President Trump is becoming Unhinged
The roller coaster ride that is the Trump presidency is careening towards a startling turn. It was announced yesterday that his administration is looking at ways to revoke the security clearances of former intelligence directors that have been critical of his policies or actions. As Sarah Sanders put it during her press briefings, 'some former officials are monetizing their public service.' Susan Rice, James Clapper and James Comey are two of the six officials on the target list. James Comey no longer has a clearance because he was fired by the President. When you are the Emperor though, the optics of crushing someone that is already down are what counts.
There was also an all caps Twitter threat directed towards Iran that promised fire and fury that likes of which history has not seen. He used that same incendiary language six months ago as a threat towards North Korea. In his mind, a war will be over in two weeks after massive bombings and horror unspeakable. Maybe he should study the deaths caused by the Korean War, the Vietnam War or the various Iraq wars. Iran politely replied back to his tweet with one of their own. Verbal threats are nothing compared to the problems created by the US walking away from the Iran nuclear deal and then threatening any allies that continue to do business with Iran. There is no Plan B from the ultimate deal maker.
The fallout from the mini-summit in Helsinki continues. Vladimir Putin is the winner of this meeting hands down. In spite of unanimous consent among our intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in our elections in 2016, President Trump agreed with the Russian leader based on his 'strong' denial of nefarious activities during the election. Twelve Russian intelligence officers were indicted as a result of the Mueller investigation. Their names and hacking activities were mentioned in the charging papers. President Trump was briefed by Deputy A.G. Rosenstein before the summit. This still made no impression on the POTUS. He referred to the U.S., his country, as foolish for allowing the Russians to hack our election process. The uproar over his seeming acquiescence to Mr. Putin was immediate and sustained. He had to walk back his reluctance to criticize the Russian government. He still ended the week criticizing the U.S. government though.
Last week also was a bad week on the Michael Cohen front. The raid on his former fixer's offices produced tape recordings of at least one conversation that the pair had concerning payments to a former paramour. This conversation occurred before the election and the payment made to her for a story that was never published could be construed as an illegal campaign contribution. The President tweeted about the illegal break in at Cohen's office. The FBI raid was a result of a search warrant issued by the southern district of New York. Also, it was not illegal to tape the conversation in New York. This payment to Karen McDougal doesn't even cap the controversy involving his alleged affair with Stormy Daniels. The skeletons in his closet are rising at a rapid rate. Michael Avenatti, Stormy's lawyer, and Michael Cohen even had a chance meeting last week. I cannot wait to hear about the results of this conversation.
Mariia Butina was arrested last week as she was attempting to move to North Dakota. This is an alleged Russian spy who was also trying to wield influence with President Trump. She fit in nicely with the National Rifle Association while planning to set up a meeting at a National Prayer Breakfast with Mr. Putin and then candidate Trump. She had financial backing from a Russian oligarch named Alexander Torshin. She also met various American officials as she plied her trade. It is even suggested that she offered sexual favors as she tried to attain her goal of Russian influence on American soil. I read the novel Red Sparrow. This novel featured the Russian spying goal of using women trained in the art of seduction to compromise officials or commit murders as a means of obtaining 'kompromat'. Life imitates art sometimes.
The Russia investigation is the common thread for Mr. Trump's shaky behavior. He criticized our American allies at a NATO summit while musing hopefully about his upcoming meeting with Mr. Putin. He denigrated Theresa May about the problems associated with Brexit in advance of meeting with her. His decision to imposed tariffs on allies is causing job losses in middle America. He even threatened Harley Davidson for being proactive about saving money by producing more parts overseas. All of the Trump collection is made in China. Go figure how this reconciles with Made in America week. We are witnessing an unprecedented level of confusion on the world stage. Leaders of France, Germany and Japan are probably scratching their heads while governing their countries. The leader of the free world is in free fall. We all hope that President Trump can stop tweeting, trying to appease his base and begin governing in spite of criticism and the Russia investigation.
There was also an all caps Twitter threat directed towards Iran that promised fire and fury that likes of which history has not seen. He used that same incendiary language six months ago as a threat towards North Korea. In his mind, a war will be over in two weeks after massive bombings and horror unspeakable. Maybe he should study the deaths caused by the Korean War, the Vietnam War or the various Iraq wars. Iran politely replied back to his tweet with one of their own. Verbal threats are nothing compared to the problems created by the US walking away from the Iran nuclear deal and then threatening any allies that continue to do business with Iran. There is no Plan B from the ultimate deal maker.
The fallout from the mini-summit in Helsinki continues. Vladimir Putin is the winner of this meeting hands down. In spite of unanimous consent among our intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in our elections in 2016, President Trump agreed with the Russian leader based on his 'strong' denial of nefarious activities during the election. Twelve Russian intelligence officers were indicted as a result of the Mueller investigation. Their names and hacking activities were mentioned in the charging papers. President Trump was briefed by Deputy A.G. Rosenstein before the summit. This still made no impression on the POTUS. He referred to the U.S., his country, as foolish for allowing the Russians to hack our election process. The uproar over his seeming acquiescence to Mr. Putin was immediate and sustained. He had to walk back his reluctance to criticize the Russian government. He still ended the week criticizing the U.S. government though.
Last week also was a bad week on the Michael Cohen front. The raid on his former fixer's offices produced tape recordings of at least one conversation that the pair had concerning payments to a former paramour. This conversation occurred before the election and the payment made to her for a story that was never published could be construed as an illegal campaign contribution. The President tweeted about the illegal break in at Cohen's office. The FBI raid was a result of a search warrant issued by the southern district of New York. Also, it was not illegal to tape the conversation in New York. This payment to Karen McDougal doesn't even cap the controversy involving his alleged affair with Stormy Daniels. The skeletons in his closet are rising at a rapid rate. Michael Avenatti, Stormy's lawyer, and Michael Cohen even had a chance meeting last week. I cannot wait to hear about the results of this conversation.
Mariia Butina was arrested last week as she was attempting to move to North Dakota. This is an alleged Russian spy who was also trying to wield influence with President Trump. She fit in nicely with the National Rifle Association while planning to set up a meeting at a National Prayer Breakfast with Mr. Putin and then candidate Trump. She had financial backing from a Russian oligarch named Alexander Torshin. She also met various American officials as she plied her trade. It is even suggested that she offered sexual favors as she tried to attain her goal of Russian influence on American soil. I read the novel Red Sparrow. This novel featured the Russian spying goal of using women trained in the art of seduction to compromise officials or commit murders as a means of obtaining 'kompromat'. Life imitates art sometimes.
The Russia investigation is the common thread for Mr. Trump's shaky behavior. He criticized our American allies at a NATO summit while musing hopefully about his upcoming meeting with Mr. Putin. He denigrated Theresa May about the problems associated with Brexit in advance of meeting with her. His decision to imposed tariffs on allies is causing job losses in middle America. He even threatened Harley Davidson for being proactive about saving money by producing more parts overseas. All of the Trump collection is made in China. Go figure how this reconciles with Made in America week. We are witnessing an unprecedented level of confusion on the world stage. Leaders of France, Germany and Japan are probably scratching their heads while governing their countries. The leader of the free world is in free fall. We all hope that President Trump can stop tweeting, trying to appease his base and begin governing in spite of criticism and the Russia investigation.
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