Taking a defiant stance in the impeachment inquiry, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday declared that House Democrats are trying to “intimidate, bully and treat improperly” five current and former career officials in seeking information in the Ukraine investigation.News broke within the last day that Pompeo was in on Trump's "perfect call," as Trump puts it, with the President of Ukraine.
Pompeo said in a letter to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, as part of the chamber’s impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, that the requested dates for the officials to voluntarily appear for depositions were “not feasible.”
Why did Trump release the transcript, a rational person might ask. It's because he sees the entirety of the Federal government as his personal plaything, in the same was that everyone at the Trump enterprises had to bow to his every whim. Trump cannot conceive of it being wrong to use the power of his office to benefit his campaign or to enrich himself.
Trump serves only himself. He serves no cause, no country, nothing other than his own naked self-interest. I know of no instance in Trump's life where he did anything to benefit anyone else. Even his much-promoted rebuilding of the Central Park ice rink was done to benefit Trump. He owns the company that operates the ice rink.
Trump is a grifter. His family are grifters. His cabinet is largely made up of fools who have sold what was left of their good names in order to have a seat at Trump's table. They have managed to con the base of the GOP, most of whom will never admit that they've fallen for the con. In some ways, I pity them.
6 comments:
He either really believes the lies told by the right wing media, or is playing to those who do in order to retain their support.
It doesn't much matter which one it is, except morally speaking, as his policy behavior is identical in either case.
One thing to make note of about all of the foreign shenanigans he and his felons are up to right now, they all have a common goal should they be successful: the lifting of the sanctions on Russia.
The first round of sanctions are in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and beneath all of the impeachable bumbling is his attempt at getting Ukraine to make a "deal" with Putin to end the hostilities, clearing the way for their lifting.
The second round of sanctions were in response to Russia meddling in our 2016 election, and thus all of the crazy conspiracy theory bullshit about CrowdStrike and how it was supposedly Ukraine and the Democrats who meddled in the election, not Russia, which would mean there was no real basis for the sanctions to begin with.
That is, of course, insane. The Democrats stole their own emails and gave them to Wikileaks to release during the 2016 election?
But again, the difference between him really being that dumb or merely pretending to be that dumb *while being the president of the United States* is mostly one of moral judgement, not cold practicality.
-Doug in Oakland
The rules to hack your mind are simple:
1. Big lie- Always choose the big lie over the small; the masses will believe it more readily.
2. Focus- keep to the story and its selling points.
3. Repeat- use them over and over until your enemies know them by heart.
4. Blame- never waver, acknowledge no doubt; always blame, never credit the other side. Debase, defame, dehumanize.
5. Provoke- Attract attention, then appeal to emotions.
6. Crisis- Never shades of gray: Issues my be polarizing.
7. Emotional Symbols- slogans have no meaning, appeal to emotion.
8. Pander- facts and truth get in the way. Target the masses with emotional pitches.
9. No Limits- moral limits are ignored unless useful.
Lather, Rinse, repeat....
Eck!
We seem to finally have a truly modern example of a Faustian bargin.
Il pesce comincia a puzzare
...and how, like a communicable prion disease, having infected nearly everyone from Mitt Romney to the left.
No, Mr. Dean, rather "When the seagulls follow the trawler, it's because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.”
And, indeed, the stinking, fetid residue that is the inevitable slime that oozes from Donnie’s transactions is attracting more and more attention.
Stewart: Rovine Spongiform Encephalopathy.
-Doug in Oakland
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