Day-Tripper: Here is what I believe:
- General Flynn was let go because he lied to the Vice-President. (I originally filed that under the, "man bites dog" category.)
- This drama began when the NSA supplied raw data concerning Trump officials & that the resulting fishing expeditions/investigations were politically motivated. Also, I find it ironic that it’s the Democrats that see Russians everywhere, that's traditionally a right-wing thing; & I hope they asked one of us for permission before they borrowed it.
- If Clapper can survive Washington for 50+ years, then he must be good at being a survivor, that’s all. All that time creates enemies (which will happen to anyone, good or bad; just by being around for so long, enemies will be made) & he is still around, impressive, because I’ve seen well-intended & perfectly "good" deeds get spun to bad with the messenger getting shot, metaphorically. One would need a Machiavellian mindset to last that long, which is understandable when in a political arena. Though he must be able to comply with his bosses’ directives, or risk being replaced by someone who will; unless he’s unreplaceable like J Edgar Hoover, for example. In my experience, cases have been made concerning people being in place too long, they know too much. I can PM you a specific example.
- So far, the "investigations are continuing" phrase means that either nothing illegal has been found or not enough has in order to bring a Grand Jury indictment. As the saying goes, "You can indict a ham sandwich" meaning the threshold is low. As you can tell, I read the NY Times which has said (buried in the middle of the article well after the allegations) that so far, nothing illegal has been found.
- After the recess, I want this to move quickly, either have hearings, or not, pick someone to run this, set a time frame, conduct official interviews so that testimony is memorialized, bring charges, or not, & move on. Dragging this out for the next 4 years is not in the best interests of the country, but doing so would advance some politician's agenda.
- From the news I read, everything the president is trying to accomplish is some combination (or all) of bad, wrong &/or illegal. And if by some chance this isn't so, then there are so many obstacles ahead that the action has an extremely little to no chance of success.
- I do not believe that Trump officials conspired with Russian Intel officers to rig the election & I think you don’t believe it as well.
What is your take on calls for a special prosecutor? I think that the Congress (or whomever it is not Congress' responsibility), not a SP should do it. The process should be allowed to take place. Calling for a special prosecutor means (obviously) that the agency can't be trusted to do the job & I’m not there. Also, a SP may raise more questions than it answers for example, if one is going to have it in this case, where now is the line drawn? Should we have a special prosecutor for all investigations of any government agency, only when some particular fact pattern is alleged, etc?
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I find it stunning that suddenly the Democrats are now the party of national security, of promoting the defense of the liberal democratic world order, of supporting NATO & opposing Russian expansionism & anti-democratic ideology, and of free market trade. The Republicans, under Trump, treat all America's alliance as nothing more than business transactions which can be renegotiated at a whim. I doubt the Poles, Lithuanians, Czechs, South Koreans or Japanese believe for one second that Trump would ever come to their aid. He's already backed down on his poorly-thought-out idea of recognizing the Republic of China (Taiwan).
I do believe that President Trump has some illegal or immoral connection to Putin's Russia. If I could specific, I'd been on the phone with the FBI at this moment. His trembling meekness at the mere mention of Comrade Putin's name (compared to his strident tough-guy act with every other world leader) is all too revealing. There's something there.
Trump has been a stench in the nostrils of decency since his Birther crusade. He'll be remembered in the same political category as the Know Nothings of the 1840s-1850s, the rule of Jim Crow in the 19th-20th century American south and of Joe McCarthy's democracy-threatening Communist with hunts of the early 1950s.
Lastly (my how I tend to rant sometimes) in regards to investigating RussiaGate (term is my invention), Congress has abandoned its constitutional duties since June of 1950 when Harry Truman took us to war on his own authority. Hell, US military actions across the Middle East, south Asia, southeast Asia, all of Africa, etc. are still being conducted under an authorization passed on September 14th 2001. No one in Congress even wants to talk about it, much less debate and - heaven forbid - be held responsible for any authorizations concerning use of the military. Japan could bomb Pearl Harbor tomorrow & the US Congress would be hard pressed to even show up at Capitol Hill, much less vote on a declaration of war.
And this complete abdication of responsibility extends to domestic policy, too. "Repeal Obamacare" was the full-throated war cry for six years. You'd think the GOP-majority Congress, which voted about a bizillion times to repeal Obamacare, would have something lined up by now (SIX years!!!) to replace it. But no, nothing. Zilch. Just a bunch of elected representatives staring at the ground, shuffling their feet, at a loss for what to do now that they have the power to do it.
Congress has far more important things to do than investigate Trump-Russia ties, like spending 50% of their "work" schedule soliciting bribes, oops, I mean campaign finances, to fund their lavish lifestyles. Ever hear of a Congressman NOT flying privately-owned private jets owned by their staggering wealthy "constituents"? Or not owning veritable mansions both in their home states or districts and the extremely expensive DC metropolitan area on their paltry $174,000 per year income?
Appointing a special prosecutor would please anti-Trump people like me, sure, but it's a disgrace that Congress as a whole finds itself completely unable to do their jobs. This is what they exist for.