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.
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