On June 13, Trump held what CNN called “the weirdest cabinet meeting ever." As you may recall, the man who occupies the Oval Office of what once a great Democracy sat in state, with a broad smile on his face, as each and every member of his cabinet lavished praise on him and his achievements. When then White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus spoke about Trump ( "We thank you for the opportunity and blessing to serve your agenda"), he set the tone that was duplicated by all present, including by some hugely accomplished generals, billionaires and political people with long track records of success.

Trump in June 2017 at the “weirdest cabinet meeting ever." He enjoyed the bizarre praise fest he demanded.

Americans who know such demand for lavish praise - for a cult of personality for the head of governement - is the stuff of dictatorship, not democracy.

Yesterday, December 20th, this happened again, a cabinet meeting of Praise, and this time the Vice President Pence move the praise to prayer, yes prayer. As Joy Reid noted on Twitter, they literally pray to him.

Old line Republican Bill Kristol weighed in too.

If you don't believe Joy Reid or Bill Krstol or me, watch Mike Pence at Trump worship for yourself. I am not responsible if you find yourself gagging or worse. Remember the occasion which provoked this Praise Fest was the Greed Over Party passage of a tax bill that will leave our country over $1.5 trillion dollars more in debt, so the top 1% of Americans can get tax cuts.

Oh, our poor country.

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December 21, 2017

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