Today's Must-Read: Unbelievable

At least, it would be unbelievable if it were about anyone else. Digby tells the story in a post titled "Why Tillerson called him a moron":

This excerpt from the new book by Leonnig and Rucker called “A Very Stable Genius” is stunning. It had been leaked before that former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had called Trump a “fucking moron” after a meeting at the Pentagon when members of the administration attempted to educate him about — well, everything. We knew that he said he wanted to bring the nuclear arsenal back to the level it was at the cold war but it’s always been a mystery as to what exactly made Tillerson blurt out that comment in a room full of Generals and other high-level members of the administration.

Now we know:

Trump organized his unorthodox worldview under the simplistic banner of “America First,” but Mattis, Tillerson, and Cohn feared his proposals were rash, barely considered, and a danger to America’s superpower standing. They also felt that many of Trump’s impulsive ideas stemmed from his lack of familiarity with U.S. history and, even, where countries were located. To have a useful discussion with him, the trio agreed, they had to create a basic knowledge, a shared language.

So on July 20, 2017, Mattis invited Trump to the Tank for what he, Tillerson, and Cohn had carefully organized as a tailored tutorial. What happened inside the Tank that day crystallized the commander in chief’s berating, derisive and dismissive manner, foreshadowing decisions such as the one earlier this month that brought the United States to the brink of war with Iran. The Tank meeting was a turning point in Trump’s presidency. Rather than getting him to appreciate America’s traditional role and alliances, Trump began to tune out and eventually push away the experts who believed their duty was to protect the country by restraining his more dangerous impulses. […]

Read the whole thing. If you had any doubts that Trump is as ignorant, vicious, stubborn, and limited as his critics have been claiming, this should set them to rest.

And Moscow Mitch and the rest of the Republicans in Congress (mostly) think this is just fine.