My Facebook friends are up in arms about Donald Trump committing “treason” by saying (or not saying?) something to Vladimir Putin. The only exception is a Ukrainian friend who is anti-Russian and anti-Putin:
Well, most Democrats never cared about Russia when it started doing sh*t in Ukraine. Maybe they care about it because it is now a way to dump on Trump and Republicans.
Although he would like to see the U.S. recognize Russia as an enemy and oppose Russian initiatives worldwide, he can’t figure out what Trump did wrong this week.
The New York Times accused King Donald of treason just two months after his coronation (see “‘There’s a Smell of Treason in the Air’,” March 23, 2017). Now he is accused of “double secret treason”?
I lived through one Russia scare in my lifetime (the 1960s-80s) so I can’t bring myself to invest time in learning about this latest one. But maybe readers will educate me. What was Donald Trump supposed to say and do, in an ideal world, and what did he actually say or do?
He publicly sided with the Russian President while criticizing the American intelligence.
Apparently, he was also late by twelve minutes for tea with the Queen of England, but perhaps that’s not as bad of a transgression.
Phil: what was Donald Trump supposed to say and do in “ideal” world? I believe, that he resigns from the office, and, have done so long time ago. What he actually said or do? Something other than above.
So, not investing time on this is probably the best approach.
The full transcript is available online from multiple news outlets. I read through it and didn’t see what the fuss was about?
> Phil: what was Donald Trump supposed to say and do in “ideal” world?
In the Democrat’s fantasy, Trump is only the president because Russia tricked people into voting for him. They say they want Trump to stand up to Putin, telling not to rig the election again. Of course, if he does this, they will consider it proof that Trump believes Russia rigged the election, and impeach Trump for taking an office he knows was stolen by a foreign power.
The republicans are less unreasonable: They want Trump to say “I trust the CIA and FBI more than I trust you” to Putin.
Javier: “He publicly sided with the Russian President”
He said “I think everything that the Russian government and military is virtuous and praiseworthy”?
Or was it more narrow, such as “You guys were right about the Tsarnaev brothers and our FBI was wrong”? (see https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/boston-bombing-anniversary/russia-warned-u-s-about-tsarnaev-spelling-issue-let-him-n60836 for “The Russian government warned U.S. authorities that Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev was a violent radical Islamist more than a year and a half before the April 2013 bombing, but authorities missed multiple chances to detain Tsarnaev when he was traveling to and from Dagestan for terror training, according to a soon-to-be released Congressional report. … The FBI responded to the FSB cable by opening an investigation of Tamerlan Tsarnaev in March 2011. The investigation was conducted by members of the Boston Joint Terrorism Task Force, an interagency group that includes federal, state and local law enforcement representatives. An FBI member of the JTTF interviewed Tsarnaev in person. The FBI did not conduct surveillance of Tsarnaev because the case did not rise to the standard that permits surveillance, according to federal officials.”)
Corindel: Regarding the only example that touches the lives of folks here in Massachusetts, it seems that the Russians WERE more trustworthy than the FBI. Is it treasonous to admit that?
THE TRUMP-RUSSIA BULLSHIT SUMMARIZED
—
There is ZERO evidence linking Donald J Trump to any illicit Russian Activity
There is ZERO evidence linking the Trump Campaign to illicit Russian Activity
There is ZERO evidence linking the Trump Admin to illicit Russian Activity
Mueller investigation was started based on a Fake Dossier and FISA Fraud
Mueller scums are 100% anti-trump with 0% objectivity
Mueller expanded witch hunt to abuse unrelated stuff and people
Mueller and his scums refuse to submit to congressional oversight
Mueller and his scums have found exactly jack shit after two years
You are retarded if you think the Russian will stop hacking us
You are retarded if you think we will stop hacking the Russians
We should talk to Russia about NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT
We should talk to Russia about ENERGY
We should talk to Russia about SYRIA
We should talk to Russia about NORTH KOREA
We should talk to Russia about CHINA
We should talk to Russia about TERRORISM
We should talk to Russia about TRADE
We should talk to Russia about PEACE
We should talk to Russia irrespective of our espionage or theirs
—
President Trump is able to do all that despite constant backstabbing and enormous pressure by the Fake News, the Democrats, his own party and the Deep State. That is why he is the most sensible president in modern history — the only one who is able to put AMERICA FIRST before what is most politically expedient.
dwight: “most sensible president in modern history”
What did this sensible person actually say or do to get all of Facebook riled up saying “treason”?
philg: Trustworthy != more successful in one case. Can you show a pattern of the US botching things the FBI got right?
He called Putin’s *denial* of meddling “powerful and strong” which I’m guessing a lot of people misheard as “Putin is powerful and strong”. IMHO, the most remarkable thing he said is that Russia offered to help with the collusion investigation and that it was “an incredible offer” with positive affect, as though one could trust a criminal suspect to work on the case against themselves.
@philg: Trump? Nothing except what is perfectly prudent, logical and in our best interest. The Fake News, the Deep State and #Nevertrump dead-enders in the GOP are going to be riled up no matter what unless he does the silly, counter productive, war mongering things THEY want.
FACT: We hack Russians, Russians hack us. We’ll try to gain compromising info on politicians in other countries; Russians allegedly — with no proof — has been accused of that. If espionage is responsible for chilling of relations then Trump is 100% correct that both the USA and Russia are responsible. But, espionage or not, that is no reason to stop talking to the only nuclear peer in the world and it is long overdue we had that conversation. The kindergartners and witch hunters need to go back to Kindergarten and study the Spanish inquisition.
philg: I was referring to his constant “it’s a witch hunt” when referring to Robert Mueller and his team. He repeated that while standing next to Putin.
@Javier: It is a witch hunt. And, that should be repeated anywhere and everywhere. I am disappointed he didn’t call out Mueller, Rosenstein and their scums at the State of the Union.
Off-Topic: Any thoughts on the town-and-gown situation in Cambridge:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5959195/Director-Harvard-research-center-filmed-harassing-mother.html
Visitor: I’ll write about that in a few days. It is a beautiful “Humanitarian” story!
Javier: It is now “treason” to criticize a U.S. government investigation? An uncritical deference to government is “patriotism”?
@dwight so all the guilty pleas and indictments are a vast conspiracy, then?
I’m not sure if you’re trolling, or if you really believe that, but I think I’ll refrain from engaging you further. Have a pleasant day.
I don’t think it was appropriate to criticize US law enforcement’s to get to the bottom of how Russia tried to corrupt the 2016 election in Trump’s favor with the man in charge of that effort by his side. I have worked closely with law enforcement in many different countries and US law enforcement, in particular federal law enforcement, is at the top of the class. It is shameful for the President to denigrate these people as he did. Treason is a legal issue and besides the point.
Okay, so the people who didn’t vote for this person think he said something “inappropriate” and the best way to summarize this is “treason”?
US law enforcement is at the top of the class?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_immigration_to_the_United_States#Profile_and_demographics
says “In 2012, an estimated 14 million people live in families in which the head of household or the spouse is in the United States without authorization.”
How can that be consistent with us having the best law enforcement operation on the planet?
Treason has a definition and a legal meaning. I don’t see how anyone just saying the word might have any implications. When I was 4 yo and had to undergo a painful surgical procedure, I called the doctor a Nazi for causing me so much suffering. (I was reminded of that just the other day, and that the doctor was in fact an Orthodox Jew.)
I also can’t but notice how many fellow Americans seem to be in the advocacy business. Everyone acts out a thought leader, everyone spends their time telling everybody else how to live their lives, how to feel, what to believe in.
But of course, Trump should trust the FBI. And what if he does not? Nobody explained clearly why he *must* do so. Is there a law I am not aware of that says just that? Is it written down in the Constitution?
Jack:
> I have worked closely with law enforcement in many different
> countries and US law enforcement, in particular federal law
> enforcement, is at the top of the class.
I am happy to hear that, but in the specific case of the FBI investigating both Trump and Clinton, the people involved did not act professionally. Peter Strzok’s texts to his mistress are at best unprofessional, and at worst an admission of his willingness to use his position to sway an election.
I wish Trump had been able to stand up for the US government. Given the way some of them seem to be trying to slander him, I understand his lack of enthusiasm for heaping praise on the FBI.
“Peter Strzok’s texts to his mistress are at best unprofessional, and at worst an admission of his willingness to use his position to sway an election.”
The conspiracy nut podcaster I am listening to @AdamCurry, has the hypothesis that the illicit affair is a cover to prevent the appearance of a real conspiracy/deep state. He mined the publicly available sms messages for signs of endearment between the alleged couple, and found none.
Also, if this guy was involved in both the Clinton server investigation and the Russian meddling investigation, is that an unlikely coincidence, or is the FBI talent pool that shallow?
Based on what my Facebook friends have to say, the point of the current investigations is to impeach and/or imprison Donald Trump. If he is not entitled to hold a low opinion of the folks trying to put him into the pentitentiary that would be consistent with
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brogan_v._United_States
(accused criminals get more prison time if they say “I didn’t do it” to the people trying to put them away)
philg:
” It is now “treason” to criticize a U.S. government investigation? An uncritical deference to government is “patriotism”?”
No, that by itself is not treasonous when you or I say it.
When our president openly chastises an ongoing investigation by American law enforcement while standing next to the Russian president, who’s being accused of being behind of all this, it’s not a good thing. I don’t know if it meets the definition of treason, but don’t you find it at least very unfortunate?
Incidentally, now our president is starting to walk back some statements, apparently, and says he accepts some findings?
Is distrusting the FBI a felony? If so, public denial of the distrust may be an aggravation, as per the link above.
In that case, can we simply jail all Trump’s critics for showing a criminal disrespect to the Throne of the President of the United States? And if that’s not enough, we can use Cheney’s doctrine: if you waterboard them long enough they will confess collusion with the Kingdom of Sheba.
Javier is on the right track. The Trumpster has no discipline, he just gushes like the infinite monkeys. Afterwards, if some of it makes sense, he takes credit. If it bombs, he either denies saying it or walks it back a bit. He is a TV and pro wrestling guy playing the role of president, which unfortunately he actually is. Before that, he was a shady businessman playing a real businessman on TV.
He is certainly walking proof that it DOES NOT MATTER who is president. I hope this clears it up.
The best reading on the subject is Wolff’s book “Fire and Fury”. None of these nutjobs expected to actually win, so they were not at all careful.
It was embarassing to see the leader of the free world treat a murderous dictator like a dream date. But that’s what one does when the dictator has you on a pee-pee tape. I just hate it when that happens.
> He called Putin’s *denial* of meddling “powerful and strong” which I’m guessing a lot of people misheard as “Putin is powerful and strong”.
It’s worse than that – people suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome misheard it as Trump saying he *believes* the denial.
Which is of course bananas.
Saying “Russia has powerfully denied the charges” happens to be a TRUE fact about the world which has no implication whatsoever regarding whether we should or whether Trump does BELIEVE the denial. It’s possible for Trump to have said it with a wink while intending to convey the context “…and we don’t believe their denial but we’re choosing to let the matter slide for now for diplomacy’s sake.”
But even *if* Trump did believe the denial and even *if* the denial were inaccurate there’d still be nothing treasonous about Trump being gullible or wrong or even outright lying about some matter of fact in a diplomatic context – things said around foreign leaders is not testimony under oath. So this whole kerfuffle seems to be wrong at every single level.
(Not an American)
> So people are believing the same, intelligence agency that sold them WMD story in Iraq.
> So I saw so many stores on how the ‘election can’t be hacked’ (Obama himself was seen saying that in public).
Serious question[s]:
> So like, if the current president is impeached, the next president is allowed to meet Russia?
> Apart from diplomacy, what are the other options? Go to war with them? (Huh..WTF!)
Would like to hear PhilG’s perspective.
I’m aghast that President Trump would look askance at a failed palace coup and its instigators. How unsporting! Clearly not a Harvard man.
You can decide if it’s treasonous or not, but his complete lack of a spine to face the hard things, siding with dictators, and crapping on his allies, is at the very least suspicious.
On the summit, when asked if he would denounce Russian interference, the US President said: «My people came to me — Dan Coats came to me and some others — they said they think it’s Russia. I have President Putin; he just said it’s not Russia. I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be (…)»
Dan Coats is his Director of National Intelligence, named by Trump and according to Wikipedia he is to:
– serve as head of the sixteen-member United States Intelligence Community,
– direct and oversee the National Intelligence Program; and
– serve as an advisor, upon invitation, to the President and his executive offices of the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council about intelligence matters related to national security.
What he’s did is not just to “criticize a U.S. government investigation”, he’s essentially saying all of the US intelligence community is full of crap, and I rather believe President Putin, than them.
And now, with a few more hours on it, he’s already back-pedalling and saying he made a “mistake” and playing us all for idiots. [1] In his typical jell-o mind/word-tricks, he now says «”In a key sentence in my remarks, I said the word ‘would’ instead of ‘wouldn’t. The sentence should have been: ‘I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t’ or ‘why it wouldn’t be Russia’. Sort of a double negative.” Which of course, is nonsense and totally incompatible with him saying he side with Putin.
Just like after the G7 meeting, his only ballsy on his own, on twitter, on Air Force One. We see the same behaviour again. Wether this is treasonous or not, the question remains: why? Why is he doing this? Why does he want to appear so cozy with Putin and crap on allies? What did he gain with this meeting? And why is it legitimate for him to not have any records of the conversation with the head of state of Russia?
Finally, don’t isolate this incident. This is not a single event, but a pattern.
—
PS: This administration is so dumb, that even the official transcript of the press conference mis-transcribes as (US) journalist’s question, in a way that has Putin admitting he influenced the election (he was just admitting to wanting DT to win). Yes, everyone makes typos and mistakes, but you’d think this one at least is proof read by someone not in the “Deep State”, no?:
«Q: And did you direct any of your officials to help him do that?
PRESIDENT PUTIN: Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Because he talked about bringing the U.S.–Russia relationship back to normal.»
[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44864739
[2] https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-president-putin-russian-federation-joint-press-conference/
(Disclaimer: Not an American. So I should probably mind my of f**king business)
@ Francisco
See this:
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-07-18/trump-russia-has-agreed-help-north-korea
Any idiot would see that, _any_ deal with NK, IRAN et.al. is impossible without getting Russia (Vladdy’s) nod. (basically, you just cant hush them away n hope to achieve any kind of stabilization in these parts of the world . in a nutshell).
So – as a neutral – even if your president is acting like a pussy & working out a peace deal with the ghost.. maybe it isn’t such a bad idea after all.
I mean who needs another war n conflict…
But. what the hell do I care?
@disevad, you write like a Russian bot, so you should probably heed your own advice.
@dwight looi, by the way you write you REALLY deserve a president Trump, but the rest of the US and World doesn’t. So probably best if you keep your ignorance and conspiracy theories to yourself.
Trump looks like a Putin puppet, talks like a Putin puppet, and walks like a Putin puppet. I don’t think he actually did anything treasonous here: he just said he believed the accused instead of the investigation by US law enforcement. Which is technically not treason, but highly suspicious when the accused is Putin. Even Trump has understood this now, that is why he is denying it now (people like dwight looi will believe him, but will anyone else really believe he meant to say “wouldn’t” instead of “would”?). In front of Putin. So everywhere that matters, Trump acts like a Putin puppet. When he comes home, he says he isn’t one. Some people will still believe him.
For those who say there’s zero evidence in the Russia affair: there are already several indictments from the investigation. So a majority in a grand jury disagrees with your assessment and believes that there is enough evidence go to to trial.
For those who say Trump did nothing illegal by believing Putin instead of the FBI, that is surely strictly true. What if Trump just decided to gift the entire US air carrier fleet to Russia? Or to North Korea? Surely you could frame that in some lend-lease friendship program and argue that nothing illegal was going on. And surely many Trump chumps will still support their dear leader, but when will the Republican politicians grow a spine and say enough is enough?
disevad: To answer your question “Apart from diplomacy, what are the other options? Go to war with them?”
I think this is a great question to ask! The U.S. for decades has been a source of stern-yet-empty words for various folks, including North Korea and Iran. As a citizen I don’t understand why we’re paying so much for a military when it is free to say “tsk-tsk” to North Korea as they build nuclear weapons. Also, it seems like a good way to demonstrate weakness. If we aren’t going to be able to make another country do what we say then why say anything?
The Russians are competitors, apparently, in various international domains. But if we aren’t going to stop them by going to war I don’t see how empty words or ineffective sanctions (while the Europeans keeping buying Russia’s oil and gas?) help anyone (I guess if sanctions prevent wealthy Russians from coming over to the UK then they can’t be targeted in UK family courts for divorce, alimony, child support, etc. so arguably the sanctions do help the oligarchs).
An obsessive focus on the competition is bad in business (better to be like Amazon and focus on the customer). It also seems to be bad in politics. Look at the Democrats. They spend so much time trashing Republicans as sexist, racist, and stupid that they forgot to develop anything to offer their existing customers! (thus “socialists” are invading their market from the other side). I would think that it is true in international politics too. We can spend all of our energy on our Team America: World Police job while other countries advance their economies and outstrip us in per-capita GDP (so eventually they will also be stronger militarily).
@philg «They spend so much time trashing Republicans as sexist, racist, and stupid that they forgot to develop anything to offer their existing customers!» – overall I think you’re right. But, to the Democrat’s defence, it’s easier to provide solutions, when they sound like solutions but aren’t solutions at all. For example, it’s harder to figure out what to do with the coal miners, when the industry is dying than pretending it’s not for a few more years.
And, again, Team America was extremely beneficial for American interests: it was a world order setup and designed to allow America to prosper (and others came along). It may no longer be the case, but let’s call it what it is (was).
@disevad Working with Russia to put pressure on NK is undeniably good. But that doesn’t mean you have to act as Putin’s water boy. And the funny thing is, Obama tried approaching Russia in 2012 [1] much to Republican’s discontent.
«I mean who needs another war n conflict…» – I will recall that, besides skirmishes, there has not been an active conflict in the Korean Peninsula for 65 years, and, if any country invaded another won without provocation during that time, it was not NK, but the USA. I’m not advocating NK or their regime, of course not. And I’m not going to say that they owning nuclear weapons isn’t a problem. But realistically, they haven’t been using them as defensive deterrents, not offensive.
[1] – https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nuclear-summit-obama-medvedev/obama-tells-russias-medvedev-more-flexibility-after-election-idUSBRE82P0JI20120326
A friend sent me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFJGufkcEj0 (In 2012, Clinton Attacked Romney’s Russia Comments, Called Russia “Ally”)
Has anything fundamental changed since 2012 such that it is today “treason” to refrain from confronting the Russians with harsh words?
It’s all reality TV. People watch whichever version of the reality TV show that they agree with. Seems like many of your Facebook friends actually believe that the reality TV show they like to watch is actually real.
There is nothing “treason” about what Trump said. If it was, then what Obama said would be far worse [1], [2]. Beside, how could spoken words without actions become “treason”?
The issue with Trump is his style and delivery method. He is not a politician to be a smooth talker. He is a direct, in-your-face, spit’er businessman. And this is why we have him because for so many years, we have had back-stabling politician in the office.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNxEDomUlXw
[2] https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/02/20/msnbc_host_cant_remember_when_obama_promised_putin_flexibility.html
Thank you PhilG & Francisco for your perspectives.
Would be interesting to see how things move fwd. (hopefully for the better).
As for election meddling / sway by the government of Russia, is this news? They have been doing it for years and so we to them and to many other countries. You can thank Julian Assange and the internet for making this into a wildfire.
@ Javier: It is a witchhunt, period. I am glad President Trump make that clear to the world that Mueller and his scums will not be affect sensible American Foreign policy. I’ll am disappointed that Trump did not call Mueller, Rosenstein and Obama cretins like Brennan TRAITORS right then and there!
What indictments and guilty pleas? Flynn? For being entrapped to misrepresent totally legal activity? Manafort for alleged money laundering in 2005 that has nothing to do with Russia or the 2016 campaign? 12 Russians? LOL… yeah… 12 assertions Mueller knows he cannot, and will not ever get to, prove in a court of law! He could have pulled it out of his ass citing anonymous, non-existent, intelligence conjectures for all that matters. What the heck else have they found? Some Pornstar tabloid heresay? Given the total bias, wanton abuse and lack of accountability by Mueller and his subversive patron Rosenstein I do not believe ANYTHING they say until proven definitive with public and irrefutable evidence. They have ZERO credibility.
It is time for a SHOW DOWN with Rosenstein and Mueller. They need to be summoned before a full session of congress and asked if the President is a subject of their investigation or under credible suspicion of wrong doing. If so, they must disclose the evidence and make that clear. The president has the authority and right to declassify anything and everything so the American People will know irrespective of the consequences. If he is not, then they must show him everything they have found and tell him everything they are looking into and submit to his sole discretion whether they should continue. If they refuse to do either, then they should be fired right there and then and jailed for contempt of the Legislative and the Executive Branches.
I say Impeach Rosenstein. Fire Sessions. Remove Mueller. Purge the FBI and DOJ of Obama hold overs. Launch full fledged investigation on the FBI, CIA and other agencies for treasonous activity aimed at undermining the democratically elected President of the United States.
Speaking of the corroding Russian influence, here is an interesting article from the BBC titled “Alleged Russia agent offered sex for job”:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44865626
which seems to be quite relevant to Phil’s research on sex and family in the modern America.
So, what do we learn? First of all, she is facing charges of “failing to register as a foreign agent and conspiring against the US government. She is not charged with espionage”.
It is not clear to me what she conspired to do, precisely. Did she conspire to conspire so that they could further conspire to run an unspecified conspiracy against our government? Or maybe just this: “An alleged Kremlin agent offered sex for a job with an American special interest organisation she targeted, say US officials.”
Court filings state that Ms Butina (who is 29) “was living with an unnamed 56-year-old American – identified in documents as US Person 1 – with whom she had a personal relationship… But this relationship does not represent a strong tie to the United States because Butina appears to treat it as simply a necessary aspect of her activities.”
Further, she “expressed disdain for continuing to cohabitate with the American man, according to documents seized by the FBI.”
KGB appears to be quite inexperienced in the American ways.
Everyone is talking about Trump. But what about Putin? Is he satisfied with Trump’s performance, or could it be he thinks Trump is mocking him by being too obviously servile? If so, maybe he will leak the pee tape and satisfy everyone’s curiosity.
Putin was quite satisfied, AFAIK. And so, Trump is set to win the re-election in 2020.
Does anyone really think Trump cares about pee pee video release? How does that damage him beyond whatever he’s done before?! So he has a weird fetish, there are many other things he should be embarassed about but clearly isn’t.
Saw this comment on the internet:
>>>
Remember when Donald Trump was business partners with the Russian government and his company got 53 million from the Russian government investment fund called Rusnano that was started by Vladimir Putin and is referred to as “Putin’s Child”?
Oh wait, that wasn’t Trump it was John Podesta.
Remember when Donald Trump received 500 thousand for a speech in Moscow and paid for by Renaissance Capital, a company tied to Russian Intelligence Agencies?
Oh wait, that was Bill Clinton.
Remember when Donald Trump approved the sale of 20% of US uranium to the Russians while he was Secretary of State which gave control of it to Rosatom the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation?
Oh wait, that was Hillary Clinton.
Remember when Donald Trump lied about that and said he wasn’t a part of approving the deal that gave the Russians 1/5 of our uranium, but then his emails were leaked showing he did lie about it?
Oh wait, that was Hillary Clinton and John Podesta.
Remember when Donald Trump got 145 million dollars from shareholders of the uranium company sold to the Russians?
Oh wait, that was Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation.
Remember when Donald Trump accepted millions in donations from Russian Oligarchs like the chairman of a company that’s part of the Russian Nuclear Research Cluster, the wife of the mayor of Moscow, and a close pal of Putin’s?
Oh wait, that was the Clinton Foundation.
Remember when Donald Trump failed to disclose all those donations before becoming the Secretary of State, and it was only found out when a journalist went through Canadian tax records?
Oh wait, that was Hillary Clinton.
Remember when Donald Trump told Mitt Romney that the 80s called and it wanted its Russian policy back. The Cold War is over?
Oh wait, that was President Obama.
Remember when Trump got caught on a hot mic telling the Russian ambassador he’d have much more flexibility after the elections, and the ambassador said he’d pass it on to Putin?
Oh wait, that was Obama.
Man… Trump’s ties to Russia are really disgusting!
<<<
I guess politicians are dirty everywhere …
@disevad: great whataboutism! Way to steer the conversation from Trump and Putin.
Meanwhile, Trump’s press secretary continues to have to translate what he says (hint: such translations are often the opposite of his own words). According to the latest polls, republicans still love their dear leader as much as before the Helsinki fiasco. Seems like they love being told what to think by Sarah Sanders. So much for patriotism and due legal process! They will take an absolutist “I am the law” emperor just for tribalism and tax cuts. So much winning with North Korea, the trade wars, and the wall with Mexico!
Tiago: Your reference to “the Helsinki fiasco” is what led me to write the original post. I can’t figure out what happened or why it was a “fiasco”. It seems that Trump said something that outraged the people who didn’t vote for him, but that is business as usual, no?
Phillip, it was always going to be a fiasco. At least for the cool kids in the media and the Democratic party (did I repeat myself?). There’s nothing Trump could have said or done to change that.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, the average American is enjoying the improving economy and sinking unemployment rate. Even minorities, Trump’s supposed enemies, are taking notice.
The U.S. is leading the world in reducing carbon emissions. U.S. oil production is increasing, so gas prices should be dropping in the not too distant future.
But disregard all of that and remember that Helsinki was fiasco. There’s a good rube.
I think it’s good for America that Trump is a businessman, not a communist or something like that. Real businessman and entrepreneur will not against Trump, only communists or somethings like that do it.
@philg, this time Trump managed to outrage not only people that did not vote for him, but some of his base, and many of the people he appointed for office. Perhaps the new normal?
Tiago: Maybe anything remotely critical of our “first responders” or law enforcement is just culturally unacceptable now. Everyone needs to buy into the idea that government workers who carry guns or who sit at desks and send emails to workers who carry guns is (a) heroic, and (b) uber-competent. I see that in our town. People claim to hate militarization, our spending on the military, the wars that we start and fight for decades. But if you suggest to one of these spend-it-all-on-someting-else folks that not everyone who serves in the military is a risk-taking hero, e.g., folks who fly desks at the local Air Force base (which is home to exactly 0 aircraft!), oh my God!
Trump is an older guy so he maybe he didn’t get the memo that every government worker in these various branches has to be celebrated as a hero in the way that, in his youth, the Marines who landed at Iwo Jima were celebrated.