Lesley Stahl is a veteran correspondent for the stalwart and dependable news hour “60 Minutes”. It’s hard to argue the trustworthiness of 60 Minutes and their retinue, because they’ve been so reliable in their integrity for like half a century. So when Ms. Stahl told people at a press awards dinner that Trump personally told her that he bashes the Press for the sole purpose of keeping people from believing the bad press about him, I’m pretty inclined to believe her. But she finds herself in a bit of a catch-22 with this story. If you believe Trump, she’s just another lying journalist lying about making them seem like liars. It’s paradoxical at it’s best, and it’s emblematic of the state of the first estate. Is this what the “post-truth” era looks like?
So, a few days ago, Rudy Giuliani came out and told everyone that Mueller was planning to wrap up his investigation by September 1. And most people, upon hearing that, probably thought “well that’s horsesh*%”. It just didn’t seem credible. But up until that point, Giuliani hadn’t really had a problem with lying. If anything, his issue was that he was probably a little too truthful. He couldn’t keep things under wraps. So it was a troubling statement to say the least. Of course now sources are coming out saying that it was a total fabrication, and it leaves me wondering what changed for Rudy to come out and play this tactic, which most think was just a ploy to put pressure on the investigation. I dunno. I think Rudy just may be a little short on the uptake.
Rex Tillerson, former Secretary of State gave commencement speech at the Virginia Military Institute. During his speech…well he basically laid into his former boss about integrity and ethics. He talked about the importance of Truth to freedom and how accepting “alternative realities” as the truth means America loses it’s value as a nation. It was a startlingly poignant speech. I mean, obviously, he didn’t name drop Donald Trump, but it’s hard to say that wasn’t his primary target when he talks about the leadership of the country. Still, Trump would still probably insist Rex was talking about the Democrats.
Trump’s slogans have always been about America being number one. Make it great again! America First! American’s and their jobs should be our first priority! So it came as a bit of a shock this week when Trump told us that he thought some jobs for a Chinese telecom corporation was pretty important to him too. A Chinese company. As in the country that, according to him is basically the economic devil he has sworn to defeat. Could it be that Trump, realizing his nationalistic approach to politics may have been ill-informed? Maybe, but I would bet money that the half a billion dollars that the Chinese government is investing to fund a project with the Trump brand on it Indonesia had a bit of sway on that decision. It’s important to remember that the company Trump has directed our government to help, was deemed a military and intelligence risk as it’s a company that could track service members because they are the biggest telecom company in China, and was fined $1.2 billion for violating sanctions against Iran and North Korea. Nothing shady there.
So North Korea is starting to get skittish about their negotiations for peace and denuclearization, which I think a lot of people probably saw coming. They cancelled their talk with South Korea, and are threatening to kill the summit with Trump over military maneuvers our military has been doing for decades. So yeah, for those of you who thought that things with North Korea seemed to be going a little TOO smoothly, it looks like you were right. But, as a few news articles have noted, there is speculation as to whether North Korea’s sudden skittish behavior regarding denuclearization may dash Trump’s hopes of getting that Nobel Peace Prize that he feels he so richly deserves. And that loss…that would be the true tragedy….
So, news outlets have been noting that Mike Pence has been taking a number of interesting political maneuvers in recent weeks. There has been some open tension between Pence’s aides and Trump’s and Pence seems to be leveraging his own political movement from inside the White House. He’s even recruited Trump’s former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, as the new leader of his PAC. Multiple reports use the term “Political apparatus” in reference to what Pence is trying to do, and the idea of him being a shadow candidate in the 2020 election seems to be the primary assumption in media speculation. But the weird thing is that with this White House, this administration, none of this seems shocking or out of the blue. Duplicity and cynicism have become far too normal for comfort.
Friday really should have been a slam dunk day for Trump and co. He got to welcome home 3 freed prisoners from North Korea, and for even the most disliked of Presidents, and event like that is a banner day. You shake some hands, say welcome home, and the evening’s headline is at the very least positive, if not glowing. But Trump’s people have to defy expectation. They can’t have a normal day. So instead, his staff has to leak that a random staffer at the White House was being glib about the health of John McCain. Again, we are reminded that Trump hires the best people.
I feel like Rudy Giuliani has really completed the sitcom feel of the White House. He’s the Barney Fife to Trump’s Andy Griffith, the Kramer to his Seinfeld. He goes on TV and says something dumb or regrettable Trump has an “Oh Rudy!” Moment, and the nation has a good laugh as we all continue watching him steer us toward Armageddon. The thing of it is, Michael Avenatti seems to be getting ammunition out of Giuliani’s interviews, and I think Giuliani kind of knows it. Avenatti squarely said that he’d love to have a conversation with Giuliani, on whatever network he chooses, under fair conditions for both parties. Giuliani though was having none of it. He called Avenatti a pimp and said that he didn’t involve himself with pimps! Considering his stance on paying people off on behalf of clients, I don’t know if I believe him.
In an interview with George Stephanopoulos, Rudy Giuliani said that Trump would have the executive privilege of not having to comply with a subpoena. He argued that it was his right as the President. It was pointed out that someone rather prominent disagrees with him on a pretty fundamental level: Himself exactly 20 years ago, when he argued that Bill Clinton shouldn’t get special treatment because he’s the President. He should have to go through the motions of a subpoena like any other citizen of this great country. Rudy seems to be suffering from the same problem that Trump can’t get away from: The Internet has a VERY long memory, and loves to smell out the garbage.
Mind the Exit 