Monthly Archives: July 2018

International news

Putin surely ordered the ’16 election attack

Donald J. Trump has been fielding some direct questions to which he is offering some strangely oblique answers.

CBS News anchor Jeff Glor asked the president whether he thinks Vladimir Putin is “responsible” for the 2016 attack on the U.S. electoral system by Russian goons.

Trump’s answer has me scratching my noggin. Sure he’s responsible, Trump said, because “he’s the leader of his country” just as Trump is the leader of this country.

Huh? That’s it?

Actually, the consensus among the nation’s intelligence community has been pretty forthright: Vladimir Putin ordered the attack; he called the shots.

The CIA, FBI, National Security Agency … all of ’em … say the same thing. Putin was up to his armpits in this undeclared war against the U.S. electoral process.

So, for the president to pass it off solely as a function of Putin’s standing as the “leader of his country” once again demonstrates what many of us already have feared. Putin has cast some sort of spell over the Trump.

Or, he’s got some goods on the president. Allegedly. Maybe. Possibly.

I’m getting antsy. I hope the special counsel, Robert Mueller, finishes his investigation sooner rather than later.

Sports news

ESPYs honor courageous athletes, coaches

It’s not always fashionable for athletes to make political statements. They expose themselves to criticism — much of it shrill and strident — as some pro football players might acknowledge.

However, the ESPYs — the awards provided by ESPN, the nation’s premier sports and entertainment network — hit it out of the park Wednesday night during its annual award ceremony.

Why? The ESPYs spoke to the politics of the moment. The statements were profound and powerful.

The Arthur Ashe Courage Award went to 141 young women who had the courage to stand up to Michigan State University and to a physician who abused them sexually. You’ve heard of the former MD, Larry Nasar , who’s now spending the rest of his life in prison for what he did to those athletes.

All the women stood on the stage, covering it in the courage exemplified by the man whose memory is honored. Tennis great Arthur Ashe died 30 years ago of complications from HIV/AIDS, but exhibited tremendous courage before he passed.

The women stood tall they stood strong. They are the faces and the voices of the “Me Too” movement. They so richly deserve this honor.

Then we have the Coach of the Year honor. Who got that one? It went to three high school coaches, and not necessarily for the leadership they showed on the field of competition — but the selfless courage they demonstrated this past Feb. 14 when a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

The coaches all died protecting their students. They threw themselves into harm’s way to save the lives of the youngsters they promised to keep safe.

Chris Hixon, Aaron Fies and Scott Biegel paid the ultimate price on behalf of their students. Their names are now memorialized forever to remember the heroism they exhibited during a terrible spasm of gun violence.

It’s not all that often when you have the perfect juxtaposition of politics and sports. We saw it Wednesday night at an annual award ceremony.

Well done, ESPN.

national news

POTUS won’t take the bait: Yes, Putin lied

CBS News anchor Jeff Glor sat right in front of Donald J. Trump and asked him directly this week: Did Vladimir Putin lie when he denied the Russians meddled in our 2016 election?

The president had just declared in his conversation with Glor that he believed — finally! — the U.S. intelligence assessment that Russia attacked our electoral process.

So, Glor asked the obvious question about the Russian president’s veracity. Trump wouldn’t go there. He wouldn’t call Putin a liar.

Hmm. OK, I’ll do it for him. Yes, Mr. President, Vladimir Putin lied when he denied the Russians’ culpability. Indeed, he has crafted his entire career as a KGB agent and as a politician by lying. He has turned lying into an art form.

Putin is a pro at prevarication.

Indeed, Vladimir Putin is far better at lying than — dare I say it — Donald John Trump.

International news

Did the walls have ears in that Trump-Putin meeting room?

This inquiring mind wants to know and I suspect I am not alone.

What in the world did the presidents of the United States and Russia talk about in that Helsinki meeting room when they were alone, except for their respective translators?

We heard what Donald Trump said he Vladimir Putin discussed. Do we believe the president? Should we believe him? Umm. No and no.

So, how do we — the public, the citizens Trump represents as the president — learn what was discussed?

Hey, here’s an idea: Summon the U.S. translator to Capitol Hill and have that individual talk to members of Congress; have the translator take an oath and then question the translator vigorously.

Now, having said that, I am willing to let the translator conduct a “classified” briefing. There’s no particular need to open the hearing up to the public if the translator is going to discuss security-sensitive issues.

Donald Trump disserved the public dramatically at the jaw-dropping press conference with Vladimir Putin. Officials in both major political parties have called it the “most disgraceful performance” by a president in their memory. I concur with that view … and my memory goes back a good while. Ike, JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush 41, Clinton, Bush 43 and Obama never sucked up the way Trump did to the leader of a foreign hostile power in front of the world — and in the presence of that hostile leader.

Trump and Putin spent a couple of hours out of the world’s earshot. There were no national security aides present. No secretary of state, no foreign minister, no defense ministers. Just the two of them — Vlad and The Donald.

What did Trump promise Putin? What does Putin have on Trump? Why in the world would Trump denigrate our intelligence agencies’ view that Russia meddled in our 2016 election while accepting Putin’s “strong and powerful” denial?

Inquiring minds want to know.

They need to know.

national news

POTUS fatigue setting in?

I fear that I am on the verge of suffering from terminal POTUS fatigue.

I don’t expect to croak from it. I don’t even know if I’ll suffer an emotional collapse, or any kind of psychological breakdown.

I’m just wearing out. Maybe. Possibly.

The president of the United States is conducting himself and his office in a way none of us have ever witnessed. Do you remember “No Drama Obama,” with the previous president operating on level plain? He disliked the tumult, turmoil and tempest that occasionally comes with the office.

Donald John Trump Sr.? He relishes it! He looks for it! He wants to govern daily with chaos, confusion — and perhaps a bit of corruption — all swirling around him.

Good grief! He goes to Europe to meet with the most dependable allies this nation on planet Earth and then proceeds to p** them all off. He wasn’t done. Not by a long shot.

The president then goes to the United Kingdom, talks to the Sun newspaper, criticizes British Prime Minister Teresa May’s handling of the British exit from the European Union and then offers an endorsement of former British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson to be the UK’s next prime minister.

And then he denies saying it!

There’s more. He travels to Helsinki. He and Russian strongman Vladimir Putin meet for two hours, just the two of them. Then he comes out and declares that U.S. intelligence experts’ assertion about Russian attacks on our electoral process are not to be believed; he believes Putin’s denial.

And this is what happened just in the past week!

His entire presidency has been rife with weeks just like this, although the stakes of this week’s weirdness are getting more compelling all the time.

I need to get a good night’s sleep. I’ll awaken in the morning. I’ll be refreshed. I’ll get back at it.

How in the world does the president function like this?

International news

Let the Russians question former envoy? What the … ?

This isn’t happening. This cannot be allowed to happen. If Donald J. Trump allows it, he’s got a noggin full of rocks.

Vladimir Putin reportedly floated the idea with the president over whether Russian government officials could question a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul.

Trump then reportedly took the suggestion seriously and has asked White House legal eagles to examine whether it’s possible.

I repeat: This cannot be allowed to happen.

Putin apparently wants to interrogate McFaul in the wake of the Justice Department indictment of 12 Russian military intelligence officers. He might want to pick McFaul’s brain to figure out what he knew, if anything, about anything involving the Trump presidential campaign.

This is ridiculous, absurd, utterly frightening proposal coming from the former head of the Soviet Union’s spy agency, the KGB. To suggest that we could compel a former ambassador to talk to a foreign hostile power is preposterous on its face.

McFaul wrote this, according to Politico: “I hope the White House corrects the record and denounces in categorical terms this ridiculous request from Putin,” McFaul tweeted Wednesday. “Not doing so creates moral equivalency between a legitimacy US indictment of Russian intelligence officers and a crazy, completely fabricated story invented by Putin.”

Putin is an even more egregious liar than his pal in the White House. And, man, that’s saying something.

Sports news

This superstar is big enough already

Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred no doubt meant well when he said some nice things about Mike Trout, who is generally considered to be the best player in baseball.

He said Trout, a center fielder for the Los Angeles Angels, would be an even “bigger star” if he “spent more time marketing himself.”

How about that? The commissioner is encouraging a young, relatively humble star athlete to engage in more self-aggrandizement.

Then came the response from the Angels organization. It was classic. The team’s response? Mike Trout is not wired in the way Manfred would like: “Combined with his talent, his solid character creates a perfect role model for young people everywhere. Each year, Mike devotes a tremendous amount of his time and effort contributing to our Organization and marketing Major League Baseball. He continually chooses to participate in the community, visiting hospitals, schools and countless other charities.”

Trout said: “I do as much as I can. But it’s a long baseball season. I got to pick and choose when I want to do things and go from there.”

It’s rare these days to see blue-chip athletes who earn millions of dollars annually to play a kids’ game who are not interested in looking for ways to improve their brand.

From all that I’ve read about Mike Trout — admittedly it’s not a great deal, but enough — he seems to be the genuine article. He is one hell of a baseball talent. He’s well compensated for his skill as a hitter, a defensive player and as a great teammate.

I won’t condemn the MLB commissioner for seeking even more glory for one of his sport’s premier athletes.

I will salute, however, Mike Trout and his team for saying, in effect: Thanks … but no thanks.

national news, political news

Trump a traitor: not yet … maybe

I am getting mildly uncomfortable with all the chatter about the alleged acts of treason that Donald J. Trump may have committed.

I hear it from my social media network of “friends” and friends; I use the term in those two forms, because some of my social media “friends” aren’t the real thing, just acquaintances.

I’m not yet ready to climb aboard the treason bandwagon.

Yes, I am horrified at what I am seeing from this president. His groveling at Vladimir Putin’s feet. His disparaging of our intelligence networks’ view that Russia attacked our electoral system. His constant and incessant lying about almost any topic you can imagine.

Having said all that, I am going to wait for special counsel Robert Mueller to complete the task that’s been handed to him. The Justice Department picked the former FBI director to look closely at allegations of “collusion” between the Trump presidential campaign and the Russians who interfered in our 2016 election.

I have high faith in Mueller’s integrity and in his ability to conduct a meticulous investigation. I reject categorically any notion that his probe is “the most corrupt in history,” as some on Trump’s legal team have asserted.

However, until he finishes his work and issues a final report, I want to remain a bit circumspect over what the president might have done, or whether he, indeed, has betrayed the nation that elected him to the highest office in our land.

Others are free to express themselves. I’ll continue to offer my own view on what I think of Trump as president. I make no apology for my own disdain for him as a person and my sincere belief in his unfitness for the job he occupies.

I just am not yet going to hang the worst possible label on him until we hear from the man charged with getting all the information out to the public that needs to know the truth about how this guy got elected to office.

media news

WH press flack redefines rhetorical elusiveness

I am going to offer a tip of the hat — sort of — to Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

The White House press secretary is either (a) exceedingly quick on her feet or (b) gets a thorough briefing from other West Wing staffers on how to answer direct questions.

Sanders got a question today about Donald J. Trump’s answer when he was asked by a reporter whether he still thought Russia posed a threat to our electoral system, as it did in attacking it during the 2016 presidential election.

The president said “no.” He said Russia did not pose a threat.

Sanders got the question at the White House press briefing: Did the president really mean to say Russia was not trying to interfere in our midterm election?

She said the “no” response to the question was the president’s way of saying “no more questions” from the media.

Isn’t that clever? Slick? Cagey?

It’s also untrue.

Sanders trotted out that amazing response to chief of staff John Kelly’s visible body language while Trump — at the NATO meeting in Brussels — was scolding the Germans over their supposedly being under the “total control” of Russia. A reporter asked her about Kelly’s reaction. She said he was angry because he wanted a full breakfast, but instead got only “pastry and cheese.”

That, dear reader, is hilarious.

Except that I ain’t laughing. Neither should you. It’s deceptive. She’s lying for her boss.

national news

How ‘stable’ can POTUS remain?

I know that Donald J. Trump calls himself a “stable genius.”

Why, he even inserted the word “very” in his most recent self-glorification. His use of the v-word reminded me of something one of my mass communications professors asked me when he read one of my stories: “What does the word ‘very’ do for you?”

George Carver didn’t like the word. He thought it was unnecessary. He was right.

The president’s “stability” must be getting tested these days. He goes to Europe and has a generally hideous meeting with NATO leaders; then he ventured to London and trashed his host, Prime Minister Teresa May, only to deny he said what was published in the Sun newspaper.

It got even worse. Trump went to Helsinki and groveled at Vladimir Putin’s feet, said he didn’t know why Russia “would” interfere in our election; then he kinda/sorta took it back — the next day! — by saying he meant to say “wouldn’t.” Whatever.

The scorn is piling up. Our allies abroad cannot trust the president. He’s being played for a fool by Russia. The critics at home now include many from within his own Republican Party. Former CIA boss John Brennan and others are saying Trump’s Helsinki presser was “treasonous.”

How much can this guy take?

Oh, wait. The president has no shame. A shameless man has a deep well of whatever it is that allows him to delude himself.