Politics - Week of Dec 3 2018

Some reflections of recent days.

Trump accuses is own Deputy Attorney General of Treason.

Supporting Article
To be clear: The POTUS retweeted a photo of political enemies, apparently including his own Deputy Attorney General, in prison for treason. Were I to be a reporter in the WH Briefing Room, I would press for a date of indictment against Rosenstein, or a date when Trump will be firing him for high crimes against the United States.

But it won't happen. Because it's a lie - a despicable and shameful insult. This is embarrassing not only for the gall of it, but for the fact that it probably doesn't register for Trump how serious an accusation that is... or how silly it is to be retweeting fringe sycophant memes with libellous content.

Trump is terrible at conveying thoughts coherently.

This should read for itself, but if you think that is the kind of eloquence expected of a pre-eminent statesman of the country, I will vehemently disagree.

Trump's "Manafort pardon" comments sound a lot like Nixon's behavior... before being impeached.

Trump stated several days ago that a pardon for Paul Manafort is not off the table. "Why would I take it off the table?"

Trump's campaign (and perhaps he himself) are under investigation for collusion with the Russian government regarding the 2016 election. Paul Manafort was intimately involved in the campaign, and as part of a plea agreement with the Mueller investigation, avoided a trial for felony fraud related to shady foreign dealings with the Ukrainian government.

It is reasonable to assume that Manafort could have damning information on Trump, if there is damning information to be had. And Trump is saying "perhaps, perhaps, perhaps" on getting Manafort out of hot water.

It is of note that Article 1 Section 9 of Richard Nixon's Impeachment reads that Nixon had been

endeavouring to cause prospective defendants, and individuals duly tried and convicted, to expect favoured treatment and consideration in return for their silence or false testimony, or rewarding individuals for their silence or false testimony.

A skeptic might say, "This is silly, it's a big nothing-burger and Trump/Manafort haven't done anything wrong". Well then, shit or get off the pot! Why is a pardon debatable? If Trump knows Manafort deserves it, offer it (though I'm not sure even that is ethical). If Trump doesn't know whether Manafort is innocent or not, he should shut up and let the investigation continue.

Shout-out to WTF Just Happened Today. Yes, it has a dirty word in the URL. It also does a solid job of indexing the disappointment of the day for the administration.

Federal Politics: A glimmer of light in the dark

Jim Mattis calls out Russia for electoral interference

Unlike the President, Mattis is saying some things that the rest of the Intelligence Community and the world seem to see:

• Russia is committed to testing the strength of American democracy through disinformation campaigns online.
• Russia is the aggressor in Crimea, and the attack on Ukrainian ships in the Azov sea was on them.

The Senate seems to be taking the murder of a Washington Post reporter a bit more seriously than the Chief Executive - The Congress is holding hearings on the level of suspected direction from Saudi leadership regarding said murder at their consulate in Turkey.

Post Script: The GOP in Tarrant County

I fully support and believe in American Laws for American Courts. I support our Second Amendment rights unconditionally, and I believe in the sanctity of life from conception onwards. I believe in small government, lower taxes, individual responsibility, religious freedom, school choice, energy independence, rule of law, and secure borders. For five years in a row, as a City Councilman, I have voted to reduce property taxes in Southlake. I also support Israel’s right to exist.

This sounds like the next GOP candidate for a senator or President. It checks pretty much every box of the Conservative platform.

But, the quoted man, Shahid Shafi, is Muslim. In that case, he is clearly lying, and is part of a grand scheme to Islamify the GOP, so he should be removed immediately.

In the "full response" linked below, one member of the regional GOP defends his skepticism of the appointment, though attempting to sidestep any accusation of Islamophobia. Mr. Norred, the Arlington-area Christian GOP supporter, states that not all Muslims want to impose Sharia law, in the same way not all Christians want to stone homosexuals. Glad that's cleared up.

Let me be clear: I don't know Mr. Shafi. I won't defend anything about him firsthand. It seems he has done nothing wrong in the eyes of Conservatives, except pray to the wrong God - but if he means what he says about his support of American values, then it is nothing but outright bigotry that compels people to call for his removal.

His full response here.