The bombshell headline on June 26 in the New York Times was stunning:
Russia Secretly Offered Afghan Militants Bounties to Kill U.S. Troops, Intelligence Says...the Trump administration has been deliberating for months about what to do about a stunning intelligence assessment.
Published June 26, 2020
The initial story stated that reliable sources within the administration reported that the president was informed of this sometime in March (later reports indicated that the administration had included warnings of Russia's intelligence program by the GRU much earlier). The now trite Watergate-era question “what did the president know and when did he know it?” is now an appropriate question for us. It is now more than ten days since we have learned of the Russian plot to pay Taliban rebels money for the heads of American troops in Afghanistan. In that time, the story has been updated to include information about the sources of the report and the information that this was included in the daily presidential security briefings in February. Another report quoted John Bolton admitting that he personally briefed Trump on the intelligence that included American Intelligence which discovered large amounts of American dollars which were paid as bounties for the deaths of three and possibly more soldiers in 2018.
The above begs the following questions:
- What actions did the administration take when it first learned of the alleged Russian bounty program?
- Why did the president not act on the renewed reports that intelligence sources reported to him late February or March of this year?
- What were the contents of the communications between Trump and Putin which took place since the president learned of the program?
The answers to these questions have not been forthcoming from the president, however, the president did propose excuses for his behavior for the continued Russian attacks on American democracy.
- He denied being briefed.
- He cast doubt on the authenticity and the reliability of the reports.
- He demanded that Russia be invited to rejoin the G7.
- He called the report “a hoax”
---a word that has now replaced “bigly” and “beautiful” in the president's thimble-sized oral lexicon. While the doltish fool chose to defend himself by admitting he doesn’t read his daily public briefings, it was harder to admit that he doesn’t hear as well. John Bolton, the president’s National Security Advisor, then reported that he gave the president a face-to-face briefing on the matter. This was, even for Trump, an almost insurmountable obstacle. Admitting he didn’t read it, then, didn’t see it, was easy since we all know Trump absent for all-important presidential tasks except eating and playing golf. Also, the Bolton thing highlighted the fact that between March 30 and April 20, the time most relevant since by then Trump assuredly knew of Russia’s deal with the Taliban, Trump and Putin spoke on the phone at least four times. CNN reported:
- Since March 30, President Trump and Vladimir Putin spoke four times over the phone as the coronavirus pandemic rages on
- Their last call came on Easter Sunday before Trump touted that a historic deal had been made between Russia and Saudi Arabia in their oil war
- 'Reaching out to the United States is part of Putin's long-term plan to basically undermine the credibility of the United States,' analysts say
- Days after their talks, a Russian jet flew within 25 feet of a US surveillance plane during an 'unsafe' maneuver at high-speed over the Mediterranean Sea
The president never brought up the most pressing issue festering between the two nations and endured yet more aggressive behavior from the Russians without as much as a стоп! Stop! When it comes to Putin and Russian aggression, it appears that surrender is the administration’s go-to response.
What has Trump done since we have learned on June 26 what he has known (or should have known) since at least February 2019? In the past 11 days, Donald Trump has opened new scars and old wounds in the only wars he is willing to fight---the culture wars that divide America.
- He has taken on the cause of the Confederacy and their loathsome monuments to slavery.
- He attacked NASCAR and driver Bubba Wallace for their part in removing the Confederate flag from their sport
- He has gone after the Washington and Cleveland-based professional sports teams for announcing that they would change their offensive names and mascots.
- He proclaimed, out loud, the virtues of manifest destiny while speaking at Mt. Rushmore a place whose people were its victims.
- His campaign has promised to protect Brazil’s iconic Christ the Redeemer monument in Rio!!!*
*President Donald Trump's reelection campaign bizarrely claimed in a series of ads that the administration would protect Brazil's iconic Christ the Redeemer statue from potential destruction by vandals, the Daily Beast first reported.
Clearly, the Dali Lama and the ceiling above the Sistine Chapel are resting comfortably these days--- American soldiers in Afghanistan, not so much.
This is all to say that there is a madness to his method. The outlandish torrent spewing from Trump’s mouth and Twitter feed are each an attempt to deflect and distract us from the obvious dereliction of duty evident in his lack of immediate and public response to Russian aggression. Instead, the hunt is now on within the administration for the patriot(s) who “leaked” the report. It is easy for most to outthink this master of incomprehension. We can measure the degree of fear and the depth of disloyalty by the layering of his distractions. The deeper the muck, the more damning the truth, the closer we get to the secret kompromat Putin holds over Trump . Once more, in his case, it all goes back to Russia and Vladimir Putin. The racist, sophist, bombastic, and preposterous claims he has made since June 26 is a measure of the peril of his interactions on Putin’s behalf. This is the recurring theme of this presidency---Donald Trump is in the process of selling out his country. He is a traitor. Say it loud and believe it. I prefer not to hear the prissy response of those who save Trump this dishonor by referencing the constitutional definition of treason. I know treason when I see it. We all do.
And so, again, we return to the scene of the crimes,
- June 9, 2016, Trump Tower meeting
- “Russia if you’re listening...”
- Michael Flynn’s pre-inaugural communications with Russian officials asking them to withhold reacting to Obama administration restrictions
- Comey firing
- Helsinki
- GRU bounty for American corpses program
It all comes back to Russia. Yes, he is a racist. Yes, he is incredibly cruel. And, yes, he lies incessantly. But at his core, at the center of his being, he is a traitor. And so Robert E. Lee and his band of traitors can feel safe tonight---so can Christ the Redeemer and the slaveowners and politicians of the past whose own patriotism and consciences were weighed down with the weight of their greed and privilege. They will all do just fine. The CSA, or the Confederate States of America, lasted approximately 60 days longer than Donald Trump’s equally disastrous first term. It can be argued that both eras share more than a similar number of days. Donald Trump has managed to replicate the divisiveness and lethality of the darkest hours in our history.
The Civil War claimed more than half a million Americans over the 4 years of its duration---all dead, both patriot and confederate, due to the treason of the CSA. The latest projections of COVID deaths by the time of our next national election are in part a reflection of the policies of a president who betrays the national interests with his inactions:
The US has had over 120,000 deaths so far. By October 1, 2020, cumulative COVID-19 deaths could reach 179,106 deaths (with an estimated range of 159,497 to 213,715).
--The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), an independent population health research center at UW At this rate, Medicine, part of the University of Washington
America will lose approximately one-third the number of lives lost in its Civil War in one year while Donald Trump protects Russian aggression. In fact, it can be said that his policies regarding the virus, like those directed toward Putin, heighten its potency.
In a speech given on the fourth of July, before a small crowd gathered at the foot of Mount Rushmore, Donald Trump channeled words written by Stephen Miller. Miller, whose ties to the white nationalist movement are more than troubling, is a curious author for this auspicious place and time. Trump with his back to Lincoln et.al, spoke in that phlegmatic teleprompted cadence we have become accustomed to, words without meaning, vitriol lacking empathy for our troubled times. It contained a panoramic glossing of American history and a listing of American heroes and heroines as if mentioning their names somehow accrued to him their greatness. Instead, he desecrated the ground he spoke from. At Rushmore, in front of men who once spoke in poetry, Trump spoke empty words:
This country will be everything that our citizens have hoped for, for so many years, and that our enemies fear — because we will never forget that American freedom exists for American greatness. (emphasis mine)
The promise of America was one of personal freedom and equality. Our founding documents are written on behalf of the people they represent, and recognize the inherent equality that our shared humanity confers. Our greatness lay in our commonality.
In words laced with hypocrisy and dripping in irony, Trump peddled a brand of bold-faced lying that threatened to draw tears from the visage of Lincoln that hovered over his shoulder. Above the din of hatred rising up from below. Lincoln’s spare elegance is lost, but his repurposed words troll the small man speaking below him:
“Surely, the world will little note, nor long remember what was said here tonight...’
Surely. The little man with a hardened heart and simple mind spouting trivia in front of the graven figures of dead presidents is a fitting tableau. All were imperfect men, some, greater or lesser than others. But on this night, a fourth of July no less, they were audience to the least among them. A man without honor with words meant for a different nation and for a far off crowd. The faces of Mt. Rushmore, if they could speak, would tell us that on this night they played host to a traitor.