There's little doubt that Mr. Trump is worried about the Russia investigation, but not so much his administration, with the exception Attorney General Jeff Sessions who clearly mislead Congress about his contacts with and knowledge of communication with Russian officials, because most of the individuals working for Mr. Trump have been replaced since the start of his administration. Mr. Sessions, for his part, either perjured himself with false testimony to Congress or his memory is so bad to the point of approaching senility that he should step down, unable to do his job. For the record, I do not believe that Mr. Sessions is senile.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigative team are in the process of establishing who were the compromised individuals in the Trump campaign, and it looks as though there are quite a few, at least financially. And that makes Mr. Trump rather nervous because there are rumblings that the Special Counsel's current focus is the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner, whose finances must be known to the president. The indictments and especially the revelation of George Papadopoulos's arrest and subsequent cooperation with the Special Counsel after which 'everyone's memory got better,' as Mr. Todd nicely quipped today, have the president rattled. On camera, Mr. Trump offered a flat denial, "There was no collusion!" And then he lamented about his frustrated inability to personally direct the Justice Dept. to investigate his defeated political opponents - Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party.
A bit of a tangent here: Senator James Lankford (R-OK) dismissed the president's comments as coming from someone who doesn't know better. Giving the president... The President of the United States a pass on this is inexcusable in and of itself. There's no quarter for 'not knowing better.' Someone in the administration should have explained this to him before he starts delegitimizing his office. We are neither The Philippines nor Venezuela. With that said, Mr. Lankford's comments on his committee's work and the Special Counsel's were quite commendable. (It makes it into the news that Republican lawmakers don't see any special protections for Mr. Mueller and his team as necessary, but that's because they don't see it in any jeopardy.) Mr. Lankford squarely stated that the Special Counsel should be allowed to do its work. He also confirmed what Senator Warner would not confirm and that was whether the Senate committee has spoken with Michael Flynn and or his son. The quote, "You'll have to ask the committee chairs whether Mr. Flynn and his son have been cooperative witnesses."
Mr. Trump said that it was a disgrace that the Special Counsel continues the investigation, but the real disgrace is that he trying to influence the Justice Dept., calling for it to end. Here is a list of names so far that have legal problems with regard to Russia's meddling in our election: Paul Manafort, J.D. Gordan, Richard Gates, Jeff Sessions, Michael Flynn, Michael Flynn Jr., Donald Trump Jr. Jared Kushner, Carter Page and George Papadopoulos. This list includes are high-ranking campaign and administration officials respectively and what's sad is if this were a Democratic administration, Republicans would be impeaching the president as we speak - it's just a fact. And because many Republican legislators are not holding Mr. Trump accountable to the Constitution of the United States, they are in effective not upholding their oaths of office, which is just sad. They're sad enablers.
What's not sad is what is going on with Democratic party. Forget about the Republicans for a minute because the Democrats really need to get their act together. Everyone is running wild about Donna Brazile's new book about the 2016 election. It's causing a lot of disharmony in the party, but it's necessary for the time being. Ms. Brazile's tact could always be better; as Tom Brokaw noted Ms. Brazile has a tendency to fire first and aim later. But Democrats whether they like it or not, have to get passed Barack Obama, but especially the Clinton-era of being the standard bearers of the party. That's what Ms. Brazile's book will probably end up doing, but not before Republicans start manufacturing more non-controversies.
As for moving forward, the gubernatorial race in Virginia is a huge test for Tom Perez's leadership of the DNC. By the way, I've always said that the Party chair shouldn't be in public office, like Debbie Wasserman Schultz because then you get some one like Debbie Wasserman Schultz, clearly in way over her head, running the party. Focus on your Congressional job... Democrats should win in Virginia but if they don't, their chances of taking back the House or Senate will decline precipitously.
Lastly, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) is absolutely correct when he says that we need a cyber-doctrine - some sort of policy to address insidious action via social media and the internet. Actually, I like what Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said (a first) - that we should retaliate against Russia in some way, the more covert the better. But here's the rub with that, The damn president doesn't think Russia did anything to meddle in the election; it's all a hoax, to use his word. He's not going to retaliate against Russia because of something he refuses to believe.
Panel: Kasie Hunt, NBC News; Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Tom Brokaw, NBC News; Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post
One More Thing...
On November 6, 1947, Martha Rountree began... Yes, for 70 years! The insightful genius to make "Meet The Press" the first television program. It's why I call it the (political) program of record... It's earned the title. Congratulations... and thank you.
1 comment:
The very next time I read a blog, I hope that it does not disappoint me just as
much as this one. I mean, Yes, it was my choice to read through, however I actually thought you would have something interesting to talk about.
All I hear is a bunch of crying about something you can fix if you weren't too busy searching for attention.
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