For those of us old enough to remember Watergate, Week 20 has been Déjà vu. Experiences such as Watergate and Russiagate are painful and exhausting. They remind us of how precious our democracy is and yet how fragile; how comfortable yet how very messy. I believe I’ve quoted Thomas Paine in this report before, but I’d like to repeat: “What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly.” Freedom is indeed precious and well worth our most ardent efforts, but it’s also pricey. Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address at a Civil War battlefield, a portion of which was being dedicated as a monument to those who had paid the ultimate price to preserve our union. After commenting on their sacrifice, he challenged his audience:
“It is for us the living . . . to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is . . . for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom.”
Our nation is divided again, perhaps more deeply than it has been since the Civil War. Our divisions are no longer North vs. South, slavery vs. emancipation; today we’re divided on what it means to be American, what values should guide our country, who we want to be as a people, and who should be allowed to share in the privileges which our ancestors have purchased for us at such enormous expense. Our greatest challenge is finding those values which define us not as Democrats and Republicans but as Americans and then learning to make those American values the bedrock that unifies rather than divides us. My recommendation for “us the living” is that we all memorize Lincoln’s words and make them the mantra that guides our navigation of these difficult waters.
Here are the highlights of Week 20.
- For the second time in less than two weeks, England was struck by tragedy on Saturday, June 3, when a car plowed into pedestrians on London Bridge. In what is now known to be a terror attack, the perpetrators “then rushed to the nearby Borough Market, where they ditched their vehicle and began stabbing people in the area” (HuffPost). Eight people were killed and dozens more injured in the attack, the sort of event which would usually inspire an outpouring of sympathy and support from other national leaders. Since the USA, however, is not currently in a business-as-usual mode, our “president” expressed his feelings in his own unique way: he tweeted insults toward the London mayor and used the occasion as a political opportunity to once again plug his derailed travel ban and to ridicule gun-control debates. In one tweet, 45 wrote, “Do you notice we are not having a gun debate right now? That’s because they used knives and a truck!” In another, he said, “We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!” Most offensive and embarrassing of all is this one responding to his out-of-context version of the mayor’s remarks to the people of London: “At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is “no reason to be alarmed!” Anyone with a third-grade reading level would have known the mayor was reassuring Londoners to remain calm in the face of extra police presence, not telling them the attack was no big deal. Perhaps next presidential election, candidates should be required to pass a basic literacy test.
- In the latest episode of the Reality TV show “Presidenting for Fame and Profit,” the Trump family announced this week a new business venture—adding to, you know, all those other businesses from which they’ve not divested. Since a large contingent of DT’s adoring base could never afford a night in any of the Trump luxury hotels, and since he wants to keep his faithful followers faithful, smiling, and voting, his organization announced on Monday, June 5—according to the New York Times—that they’ll soon be rolling out a three-star hotel chain, called American Idea, in some Trump-friendly areas. (Oh, but this is NOT political, mind you!) The observation on the campaign trail was that lower-priced hotels were pretty generic, different only in the names on their lighted signs. The Trump family plans to set their properties apart by using a kitschy Americana theme, “featuring artifacts of American culture,” such as old Coca-Cola machines. By rebranding existing properties such as Holiday Inns and Comfort Inns, the Trump Organization will be lighting up their first signs pretty quickly; so keep your eyes open on your summer road trip. Personally, I’d rather sleep in my car!
- I can’t recall in my lifetime a president who has consistently been referred to as angry, seething, enraged, infuriated, shouting, cursing, fuming, and other descriptors indicating a volatile temper and unstable mind. Leaving 45’s mental condition to the professionals, I find it disturbing to think that our government is being run by someone with no impulse control and not enough self-awareness to reflect honestly on his own mistakes. Because of his inability to face himself and to accept responsibility for his actions, we’ve become well accustomed to his habit of blaming anyone and everyone else when things go wrong—which they do on a daily basis. Multiple reports have stated that Trump was and is enraged at his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, for recusing himself from the investigation in Russia’s meddling in our 2016 election. According to Trump, it was Sessions’ recusal that led to the appointment of the special counsel to take over the investigation. The Washington Post reports, “He has intermittently fumed for months over Mr. Sessions’s decision to recuse himself from the investigation into Russian meddling in last year’s election, according to people close to Mr. Trump who insisted on anonymity to describe internal conversations.” Poor Donald! It’s so hard to be a narcissist when the whole world is watching and expects you to act like a normal president.
- Donald Trump is not known for his charitable spirit; in fact, he has often been called the least charitable wealthy person in the world. We learned during the campaign last year that the Trump Foundation had been using charitable donations to pay DT’s numerous legal fees and to cover a few personal purchases such as two large portraits of Mr. Narcissist himself and a souvenir football helmet signed by Tim Tebow. This week, we learned that Eric Trump’s charities have been funneling money donated to fight childhood cancer into Trump enterprises. Forbes reported that Eric has hosted an annual one-day golf tournament for the last ten years. Since the event is held at the Trump National Golf Club in Westchester County, New York, Eric has always claimed that since it’s a family biz, there are no overhead costs and 100% of the money donated goes to St. Jude’s to help fund children’s cancer research. The problem is, big surprise, that isn’t true. In fact, Eric’s daddy insisted on billing the Eric Trump Foundation for the use of the facilities, which means the Trump Organization benefited richly from this pretentious charity event. As the Mimi of a childhood cancer patient, I find this personally offensive!
- On Wednesday of this week, NSA Director Mike Rogers and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee and, according to Politico, “repeatedly stonewalled when asked about news reports that Trump asked each of them to downplay or refute the FBI’s probe, which is examining whether Trump’s associates colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.” Although it’s been widely reported that Trump tried to pressure both of these men to influence James Comey to drop the Russia investigation, neither would admit to any such pressure. Yet many feel that they revealed more by their silence than by the words they spoke. Their testimonies left the committee members dissatisfied, a little miffed, and determined to meet these men again for some straight answers.
- Meanwhile, back at the Senate, while the special committee was questioning witnesses, Mitch McConnell—grateful for the distraction—was making profitable use of his free time by holding closed-door sessions to create a Senate version of the health-care bill which he plans to fast-track through to a vote in the near future. There’s only one thing Mr. Turtlehead forgot: to let the Democrats in on the content of the bill. Oops! Well, he didn’t really forget, obviously. Here’s what the Washington Examiner reported: “Democrats have taken issue with Republicans for not holding a hearing on the Senate version of the American Health Care Act. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., called out Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, when he said Democrats were welcome to offer ideas and suggestions for the legislation. ‘When you are saying that you inviting us, for what? We don’t even know. We have no idea what is being proposed,’ McCaskill replied.” Well, isn’t that special?
- On Wednesday, the former director of US national intelligence, James Clapper, spoke to Australia’s National Press Club. According to The Guardian’s report, Mr. Clapper, when asked to compare the Trump-Russia investigation with Watergate, responded, “I think you compare the two, that Watergate pales, really, in my view, compared to what we’re confronting now.” Clapper also called Trump’s interactions with Russia “very problematic,” called Trump’s firing of Jim Comey “egregious and inexcusable,” and said that it is “absolutely crucial for the United States, and for that matter for the world, for this presidency, for the Republicans, for the Democrats and for the nation at large, that we get to the bottom of this.” I agree on all points.
- Lordy, what a day we had on Thursday! With possibly the largest TV audience for a political hearing since Watergate, James Comey stepped into the Senate Intelligence Committee chamber at 10 a.m. Eastern time on Thursday and swore to tell nothing but the truth about his interactions with Donald Trump. Under oath, Mr. Comey called our “president” a liar, testified that from his very first conversation with DT his gut instinct told him this is a person who can’t be trusted, and unequivocally stated that Russia’s influence in our election was real. Here are his words: “There should be no fuzz on this whatsoever. The Russians interfered in our election in the 2016 cycle. They did it with purpose, they did it with sophistication, they did it with overwhelming technical efforts, and it was an active measures campaign driven from the top of that government.” One of the most notable points of Mr. Comey’s testimony is what it tells us about his reputation. Republicans and Democrats both questioned some of his decisions, but no one questions his integrity. Most of his questioners prefaced their conversations with him by highly commending his integrity and devotion to his country and to his job. Everyone reading this report, as well as the person writing it, has had moments of intense frustration with James Comey and might have fired him ourselves when eleven days before the election he felt compelled to reveal some newly discovered emails from Hillary Clinton’s aide’s ex-husband—a decision which played a large role in throwing the election toward 45. Yet Mr. Comey’s overall reputation as a person of integrity and honor will play a crucial role in this he-said/he-said situation that’s going to determine the future of our republic.
- There’s been no praise for Donald Trump’s attorney since he made his botched response to James Comey’s testimony. After Robert Mueller was appointed special investigator into the Russia probe and DT was advised to lawyer up, his team began seeking counsel to represent 45 in the long legal battle he faces. Problem is, no one wants to work for him, and the top two reasons given are his reputation for not listening to advice and for not paying those he hires to work for him. Those reasons, along with the potential damage to a legitimate firm’s reputation from being associated with the mob boss, DT, have left Trump and Company in dire straits, with only old friend Marc Kasowitz willing to accept the gig. Mr. Kasowitz, who bills himself on his website as the baddest badass, has a long-standing relationship with DT: “Trump has turned to Kasowitz for matters that include debt restructuring and suing an author who Trump said undercounted his net worth.” In the New York subculture that produced DT, Kasowitz is a star; but in Washington DC political circles, he is outclassed and incompetent. But hey, when he’s all you can get, what’s a prez to do? Kasowitz called James Comey a liar and stated his intention to file a complaint against Comey on Monday of the upcoming week. Comey made his statements under oath, which means Kasowitz has accused Comey of perjury, which is a felony. Mr. Kasowitz seems no more judicious in his public statements than his boss is.
- And the trophy for most pathetic, disgusting statement of the week goes to our own Speaker of the House Paul Ryan! The Washington Post reports this statement from Ryan following James Comey’s testimony on Thursday: “’People now realize why the president is so frustrated when the FBI director tells him on three different occasions he is not under investigation, yet the speculation swirls around the political system that he is — that’s frustrating,’ Ryan said. He added: ‘I would just say that of course there needs to be a degree of independence between [the Department of Justice], FBI and the White House and a line of communications established. The president’s new at this. He’s new to government, and so he probably wasn’t steeped in the long-running protocols that establish the relationships between DOJ, FBI and White Houses. He’s just new to this.’” Nice try! However, the presidency of the United States is NO place for on-the-job training! This so-called “president” is not only unfamiliar with protocols but is uninclined to become familiar with them. That’s not an excuse; it’s an indictment.
I close my 20th Swamp Report with the words of James Comey, excerpted from his Thursday testimony before the Senate intelligence committee. Nothing I can write would be as timely, as eloquent, as powerful, or as impassioned as these words:
“The reason this is such a big deal is, we have this big messy wonderful country where we fight with each other all the time. But nobody tells us what to think, what to fight about, what to vote for except other Americans. And that’s wonderful and often painful. But we’re talking about a foreign government that using technical intrusion, lots of other methods, tried to shape the way we think, we vote, we act. That is a big deal. And people need to recognize it. It’s not about Republicans or Democrats. They’re coming after America, which I hope we all love equally. They want to undermine our credibility in the face the world. They think that this great experiment of ours is a threat to them. So they’re going to try to run it down and dirty it up as much as possible. That’s what this is about and they will be back. Because we remain — as difficult as we can be with each other — we remain that shining city on the hill. And they don’t like it.”
We cannot, we must not squander our precious heritage purchased at such great cost. We must keep this city on the hill shining for our children and our children’s children! It’s not a choice. It’s a sacred duty.