Because I’m lazy, I’m just going to embed this —
If the link isn’t working, here’s the whole quote:
If I was a thug like Vladimir Putin, and I knew my toady Donald Trump had his hands full with a developing crisis of his own making near San Diego, do you know what I’d do?
.
I’d give the green light to a plan that’s been on the back burner for years: Don’t look now, but Russia just rammed a Ukrainian ship, fired on another, seized some Ukrainian vessels, and the Ukrainian president has summoned his war cabinet.
.
What’s Trump going to do, call out Putin? To whom he owes his presidency? The man who when he walks into a room, Trump lights up like a Christmas tree? After he’s spent two solid years weakening NATO and isolating us from our historic allies, including Canada and the UK? He’s going to drop everything and come to Kiev’s defense?
.
Paraphrasing Tom Hagen to Michael Corleone: Putin played this one beautifully.
See also Ukraine to impose martial law as standoff with Russia in Black Sea intensifies. Trump couldn’t be providing a better distraction for Putin if he tried. Or maybe he is trying? Remember the Armistice observance?
So U.S. Border Patrol Agents fired tear gas across the Mexican border at little children in diapers whom Trump calls “stone cold criminals.” You can see some of the stone-cold criminals in this tweet:
A migrant family, part of a caravan of thousands traveling from Central America en route to the United States, runs away from tear gas in front of the U.S.-Mexico border wall in Tijuana, Mexico.
(📷: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters) pic.twitter.com/pz7hkxsN9g
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 25, 2018
There have been waves of migrants at the border before, and somehow previous administrations managed to handle them without creating a scandal. Do read Greg Sargent’s very good commentary on this, Trump is failing miserably on his biggest issue. And he’s covering it up with lies. Nothing Trump has done regarding border security has been either justified or effective. As in all things, he’s failing miserably.
A couple of days ago the White House announced it had a “deal” with Mexico that would in effect pay Mexico to keep the migraints on its side of the border until their asylum cases could be heard. Since then I’ve read several other news stories that say there is no deal; the White House jumped the gun on the announcement. I am inclined to believe the latter.
tRUMP is 'King Midas in Reverse!'
PLUS!!!
Everything he not only touches, but focuses his Mayfly-like attention span to, turns to shit.
If his presiduncy only ends badly, we'll all be lucky.
I think Trump tries to force a "deal" by announcing there is a contract when there are actually only discussions. Trump seems to think that the weaker party in negotiations will have to accept Trump terms which they would otherwise negotiate if Trump declares there is a final deal. Mexico was obviously discussing the Trump proposal that Mexico do Trump's dirty work which US courts would prohibit if Trump executes those plans on US soil. The problem for Mexico is that Trump is so unpopular there that for the Mexican government to become Trump's bitch will kill any chances for the re-election of the Mexican president. Making the discussions public forced the Mexican government to retreat and will probably force them to completely recant.
Putin is a strategic player. He wanted to extend Kremlin control over Ukraine. He had it when the former president in Ukraine (Manifort's employer) was Putin's puppet. When that fell apart, Putin executed a partial invasion of Ukraine, taking Crimea. With the official Ukrainian government protesting the invasion, Putin may be in a gambit to take all of Ukraine. I'd love to know what UN Intell has on Russian troop movements in the area. Putin would have liked for NATO to fall apart under Trump's attacks. It looks like NATO countries are re-organizing under the assumption the US is unreliable. This may be interpreted by the Kremlin as an indication that NATO will be more formidable in the future even with Trump in Putin's pocket. Does that suggest Russia will move now, not later, against Kiev?
Ukraine is now an official aspiring member of NATO, as of March this year. Full membership would guarantee their defense if Russia invades. What does "aspiring" membership mean? Would the US sit out the defense of Ukraine if NATO wanted to respond? If the world dithers while Russia acts, Kiev will fall to the Russian army. Can Russia survive sanctions by the world community? If Obama was in the WH, these questions would be getting examined now.
It's amazing to watch the msnbc coverage of the migrant story. None of the ICE and BP spokespeople will go on any channel other than FAUX. On FOX they know they can lie at will and mislead the public without any push back from the bobble-heads. So what does msnbc do, they air the footage of the FAUX interview? Anyway Trump's spokesman says the migrants are trying to enter illegally because they are not going to the proper border crossing, but I hear stories that the BP has shut down the entry points? The fact that Trumps gestapo won't be interviewed by anyone but FOX tells me they are creating this situation (closing the border points) on purpose? I guess footage of women and children getting gassed is a win for the republican base?
Great observations all around.
Regarding the asylum seekers being teargassed and threatened with rubber bullets, we tend to be visual creatures, images move us and lodge in our brains, where logic and thought processes are fleeting or in a continual state of flux. The images are adding up. I still remember seeing civil rights demonstrators being sprayed with fire hoses and attacked by police dogs. I still remember seeing Buddhist monks engulfed in flames as their bodies began to sway horrifically. I saw those things as a child and they are still powerful. The image of a woman running away from teargas and rifle fire with her children is equally gripping.
As the images add up, they make one question unavoidable, "who are we?" Unfortunately, they also provide an answer.
goatherd ..When I first saw the picture of that women fleeing the tear gas the thought that popped into my mind was of the Intifada. Something about the visual of concertina wire and tear gas with women and children fleeing for their lives gave me a sense that we're becoming like Israel. It's hard to describe or identify the exact emotion, but I know there is an element at play that ties both situations together as a kindred spirit of inhumanity and cruelty.
My understanding is that Trump has cowered the military into accepting the use of lethal force if necessary to repel any illegal incursion on American soil. Not that the military will be put in a situation where that will be necessary, but the fact that the military has acquiesced to an unconstitutional and illegal directive is shameful. Trump lacks the sense and decency to even begin to understand the damage he's doing to our country.
He's a sick twisted bag of shit. And I pray misery on him. May the fleas of a thousand camels…….
Swami – Have we reached the point of citing Johnny Carson in the role of…. "The envelope please".
Johnny Carson circa 1980 in the role of…. "The envelope, please."
I figured you don't have to be the amazing Kreskin to know that wish. It's so seventh grade I'm sure everybody knows the ending.
Here's a tribute insult.
CARNAC: May the swami of Bagdad squat on your fez.
Substitute "Trump's fez" for "your fez" and you got it.
We know who our real leaders are and our new national anthem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS5_EQgbuLc
“Fumb Duck†Paul Manafort instead of getting himself a shorter sentence decides to try to hoodwink Mueller. Same guy who tried to manipulate his witnesses before his trial. The poor schmuck thinks he is still dealing with bumblers, like his ex-boss in the White House.
Twit filter, Russians, or just a mystery of cyberspace. Tom must have seen more than I can see of my original post, but I repeat what I sent. which he must have seen to respond to in his normal insightful way.
As a member of many a foursome in golf, the mantra the first liar does not have a chance may apply here:
As it is, the plea agreement specifies that if prosecutors decide that Mr. Manafort has failed to cooperate fully or “given false, misleading or incomplete information or testimony,” they can prosecute him for crimes to which he did not plead guilty to in the District of Columbia. They could also conceivably pursue the 10 charges on which the Virginia jury failed to reach a consensus.
As to rules of golf which apply to our prevaricator in chief, I was lucky enough to never had to play with lowlife who would not make the noble game need those sorts of rules.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/manafort-breached-plea-deal-by-repeatedly-lying-mueller-says/ar-BBQ88u2?ocid=spartandhp
Look at Petro Poroshenko, the Ukrainian President. His popularity is scrapping zero (actually about 6.5% IIRC) and his chances of re-election are almost non-existent. Betting at the moment seems to favour Yulia Tymoshenko as the next President.
A navel dust-up in the Sea of Azov is a plus for him as the implementation of martial law may allow him to delay the election. So the provocation may well have been Ukrainian rather than Russian.
Victor Yanukovich, the former Ukrainian president was a pro-Russian crook; Petro Poroshenko, the current Ukrainian President is a pro-USA crook. Either one would have been a good Trump ally.
@ Doug
<i>or the Mexican government to become Trump's bitch will kill any chances for the re-election of the Mexican president. </i>
Mexican presidents get a single 7-year term. No re-election.
jr – I stand corrected on the term of a Mexican president. However any politician suffers if/when his popularity falls. No Mexican politician is going to benefit by standing with Trump when the popularity of Trump with foreign Hispanic people is in the toilet.
OT – It looks like Manifort tried to bamboozle Mueller. It didn't work. On the other hand, I can't say it is an amazing development. Manifort had nothing to lose by trying. Trump will claim Manifort was under pressure to "lie" under oath. Manifort has only one lifeline and that's a pardon from Trump.
The peril is for Trump here. Any communications between Trump and Manifort that reveals corrupt intent will be used by Mueller later. As people go to jail, the dynamics for potential witnesses does change. Manifort has been in the Virginia slammer in solitary for six months. If Trump doesn't pardon Manifort immediately after sentencing, there's ever increasing doubt among witnesses that Trump will protect them.
My prediction is that we will see a flurry of tweets supporting Manifort with the implied promise of a future pardon, but no action that can be cited in an Obstruction of Justice trial. Will the folks looking at jail time notice the difference between a real pardon and the promise of a future pardon? I think they already have.
@ Doug
Oh I agree with you. I was just being a bit pedantic.
Appearing to be "Trump's bitch" would probably come close to destroying AMLO's entire presidency. I am pretty sure the Orange One is not the most popular foreign politician in Mexico. Kim Jong-on may be more popular.
I wonder, though, does knowing that you do not need to worry about re-election give you a bit more freedom of movement?
There's sin in the camp!
Looks like fissures are starting to appear in the foundation of the Fox News camp. Geraldo is about to have a fall from grace and possible banishment for uttering blasphemes against the Trump administration's border policy, and for revealing that a residue of humanity and compassion finds place in his soul. When it comes to shame the Fox News team must have scurried for their dictionaries to understand what this concept of shame that Geraldo speaks about means.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/geraldo-rivera-migrants-fox-news_us_5bfcda3ae4b0771fb6bd708e
Trump adds accessory to murder to his list of future indictments:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/27/jamal-khashoggi-murder-senate-briefing-saudi-arabia-gina-haspel-white-house
Apparently, he doesn’t realize Congress can simply subpoena Haspel. At least he’s a stupid villain.
Tom – I agree that's an interesting development. President Pinocchio thinks he owns the Senate (since the GOP holds the majority) and Trump thinks he has the pink slip to the US Supreme Court (since he made two appointments). Chief Justice Roberts reminded Trump he's not Trump's partisan bitch this week. The Republican Senators who won't face re-election for four or six years aren't worried about Trump and 2020. They ARE expecting at least the pretense of respect for their position as a co-equal branch of government. Stonewalling the GOP might not go over as well as Trump expects. In terms of national security, the Saudis deliver about 10% of oil consumed by the US. I'm not sure the Senate will roll over on this one.