Od Pa'Am (Again)

Feeling the Burn:  It’s hard to figure out what Trump plans to do about Iran and those burning Saudi Arabia oil facilities. You can tell that he fears that taking no action makes him look weak and he hates looking weak, on the other hand, despite his frequently bombastic rhetoric he doesn’t appear to have much of an appetite for war. Yesterday he revealed these contradictory views by saying "I don't want war with anybody, we have the strongest military in the world ... we're prepared, more than anybody."  He also left the impression that he’s waiting for the Saudis to tell him what they want him to do, a strategy that isn’t impressing either his allies or his critics.  Though she’s certainly not my favorite presidential wannabee, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard’s  tweet that “Trump awaits instructions from his Saudi masters. Having our country act as Saudi Arabia's bitch is not ‘America First’” is spot on as is former Republican, now Independent Congressman Justin Amash’s tweet saying that “Congress is the body empowered to commence war. We don’t take orders from foreign powers."  As to Saudi Arabia, it’s not clear that they want us to help them launch a direct attack against Iran, yet, but some suggest that if they are, they will be more than content to let us fight on their behalf, a thought that Trump seemed to endorse yesterday when he said that if we do something the Saudis will foot the bill, as in their money for the lives of our soldiers. So who would have guessed that pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal without an alternative plan in place, something more than extreme sanctions, might not be the best way to contain Iranian aspirations and aggression?  Is it worth mentioning that Trump is now surrounded by toadies like Secretary of Pompeo, newbies like Defense Secretary Espy and lacks a national security advisor?  As to his most recent former security advisor, John Bolton, the hawk whose absence from the table right now might be a good thing given his appetite for war and regime change, reports are that he’s busy negotiating a book deal.  One other piece of international news, it’s election day in Israel, again.

2020:  On Sunday Joe Biden went to Alabama to commemorate the 56^th anniversary of the Birmingham church bombing.  He called on the “nation to live up to its founding ideals” saying that “silence on racism amounts to complicity” adding “there can be no realization of the American Dream without grappling with the original sin of slavery” before not so subtly referring to Trump with the comment that “now hate is on the rise again, and we're at a defining moment again in American history." Expect those soundbites to show up in political ads going forward.  After Alabama, Biden traveled to South Carolina, joining a number of Democratic candidates, including Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Senator Amy Klobuchar and NY Mayor Bill De Blasio, yes he’s still running, who were also campaigning in the important early primary state.  For her part Senator Elizabeth Warren who received the endorsement of the Working Families Party, the progressive group that supported Bernie Sanders in 2016, was in New York City where she delivered a speech on her newest plan, this one targeted at routing out corruption in government another dig at all things Trumpian pointedly delivered on his home turf.  Not surprisingly while Bernie’s crowd is all in on routing out corruption they’re freaking out about not getting the key Working Party endorsement.  While Elizabeth Warren was wowing the crowd in New York City, Trump was in New Mexico, an increasingly blue state with a population that is 47% Hispanic that his advisors think he can somehow or other win in 2020. He stuck to his usual themes, called the Democrats radical, claimed that they were coming for guns and were going to take away health care.  He also gave a call out to erstwhile CNN commentator Steve Cortes, one of his supporters, asking him “who do you like more, Hispanics or the country” before adding that Cortes “happens to be Hispanic, but I’ve never quite figured it out because he looks more like a WASP than I do,” because engaging in a little stereotyping and loyalty testing is the best way to sway Hispanics to his side?  It’s unlikely that Trump will win over New Mexico but with a few of his 2016 states turning blue he needs to turn a few blue states red. Whatever.

Investigatory Front:  House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler says he’s too busy impeaching Trump right now to even consider impeaching Justice Kavanaugh, a thought that is also shared by some Democratic members of the Senate including Dick Durbin who responded to a question on the subject by saying “get real.” Exerting some more of that mythical executive privilege for everyone, White House lawyers are blocking the testimony of former staff members Rob Porter, the serial wife abuser, and Rick Dearborn the former deputy chief of staff.  In addition they’ve advised/warned one time Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski who was never a White House employee that he better limit his testimony to the things he told former Special Counsel Mueller because as far as they’re concerned everything else he ever discussed with Trump is off limits, also covered by that mythical form of executive immunity. Lewandowski’s testimony is of concern because according to the Mueller Report, when everyone else refused to do it, Trump asked Lewandowski to threaten to fire former Attorney General Sessions if he didn't act to end the Mueller investigation. On the tax returns front, the Manhattan District Attorney has joined the crowd seeking Trump’s tax returns by subpoenaing eight years of his and his company’s tax filings.  It’s fair to assume that another legal fight is in the offing because we all know that Trump values the secrecy of those returns more than anything else.  A few other things, as far as we know former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe has not yet been indicted despite the best attempts of Attorney General Barr and Trump’s Justice Department.  The former Russian spy whose identity was revealed last week, the one who has been moved away from Washington to some new safer location, was the person who revealed Putin’s direct involvement in Russia’s pro-Trump election interference to the intelligence agencies which of course raises additional questions about who blew his cover especially in light of the still mysterious whistleblower information that is being kept secret  by the Justice Department on behalf of the White House from the House and Senate Intelligence committees.  Just a little conspiracy theory to nosh on with your morning coffee.