As I’m watching the Trump issues regarding the Russian “invasion” of our political process, (OK, I know some of this was routine) I can’t help but keep thinking of Trump’s “National Security Adviser” Michael Flynn standing in front of the Republican national convention claiming, “If I did one tenth what Hillary Clinton has done I’d be locked up” or something to that light. Then he started leading the “lock her up” chant that became so “normal” at Trump campaign rallies. Of course, at the time, Flynn was standing there illegally as an unidentified foreign agent – reportedly having pocketed over 500,000 dollars in a two month period “lobbying” for the Turkish government. While Flynn was leading the “lock her up” cheer, Paul Manafort was still the campaign manager for Trump and, unbeknownst to most of us, he also had been a foreign agent for Russian interests in a way designed to improve the image around the globe of Vladimir Putin. According to reports, Manafort was paid in the tens of MILLIONS of dollars for his “advising” in both Russia and Ukraine.
Of course, much of this was known to the Trump campaign and Washington insiders when Trump hired these two guys, who are now like YUGE (in the words of Bernie Sanders) “paper weights” on the Trump presidency due to the FACT they were hired as the two leading voices (originally) in Trump’s campaign. There are others with sketchy, at best, connections to the Russians in Trump’s “circle,” but from my vantage point it’s time for Flynn and Manafort to get counsel and start trying to figure out how to either LIE there way out of the mess they’re in, OR “cut a deal.” That last part has to be what might be making Mr. Trump a bit uneasy. Of course, none of us know how deep Trump himself is into all of this, but the TRUTH is that he’s participated (knowingly) in trying to cover it up (he knew, for example, about Flynn’s involvement discussing “sanctions” with the Russian “Ambassador” for weeks prior to “firing” him.) The list of LIES involved with the “firing” of Flynn is interesting to say the least, but the reality is that he was “fired” because the news media “outed” him. Trump, Pense, and the rest were fine with what Flynn did until it became public knowledge.
I keep asking myself, is Hillary Clinton secretly chanting “lock him up” as she’s witnessing what was going on behind the scenes while she was being accused of being a “criminal” for doing what the two Secretary of States before her did – using a private email server. The reality is that Flynn very well might be looking at being the one “locked up.” Not only did he fail to register as a foreign agent – even after he was officially hired as Trump’s National Security Advisor – but reports are now surfacing that Flynn conspired to kidnap a Turkish dissident and “whisk him out of the country” so he could be prosecuted in Turkey! This is very NAUGHTY (or should I say, ILLEGAL) stuff! This is the guy President Obama had to fire for (essentially) insubordination and then, probably illegally, hired himself out to Russia itself. From my understanding, former military personnel are not supposed to take money from foreign countries (especially adversaries) after leaving the service without permission – in this case from the Army. The guy was a general – he should have known better.
Of course, just like his future boss Donald Trump, Flynn apparently had more regard for Vladimir Putin than our own president – who was his commander in chief. The hypocrisy from this guy is “off the charts.” Of course Trump blamed the media for Flynn’s firing (as odd as that might seem) up until the media uncovered his failure to disclose he was representing a foreign nation all the while “advising” our future president on “national security.” This all just keeps getting more and more bizarre. For those of us old enough to remember Watergate, this – I’ll call it “Trumpgate” – is looking much more serious. I’m really concerned that the Trump administration is totally vulnerable to the Russians and when everything actually comes out we’ll find out they’ve had an influence on more than “just” the election. (I put that in quotes because I personally am feeling as if there may be some traitors in the present administration. Cheating in elections is FAR WORSE than cheating at golf! You know, the “gentleman’s game” – where you’re supposed to act with honor)
Putin is pushing a world wide “White nationalist” right wing agenda that would allow him to reconstitute the “former Soviet Union.” He wants to “Make Russia Great again.” Sound familiar? I believe that eventually we’ll all know actually what took place before and after the election – but, it’s not going to be easy. There are too many republicans willing to sell themselves out for Trump and my hope is that the voters remember this at the next election. No one should be arguing, least of all Trump himself if there’s no “there there” as they like to say, against a BIPARTISAN investigation into this situation. The more Trump fights the investigations, the more it appears he’s going to be caught up in all this as well.
It was reported the other day that Manafort, Flynn, Carter Paige, and Roger Stone have all “volunteered” to testify before the House Intelligence committee. The first thing I’d say is that ONLY if it’s under oath. The second thing I’d say is that as long as Devin Nunes is the chair of that committee the chances of a “bipartisan” investigation are slim and none. The guy is unbelievable – which is apparently why he was hired as part of Trump’s transition team. He’s already shown his lack of competence in how he’s been dealing with “intelligence” and his committee members AND his inability to pull himself away from his loyalty to Trump. It doesn’t take a “brain surgeon” (my apologies to Ben Carson) to understand you don’t take evidence to the “target” of an investigation DURING the investigation – if you want to be perceived as unbiased. That’s now impossible for Nunes. (Evidently, the evidence Nunes reportedly “took” to the White House, he actually was given at the White House. Yes, you’re correct, Nunes got the “evidence” that Trump claimed proved President Obama “wiretapped” him – from someone in the White House while he was IN the White House. Maybe we are all STUPID – if they get away with all of this)
Why might Flynn and the others want to “volunteer” testifying? Well, I suspect they’re trying to find creative ways to head off the FBI’s investigation in which director Comey used the term “criminal.” The only people, besides Comey, who knows what these people have actually done – that is the level of their involvement with the Russians – is themselves and their counsel. I’m guessing their counsels will be attempting to get them to give congressional testimony that will prevent the FBI from being able to criminally charge them with actual crimes. Nunes could be part of that plan – I wouldn’t trust that guy “as far as I could throw him.” And, personally, I believe this all goes way beyond these four guys. There’s an old saying that it’s not a crime unless you get caught. Well, there’s now people all throughout the Trump “team” who seem to be looking at the possibility of “stuff” being exposed that no one would have given a second thought to had they not joined Trump’s campaign.
Take Manafort for example. He’s now being connected to a bank in Cypress that is KNOWN as a center for Russian money laundering – evidently, he may have collected MILLIONS of “dirty” money along the way according to reports I’ve seen and his connections to the Russian “Oligarchy” (mob) is beginning to see the light of day. My first thought was, “I wonder if Manafort claimed all that money that came from Russia and Ukraine on this tax forms?” Of course, I doubt if anyone in Trump’s circle would cheat on their taxes, but “I’m just sayin …….” And the head of that bank in Cypress is now Trump’s Commerce Secretary – his name is Wilbur Ross I believe – and, it should be interesting to find out more about this guy’s dealings. He apparently was a partner in that bank with a Russian Oligarch with close ties to Putin – I guess just one more dot to connect between Trump and Putin. Do you, as I do, wonder what kind of financial dealings Trump has that are connected in some way to Russia? I’m guessing, at some point, Mr. Trump will be forced to release his tax returns – although, at this point, nothing Trump does causes me to believe he’s being honest and I’m not sure I’d trust anything he released. (Maybe the FBI could force the IRS to release them once the never ending “audit” is completed :o)
Trump himself encouraged all the “lock her up” chants that constantly rang out at his campaign rallies. Do you see the irony in all of this? It appears to be getting deeper and deeper as we progress into Trump’s “first 100 days.” Many people I’ve talked to suggest the Russian government is run like a mafia organization and you have to wonder how much it will bother Trump’s die hard supporters when it all comes out. He was down to 37% approval 58% disapproval in the last poll I saw – which are startlingly (bad) numbers for a president in his first two months in office. Could it get worse? I believe it could. As I’ve said before on this site, I believe the republicans in congress will “pull the plug” before things get to the point where Trump is jeopardizing their reelection chances (in the “safe” districts) and we’ll have Mike Pense as the 46th president. Each week that day seems to be getting closer. I’m worried that Pense is damaging his own “brand” as he attempts to sugarcoat the “Trump reality” to the point where he won’t be much more effective once he’s in the White House.
If democrats are smart (something I’ve never accused them of) they’ll be working to find candidates in EVERY district they possibly can for the 2018 election. I would love it if they chose to fight it out in so-called “red states” and “red districts.” Somehow, I get the feeling that they don’t even attempt to win elections in places that have really weird representatives (aka Louie Gohmert) MOST of the American people have become involved since Trump’s election – including many who voted for him only to realize the first thing he was going to do was take away their health insurance. The opportunity to take back the House in 2018 is looking democrats right in the eye – we’ll see if they can mobilize and actually put up a FIGHT that has its foundation in traditional democratic principles. Bernie Sanders proved last year that there is a LIBERAL “base” to the democratic party that’s been “silent” for years because the leaders have allowed themselves to believe the right wing attacks on the word liberal itself. Every great advance in this nation’s history could be considered “liberal” at the time it took place. In virtually every instance the “advance” required courage, persistence, and a willingness to stand on principle.
Democrats have the opportunity to get the young people of this nation mobilized and I firmly believe if they do this, we will be looking at a return to the ideals of the New Deal. I don’t know of anyone, for example, that doesn’t believe our infrastructure is in bad shape and needs to be “brought up to code.” That, in itself, would be a great investment that would create probably MILLIONS of good paying jobs. Yes, the wealthy would have to pay more in taxes, but that’s the way it was when our highways were originally built along with all the other infrastructure that is now so in need of repair or replacement. We have the opportunity to turn America’s energy system progressively greener and wouldn’t it be nice if our leaders finally internalized that we’re not the “world’s policeman?” Instead of spending more on the military (our leaders have made Dwight Eisenhower a prophet regarding his warnings about the “military industrial complex”) wouldn’t it be nice if we worked to rebuild our cities, improve our education system, help all our veterans (especially all the homeless ones), and basically use our wealth for humanitarian purposes instead of WAR. OK, I know I’m an idealist – but, the reality is there’s an opportunity staring us in the face thanks to Trump’s incompetency – I guess that’s what it is going to take to get people’s attention. However, this will take a commitment that will last years – I’m not sure “we the people” have the attention span to do it – AND, you can be sure the “right wing” will be kicking and screaming all the way. (They’ve been plundering taxpayer dollars to the tune of TRILLIONS since the 80’s.)
Democrats and Republicans SHOULD be able to talk to each other and work out issues with each other in a way that is fair to both sides. But, the reality is that republicans have been nothing but obstructionists and LIARS for the past 20+ years and those who instituted that “strategy” (Gingrich, McConnell, et al) will probably need to be purged before “bipartisanship” will have a chance to return. You can see it from those who’ve been in the streets since Trump took the oath of office – the “base” doesn’t want democrats cooperating with Trump, Ryan, McConnell in any way. Personally, I look forward to the day when we can talk to each other respectfully and work out differences in a way that leads to the most good for the most people. However, as I stated above, when I think about Trump and his surrogates, the picture in my mind is Michael Flynn leading the “lock her up” chant. Before any of my “wishes” have any kind of a chance to become reality, people like Flynn, Manafort, Stone, Paige, Ross, and even Trump need to be fully investigated and any “hint” of Russian involvement in our democratic republic needs to be vanquished. I’ll end by asking once again, do you think there will become a time when Hillary Clinton is leading a chant, “lock them up?”
Final note: Do you find it as curious as I do that republican “oversight” committees were so eager to investigate Benghazi and seemingly have such little interest (they’re being forced by media reporting) in investigating a Russian cyber ATTACK on our nation – with the distinct possiblility (likelihood) of collusion with the Russians and Trump’s campaign not to mention Russian influence post election? It appears to me that for PARTISAN reasons they’d be happy to just “look the other way” and let the Russians get away with this. And, remember, the Russian “plan” goes way beyond destabilizing the United States. As I stated above, Vladimir Putin’s plan is to “Make Russia Great again,” and he can’t do it if “we the people” are still in control of our government. “Just sayin……”