The “I” word has been on everyone’s lips this week. I began speaking of impeachment and the need to press for impeachment on the day after the election, as I was attempting to stop the flow of tears and figure out how we were going to get out of the train wreck that had just occurred and from which most of us were still in shock. At first, however, my mention of impeachment or starting a drum beat for it was met with cautious looks. We had to give Trump a chance, right? It was going to be bad, yes, but we couldn’t be certain how bad. We still had 2018; we’d just work really hard to change the balance of power by flipping Congress. This week, however, all of that has changed. The news has tumbled out non-stop, and every headline shouts for impeachment or at least suggests its possibility or desirability. Another word we’ve heard often this week is the “W” word, as the current situation is reminding more and more people of Watergate. Most analysts are saying this scandal will, in the end, far eclipse Watergate: Watergate is what some have called a “third-rate burglary,” though that probably understates its gravity. Russiagate, on the other hand, is a major intrusion of an adversarial foreign power into our government and the possible collusion of high-ranking American officials with that foreign adversary. Talk of treason, obstruction of justice, and questions of who knew what and when have dominated the Week 17 news cycle.
Let’s review the week’s chaos point by point.
- So, the guy who doesn’t need daily intelligence briefings because he’s “like, a smart person” has proved that razor-sharp intellect once again in his comments early this week on exercise. According to an article published last week in The New Yorker, “Other than golf, [Trump] considers exercise misguided, arguing that a person, like a battery, is born with a finite amount of energy.” This would be shocking from most other people, but since we’ve always been aware of Trump’s disdain for science, it’s not surprising. Anyone who can deny climate change can easily justify lazy exercise habits with lame “scientific” explanations. Taco bowls, double scoops of ice cream, and McDonald’s delicacies combined with little exercise—better hope that battery is the rechargeable type, Donald!
- This week’s first bombshell was dropped on Monday—starting the week with an explosion that will occupy the news cycle at least until the next Trump-inflicted disaster. The Washington Post reported that in last week’s ill-timed and shady Oval Office meeting when Trump jovially entertained the Russian ambassador and the Russian foreign minister, Trump just happened to drop a little classified information given to our government by one of its allies; The New York Times describes the information as “highly classified intelligence.” The Post did not at first include details of the shared information, to avoid compounding the problem; but they later reported that the intelligence was received from Israel and involved an Islamic State plot to make bombs out of laptop computers, to be used on airplanes. Although it’s been emphasized that what 45 did was not illegal, legality is not the sole measure of one’s actions. Slavery, removal of native Americans, and internment of Japanese Americans were all legal; but they were not moral, humane, decent, or wise. Such careless revelations by our “president” endanger the safety of our country and compromise the trust of our allies. They also further diminish our confidence in and respect for the presidency. It’s already been reported that intelligence officials may have withheld sensitive information from the “president” because they don’t trust him to handle it appropriately. During the campaign, one of 45’s dominant themes was Hillary Clinton’s carelessness in handling classified information—emails!—yet he now seems oblivious as usual to his own hypocrisy. And just in case anyone harbors a small doubt that the Post report is accurate, wonder no more! On Tuesday morning, our brilliant leader announced that he did in fact share information with Russia and that he has an “absolute right” to do so. Well, I’m glad that’s settled.
- David Brooks published an excellent article in Monday’s New York Times: “When the World Is Led by a Child.” Brooks begins with the statement, “There are three tasks most mature adults have sort of figured out by the time they hit 25. Trump has mastered none of them.” He goes on to list those three tasks: sitting still, possessing “some internal criteria for measuring their own merits and demerits” rather than needing “perpetual outside approval,” and the ability to “perceive how others are thinking.” Brooks offers multiple examples to back up his assessment of Trump’s immaturity. Then he says this about 45’s sharing classified information with his Russian pals: “From all we know so far, Trump didn’t [share classified information with Russian visitors] because he is a Russian agent, or for any malevolent intent. He did it because he is sloppy, because he lacks all impulse control, and above all because he is a 7-year-old boy desperate for the approval of those he admires.” Who’d have thought we’d ever look longingly back on the George W. Bush era as “the good ole days” when our president was a mature, intelligent, well-read, well-spoken adult? Strange new world we’re in!
- As it turns out, we didn’t have to wait long for that “next Trump-inflicted disaster” I mentioned in #2. Tuesday afternoon, The New York Times reported that James Comey began shortly after 45’s inauguration to create a paper trail which would document certain events that made him uncomfortable because they smacked of interference in an active investigation, just in case such documentation were ever needed. And now it’s needed! The existence of Comey’s memos is not doubted among Justice Department personnel, who have been well aware of Comey’s habit of writing contemporaneous memos to record what he considered significant events. The memo whose contents were released on Tuesday revealed an incident which occurred the day after 45 fired Michael Flynn. According to Comey’s memo, 45 asked him to remain behind after an Oval Office meeting, while others were dismissed from the room. With only Trump and Comey left in the office, Trump told Comey, “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.” Jason Chaffetz awoke suddenly from his long stupor to demand that acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe turn over “all memoranda, notes, summaries, and recordings referring or relating to any communications between Comey and the President.” He gave McCabe a one-week deadline and declared his readiness to subpoena if necessary. He says this may be the proof he needs that 45 is guilty of obstructing justice. Wow! Ya think?
- In the most surreal, what-planet-are-we-living-on event of the week, Vladimir Putin offered on Wednesday morning to help out his pal and puppet, Donald, by providing American lawmakers “a record” of the Oval Office meeting between Trump and his other Russian pals Kislyak and Lavrov. Calling the furor over the reports that Trump gave these men classified information “political schizophrenia” and “a tempest in a teacup, whipped up for political reasons,” Putin said he’d be more than happy to put everyone’s mind at ease by turning over the “record,” which a Kremlin aide told reporters is a written account, not a recording. As you recall, we are at the mercy of Putin’s charity because our “president” did not allow American reporters to attend the meeting where they could have made their own record of the conversation. Putin finds the whole episode greatly amusing: just we stupid Americans dreaming up “nonsense and rubbish.” He may find the impeachment of his boy Donnie far less amusing.
- On Wednesday, the news came in a virtual avalanche. In the afternoon, we heard that our national embarrassment was on stage once again, this time presenting a graduation address to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy class of 2017. I’m sure those young people will look back on that day fondly, remembering the inspiring speech in which the “president” of their country whined to them about how badly he’s been treated. Not that I’d expect 45 to know such things, but graduation addresses are supposed to be about the graduates: words of wisdom and inspiration to motivate them as they embark on the life path for which they’ve prepared. Instead, in true Trump fashion, this speaker made the occasion all about himself. He whined, “’Look at the way I’ve been treated lately, especially by the media. No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly. You can’t let them get you down.’ Responding to their cheers, he commented: ‘I guess that’s why we won.’” Not only is this inappropriate for the occasion but it’s a double underscore of his extreme immaturity and mental illness. This is not the way normal, healthy people talk. Time to take out the trash at the White House!
- Later on Wednesday came the first good news of the week: The Department of Justice had just appointed Robert Mueller, former FBI Director, as special counsel to conduct an independent investigation on the Trump-Russia ties. YES!!! Finally, the day we’ve been waiting for has arrived! Even better news is that Mr. Mueller is well spoken of by people of all political persuasions. The New York Times, who broke the news, had only praise for Mr. Mueller: he has “an unblemished reputation”; “Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill . . . view him as one of the most credible law enforcement officials in the country”; “his ‘record, character, and trustworthiness have been lauded for decades by Republicans and Democrats alike” (quoting Ben Sasse); and Mr. Mueller has served under both Democratic and Republican presidents. Although the House and Senate committees will continue their investigations, Rod Rosenstein’s appointment of Robert Mueller offers the greatest hope and encouragement so far that we will eventually know the truth about Russian meddling and Trump’s cooperation with it and that justice will prevail. Interesting side note: no tweets from the tweeter-in-chief. I guess that would be because everyone remotely involved in or subject to subpoena in this case has been advised to “lawyer up,” beginning with you-know-who. Perhaps we finally have someone who can control 45’s twitter finger. Oops! I spoke too soon. The tweeter-in-chief was up and at his post early Thursday morning. In two tweets, he mentioned “illegal acts” committed by Hillary Clinton and President Obama, without offering evidence (I don’t think we even need to say this any more) which did not lead to the appointment of a special councel (his spelling). Then he added, “This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!” Gee, Donald, could it be that it’s not a witch hunt and you’re just the single most ignorant, unfit, and corrupt politician in American history?
- Well, all of this Wednesday business was head-spinning enough; but there were a few hours left in the day, so the news wasn’t over yet. The evening brought the revelation of an audio tape recorded in June 2016—before WikiLeaks, before FBI investigation—of some key GOP pals giggling and snorting about Trump’s relationship with Vladimir Putin. The Washington Post’s Adam Entous reports House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Speaker Paul Ryan, and others were engaged in a private conversation when McCarthy said, “There’s … there’s two people, I think, Putin pays: Rohrabacher [Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of CA, openly pro-Russian] and Trump. Swear to God.” The whole conversation was laced with much laughter and conviviality. After this statement, however, Ryan turned somewhat more serious, cautioning his colleagues, “This is an off the record. No leaks, all right? This is how we know we’re a real family here. What’s said in the family stays in the family.” McCarthy’s spokesman Matt Sparks denied the conversation, was informed there is audio evidence, then turned to the it-was-all-a-joke defense. Indeed, those who have heard the tape agree it’s possible that the group was just joking; but as Post writer Aaron Blake points out, “Even sarcasm is almost always laced with truth.” And two truths emerge from this conversation, even if it was in fact all in jest: (1) Talk of Trump’s ties with Russia were spoken of and laughed about privately well before any evidence was made public or any investigations were launched and well before he won the GOP nomination; (2) GOP leaders were so desperate to elect a Republican president that they were willing to sell their souls to the devil in order to make that happen. Controlling the government, repealing the work of the President they despised, Barack Obama, and further enriching the 2% meant more to them than protecting our national security. Remember that the next time you’re in a voting booth.
- On Thursday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein addressed the Senate in a closed-door session to brief them on the independent investigation and what they should expect. In interviews with reporters after the meeting, Senator Lindsey Graham said his takeaway from the briefing is that the investigation into Trump and his associates’ ties to Russia has evolved from a counterintelligence investigation to a criminal investigation. Trump has been advised to retain outside counsel, as have all of those who will be involved. So the good news of the week is that we now have a dedicated, professional investigator commissioned to untangle this whole mess and finally provide all—or hopefully at least most—of the facts on this troubling matter. The not-so-good news is that these things can take an enormous amount of time, and Trump will still be “president” during all of that time. Richard Nixon had the decency to resign; Donald Trump has no innate sense of decency. Tony Schwartz, The Art of the Deal ghostwriter, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper this week, Trump “lacks empathy, the ability to really connect with other people, self-awareness and above all, a conscience … there is no right and wrong – there is winning and losing.” Schwartz predicts Trump will resign, which would be a loss, but only after he has figured out a way to make that loss sound like a win, and he will declare his resignation a victory. I disagree. I believe he’ll show the same defiance he did when people called for his withdrawal from the campaign after the hot-mic tape; he vowed then that there was “zero chance” of his withdrawing. If Trump does stay in, he will increasingly assume a wounded animal stance, which will be dangerous for us all—unless someone can figure a way to change the nuclear codes.
- Meanwhile, the Embarrasser-in-Chief, along with his wife Melania, prepares to embark Friday on an 8-day foreign tour. His itinerary will include Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Vatican, Brussels, and Sicily. Although Trump and his staff hoped this trip would provide a desperately needed “reset,” the events of this week will cast a long shadow over his appearances in other countries. Chances of his being well received by other world leaders and citizens, of his staying on script and not saying stupid, damaging things to world audiences, and of his surviving 8 days outside the comfort of his homes—when it’s well known that he doesn’t like sleeping away from his own bed—leave much room for doubt about his chances of scoring the win he so greatly needs right now.
In a New York Times op-ed published on Wednesday, May 17, Nicholas Kristof wrote a parenthetical comment:
“An aside: Thank God for the battle unfolding between The Washington Post and The New York Times. This is the best kind of newspaper war, keeping America straight. I’ve been very critical of media coverage of the presidential campaign, but the rigorous coverage of Trump since he took office has made me proud to be a journalist. And thanks to all those citizens who have subscribed to news outlets in recent months, recognizing that subscriptions are the price for a democracy.”
Amen, Mr. Kristof! Trump has called the press “the enemy of the people.” NO, keeping the Fourth Estate strong, honest, and courageous is our only hope. Let the legitimate press know that you recognize the difference between their work and fake news/aka propaganda by subscribing and then reading regularly. Remember, it was the work of journalists that brought down Nixon. Let’s help them do the same for Trump.