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA), and Trans-Pacific partnerships—severely eroded the perception of the United States as a reliable global partner. [1, 2]
Strained Relations with Traditional Allies: Analysts point out that his public criticism of NATO, antagonistic trade tariffs on friendly nations, and personal conflicts with European and North American leaders fractured decades-old alliances. [1, 2]
Erosion of Democratic Soft Power: Historians note that America’s "soft power"—its ability to influence world events through the appeal of its values and culture—suffered significantly. Events like the challenge to the 2020 election results and the January 6 Capitol riot are cited by scholars as major blows to America’s global image as a model democracy. [1, 2, 3]

The Data Corroborating Historians' Views

Scholarly evaluations often align with global sentiment tracking from the era. Longitudinal data from the Pew Research Center indicated that during Trump’s presidency, favorable views of the U.S. dropped to historic lows in numerous allied countries, including Germany, the UK, Canada, and Japan. Large percentages of international respondents described his leadership style as arrogant and dangerous, driving a direct correlation between low confidence in the president and low favorability of the United States overall. [1, 2, 3, 4]

SATURDAY NIGHT FUNNIES

 

As the year winds down, I remember this past June and the wonderful times Boston and the Scots in Kilts had while visiting our city for the World Cup.

And I remembered this:

FLORID MAN WHO THREATENED TO WIPE OUT A CIVILIZATION BITTERLY COMPLAINS ABOUT NOT WINNING THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE.

 

“The United States of America, represented by me as your president, should have received the Nobel peace prize, but didn’t. And this is an indelible stain on the country of Norway, and those people that made such a disgraceful and embarrassing decision,” Trump said. 

 The Nobel peace prize has been forever discredited by a handful of radical ideologues who are anti-democracy and really enemies of civilization,” Trump went on. “We will not forget, Norway, that you didn’t give this prize.” 

 Trump also recited a list of wars he claims to have settled, some of which were not wars and some that are still not settled, before adding: “I’m about to settle or win two more: Iran and Russia-Ukraine.” Trump said he would be ending both wars “quickly”. “I will tell you what,” he added, darkly. “Iran will be very quick one way or the other: that they give us everything or they don’t exist any longer.” “

(I must pause here to contemplate the fact that this epically stupid man is having a hissy fit of a melt- down of a tantrum over not receiving a PEACE prize and threatening to annihilate an entire country.)—S. K.

TRUMP:  “Additionally, I stopped Iran from having a nuclear weapon and blowing up the entire Middle East and ultimately far beyond the Middle East, including Europe, perhaps the US and I saved more lives than anyone in history,” Trump claimed, despite the fact that US intelligence agencies reported to Congress in 2025 that Iran had actually suspended its pursuit of nuclear weapons in 2003. 

 “Despite all of this and all of these unbelievable accomplishments, the Nobel prize was given out today to a liberal person who works at the United Nations, who nobody has ever heard of,” Trump said of Navi Pillay, the South African former UN human rights chief who chaired the UN commission that concluded Israel was guilty of genocide in Gaza.

GUEST POST BY DAVE MILLER

 

I looked at the current Mothership post this week. It's another anti Muslim screed. Then I got to thinking and reworked it. Enjoy:

…………SO how do we get RID of them?    

WE KNOW NOT ALL WHITE PEOPLE WANT US DEAD!   At least I DO.   But, how can sane people not question why they haven’t worked against the killers among them?   I believe it would be going against their faith to stop them from killing us……..Death belongs to those not accepting Jesus and becoming Christian.  So………

ARE WE STUCK NOW?   Has the Suicidal Empathy of letting them call us REDSKINS, HEATHENS and SAVAGES  gone so far that we’re stuck now and just have to take it?  …..Take their huge communities planned in THE GREAT PLAINS….take the frequent stories like my link.   We have to bow to them and can’t stand up and say “This is OUR COUNTRY, if you want to come HERE, you assimilate, you appreciate……or you’re GONE”

And What the HECK would it take to get them GONE?  

IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE?

From a concerned Native American

He's gone all squirrelly in his head!

 

I checked to see if this was a real Truth Social post and not a parody (because it's really, really difficult to know the difference with an idiot in the White House.)

This is not a parody. Trump actually posted this today. And it's more evidence of his brain turning to mush:

Yes, President Donald Trump posted that exact statement on Truth Social. On Thursday afternoon, October 8, 2026, Trump wrote: “The White House considers anyone that uses the term, “Artificial Intelligence,” as opposed to the highly accepted new and more accurate term, “Super Intelligence,” THE ENEMY!” [1, 2]

Also, Trump's language has gotten more vulgar lately, which is unfortunate as the leader of this country and a role model for young people. 

 I lived through my husband's and my sister's dementia and witnessed how their self-censoring diminished and left them entirely. They said things they would never have said before the onset of the disease. I'm witnessing this again, only in the POTUS:

 Trump’s Speech Is Getting Filthier

TRUMP: "We are the most respected country in the world, by far." --Sept. 24, 2026

Trump has repeatedly claimed that the United States is respected around the world under his leadership. Throughout his time in office, Trump has consistently argued that his administration's policies have restored America's international standing, contrasting his current tenure with previous years when he claims the country was mocked. If that were true, explain the image below.

 

This is one place in the world, granted, but we all know that the rest of the world, except for dictatorships and authoritarian governments, does NOT respect Trump nor the United States. 

I don't recall anything like this when former Presidents Obama and Biden were in office.

PS:

This poor schlub still cannot get over the fact that Barack Hussein Obama received a Nobel Peace Prize and that HE never will:

Trump humiliates himself and America almost every day of the week!

A new psychological study has found that people who report favorable views of Donald Trump also tend to score higher on measures of callousness, manipulation, and other malevolent traits—and lower on empathy and compassion.

 

I have read and heard that people often ask how MAGA can still support Trump after all these years and after witnessing his sociopathy. This prestigious publication gives us an insight into why people still support him. And it's chilling -- chilling to know that so many Americans who continue to support Trump are like this.

Trump supporters report higher levels of psychopathy, manipulativeness, callousness, and narcissism 

 A new psychological study has found that people who report favorable views of Donald Trump also tend to score higher on measures of callousness, manipulation, and other malevolent traits—and lower on empathy and compassion. 

The findings, based on two large surveys of U.S. adults, shed light on how personality traits relate to political beliefs, including support for Trump and conservative ideology. The research was recently published in the Journal of Research in Personality. 

 Malevolent personality traits—sometimes called “dark” traits—include tendencies such as manipulativeness, callousness, narcissism, and a lack of empathy. These traits are often captured by concepts like psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism, which together reflect a general disposition toward exploiting or disregarding others for personal gain. 

People with stronger malevolent traits may be more comfortable with aggression, dominance, or cruelty and less likely to value fairness or kindness. These tendencies are associated with lower levels of affective empathy (concern for others’ suffering) and, in some cases, higher levels of dissonant empathy (enjoyment of others’ pain). In contrast, benevolent traits reflect the opposite—a disposition marked by compassion, humanism, and a belief in treating others with dignity and respect.

 the Journal of Research in Personality (JRP) is a highly legitimate and prestigious academic journal.

It is a well-established, peer-reviewed publication covering the field of personality psychology. It is published by Elsevier, one of the largest and most reputable scientific publishers in the world. [1, 2]

The journal's credibility is backed by several industry-standard metrics:

• Indexing: The journal is indexed in major academic databases, including the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) and Scopus, which filters out predatory or illegitimate journals. [1, 2]
• Impact & Ranking: It holds a Q1 ranking (the highest quartile) in SCImago for social psychology, with a Journal Impact Factor of 3.4. [1, 2]
• History: It has been continuously published since 1973 (originally established as the Journal of Experimental Research in Personality before renaming in 1975). [1]

It is widely considered a top-tier outlet for empirical and theoretical work on personality traits, dynamics, and processes. [1]