So much for a mental health break

So much for my wished-for mental health break following the conclusion of a too-long, too-acrimonious 2018 election cycle.

Less than 24 hours after the polls closed, the president held a press conference and gloated about his huge victory, because it was all about him. He named all the candidates that won because he campaigned for them (in his mind) and also named all the candidates he believes lost simply because they didn’t embrace his support.

I won’t even go into how he’s clueless as to how his behavior and his policies affect the constituents of those running for reelection and how those constituents vote accordingly, because it’s pretty clear this guy either doesn’t have the intelligence to understand those kinds of nuances, or he’s just so arrogant he doesn’t care.

In any case, what appalled me the most was his behavior at the end of the press conference, when he said he would take questions. This happens so rarely that gasps were audible and practically every arm in the room shot up at the same time.

It’s no secret that 45 hates the press. He claims it’s because of the fake news and lies they spread. In reality, it’s because they are accurately reporting on the fake news he creates and the constant lies he tells. For the first time in this man’s life, he’s being held accountable for his actions by the press — the very bedrock of a free American society — and he doesn’t like it. His solution is to belittle and humiliate journalists, treating them like 5-year-olds as he orders them to sit down, shut up, be quiet and questions their integrity and professionalism.

His treatment yesterday of three reporters in particular should embarrass every citizen of this nation. One reporter asked him about his apparent racism — based on his own behavior and language as well as his production of a fear-mongering political ad that was deemed so racist that several networks refused to air it — and rather than addressing her question like an adult, he turned it back on her and told her what a horrible question to ask, that her very question was racist.

His treatment of CNN’s Jim Acosta, who asked tough questions the president obviously didn’t want to answer, was childish at best and part of his overall diabolical plan to slowly destroy this country at worst. Again, 45 turned it back on the reporter, told him what a rude and terrible person he is, told him to give up the microphone and continued to berate him while a press room aide attempted to physically take back the mic.

With the mic in the hands of NBC’s Peter Alexander, 45 continued to berate Acosta and tell him he treats press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders horribly.

When Alexander  attempted to defend Acosta as a well-respected, hard-working reporter, 45 jumped on him as well.

The night ended with the news that the White House had suspended Acosta’s press credentials, effectively shutting him out of WH news briefings and any other events open to the press.

In explaining the suspension of his credential later last night, Sanders falsely accused Acosta of “placing his hands on a young woman.”

Video of the incident shows this just isn’t true. The young woman, who Sanders said was an intern, was the aggressor in trying to retrieve the mic, and at one point reached across Acosta’s body as she tried to grab it. If there was any body contact, she caused it. The reporter even said, “pardon me, ma’am,” as she made aggressive moves to get the microphone.

The unprecedented move of the credential suspension just shows this president has no respect for an open and transparent government and shows once again he is a too-thin-skinned, egotistical bully who has no right sitting at the Resolute Desk.

And get this — this most recent show of a temper tantrum best suited for a petulant toddler came less than 24 hours after he said that perhaps he regretted not being a little softer and more civil in his first two years in office, and that maybe he could do that more in the future.

I guess not.

As my mind churned most of the night and I got little to no sleep, I heard the news at about 3:30 a.m. or so of another mass shooting, this time at a bar in California. Another 12 people, including one law enforcement officer, dead, plus the shooter as well.

I need to emotionally process this latest mass shooting and learn more about it before I can write about it, but I can say this now: I can only hope the timing was coincidental and had nothing to do with our nation’s current political climate.