Breaking news: Trump refuses to let anything go.

Yes, of course you knew that. The blog likely wouldn’t have readers from all over the world if Trump were able to act like an adult and simply “let things go.” There would be so much less to cover. But perhaps we have underestimated the price Trump pays for his pre-pubescent approach to reality, a world in which if he doesn’t get what he wants, he rants, raves, rages, blames, and then repeats the cycle until … until he is angrier about something else?

Politico takes a deep dive into the subject, and as an example, describes a spat between Trump and a fellow West Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene, who filmed an argument between he and Trump for use in a commercial Greene ran in a campaign for governor. The original quarrel happened a full year prior to the incident, and yet Trump wouldn’t let it go. After finishing a round of golf Trump walked off the course and pointed at Greene, stating: “Pretty nervy of you to come to this club.”

Not content to let it die with one mean girl remark, Trump then yelled across the dining room where all parties had retired to eat: “You spent millions and came in fifth!”

To which, Greene, evidently an adult possessed with comic timing and sense for the ridiculous, yelled back: “I came in fourth!”

Politico uses the example to set out a larger point: Trump never, ever, lets anything go. It matters, because now he’s been impeached for it, and could be removed from office:

The Ukraine quagmire arose from a quest to dig up dirt on a Trump political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden and his family. While explaining his reasoning for striking Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani, Trump invoked former president Barack Obama, his favorite punching bag until Hillary Clinton entered the picture. During remarks about a China trade agreement, the president randomly mocked former FBI Director James Comey, saying he had “choked like a dog.”

*An aside, as new readers of the blog are surely finding out, the blog considers dogs a superior species, blessed with all of our gifts yet none of our sins, ‘cept maybe gluttony. Trump has repeatedly noted he doesn’t like dogs, reason #183 to not like Trump. It is unsurprising that Trump doesn’t like dogs. Dogs can’t be played, conned, or suckered, and they can smell a rat from a mile away. They not impressed with money or any other extravagance, with the possible exception of excess hamburger lying around. You can be damned sure that Trump isn’t about to let an extra bite of hamburger lie around.

Where were we?

Back to Trump. He will not let anything go.

Some of the biggest controversies of Trump’s presidency have swirled around the president’s inability to let go of apparent slights: his antagonism toward the late Sen. John McCain, his spat with the Gold Star Khan family, his attacks on San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz in the wake of natural disasters. Even his profane remarks about the NFL when players kneeled during the national anthem could be linked to a failed bid to buy the Buffalo Bills.

He is, as we have noted many times, a very very small man, and we’re not referencing his hands or any other body part. Yet MAGA-heads believe this is his greatest strength. Because the people who have slighted Trump “most” during his presidency are, well – us, and people like us, Democrats, whether active in politics or you sitting at home. He demonstrates his rage toward us, Obama, or Hillary in the exact same way that the MAGA-heads dream of raging at us. They love the fact that Trump seems to be “owning the libs,” while the grown-ups walk away shaking their head, wondering how the guy could make it through his 20s with that kind of approach.

“He’s ungoverned around that — he won’t take advice, he won’t look to getting more informed — he will simply do whatever he wants,” added O’Brien, currently a senior advisor to Mike Bloomberg’s presidential campaign. “He’s used to getting away with that because he was insulated from his own mistakes his whole life. His family and his money helped protect him, and then he became a celebrity and he enjoyed the halo of protection that celebrity has, and now he is president he enjoys legal protections.”

Ah, yes, that would seem to be the key. Having a great deal of wealth and power does tend to insulate a person from actually being held accountable for temper-tantrums.

But he may have gone so far in his obsession that he finally will be held accountable. Politico states that someone (#cough, *ahem, Putin, cough*) planted the thought that Ukraine worked against him in 2016 and Trump has been obsessed with exacting revenge on Ukraine ever since.

Imagine the odds. Trump – who wouldn’t otherwise be able to find Ukraine on a map – ends up furious at the exact same country in which Russia currently has troops fighting a hot war. Remarkable coincidence.

Trump’s obsession with Ukraine led directly to Trump’s impeachment, with a trial beginning Tuesday. Yes, he is trying to bully his way through the impeachment, too. Yet evidence continues to emerge, and it is possible, just possible, that Trump will finally be held accountable for his childlike need to hurt the people that slight him.

Just imagine the anti-matter rage he will harbor for those who might make him the first president removed from office.

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Peace, y’all

Jason

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