Displaying items by tag: Putin

Endangered species, who needs them? They’re lots of other animals. Threatened species are not endangered, yet, so what’s the fuss there? Both impede progress. Climate change, on the off chance it’s real, won’t wipe out entire populations on earth while we’re still alive, so don’t fret when carbon caps get lifted. The banks made honest mistakes in the past, which they’re unlikely to repeat, so everybody’s money is safe again, and deregulation is good there, too. The sick, about time, can stand on their own two feet instead of lounging about in government paid wheelchairs, obviating the need for universal health care. And, hats off to the  generous Iowa hog and soybean farmers who are supporting the economy by going bankrupt. Best news of all, however, the Russians mean us no harm. 

John Kennedy has become somewhat of a folk hero on cable TV since his moving from the Louisiana Treasurer’s office to the US Senate.  He’s somewhat of the go-to guy for quips and quotes on the burning issues of the day.

This morning, he appeared on CNN’s New Day. The issue? Of course, President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

Since their joint appearance on Monday, there has been much speculation, outrage, counter-outrage by the media, the left and the right over whether Trump presented a strong image last week at the NATO conference and in Finland, at the summit.

Donald Trump thinks we’re all fools, based on his embrace of a long-standing enemy, Russia. Ignore all the people who were shot trying to climb the Berlin wall that Ronald Reagan demanded Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev tear down. Forget the Hungarians who were mowed down when that country sought to throw off the yoke of the USSR. What better way to besmirch the memory of all the U.S. men and women who died in Vietnam, killed by Russian arms, than to embrace Russia? The list goes on and on, throughout the post-war era, consisting of continuous Russian affronts to decency and human rights.

Donald Trump, fresh from threatening to blow up NATO for a couple of bucks in Brussels, landed in London and jumped straightaway into British politics when he endorsed the resigned, rouge, foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, for the position of P.M. Trump didn’t stop there, though, and told the Brits that if they don’t see things his way, hereafter, we won’t trade with them, anymore, as we have in the past. The blame for this, Trump said, should Britain fail to amend its course, will fall to the current P.M., Theresa May. It’ll be a harsh penalty for May’s neglecting to follow the undisclosed advice Trump says he gave her about BREXIT, the divorce of Britain from Europe that Russia, allegedly, nudged along.

“Laughing their asses off,” though a common phrase, took its place in the political vernacular when President Donald Trump used it to describe Moscow’s reaction to U.S. investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump didn’t say if this assertion was based on personal knowledge, or information and belief, but it’s untrue, whatever its basis. Russia knows that Robert Mueller is getting the goods on its meddling and things are going to get worse.

Anyone who has ever worked for the U.S. who had to get to their office through three sets of locked doors is outraged by the fact that White House staff without permanent clearances are handling classified materials the way a paperboy handles the news. Anyone who ever wondered if the peace lecture they attended with a classmate would affect their clearance application is shaking their head. Anyone who ever felt outrage at Edward Snowden, or Chelsea Manning, is fuming over what’s going on at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Donald Trump is heading back to the White House from Asia after a trip highlighted by the memorable line, delivered to CEOs, that “there’s no place like home.” His last leg has been The Philippines and his meeting with its President, Rodrigo “Rody” Duarte.

Describing the Yalta Conference, FDR once said, “It is permitted in time of great danger to walk with the devil until you have crossed the bridge.” Held from February 4-11, 1945, the conference was convened by Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin to wrap up WWII in Europe. Almost from the start, Stalin ignored the agreement as he expanded Soviet influence over Eastern and Western Europe, precipitating a chillier kind of war.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is no fool. He’s aware of the rumors that President Donald Trump may try to fire him, or pardon those alleged to have violated federal law during, or before, the 2016 election. Should a pardon happen, in one scenario, Mueller’s work product is likely to be trucked to the Department of Justice, sealed, and given a disclosure date of fifty years from now. To insure this doesn’t happen, Mueller is said to be sharing his evidence with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.