“A Republic, if you can keep it.”
- We were reminded by Robert Mueller that his investigation “did establish that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome.” The obviously begged question—unproven “collusion” notwithstanding—is why? Did the Russians want an American president who would disparage allies and undermine NATO? One who would publicly accept Vladimir Putin’s denials in Russian meddling in the 2016 election or in offering bounties for American deaths? One who would share an authoritarian mindset with the autocratic Putin? One who would concede leverage to Putin for, uh, whatever reason? All of that is still out there—and still adversely impacting America’s international influence, which works to the self-serving advantage of President Putin.
- “I have to see.” That was Donald Trump’s response to Fox News’ Chris Wallace as to whether he will accept the results of an election loss. Sobering. Scary. Predictable.
- Even uber conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas agree that the president does not have absolute immunity.
- Trump is the first president since FDR whose administration has lost more Supreme Court cases than it won.
- Speaking of SCOTUS, liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87, was hospitalized again recently and is undergoing chemotherapy for a cancer recurrence. Whoever wins in November will replace her. If it’s Trump, he’ll make sure his next Federalist Society choice will be more like Clarence Thomas than Neil Gorsuch.
- “If it’s Goya, it has to be good.” If it’s Ivanka Trump, it has to be an ethics violation.
- So, campaign manager Brad Pascale is out—after that Tulsa-rally fiasco—and GOP careerist Bill Stepien has taken his place. Makes sense. Paul Manafort wasn’t available.
- A recent Washington Post/ABC poll shows 38 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the pandemic. Why isn’t that 0 percent?
- Not among the politically prominent whose Twitter accounts were subject to attacks: President Trump. No surprise; he tweets like a hacker.
- “I leave elected office with my integrity intact.” That’s former Alabama senator and former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who was excoriated and humiliated by Trump, after he had lost the Republican Senate primary in Alabama. Integrity? He must have recused himself from reality.