Attorney General William Barr distributed his summary letter on the Special Counsel's investigation in which no collusion on the part of the Trump campaign with the Russian government. The letter also said that while no recommendation on the issue of obstruction of justice has been given, the president has not be exonerated. You can read the full letter here.
To that end, of course President Trump would crow about complete exoneration of any wrongdoing and then go on to seek vengeance against his political opponents, namely Congress Adam Schiff (D-CA), chair of the House Intelligence Committee. During a rally in Michigan this week, Donald Trump called Mr. Schiff a pencil neck (really?) and said that sick people tried to defraud the people with bullshit. Seriously presidential, do you think? Did anyone really think that the president wouldn't seek revenge against his critics?
Republicans, namely Congressmen Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) have called for Mr. Schiff's resignation from the committee. Frankly, this is laughable considering that Mr. Nunes actively worked with the administration to derail the investigation and Mr. McCarthy cynically and famously said that the Benghazi investigation into Hillary Clinton was drawn out to damage her campaign (not to find the facts). On top of that, to further the poor reputation of the U.S. Senate as a functioning body politic, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is angling to start an investigation of the investigators.
The bottom line is that the full report should be released so that the American people can decide for themselves if what the president and his campaign may have done rises to the level of illegality or at the very least unethical behavior. Not to mention that there is still a counter-intelligence investigation going on and we have no idea what will come from that.
The woman on the Chicago subway that Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) spoke about had it right. We (the American people) paid for it so we should be able to see it.
More importantly, after Mr. Barr released his 4-page letter, the president pivoted to healthcare joining a lawsuit brought by 20 states attorneys general that the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) should be nullified because it is unconstitutional, the result of which would be taking away health insurance for 20 million Americans. The president said that the Republican party would become know as the 'party of healthcare.' As Peggy Noonan said, quoting an administration official, there was too much good news this week so the president dove in again on healthcare. NBC's Hallie Jackson explained that there was disagreement among administration officials, specifically on the part of Vice President Mike Pence who did not necessarily disagree with the policy objective but the tactics meaning that the Republicans do not have an alternative plan together so there is nothing to replace the current law. Hence, twenty million people losing their health insurance is a political loser for the administration.
Let's face it, the president isn't concerned that the Republicans in Congress don't have a replacement plan ready to go; he wants to force their hand. He's also not concerned about the prospect of so many people losing coverage. His sole motivation since the beginning of his presidency is to undo every policy achievement or decision made by Barack Obama, to erase it all. Whether it be the Iran Nuclear deal or the Paris Climate Accord or concerns about North Korea's nuclear program or the Affordable Care Act, President Trump is going in the completely opposite direction, for the sake of going in the opposite direction regardless of the consequences and repercussions. That's what it is all about.
That aside, Senator Tom Barrasso said he has been working on a healthcare plan since he came to the Senate. That was in 2008. We still don't have a plan on the table from him. He's had 11 years to come up with something and we still don't know what it is. Of course, he can easily point out what he doesn't want, but we can all do that. He explained that Democrats want Medicare for all, a complete government take over of healthcare, which he thinks is not a good idea. Fair enough, but where is your plan? Medicare for all might not be the answer but what could/should be put in place as part of the Affordable Care Act is a public option. When the law was originally being debated back in 2008, the public option (read: Medicare option) was put on the table but the Republicans raised hell about how it was government dictating your healthcare and socialism and all the other rhetoric arguments. But what they really knew was that the public writ large would eventually migrate to the public option putting insurance companies out of control of the system and thus losing profit.
Are there fixes that are needed for the ACA, absolutely. As Senator Durbin explained, prescription drug prices right now are through the roof and indefensible. Something needs to be done on this issue immediately; it should be a congressional priority. The American people are being held hostage by drug companies. They have us addicted to their opioids, which once addicted you can't afford so people turn to crime for more lethal alternatives. Life-saving drugs like insulin or others have American families financially burdened way beyond their capacity. That's what is really criminal.
Panel: Hallie Jackson, NBC; Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Cornell Belcher, Democratic Strategist; Rich Lowry, The National Review
One more thing...
This allegation against fmr. Vice President Joe Biden is certainly disconcerting and really all too easy to believe. Mr. Biden has always been a 'touchy feely' person to the point where it has always made women feel uncomfortable. In response, here is Mr. Biden's statement:
"In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort. And not once - never - did I believe I acted inappropriately. If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention."
What's problematic is that Mr. Biden says "... never - did I believe I acted inappropriately..." It can also suggest that he never really considered how the other person felt.
So now two things for Mr. Biden. First and foremost, he needs to respond to this directly and publicly, not through a statement. Second, he needs to stop flirting with us and either declare that he's running or not. End the speculation.
The Fallout
Total Exoneration
No Collusion
Total Vindication
Pencil-neck Adam Schiff
Dick Durbin
John Barrasso
Repeal and Replace
The Party of Healthcare
2020 campaign
Hickenlooper
Hallie Jackson
Cornell Belcher
Rich Lowry
Peggy Noonan
31% unsure the Mueller
43% approve
stable but weak
Defending Obamacare -
Total vindication - Pence
defrauding the public with bullshit
schiff - calls for him to resign from the committee
the have to be accountable
Lock them up
the entire ACA should be
John Barrasso - release the full report
for transparency -
throw mueller under the bus - dems are...
it does not exonerate him...
counter-intelligence investigation is on-going
behavior as presidency?
public is asked is 2020
he has been falsely accused
no fault on the part of the president - doing business with russia
president of the us is the law? no man is above the right
invesigating the investigators... lindsey is leading to that
healthcare - complete gov. takeover for healthcare
president joined the lawsuit...
not imminent
failed to keep its promises -
a plan - 12 years
a plan since I joined the senate
dick durbin...
mueller - tuesday deadline - not going to meet it
should dems move on - should be a complete disclosure
we paid for the inquiry, we should see it...
should focus on the counter-intelligence aspect
can't imagine lindsey reclusing himself from any investigation
DHS growing humanitarian crisis...
massive migration crisis right now
cutting off aid to these countries will not solve the problem
precription prices are through the roof and indefensible
Biden behavior...
done treasonous things - will certainly looked at
sick people
revenge path
push on healthcare - too much good news - peggy
disagreement on the tactics - not the policy - pence - hallie
full revenge mode - no surprised
genuinely angry -
the process went off the rails - rich
investigate the investigators
cornell - this stinks...
no transparency - put it out there.. cornell
19% of independents
polling data to russia - that's colluding... cornell
healthcare law - that's what we'll be debating...
cudgel - hallie used by the president
rich - nancy pelosi - typical republican posing as a populist...
Hickenlooper - a dem moderate
complexities at the border - a form of kidnapping
I don't like any labels -
a crisis of division -
issue of abortion - fetal heartbeat bills
woman's right to take care of her own healthcare
accusation against biden - disqualifying...
an inflection point - women have the courage to come forward
very disconcerting...
the political reeducation of Joe Biden
the good news is you know what you're going to get, the bad news is that you know what you're going get.
Sunday, March 31, 2019
Sunday, March 24, 2019
3.24.19: The Mueller Report: The President Isn't Out of the Woodshed
What's all the fuss about? ...Just kidding of course.
After 675 days of investigating and 34 indictments, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has finally issued his report to Attorney General William Barr, and now as the AG pours through we are all left to wait. To that end, most all agree that the entire report should be made public as both Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), chair of the House judiciary committee, and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) agreed. Too much anxiety and time has been invested on the part of the American people that denying being able to read what the findings are is simply untenable.
In terms of the report itself, Mueller's office announced that there would be no further indictments stemming from the special counsel's investigation, but Republicans and Trump loyalists who now say he is vindicated shouldn't be spiking the football just yet, to borrow a phrase from Kristen Welker today. Having worked with Mr. Mueller, fmr. federal prosecutor Chuck Rosenberg said that Mr. Mueller would be thoroughly describing in the report what happened and not characterizing the finding. This is key because what that says is something we've always known, which is that Mr. Mueller is a process, policy and rules-governed individual. Justice Department policy is that you can not indict a sitting president so the findings of the Mueller report may state that the president did have knowledge of collusion with the Russian government. That's speculation of course as is the possibility that the report fully exonerates the president, which is also a possibility. The point is that it is still too soon to tell. Politically, that's another story due to the fact that it is already baked into voters' minds whether or not the president is guilty of illegal activity. And speaking of which, there are still several investigations going on at present into Mr. Trump business dealings.
Again, the full report should be made public.
Much of the discussion also centered around whether or not the president obstructed justice, which again Mr. Mueller wouldn't indict a sitting president based on justice department guidelines. However, the president is guilty in plain sight of obstruction of the investigation. There's the pressuring of fmr. FBI Director James Comey to drop the investigation into Michael Flynn, his firing, the firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, investigation witness tampering and the president's Twitter feed, which called the investigation a 'witch hunt' 183 times, to name a few. As fmr. Congressman Carlos Curbelo stated, it's certainly not a witch hunt. Thirty-four people have been indicted and many of those were Russian operatives who executed various measures in trying to influence the election, something that the president himself refuses to acknowledge.
And though there are no more indictments coming from the special counsel's office, which is good news for the president, politically it is suspect that the report will be all good news. There will be some political damage most assuredly. NBC's Ari Melber mentioned the possibility that administration officials, including the president, could have financial entanglements with foreign governments that played a role. To circumvent this, the White House may claim executive privilege, but given the intense public interest in the report, the House and also the Senate perhaps may override it if the chambers conclude that the White House is covering up anything illegal through that declaration. As Congressman Nadler said, if Congress cannot override that then it in essence put the president above the law, and no one in the United States is above the law.
In other news, it goes without saying that Mr. Trump's personal attacks on Senator John McCain are beyond the dignity of any American, let alone the President of the United States. To trample on the deceased, especially a war hero, shows a classlessness that shouldn't be expected from even someone as self-obsessed as Donald Trump. This column has criticized policy views of Mr. McCain in the past and didn't endorse his presidential run in 2008, but to say anything short of Mr. McCain being a devoted family man and a genuine American hero would never happen here. And that Mr. Trump's base supporters cheer when he says these things just illustrates how so many Americans have lost their way in terms of what this country is all about.
Fmr. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) explained it as 'beyond weird' that the president would denigrate the memory of an American war hero but then turn around cancel sanctions on a dictator that starves his people and executes members of his own family. And speaking of North Korea, the Treasury Dept. said it would be instituting more sanctions against the regime only to have the president cancel them. As Senator Rubio speculated, something must have gone on between the time that Treasury issued the statement and the president changing his mind. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that the president 'likes' Chairman Kim. Well, isn't that special? Mr. Rubio went on to say that that is not how it is normally done. Simply put, this requires so serious oversight because this is just another instance of President Trump making a mockery of the United States' foreign policy.
Panel: Fmr. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO); Kristen Welker, NBC News; Dan Balz, The Washington Post; Fmr. Congressman Carlos Curbelo (R-FL)
One more thing...
We're still not commenting on Democratic presidential candidates or the race in general except to say this about today. Ms. McCaskill is correct that Beto O'Rourke needs to start putting some 'meat on the bone' in terms of substance of policy. And... the one thing that Democrats need to show if they want to win is strength. Stop apologizing...
After 675 days of investigating and 34 indictments, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has finally issued his report to Attorney General William Barr, and now as the AG pours through we are all left to wait. To that end, most all agree that the entire report should be made public as both Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), chair of the House judiciary committee, and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) agreed. Too much anxiety and time has been invested on the part of the American people that denying being able to read what the findings are is simply untenable.
In terms of the report itself, Mueller's office announced that there would be no further indictments stemming from the special counsel's investigation, but Republicans and Trump loyalists who now say he is vindicated shouldn't be spiking the football just yet, to borrow a phrase from Kristen Welker today. Having worked with Mr. Mueller, fmr. federal prosecutor Chuck Rosenberg said that Mr. Mueller would be thoroughly describing in the report what happened and not characterizing the finding. This is key because what that says is something we've always known, which is that Mr. Mueller is a process, policy and rules-governed individual. Justice Department policy is that you can not indict a sitting president so the findings of the Mueller report may state that the president did have knowledge of collusion with the Russian government. That's speculation of course as is the possibility that the report fully exonerates the president, which is also a possibility. The point is that it is still too soon to tell. Politically, that's another story due to the fact that it is already baked into voters' minds whether or not the president is guilty of illegal activity. And speaking of which, there are still several investigations going on at present into Mr. Trump business dealings.
Again, the full report should be made public.
Much of the discussion also centered around whether or not the president obstructed justice, which again Mr. Mueller wouldn't indict a sitting president based on justice department guidelines. However, the president is guilty in plain sight of obstruction of the investigation. There's the pressuring of fmr. FBI Director James Comey to drop the investigation into Michael Flynn, his firing, the firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, investigation witness tampering and the president's Twitter feed, which called the investigation a 'witch hunt' 183 times, to name a few. As fmr. Congressman Carlos Curbelo stated, it's certainly not a witch hunt. Thirty-four people have been indicted and many of those were Russian operatives who executed various measures in trying to influence the election, something that the president himself refuses to acknowledge.
And though there are no more indictments coming from the special counsel's office, which is good news for the president, politically it is suspect that the report will be all good news. There will be some political damage most assuredly. NBC's Ari Melber mentioned the possibility that administration officials, including the president, could have financial entanglements with foreign governments that played a role. To circumvent this, the White House may claim executive privilege, but given the intense public interest in the report, the House and also the Senate perhaps may override it if the chambers conclude that the White House is covering up anything illegal through that declaration. As Congressman Nadler said, if Congress cannot override that then it in essence put the president above the law, and no one in the United States is above the law.
In other news, it goes without saying that Mr. Trump's personal attacks on Senator John McCain are beyond the dignity of any American, let alone the President of the United States. To trample on the deceased, especially a war hero, shows a classlessness that shouldn't be expected from even someone as self-obsessed as Donald Trump. This column has criticized policy views of Mr. McCain in the past and didn't endorse his presidential run in 2008, but to say anything short of Mr. McCain being a devoted family man and a genuine American hero would never happen here. And that Mr. Trump's base supporters cheer when he says these things just illustrates how so many Americans have lost their way in terms of what this country is all about.
Fmr. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) explained it as 'beyond weird' that the president would denigrate the memory of an American war hero but then turn around cancel sanctions on a dictator that starves his people and executes members of his own family. And speaking of North Korea, the Treasury Dept. said it would be instituting more sanctions against the regime only to have the president cancel them. As Senator Rubio speculated, something must have gone on between the time that Treasury issued the statement and the president changing his mind. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that the president 'likes' Chairman Kim. Well, isn't that special? Mr. Rubio went on to say that that is not how it is normally done. Simply put, this requires so serious oversight because this is just another instance of President Trump making a mockery of the United States' foreign policy.
Panel: Fmr. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO); Kristen Welker, NBC News; Dan Balz, The Washington Post; Fmr. Congressman Carlos Curbelo (R-FL)
One more thing...
We're still not commenting on Democratic presidential candidates or the race in general except to say this about today. Ms. McCaskill is correct that Beto O'Rourke needs to start putting some 'meat on the bone' in terms of substance of policy. And... the one thing that Democrats need to show if they want to win is strength. Stop apologizing...
Sunday, March 10, 2019
3.10.19: Gasoline Is To Fire As Social Media Is To Polticians
This column is purposely staying away from the presidential election at this time as it is still too early to dive into the weeds of the candidates' positions when the field hasn't really even been set yet. With that said, it is disappointing that Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has decided not to run, though its understandable. The field is already crowded and his prospects for coming out on top are low, despite his good proposals and his ability to talk to working class voters from a progressive stance.
That aside, you can always count on a Cheney to provide one with consternation yet tuck something sensible into the conversation. First, with regard to the new members of the Democratic caucus, they have to realize the power they bring but they also have to understand that they don't know everything about everything. Certainly, what they haven't come to understand yet, specifically Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, that they're on a national stage and that their words carry ten times more weight now than before they were elected. Congresswoman Omar's anti-Semitic tropes [trope: metaphorical use of words] are unacceptable and should be condemned. For her part, she has to understand that she is a member of Congress now and has to bite her tongue, rise above the petty and not disparage other Americans because of race or creed.
With that said, Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) described the Democratic party as socialist and anti-Semitic which is certainly not accurate. And it takes a lot of gall (of which politicians named Cheney have plenty) to say such a thing, invoke the tragic shooting in Pittsburgh at the Tree of Life Synagogue and not address where the vast majority of anti-Semitic rhetoric is coming from, which is from the right fringe. She and Mr. Todd got into a bit of a back and forth about 'whataboutism' which is has become so prevalent in today's politics, and when you throw politicians together with social media it gets even worse. That's spraying gasoline on fire.
The right's attacks on George Soros have continued for two decades enough to the point where a pipe bomb was sent to his residence, an example Mr. Todd brought up. When confronted with the president's own rhetoric, Ms. Cheney deferred to the 'it's not a left or right issue' defense without speaking to the president's words specifically. "Very fine people on both sides...," with regard to Charlottesville is something that this column will not, can not let go. Where there's fire the president is never carrying the water.
However, Congresswoman Cheney was equally as forthright, and sensible, when it came to the president's budget proposal of trying to extract 'cost plus 50' from our allies where the United States have military bases, which would be to cover the cost of running them plus a 50% mark up. As the congresswoman succinctly said, this would be devastating. Not only would it further alienate the United States from its allies, but also put U.S. national security at further risk.
This column, for one, is so sick and tired of the president of the United States disparaging and pushing away our allies. Even if you take out moving the Israeli embassy to Jerusalem and pulling out of the Iran deal from the equation, Donald Trump has been the worst foreign policy president in the last fifty years, hands down. The president's 'very good relationship' with the North Korean dictator has brought nothing positive for the United States.
And whether there was collusion or not, the unprecedented amount of contacts and sucking up to the Russian government personally by the president and his campaign along with the active effort to cover it up is Manchurian at the very least.
This brings us to the case and sentencing of Paul Manafort who is otherwise 'not blameless' as Judge T.S. Ellis described him. He defrauded the United States' taxpayers of $6 million dollars, working for Russian-back Ukrainian politicians, something that Maria Teresa Kumar called borderline treasonous. And the president said that he feels very badly for Paul Manafort. With statements like that, why should anyone wonder why Mr. Trump has gone through five communication directors.
Mr. Trump runs the United States government, and he hates the United States government.
It's one of those times, where it's too infuriating to write on...
Panel: Robert Costa, The Washington Post; Maria Teresa Kumar, President Voto Latino; Kasie Hunt, NBC News; Pat McCrory, former governor of North Carolina
One more thing...
Cudos to Chuck Todd for referencing Spinal Tap and equating its drummers with Trump's communication directors.
That aside, you can always count on a Cheney to provide one with consternation yet tuck something sensible into the conversation. First, with regard to the new members of the Democratic caucus, they have to realize the power they bring but they also have to understand that they don't know everything about everything. Certainly, what they haven't come to understand yet, specifically Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, that they're on a national stage and that their words carry ten times more weight now than before they were elected. Congresswoman Omar's anti-Semitic tropes [trope: metaphorical use of words] are unacceptable and should be condemned. For her part, she has to understand that she is a member of Congress now and has to bite her tongue, rise above the petty and not disparage other Americans because of race or creed.
With that said, Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) described the Democratic party as socialist and anti-Semitic which is certainly not accurate. And it takes a lot of gall (of which politicians named Cheney have plenty) to say such a thing, invoke the tragic shooting in Pittsburgh at the Tree of Life Synagogue and not address where the vast majority of anti-Semitic rhetoric is coming from, which is from the right fringe. She and Mr. Todd got into a bit of a back and forth about 'whataboutism' which is has become so prevalent in today's politics, and when you throw politicians together with social media it gets even worse. That's spraying gasoline on fire.
The right's attacks on George Soros have continued for two decades enough to the point where a pipe bomb was sent to his residence, an example Mr. Todd brought up. When confronted with the president's own rhetoric, Ms. Cheney deferred to the 'it's not a left or right issue' defense without speaking to the president's words specifically. "Very fine people on both sides...," with regard to Charlottesville is something that this column will not, can not let go. Where there's fire the president is never carrying the water.
However, Congresswoman Cheney was equally as forthright, and sensible, when it came to the president's budget proposal of trying to extract 'cost plus 50' from our allies where the United States have military bases, which would be to cover the cost of running them plus a 50% mark up. As the congresswoman succinctly said, this would be devastating. Not only would it further alienate the United States from its allies, but also put U.S. national security at further risk.
This column, for one, is so sick and tired of the president of the United States disparaging and pushing away our allies. Even if you take out moving the Israeli embassy to Jerusalem and pulling out of the Iran deal from the equation, Donald Trump has been the worst foreign policy president in the last fifty years, hands down. The president's 'very good relationship' with the North Korean dictator has brought nothing positive for the United States.
And whether there was collusion or not, the unprecedented amount of contacts and sucking up to the Russian government personally by the president and his campaign along with the active effort to cover it up is Manchurian at the very least.
This brings us to the case and sentencing of Paul Manafort who is otherwise 'not blameless' as Judge T.S. Ellis described him. He defrauded the United States' taxpayers of $6 million dollars, working for Russian-back Ukrainian politicians, something that Maria Teresa Kumar called borderline treasonous. And the president said that he feels very badly for Paul Manafort. With statements like that, why should anyone wonder why Mr. Trump has gone through five communication directors.
Mr. Trump runs the United States government, and he hates the United States government.
It's one of those times, where it's too infuriating to write on...
Panel: Robert Costa, The Washington Post; Maria Teresa Kumar, President Voto Latino; Kasie Hunt, NBC News; Pat McCrory, former governor of North Carolina
One more thing...
Cudos to Chuck Todd for referencing Spinal Tap and equating its drummers with Trump's communication directors.
Sunday, March 03, 2019
3.3.19: Your Channel and Your Reality... It's Not A Crime Per Se
Fred Yang of Hart Research Associates said, "You get your reality from the [news] channel you watch," referring to the divide among Americans on how they see shape their political beliefs. This column tries to stay away from that though the irony is not lost on the fact that this column centers around a television program, on a channel.
However for this week, we'll keep that more front of mind than usual, which brings us straight away to the House Oversight Committee's hearing with former Trump attorney, Michael Cohen. First, Mr. Cohen is a liar, a cheat and a conman - the three things he directly described the president as being. Foremost, he lied to Congress under oath and that's why in May he will be going to jail for the next three years. At this point, Mr. Cohen is certainly not going to be given a pardon so why did he 'throw himself at the mercy of the world that hates Trump?' as Commentary Magazine's Jon Podhoretz described. Was he telling the truth now as some part of an act of contrition? Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH), senior Republican on the Oversight Committee said that Mr. Cohen had lied to Congress again in this hearing.
What we do know is that at this point, Mr. Cohen can not have his sentence reduced any further and was not offered any reduction for his testimony this week so if he lied again the main consequence would be that more years would be added to his sentence. But still, why testify? It seems to this column that Mr. Cohen was a willing and loyal soldier for Mr. Trump, carrying out the dirty work that needed to be done in New York City. Upon Mr. Trump being elected president and Mr. Cohen not being rewarded for his effort, he most probably held out hope that Mr. Trump would back him up when investigators came calling. Mr. Trump did initially, but when Mr. Cohen lied to Congress for Mr. Trump's benefit and then had to take this fall, the loyalty wasn't reciprocated. An ax to grind? Yes, of course, but isn't that the common motivation in a situation like this?
When Mr. Jordan says that Mr. Cohen lied again to Congress this week that's just hard to believe. With that said, everything Mr. Cohen said in terms of charges he made about Mr. Trump has to be verified. Heidi Przybyla pointed out that Mr. Cohen's credibility went up because if he were lying, he would have said that the president did collude with Russia during the 2016 election, but instead he said that he had no knowledge of that. She also gave a few other instances where Mr. Cohen defended the president, so there's that.
Mr. Jordan also said that he doesn't believe that the president has lied at all when it comes to all things Russia, which is just impossible to believe given what's out there in the public record, specifically the overwhelming reporting on the Trump Tower Moscow deal.
It's not a crime per se to lie about this, but it's a relevant fact that the voters should have been made aware of, as Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) pointed out. Mr. Cohen also stated the Mr. Trump was in contact with Roger Stone about Wikileaks prior to the hacked information dump, which Mr. Warner said his counter-intelligence committee is looking into. If the president was aware of this before the fact, then that would be a crime. But Republicans don't want to talk about this and in the hearing instead of defending the president, which they didn't do, they solely focused on attacking the credibility of Mr. Cohen. And as Mr. Jordan outlined today, he doesn't want to talk about Russian collusion, but instead of the many accomplishments of the administration such as: tax reform, putting two conservative justices on the Supreme Court, record low unemployment and economic growth.
There are holes in those accomplishments such as raking up $2 trillion more dollars of debt and the fact that the middle class is suffering on the tax return front because refunds are significantly less because Republicans adjusted the withholding tax structure. Despite that, Mr. Jordan did outline a list of things that conservatives like.
To that point, The New York Times Helene Cooper explained that if you look past the ridiculous tweets and statements, the Administration's actions with regard to North Korea has been sound. Mr. Trump has opened up a dialogue with the Kim regime and smartly walked away from this week's summit because North Korea couldn't meet any of the United States demands in exchange for sanctions relief. However, it should be pointed out that a summit shouldn't really occur if some sort of framework for an agreement hasn't been worked out beforehand. Fine, that's not how Mr. Trump negotiates and that we have to accept. But Ms. Cooper then pointed out that after rightly walking away from the deal, Mr. Trump once again took the word of a dictator over what American intelligence officials had told him.
It's not a crime per se that Mr. Trump said that he takes Kim Jung Un at his word that he didn't know about what happened to Otto Warmbier, but just on the face of it, it's unfathomable that he didn't know. Mr. Trump explained that it would have been to Mr. Kim's advantage for such a thing to happen, as if he was defending the North Korean dictator. That's simply an affront to American values and respect to human rights. Defending a dictator's personal responsibility with regard to the torture and in essence murder of an American citizen is a moral crime.
It prompted a rare statement from Mr. Warmbier's parents:
"We have been respectful during this summit process. Now we must speak out. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that."
As Yahoo News' Matt Bai pointed out, this president seems to lack any measure of empathy and the ability to feel someone else's pain. If we're thinking in terms of realpolitik as Jon Podhoretz brought up in the discussion, it has to be acknowledged that in that context that people do suffer making empathy an essential quality that the President of The United States must possess.
Panel: Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Matt Bai, Yahoo News; Heidi Przybyla, NBC News; Jon Podhoretz, Commentary Magazine
One more thing...
The president's longest riff... er, speech... occurred this weekend at CPAC this weekend where among other things he he said that 'people try to take you down with bullshit.' Not a crime, but also not very presidential and neither is this:
It's just f**king weird.
However for this week, we'll keep that more front of mind than usual, which brings us straight away to the House Oversight Committee's hearing with former Trump attorney, Michael Cohen. First, Mr. Cohen is a liar, a cheat and a conman - the three things he directly described the president as being. Foremost, he lied to Congress under oath and that's why in May he will be going to jail for the next three years. At this point, Mr. Cohen is certainly not going to be given a pardon so why did he 'throw himself at the mercy of the world that hates Trump?' as Commentary Magazine's Jon Podhoretz described. Was he telling the truth now as some part of an act of contrition? Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH), senior Republican on the Oversight Committee said that Mr. Cohen had lied to Congress again in this hearing.
What we do know is that at this point, Mr. Cohen can not have his sentence reduced any further and was not offered any reduction for his testimony this week so if he lied again the main consequence would be that more years would be added to his sentence. But still, why testify? It seems to this column that Mr. Cohen was a willing and loyal soldier for Mr. Trump, carrying out the dirty work that needed to be done in New York City. Upon Mr. Trump being elected president and Mr. Cohen not being rewarded for his effort, he most probably held out hope that Mr. Trump would back him up when investigators came calling. Mr. Trump did initially, but when Mr. Cohen lied to Congress for Mr. Trump's benefit and then had to take this fall, the loyalty wasn't reciprocated. An ax to grind? Yes, of course, but isn't that the common motivation in a situation like this?
When Mr. Jordan says that Mr. Cohen lied again to Congress this week that's just hard to believe. With that said, everything Mr. Cohen said in terms of charges he made about Mr. Trump has to be verified. Heidi Przybyla pointed out that Mr. Cohen's credibility went up because if he were lying, he would have said that the president did collude with Russia during the 2016 election, but instead he said that he had no knowledge of that. She also gave a few other instances where Mr. Cohen defended the president, so there's that.
Mr. Jordan also said that he doesn't believe that the president has lied at all when it comes to all things Russia, which is just impossible to believe given what's out there in the public record, specifically the overwhelming reporting on the Trump Tower Moscow deal.
It's not a crime per se to lie about this, but it's a relevant fact that the voters should have been made aware of, as Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) pointed out. Mr. Cohen also stated the Mr. Trump was in contact with Roger Stone about Wikileaks prior to the hacked information dump, which Mr. Warner said his counter-intelligence committee is looking into. If the president was aware of this before the fact, then that would be a crime. But Republicans don't want to talk about this and in the hearing instead of defending the president, which they didn't do, they solely focused on attacking the credibility of Mr. Cohen. And as Mr. Jordan outlined today, he doesn't want to talk about Russian collusion, but instead of the many accomplishments of the administration such as: tax reform, putting two conservative justices on the Supreme Court, record low unemployment and economic growth.
There are holes in those accomplishments such as raking up $2 trillion more dollars of debt and the fact that the middle class is suffering on the tax return front because refunds are significantly less because Republicans adjusted the withholding tax structure. Despite that, Mr. Jordan did outline a list of things that conservatives like.
To that point, The New York Times Helene Cooper explained that if you look past the ridiculous tweets and statements, the Administration's actions with regard to North Korea has been sound. Mr. Trump has opened up a dialogue with the Kim regime and smartly walked away from this week's summit because North Korea couldn't meet any of the United States demands in exchange for sanctions relief. However, it should be pointed out that a summit shouldn't really occur if some sort of framework for an agreement hasn't been worked out beforehand. Fine, that's not how Mr. Trump negotiates and that we have to accept. But Ms. Cooper then pointed out that after rightly walking away from the deal, Mr. Trump once again took the word of a dictator over what American intelligence officials had told him.
It's not a crime per se that Mr. Trump said that he takes Kim Jung Un at his word that he didn't know about what happened to Otto Warmbier, but just on the face of it, it's unfathomable that he didn't know. Mr. Trump explained that it would have been to Mr. Kim's advantage for such a thing to happen, as if he was defending the North Korean dictator. That's simply an affront to American values and respect to human rights. Defending a dictator's personal responsibility with regard to the torture and in essence murder of an American citizen is a moral crime.
It prompted a rare statement from Mr. Warmbier's parents:
"We have been respectful during this summit process. Now we must speak out. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that."
As Yahoo News' Matt Bai pointed out, this president seems to lack any measure of empathy and the ability to feel someone else's pain. If we're thinking in terms of realpolitik as Jon Podhoretz brought up in the discussion, it has to be acknowledged that in that context that people do suffer making empathy an essential quality that the President of The United States must possess.
Panel: Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Matt Bai, Yahoo News; Heidi Przybyla, NBC News; Jon Podhoretz, Commentary Magazine
One more thing...
The president's longest riff... er, speech... occurred this weekend at CPAC this weekend where among other things he he said that 'people try to take you down with bullshit.' Not a crime, but also not very presidential and neither is this:
It's just f**king weird.
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