Franklin Foer at The Atlantic writes—Blind Confidence Couldn’t Save Paul Manafort:
Why didn’t he cut a deal with the government? Why did Manafort place himself in a position almost guaranteed to maximize his pain and suffering?
As a political consultant, Paul Manafort crafted narratives for his clients. He would take, say, a Ukrainian gangster and manage to depict him as a pillar of stability; he would portray an African dictator as an avatar of liberty. In his own life, Manafort showed a similar ability for bending reality to suit his own preferences and interests, for inhabiting a narrative of his own creation. He accumulated expensively tailored suits and properties, even as his finances deteriorated. According to text messages sent by his daughter, he apparently persisted in an extramarital affair, even after his family caught him in the act and he agreed to sever ties with his mistress. His political career and personal life were of a piece. In both realms, he consistently operated with impunity. As his former colleague Riva Levinson wrote in a column for The Hill this week, “Manafort ‘was the master of his own universe,’ meaning he did what he wanted, when he wanted. I don't think he ever believed the rules applied to him.” [...]
I have spent years reporting on Manafort, and probing what makes him tick. I’m convinced that Manafort never cut a deal with the Feds—never went the efficient route that Trump’s longtime confidant Michael Cohen took today, for example—because he was sure that he could prevail in his trial. Manafort’s faith in his own strategic genius, the way in which he believed his best press clippings, must have fueled the idea that he would succeed by taking his audacious courtroom stand against Robert Mueller.
But just because Manafort hasn’t cut a deal yet doesn’t mean that he won’t.
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~~Steve Magee,
TWEET OF THE DAY
BLAST FROM THE PAST
On this date at Daily Kos in 2003—Bush To Declare War On Iraq:
Okay, this is really funny:
Today President Bush said the situation in Iraq had deteriorated to the point where he had no choice "but to declare war on that country."
"I've just become aware that good people are dying out there. Terrorists run rampant, killing people, blowing up oil pipelines, wreaking havoc, maybe just plain reaking. They've got to be stopped."
Bush said that he had recently learned that since May 1, 2003, Iraq has become the "number one nexus of the terrorist activities in the world," and he called it "the nexus of the axis of evil," speaking from his ranch in Texas.
He said that it was a difficult decision but he had "no choice" given the state of the country at this time.
"Whoever is running that country has allowed it to turn into a hornet's nest that threatens the stability of the Middle East, and with it, the safety and security of the United States, and of the world."
Priceless.
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: Papadopoulos sentencing looms. Guess what? Someone found Steve Scalise's baggage! Anti-Antifa trolls trolled. Russians love hacking, and Rusians love Florida. So, Russians hack Florida. Study finds hate crimes increase with Facebook usage. Hmm!