As revealed in the shocking new book, Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump, by Rick Reilly
“He cheats at the highest level. He cheats when people are watching and he cheats when they aren’t. He cheats whether you like it or not. He cheats because that’s how he plays golf … if you’re playing golf with him, he’s going to cheat.”*
Reilly has been with Trump on the fairway, the green, and in the weeds, and has seen first-hand how the president plays–and it’s not pretty. Based on his personal experiences, and interviews with dozens of golf pros, amateurs, developers, partners, opponents, and even caddies who have first-hand experience with Trump on the course, Reilly takes a deep and often hilarious look at how Trump shamelessly cheats at golf, lies about it, sues over it, bullies with it, and profits off it.
From Trump’s ridiculous claim to have won eighteen club championships, to his devious cheating tricks, to his tainted reputation as a golf course tycoon, Commander in Cheat tells you everything you need to know about the man.
I wonder if there is any golf course honor in general among the top tier of business leaders, investment gurus, etc. Could the “cheat however you can to make money” business philosophy simply leak over into golf?
We know Trump lies about even the most trivial of things — he even lied about where his mother was born — there’s no surprise here. The only interesting thing is that folks (right and left) rightly mock the 11 holes-in-one claimed by Kim Jong Il but those on the right don’t get worked up about Trump’s lies.
Agree fully. It is truly an enigma and both amazing and disturbing that so many people can be so delusional. Even in terms of greed, racism, predominant self-interest, etc., how can people expect that they are going to come out ahead somehow when a large part of their lives is in the hands of a lifelong liar and cheat who apparently lacks even a vestige of remorse for anything he has done?
He’s a cult leader.
He appeals to those who are nostalgic for their toddlerhood when life was easy and one could believe in a world magically controlled by wishful thinking.
If you ignore Republican gaslighting, it’s certainly easy to hear Trump’s inner infant engrossed in its own voice and making things up. I sometimes wonder if he’s in his second childhood or if he never grew out of his first one.
Also you have to marvel at the way he can strut and pose like he’s doing Mussolini impressions, and the reaction is, “This is great! What’s a mussolini?”
“He cheats at the highest level. He cheats when people are watching and he cheats when they aren’t. He cheats whether you like it or not. He cheats because that’s how he plays golf … if you’re playing golf with him, he’s going to cheat.”
Sounds like he takes after Auric Goldfinger.
In my less optimistic moments I’m afraid that he takes after (or vice versa) a substantial proportion of the voting public who follow the adage: “Anything worth having is worth cheating for.” (Seems like something W. C. Fields might have said. If you are old enough to remember his movie persona you may agree.)
My favorite W.C. Fields quote (there are many I like) is
A close second;
The 2nd is new to me. Thanks.
In male simians, testosterone is partly regulated by social interaction with other males.
Even in the case of chess players, after a match, there is a noticeable elevation in the testosterone of the winner, and a lowering in the loser.
It has always been my theory that this is to prevent male simians from head butting their species into extinction. If losing a contest with another male raised testosterone levels, males would catch their breath after a fight, then pick themselves up and battle until all males were too injured or dead to carry on the species.
As a self annointed alpha male, Trump does not allow himself to lose. Ever. The loss of testosterone would probably be completely emasculating, likely lethal to his persona. He has no choice but to cheat. Because, for Trump, winning is the only thing. Even if that winning is rigged, fake, phony, or obtained by cheating, treachery, theft or the sacrifice of anything or anyone . Hence the cheating even at golf. Can’t attract a desirable mates with your looks and personality? Buy them! Your mate not building your ego? Cheat on them until you find another sucker! Not able to beat a political opponent fairly? Break any rule you can to help you win!
So currently, in America and around much of the world, leadership testosterone appears to be the main driver of where we are going. Which currently happens to be over a cliff with no parachute.
Which brings to mind another Bond villain: Thunderball.
“He knows the meaning of success.
His needs are more, so he gives less…”
I haven’t followed the franchise all that closely. Has there ever been a female Bond villain?
Several subvillains but Bond, as usual, used his sexual prowess to turn their allegiance. Maud Adams played such a role in Octopussy and ditto Jill St John in Diamonds Are Forever. And there were at least 2 female Russian agents similarly “reformed” if memory still serves me.
Not that we need more evidence of how he’ll like over anything, but, after saying Germany isn’t paying it’s fair share doe security he said:
“my father is German, was German. Born in a very wonderful place in Germany.”
His father was born in New York
There are multiple reasons why the 25th Amendment should be enacted to remove this dangerous buffoon from the Oval Office, not the least of which is his mental incompetence. Today’s horrifying example was his insistence three times (and maybe four, couldn’t quite hear the mumbling) that there be journalistic inquiry into the “oranges” of the Mueller investigation…
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2019/apr/03/trump-asks-journalists-to-look-into-the-oranges-of-the-mueller-investigation-video
Re — his comment on the Mueller report: according to the official WH transcript, he didn’t say oranges, he said oringes.
Even the people who do real work for this administration are morons.
Holy shit: from the book, about the 2019 Trump Invitational.
Moral of the story – take a permanent marker on any golf game with Trump.
Several subvillains but Bond, as usual, used his sexual prowess to turn their allegiance.
Yes, I remember “Pussy Galore” (Honor Blackman) from Goldfinger. But there was one, played by Luciana Paluzzi, who didn’t succumb. I forget how that one came out.
The IMDB says she played the assassin Fiona Volpe in Thunderball.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the request for Trumps taxes returns. Given the law, if information leaks I suspect there will have to be criminal investigations – so that will be interesting. And what is the point of looking at the returns if stuff isn’t leaked?
It will also be interesting to see what happens with the subpoena for the Mueller report and the other potential subpoena for all the other documents democrats want to look through – fishing for a crime or anything they can try to use in 2020. Of course, I suspect most of these subpoena’s will be quashed – but we will see.
In the meantime – what are the dems doing to Biden? He has the best shot of beating Trump and they are going after him for smelling hair and touching shoulders and so forth. Nobody complained about being uncomfortable when it happened – they wait until Biden is thinking of running for President to bring it up? So transparent and petty.
Yep – this is going to be fun to watch.
“Nobody complained about being uncomfortable when it happened – they wait until Biden is thinking of running for President to bring it up?”
Yes, we know you don’t think women should ever be believed about harassment in any situation. You don’t need to double down on your libertarian based view of them as lower beings.
In a culture in which products to enhance physical attractiveness are advertised constantly, it seems a bit of a stretch to make a big deal about smelling hair or a touch on the shoulder. But, there may be more context than I currently know. I do know that we have the example of Trumpian antics to show what the modern GOP thinks is acceptable behavior.
The rule is, if you wouldn’t come up behind a man and smell his hair, don’t do it to a woman, and then don’t do it in any case.
Look, it’s not the biggest deal in the world, but it’s paternalistic in particular and in general it’s a dominance display. In the instances we’ve seen it, it’s occurring in physical/public spaces where the recipient of these encroachments can’t just gracefully move away.
It’s sort of like when Trump goes to shake hands and then pulls the person forward off balance.
Anyway, I personally think it’s annoying and a little creepy. And yes everything Trump does is worse. Everything.
I can understand your point and this is just a related comment and not meant as a critique of your point at all: If memory serves me, even kissing rules are different in different cultures. At a somewhat lower level on intimacy, I married into a family in which hugging of everyone by everyone else — including both family and friends — is ordinary but it was never done in the family in which I grew up except between mothers and young children.
Better to err on the side of caution is probably a good rule.