Click to see entire cover.

This is the current cover of the German magazine Der Spiegel. DS is on a tear at the moment about the so-called president of the U.S. (SPOTUS)

Germany must stand up in opposition to the 45th president of the United States and his government. That’s difficult enough already for two reasons: Because it is from the Americans that we obtained our liberal democracy in the first place; and because it is unclear how the brute and choleric man on the other side will react to diplomatic pressure. The fact that opposition to the American government can only succeed when mounted together with Asian and African partners — and no doubt with our partners in Europe, with the EU — doesn’t make the situation any easier.

They’re organizing an intervention.

It is literally painful to write this sentence, but the president of the United States is a pathological liar. The president of the U.S. is a racist (it also hurts to write this). He is attempting a coup from the top; he wants to establish an illiberal democracy, or worse; he wants to undermine the balance of power. He fired an acting attorney general who held a differing opinion from his own and accused her of “betrayal.” This is the vocabulary used by Nero, the emperor and destroyer of Rome. It is the way tyrants think.

So, in answer to the question Is Trump more like Nero? or Captain Queeg?, Der Spiegel chooses Nero.

The fact that the United States, a nuclear superpower that has dominated the world economically, militarily and culturally for decades, is now presenting itself as the victim, calling in all seriousness for “America first” and trying to force the rest of the world into humiliating concessions is absurd. But precisely because this nonsense is coming from the world’s most powerful man, it is getting trapped by him.

This is not a threat that will somehow resolve itself. The German economy has become the target of American trade policy and German democracy is ideologically antithetical to Trump’s vision. But even here, in the middle of Germany, right-wing extremists are trying to give him a helping hand. It is high time that we stand up for what is important: democracy, freedom, the West and its alliances.

Please. You’d be doing us all a favor.

While we’re here, let’s review today’s atrocities.

Melania is suing the Daily Mail for saying she once worked as an escort. But this is the OMG part:

The suit, filed in New York State Supreme Court against the tabloid’s owner, Mail Media, seeks compensatory and punitive damages of at least $150 million.

According to the suit, Trump planned to leverage her years as “one of the most photographed women in the world” to establish new “licensing, branding and endorsement” deals worth millions of dollars. She intended to “launch a broad-based commercial brand” selling “apparel accessories, shoes, jewelry, cosmetics, hair care, skin care and fragrance,” the suit states.

It’s entirely possible this was the SPOTUS’s idea and not Melania’s, but — OMG, making money off the FLOTUS brand tacky, or what?

File this one under “sticks and stones will break my bones,” etc. —

“There is a monumental desire on behalf of the majority of the media, not just the pollsters, the majority of the media to attack a duly elected President in the second week of his term,” Gorka, a former Breitbart editor who also holds a PhD in political science, told syndicated conservative radio host Michael Medved.

“That’s how unhealthy the situation is and until the media understands how wrong that attitude is, and how it hurts their credibility, we are going to continue to say, ‘fake news.’ I’m sorry, Michael. That’s the reality,” he added.

That’s the best they’ve got? They’re going to keep whining about “fake news”? What a bunch of weenies …

Yesterday at MacDill Air Force Base the SPOTUS said this:

“The challenges facing our nation nevertheless are very large. Very, very large,” Trump said. “We’re up against an enemy that celebrates death and totally worships destruction. You’ve seen that. ISIS is on a campaign of genocide, committing atrocities across the word. Radical Islamic terrorists are determined to strike our nation as they did on 9/11, as they did from Boston to Orlando to San Bernardino and all across Europe.”

He continued: “You’ve seen what happened in Paris and Nice. All over Europe, it’s happening. It’s gotten to a point where it’s not even being reported. And in many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn’t want to report it. They have their reasons, and you understand that.”

Never mind that the perps in Boston, Orlando and San Bernardino had no operational ties to terrorist organizations. What about those underreported terrorist attacks? Trying to not make the SPOTUS look like a complete fool, the WH released a list today of the 79 terrorist attacks he was talking about. A quick glance tells us most of these incidents didn’t occur in Europe, or North America. But never mind — the New York Times released its own list showing it had covered every one.

Didn’t George W. Bush’s WH pull something like that, releasing an absurd list of terrorist attacks they claim to have stopped? And most of them were ridiculous? I seem to remember that.

Also today, Betsy DeVos was confirmed without a single Democratic vote.  Maybe the Dems are learning, anyway.