The reactions to Trump’s latest… thing — tweet, snot-projectile, whatever — are about par for this terrible course.  First, though, since Trump is working so hard to distract us, let me recapitulate with some of the things Trump doesn’t want us thinking about:

• After the CBO reported that the Senate Trumpcare will disenfranchise 22 million Americans, the Republican rush to vote their monstrosity into law foundered, and the vote was delayed.  After many reports that Trump wasn’t very involved, Trump’s rebuttals (surprise) made it worse, showing he didn’t even know much about what was in the law.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Russian-backed cutouts claimed they were working with Michael Flynn to get the data Russians hacked out of Hillary Clinton and the DNC, at the same time Flynn was working in the Trump campaign.  (The WSJ just expanded that report to add Steve Bannen, Kellyanne Conway, and Sam Clovis in the possible collusion.)
• The various investigations into the Russian attacks, Trump’s possible connections to Putin and Russian oligarchs, and subsequent obstruction of justice are too deep to summarize, but they continue to pick up speed and market-share.
• Trump announces an official meeting with Vladimir Putin.  That’s already weird, and especially with Putin, when he’s actively attacking our country and our allies.
• Trump’s administration undercuts science, denies obvious answers, and otherwise licks the boots of their corporate bosses.  This week, most of the scientists in the EPA were fired, and the EPA cancelled all scheduled scientific meetings.  (Not that there were enough scientists left to hold them.) This was after Tom Price overrode EPA scientific conclusions about a Dow pesticide shortly after a secret meeting with Dow officials.
• After the Senate Trumpcare failure, Trump suggested just repealing the ACA.  The CBO reported that this would likely cut 36 million people from health insurance completely, and harm many more.
• Trump isn’t talking to the press.  Only one press conference so far.  Even Bush (43), famously afraid of press conferences, had held seven by now.  They’re so afraid of the press, they’ve turned off the cameras in the press briefings.
• Trump still hasn’t passed any significant legislation, and lies about that frequently.

So, you can see why Trump might feel a need to frighten and intimidate people.  And if that would require is destroying more of the presidential legacy and the nation’s standing worldwide, it’s easy.  He doesn’t care a lick about common decency, the Presidency, or anything in America he doesn’t own.  So off he goes again.

Upon hearing Trump’s latest vile tweet, Republicans leaders lamented that — surprise, surprise — Trump said more bad things.  Not that any of them listed a single thing they’ll actually do about it.  Worse, behind the scenes, the first thing they complain about are the politics.  They didn’t care about what he said, or if they did, it’s a really distant third.  The only reports I’m hearing are how he’s stepping on his own… uh, message, and how he’s getting in the way of the Republican agenda of… dismantling everything the Democrats built.  And getting brown people out of the US.

Shortly after the latest dreadful tweet came out, some in the Trump administration and Trump family members (are those two groups really very different?) admired how well Trump is punching back.  Inexplicably, actual grownups feel free to say stuff like that on camera.  I know people don’t laugh out loud, but I think that’s because most people try to be polite.

After the most recent degenerate tweet, some Trump supporters claimed their boss does phenomenally stupid stuff, repeatedly and with spittle-flecked fury, because he isn’t really a politician.  Apparently, they think that non-politicians get a pass on basic adult behavior.

First, Trump is a grownup, at least physically, so we get to expect adult behavior.  Second, it’s hard to pretend Trump’s not a politician when “politician” has been his full-time job title since January.  Plus, it’s too old an excuse.  It’s only good once or twice, and it’s months past its sell-by date.

Anyway, Trump’s been on the job for what, seven months now, and he still can’t manage the basics of common civility.  Because he’s an outsider, a Maverick and a man’s man, and so can’t refrain from stomping on his dick every few days?  President Trump is just too dumb to learn new stuff?  Nonsense.  He’s been doing equally reprehensible things all of this life.  He’s always been this way.  And at 70-something, he’s not changing anytime soon.

So maybe… maybe it’s something else.  Maybe it’s us.  Are we the ones who are too dumb to learn?  I think there’s an argument for the idea.  Trump is doing exactly the same he’s done roughly every week for the past year or two.  (Or the past decades, if I’m being real.)  When Trump gets threatened, he trashes common decency.  Always has.  Now, though, he can include our country, since he’s acting as the President.  Why would he do that?  Because he can, and since he disdains all of us and all of our complicated American institutions, the cost in his eyes is zero.

Why are we surprised again?  And distracted.  That’s the bigger question.  Anyone notice what Trump’s been doing in the meantime?  Try Googling “Trump cuts science funding”.  You get 45 million hits.  “Trump Fires Scientist”?  85 million hits.

And that’s just stuff that’ll kill us.