Keeping Vlad Happy

KGB Vlad:  So Trump asked his friend KGB Vlad if he meddled in the US elections and Vlad said nyet, absolutely nyet, a guy like me, would never do something like that.  Trump then said, okay I believe you because he didn’t want to insult Vlad, the guy who may or may not have lots of kompromat on him.  Instead he focused his vitriol on the US intelligence agencies slamming the investigation into Russian interference as a Democratic hit job.  “I mean, give me a break, they are political hacks…..you have Brennan, you have Clapper and you have Comey, Comey is proven now to be a liar and he is proven to be a leaker.”  It’s not all that shocking that Trump’s comments didn’t go over very well with Senator McCain who responded ”there's nothing 'America First' about taking the word of a KGB colonel over that of the American intelligence community” but it was surprising that even his handpicked CIA Director and potential future Secretary of State Mike Pompeo felt compelled to respond saying that the CIA stands by their assessment that there was Russian meddling. Someone in Trump’s immediate orbit must have told him that his defense of Putin made him sound even more idiotic and complicit than usual because by midday, he added that he hadn’t meant to imply that he agreed with Putin and that he does trust his intelligence agencies’ assessments now because as currently constituted they are led by fine people, and we know how much Trump loves his fine people.  When last seen, Trump was bonding with Philippines strongman Duterte, possibly comparing notes on press suppression and strategies for extrajudicial killings.   

Moore Teen Dating:  Note to Roy Moore, when you are being accused of child molestation it’s probably best not to say that you only “dated” jailbait girls with their mother’s permission.  Note to Sean Hannity, when you are interviewing a guy accused of “dating” a fourteen year old, it’s best not to try to coach him through his answers or to suggest that under-age girls can ever provide consent.  Moore’s candidacy is holding on by a thread, he could still make it to the December 12 election, but the road ahead is bumpy, he’s lagging behind Doug Jones in the polls and even if he wins there is no guarantee that his Senate colleagues will seat him. In a phone call with one unnamed Republican he couldn’t deny relations with underage women.  A former colleague who worked with him back when he was an Alabama Assistant District Attorney, came forward to say that it was “common knowledge” that he dated high school girls and hung out at local high school gatherings, the kind of thing predators did before the internet became their venue of choice.  The combination of the convincing  accusations, the bizarre Hannity interview, and his former colleague’s recollection have left a lot of Republican politicians running for cover.  Conservative Senator Cassidy has withdrawn his endorsement and many others who already weren’t looking forward to Moore joining their ranks are further distancing themselves.  Pennsylvania Senator Toomey couldn’t say which would be worse, Moore being seated in the Senate or a Democrat winning the Alabama seat so instead he called for a write-in candidate to enter the race.  Ohio’s outspoken Governor Kasich, said Moore should step aside, he shouldn’t be a “Republican standard bearer.”  White House surrogates are still sticking with the old if he’s proven guilty then he should move aside answer because while child molestation is bad, they need the accusers to take lie detector tests before they take any action. Kellyanne Conway disingenuously said that anyone in public office who mistreats women should step aside but only if the accusations are proven. Trump’s answer is that he’s just not up enough on the details to provide his opinion because we know how much he generally relies on facts before giving opinions. The story is going to get uglier, Steve Bannon has sent two Breitbart News' goons to Alabama, their mission to discredit the accusers, just the kind of thing that stops victims from coming forward in the first place and will probably stop some more from raising their hands here too. Unless Moore drops out voluntarily, Trump, the harasser in chief, will be forced to say something as soon as he gets back from Asia.  Sean Hannity is having a hard time too.  After listening to his Moore interview, his Fox colleague Geraldo Rivera told him that he had effectively ended Moore’s candidacy and a number of major advertisers including Keurig are jumping ship because being associated with a guy who defends child molesters isn’t all that good for business.  Apparently not supporting child molesters is also a problem, a number of Hannity’s diehard fans are now tossing their Keurig Machines and K-cups out the window.  

The World Stage: Though his Asian speeches were a little bizarre, they were as expected and up until Sunday Trump had managed to stick to the script that his handlers so carefully crafted, but all of that ended when the thin skinned Trump decided that he had to respond to Kim Jong-Un’s accusation that he was a “destroyer and a dotard who begged for nuclear war.” Trump tweeted back “Why would Kim Jong-Un insult me by calling me ‘old,’ when I would NEVER call him "short and fat?" Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend - and maybe someday that will happen!” Kellyanne Conway defended Trump’s tweet because that little rocket man started it by “insulting him first.” Trump diplomacy is causing alarm in the Middle East as well.  Tensions have been rising over fears that Saudi Arabia is pushing for an all-out war against Hezbollah and their Iranian sponsors, attempting to pull Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is looking for distractions from his own pay to play scandal, into the mix.  Last week while in Saudi Arabia Saad Hariri, Lebanon’s Prime Minister, announced that he was stepping down, a surprise move that could further disrupt regional stability.  It’s widely believed that his resignation and subsequent “stay” in Saudi Arabia was “forced” upon him by his Saudi hosts.  Trump has been tweeting his enthusiastic support for Saudi Arabia’s actions, while Secretary of State Tillerson has been urging caution.   The US is also delivering mixed messages at the Bonn Climate conference.  While the “official” team led by Trump’s climate fools plans to host a panel on the “benefits” of burning fossil fuel today, an American’s Pledge team headed by former NY Mayor Mike Bloomberg and California Governor Jerry Brown are attending meetings to “show the rest of the world that even if the Trump administrations refuses to face reality and continues with this very isolationist style” that the rest of the US is actually ready to step up and move forward on climate control.  

Warp Speed on Tax Reform:  Despite significant differences between the House and Senate tax plans, Speaker Ryan plans to move forward with a vote on his House plan on Thursday or Friday.  New York’s Peter King, one of the Republicans who plans to vote against the plan because it eliminates most of the deduction for state and local taxes, says that he hasn’t heard anything from leadership and he takes their failure to negotiate with him as an indication that they believe that they have the votes needed for passage.  As with health care, the real action will take place in the Senate and at any subsequent conference committee to the extent the plan gets that far.  At least for now, both versions still favor red states over blue states and corporations over middle class taxpayers who will see modest cuts at best, with many seeing increases.  At the end of the day, it’s likely that the increasingly desperate Republican leadership will push something through, many of the cuts won’t be permanent and none of it will be pretty.