If you’re reading this and you don’t understand that the reason Donald Trump fired Jim Comey, the director of the FBI, was because he (Trump) wants to impede – in fact, STOP – the investigation into the Russian interference with our election, you need to listen to the interview Trump (curiously) gave to Lester Holt of NBC a day or so after the firing. In the interview, Trump essentially admitted to doing just that. In my previous post I pointed out my contention that when Comey said he was “slightly nauseous thinking his actions 11 days prior to the 2016 election may have impacted the election” – meaning, in Trump’s eyes, it makes Comey sick to his stomach thinking he may be the reason this narcissistic, lying racist is president – was the final “trigger” for Trump. I believe, at that point, Trump realized Comey was going to do him no favors in the investigation and very likely would “follow the evidence wherever it leads.” Trump is smart enough to know that’s a bad deal for him.
Now the question becomes, “will Trump get away with it?” And, sadly, the answer to that question may lie almost totally in the hands of the republicans – all of whom took an oath to “defend the constitution” when they accepted the responsibility of their office – but, I’m certainly not one who fails to see the level of CORRUPTION in Washington DC with all the money flowing into the “coffers” of our “representatives.” I’ve mentioned several times on this site that I believe Trump will last only as long as it seems expedient to the republican leadership in Congress – because, their number one goal is to win reelection again and again. The situation in the House should get real interesting if Trump is allowed to continue this disastrous course because they ALL will face the voters in 2018. I’m guessing the 2018 election could be a landslide of historic proportions if Trump is allowed to continue his arrogant disregard for “we the people.”
The last poll I heard said Trump is now down to 36% approval which is EXTREMELY low for a president in his first 3 months in office. If he continues to “tank” in the polls these republicans will be fighting to save their own “skins” before too long. But, we have to wonder what actually will it take to get their attention. Think of all the votes they’ve taken over the years where they disregard enormous consensus among the American people – and, then successfully BLAME the democrats (over the past 8 years it was always President Obama’s fault – they can’t blame him now – well, actually, they’re still doing it, but more and more Americans are seeing the absurdity in that strategy – FINALLY) – for example, had the “public option” passed in the “Affordable Care Act” (ACA) we wouldn’t be having the issue today with the “health care crisis.” That, in itself, would have helped to solve many of the problems facing our health care system and it would have put us MUCH CLOSER to a “single payer” system which is the real solution to the problem. Republicans have been blocking that idea since the end of WW II and are likely to continue doing so because of the aforementioned CORRUPTION (money) flowing into the nation’s capital. But, I digress.
Trump spent five years claiming President Obama was an illegal alien – that wasn’t enough to disqualify him in the minds of his “base” – despite the absurdity (unless you’re a total racist) of the “claim.” Most Americans saw first hand as Trump, himself, admitted to sexual predator behavior in the “Access Hollywood Tapes” – behavior that has had numerous confirmations from various women – including teenagers from the Junior Miss America pageant – and, in the minds of republicans and his “base” that didn’t disqualify him (despite the CLAIM of those in his base that they’re the “moral majority” or the party of “family values” – Trump, this weekend actually gave the commencement address at Liberty University – a right wing Christian University – is it any wonder why so many “millennial’s” are turning away from Christianity?)
Trump ORDERED his press secretary to make an absurd LIE about the size of the crowd at his inauguration – to most I know in his base – no big deal, “all politicians lie.” He fabricated another “whopper” about 3 – 5 ILLEGAL aliens ALL voting for Hillary Clinton as the reason he LOST the popular vote by 3 MILLION votes – that didn’t seem to bother his “base” (and, I’m not talking about the FACT he LOST the popular vote – the LYING didn’t [and doesn’t] seem to bother them at all – including the republicans in Congress). Trump has lied so many times that it’s hard to keep up with all of them and I’m absolutely CERTAIN that we don’t even know about many of the LIES. For example, I don’t believe for a minute that Mike Flynn was negotiating about “sanctions” with the Russian “ambassador” without Trump’s knowledge. That’s a LIE we’re still to “learn” about. I don’t believe Flynn lied to Vice President Pense either – despite that being the “reason” he was fired. I believe Flynn was following orders when he met with the “Ambassador” and he’s “taking one for the team” after being “outed.” If you haven’t noticed, Trump continues supporting Flynn despite ALL the evidence implying the FBI should “lock him up.” Do you think Trump doesn’t want Flynn to “tell his story?”
You would surmise Flynn would know he’d be “taped” by the NSA in any discussions with Russian “Ambassadors” (they’re almost always spies – and, by the way, Trump let this same guy – spy – into the Oval Office recently with an entourage of Russian journalists who some say could have “bugged” the “Oval Office”) but it’s likely something Trump would have “missed.” Regarding allowing the Russians into the White House just a day or so after firing Comey was also “bad optics.” But, apparently, Trump is going to have to either be caught “red handed” in the collusion investigation or just get REALLY REALLY stupid before his republican cohorts in Congress notice that he’s really messing up this country. Obviously, the whole Russian scandal isn’t enough to get republicans in Congress to take notice and Trump continues to get support from his “base” – although the support is weakening. I’m not sure how low it will have to get before Congressional republicans take notice. Again, my belief is they’ll put up with this absurd nonsense until their own jobs are in jeopardy. (A similar scenario occurred in the Bush/Cheney era as Iraq was invaded using a “credit card” pushing the national debt skyward and “conservatives” looked the other way)
I could go on and on about the LYING and how it hasn’t seemed to affect a significant portion of Trump’s “base.” I believe Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan continue to hold out hope they can CRAM as much of their cold hearted agenda through Congress as possible and they believe, and I think they’re absolutely correct, that Trump will sign ANYTHING with the thought he will be able to “claim victory” – even if he has NO IDEA what he’s signing – like with the TAX CUT disguised as a “health care” bill recently crammed through the House. The “health care” part of that bill was irrelevant to Ryan and the republicans who wanted to repeal the ACA – how do I know this? – well, they passed the bill with no idea of the costs or effect of the bill from the CBO (which is HIGHLY unusual) – because, the one thing they’re clear on with the bill is that it will FUNNEL about $800 BILLION into the “coffers” of all those wealthy Americans (the top 2% plus corporations) who’ve been “investing” in them. Just like real estate is all about “location, location, location,” republican politics is all about “tax cuts for the wealthy, tax cuts ……… hopefully, you get the idea.
My point here is that I’m not sure how bad it has to get before republicans in Congress take notice and do the right thing – which is to send Trump back to the real estate business. Actually, if the investigations get far enough and the “collusion” is as bad as it appears it might be, there may be enough impetus to do some serious investigations into Trump’s “world” and, from my vantage point, it appears Trump could have some serious liabilities out there. For example, there’s the house he purchased in Florida for $45 MILLION (yes, that’s a lot, especially when you’re not going to move into it) and then sold to a “Russian Oligarch” (who didn’t move into it) for $100 MILLION a year or so later. What’s the saying? “Nice work if you can get it.” Well, there are laws about money laundering and that one certainly looks a bit suspicious to me. Also, this Russian “investigation” could lead to inquiries into where Trump gets his money which could be a bit awkward considering the reports about much of it coming from Russian “oligarchs” or Russian controlled banks – and, the connection with those Russians who were actively “hacking” the DNC in the election and trying to undermine the process. Additionally, I’m guessing there’s good reason Trump doesn’t want to reveal his tax returns.
If the dots get connected it won’t really matter what Trump’s base thinks at that point – I mean, back in the days of Watergate, there were still many Nixon supporters when he resigned – there does become a point of “no return” in these things – and, I’m certainly going to do my part, if that happens, to point out that republicans in Congress seem way to comfortable with the possibilities here and are accepting of a lot of Trump’s “stuff” that if it was coming from Clinton or Obama I can only imagine their outrage. I’m not one to suggest that democrats are innocent of hypocrisy, but compared to the republicans it’s “boys against men.” The hypocrisy of these republicans is historic. I believe history will suggest Trump’s presidency as almost unbelievable – despite the Russian interference and the Comey letter – which likely swung the election – because of the willingness of republicans to look beyond the reality of Trump’s personal history and behavior and how it says VOLUMES about the sincerity of their “moral positions.” (I actually have a friend who said he voted for Trump because of “morality”) Honestly, (I’m a – liberal, I guess – Christian) It’s EXTREMELY hard for me to believe Trump would be invited to Liberty University to give the commencement address. To me, that’s not a good “witness.”
What is going to be the reaction when Trump nominates a political partisan as the director of the FBI with the clear understanding they will put an end to the “Russian investigation” – which, from all accounts, was “ramping up” (Comey requesting additional resources) just prior to Trump’s firing him. And, with Jeff Sessions and Rob Rosenstein leading the Justice Department I’m sure I’m not the only American feeling as if Trump could possibly pull off squelching the investigations. Trump is not very subtle about his leanings toward authoritarian tendencies – he doesn’t like the “checks and balances” in the constitution, he’s busy convincing his “base” that the actual media is “FAKE,” while he’s pushing the narrative that Fox is actually “news” and he uses outlets such as Brietbart and the Enquirer as actual “news.” What’s interesting to me is that the Russians are the experts at creating “fake news” and they did a lot of it during the 2016 campaign – now Trump has “hijacked” the idea and labeled those who are investigating him as “FAKE NEWS” – and, many of his “base” are “buying” it. There’s a good reason why those who listen to Rush Limbaugh (a Trump supporter) are called “ditto heads” – I’ll let you figure that one out for yourself.
Personally, I want to know the FACTS about whatever involvement the Trump campaign had in the Russian interference into our election. I’m concerned that republicans will be complacent in blocking the investigation – they confirmed Jeff Sessions, who has a history of racism, as Attorney General who – despite “recusing” himself from the investigation, supposedly urged Trump to fire Comey and he’ll likely “get away” with that one. Assistant Attorney General Rosenstein has been compromised by his actions in the Comey firing and he’s the person who would have to appoint a “special prosecutor” – and, he’s unlikely to do so. It’s been reported that John Cornyn might be the president’s choice to replace Comey – and, Cornyn is a partisan political “hack” who could conceivably stop the investigation. At some point republicans are going to have to decide if they will put country before party. Trump clearly fired Comey in an attempt to BLOCK the investigation – if he gets away with this – it’s on the republicans in Congress. I’ve said this before: 2018 can’t come soon enough for me. (Then we’ll have to find out if the democrats have the courage to do what republicans can’t bring themselves to do)