[QUOTE]The news is playing up that president Trump rode a golf cart at the G7 summit:
[URL="http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/335424-trump-rode-golf-cart-while-g7-leaders-walked-through-siciliy"]Trump rode golf cart while G7 leaders walked through Sicily[/URL][/QUOTE]This is reminiscent of Chris Christie landing in a state police helicopter, and then taking a limo the remaining 100 yards to his son's baseball game. That was before he got stapled.

[URL]http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/05/gov_christie_arrives_at_sons_h.html[/URL]
[QUOTE][URL="http://www.nj.com/chris-christie"]TRENTON[/URL] — Gov. Chris Christie arrived at his son's baseball game this afternoon aboard a State Police helicopter.

Right before the lineup cards were being exchanged on the field, a noise from above distracted the spectators as the 55-foot long helicopter buzzed over trees in left field, circled the outfield and landed in an adjacent football field. Christie disembarked from the helicopter and got into a black car with tinted windows that drove him about a 100 yards to the baseball field.

During the 5th inning, Christie and First Lady Mary Pat Christie got into the car, rode back to the helicopter and left the game. During a pitching change, play was stopped for a couple of minutes while the helicopter took off.[/QUOTE]
EDIT: He did pay up eventually, but I bet he still got a discount.

The golf cart deal actually makes a weird kind of sense in the context of the exchange Ross & I had in post #496 - but yah, the optics. Maybe if there'd been a taco stand midway allowing POTUS the opportunity to replenish his finite energy store...

Not sure of Chris Christie is any kind of analogy, since he has a perfectly rational reason to limit walking - he's grossly obese.

Kinda surprised, though, not to see speculations in our dear Fourth Estate re. the golf cart maker's possible ties to Russia - "according to unnamed intellignce officials, the same model of cart has been spied on a resort golf course mere miles from Vladimir Putin's [strike]evil holiday lair[/strike] summer dacha", that sort of thing.

[STRIKE]I think it was John Oliver[/STRIKE] OOPS! Bill Maher who did a whole bit on "Trump Is FAT!" Not like Christie at the time, but hefty.
[YOUTUBE]D0_iGsLCmPs[/YOUTUBE]
Perhaps the golf cart is another dominance game, like handshaking.
[URL]https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/28/emmanuel-macron-my-handshake-with-trump-was-a-moment-of-truth[/URL]
[QUOTE]“My handshake with him – it wasn’t innocent,” [URL="http://www.lejdd.fr/politique/macron-au-jdd-ma-poignee-de-main-avec-trump-ce-nest-pas-innocent-3343352"]Macron told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper[/URL] in an interview on Sunday. “It’s not the be-all and the end-all of a policy, but it was a moment of truth.”
The much commented-upon power play, during which each man held the other’s gaze for a long moment, was described by one observer as a “screw you in handshake form”. It ended when the US president, after two attempts, finally succeeding in disengaging.
[/QUOTE][URL]https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/28/the-trump-handshake-how-world-leaders-are-fighting-back[/URL]
[QUOTE]They say the handshake originated as a gesture designed to prove that both participants were unarmed. But [URL="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump"]Donald Trump[/URL] has rewritten that rule along with all the others. In the hands of the US president, the handshake is a weapon.
And now, thanks to the newly elected president of France, we have confirmation that the rest of the world’s leaders are fighting back. [URL="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/28/emmanuel-macron-my-handshake-with-trump-was-a-moment-of-truth"]Emmanuel Macron’s admission[/URL] that his white-knuckle clinch with Trump – in which the two men appeared to be engaged in a squeezing duel that saw the US president break off first – was “not innocent” is hardly a surprise. His thinking was plain to see, as he crushed Trump’s hand until the latter’s fingers seemed to quiver for mercy.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=kladner;459954][STRIKE]I think it was John Oliver[/STRIKE] OOPS! Bill Maher who did a whole bit on "Trump Is FAT!" Not like Christie at the time, but hefty.
[/QUOTE]
I don't know, President Trump's doctors are somewhat dynastic themselves. The doctor that certified Trump's health as a candidate is the son of Trump's previous doctor, which Trump outlived. As far as fatitude, Trump misplaced 15 pounds over the course of a year. His thoughts on energy continue to be uniquely a product of his intellect.
[URL="http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/263146-doctor-trump-will-be-healthiest-president-ever"]Doctor: Trump would be healthiest president ever[/URL]
[QUOTE]Trump labeled GOP rival former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, 62, as having "low energy," and has also claimed that Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, 68, lacks the "stamina" to be president.

"People have been impressed by my stamina, but to me it has been easy because I am truly doing something that I love," Trump said Monday. [/QUOTE]

Re. stamina, I daresay most folks who have been presidential contenders in the past century or so would agree that campaigning is quite grueling. [url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2016/10/12/clinton-trump-have-each-logged-enough-miles-campaigning-travel-moon/LkcjCs3rXAPpIz59ENBNxJ/story.html]Here the Boston Globe[/url], 4 weeks before last November's election:
[quote]In terms of estimated mileage, Trump is clearly in the lead, logging more miles than Clinton in a shorter period of time.

He’s racked up more than 276,000 miles since he officially announced he was running for president on June 16, 2015. She’s tallied 256,000-plus miles since April 12, 2015, when she formally announced her candidacy.

In recent weeks, Trump has traveled considerably more miles — about double the distance Clinton has logged.

Trump has also taken fewer days off from traveling, according to the National Journal data. He’s traveled on just over half the days since he announced he was running. She’s traveled on about 39 percent of days since throwing her hat in the ring.

On the other hand, Clinton has made more stops on the campaign trail, 461 to Trump’s 362.

Clinton has had numerous days where she didn’t necessarily log a lot of miles, but made a series of stops in a relatively close area. On what was her busiest day in terms of stops, Clinton visited 24 different places. Trump’s busiest day included 7 stops.

She also logged an estimated 5,251 miles in a single day, while the most distance he covered in one day was 3,377 miles.

They have both visited about the same number of states (45 for Clinton and 47 for Trump) and cities (258 for her, 257 for him), according to the National Journal data.

They’ve both made more stops in Iowa than in any other state.

The most commonly listed reason for travel for Clinton was an “organizing event.” For Trump, it was a “rally.”

Trump has tried to make an issue of Clinton’s “stamina.” (He has also credited her with being a “fighter” who “doesn’t quit” and “doesn’t give up.”)[/quote]
Most interesting part for me was the very different framing by the candidates themselves captured in the penultimate sentence of th above snip. And Hillary's failure to generate enthusiasm outside the bicoastal elite bubbles was key to her loss - it didn't take many Rust Belt voters who voted for Obama to stay home in order to flip enough counties from Blue to Red and thus allow Trump to carry that part of the country. Obama made just that point recently when he noted that he continued to campaign in 'unwinnable' regions of the country right up to election night 2008 and 2012, because "maybe I only end up losing by 20 points instead of 50", and by extension thus actually win enough 'Red' counties to make a difference.

My hat is off to anyone with the stamina to campaign for president. Merely watching from the sidelines is itself exhausting. The only candidate that I ever felt was severely lacking in energy was Fred Thompson during the 2008 presidential campaign.

President Reagan slowed down near the end of his second term in office but his health degradation eventually came to light. He did great overall including taking a bullet for the country. It's hard to say how much his astrologer influenced his behavior; likely more than I'd be comfortable hearing. I keep this in mind when I think about other kooky advisors to the throne.

[URL="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2808139/President-Reagan-s-astrologer-advised-Soviet-Union-flight-schedules-dies-87.html"]President Reagan's astrologer who advised him on everything from the Soviet Union to flight schedules dies at 87[/URL]
[QUOTE]Soon she was quietly influencing pivotal decisions, with direct lines installed at the White House and Camp David.

She told Reagan to stop seeing the Soviet Union as 'evil' - supposedly a gem of advice that inspired the president to soften his stance on the region.

'At the time, they were thinking of the Russians as gangsters,' Quigley said.

'I told Nancy that Gorbachev was a different kind of leader, and that he would share a vision with Reagan.'

Quigley's secret position lasted until she was outed in 1988 by former chief of staff Donald Reagan.

As the world reeled in shock, Quigley insisted that she was a 'serious, scientific astrologer.'[/QUOTE]
Reagan seemed to rest in Hawaii for a day or so on international trips. By contrast the first Bush president seemed to be a dynamo, flying around at a frenetic pace right up until he puked in the lap of the Prime Minister of Japan. Just now I [URL="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._W._Bush_vomiting_incident"]learned[/URL] that "Earlier that day Bush had played a doubles tennis match in which the Emperor of Japan Akihito and his son the Crown Prince Naruhito beat Bush and his partner, a former U.S. ambassador to Japan." So maybe President Trump is onto something about conserving exertion; it might be helpful in retaining precious fluids. Japan has a phrase for the incident, essentially [I]do the Bush thing[/I]: "Bushu-suru."

[QUOTE=ewmayer;459952]
Kinda surprised, though, not to see speculations in our dear Fourth Estate re. the golf cart maker's possible ties to Russia - "according to unnamed intellignce officials, the same model of cart has been spied on a resort golf course mere miles from Vladimir Putin's [strike]evil holiday lair[/strike] summer dacha", that sort of thing.[/QUOTE]
.....with more "wires tapped" than the former US embassy in Moscow. :smile:

[QUOTE=kladner;459954]Perhaps the golf cart is another dominance game, like handshaking.
[URL]https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/28/emmanuel-macron-my-handshake-with-trump-was-a-moment-of-truth[/URL]
[quote]“My handshake with him – it wasn’t innocent,” Macron told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper in an interview on Sunday. “It’s not the be-all and the end-all of a policy, but it was a moment of truth.”
The much commented-upon power play, during which each man held the other’s gaze for a long moment, was described by one observer as a “screw you in handshake form”. It ended when the US president, after two attempts, finally succeeding in disengaging.[/quote][/QUOTE]
The 1952 movie [i]The Quiet Man[/i] has a scene in which Will Danaher (Victor McLaglen) is ordered to shake hands with Sean Thornton (John Wayne). After the handshake, the title character comments as follows:

Sean: (through clenched teeth) That's a good grip you have, Danaher. I always hated a flabby handshake myself.

Well, President Trump's next handshake better be extremely awesome because after ignoring Angela Merkel's handshake and having the First Lady smack his hand away and then losing to Macron's French-styled Crocodile Dundee overmatching kung fu grip he's got a serious trend to reverse unless his spin room can pull off a Jedi mind trick.

[QUOTE=only_human;459995]Well, President Trump's next handshake better be extremely awesome because after ignoring Angela Merkel's handshake and having the First Lady smack his hand away and then losing to Macron's French-styled Crocodile Dundee overmatching kung fu grip he's got a serious trend to reverse unless his spin room can pull off a Jedi mind trick.[/QUOTE]
:rofl: A good laugh was had by both of us, here.

[url=www.counterpunch.org/2017/05/31/how-facebooks-mark-zuckerberg-and-other-billionaires-are-killing-the-democratic-party/]How Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Other Billionaires are Killing the Democratic Party[/url] | Counterpunch