Tuesday, June 30, 2020

The Russian bounty allegation confirmed or not, it is yet more evidence that Trump's "leadership" continues to be a betrayal of this country's interests at home and abroad



In this era of one “crisis” after another, it is difficult to ascertain the meaning of “leadership.” It used to be that in times of crisis, people in this country put aside their differences and put their faith in the president’s leadership. Presidents who didn’t show leadership in time of crisis, like Herbert Hoover, were soon out of a job. Donald Trump has so sought to divide this country that outside his base of fanatics, few trust his judgment, and unfortunately, that distrust at the top is gathering moss on its tumble down the pyramid. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey may be a Republican, but that doesn’t mean Republican voters in his state think his “leadership” is any more worth obeying than if he was a Democrat. Mark Lamb, sheriff of Pinal County, decided he wasn’t going to enforce the governor’s stay-at-home order, because he and others of like mind have the “constitutional” right to do as they damn well please, to hell with everyone else’s well-being.

That is the kind of “leadership” that appeals to Trump, which is why he invited Lamb recently to the White House. The problem is that like with many fools who think scientists and medical professionals are no more to be respected than gun restriction advocates, Lamb’s stupidity was no defense against the COVID-19; he never did get the “honor” of meeting Der Fuhrer, because he tested positive for the virus. Lamb assumes that he came into contact with an infected person at a campaign event; stupid is as stupid does. 

Of course, even in “progressive” states like Washington, there are those numbskull law enforcement types like Lewis County Sheriff Robert Snaza, who told his flock not to be “sheep,” and to ignore the governor’s mandate to wear masks in public spaces; one shouldn’t be too sorry for him if he catches the virus and passes it on to those other tough dudes standing around him. But I also wonder about all those people in Seattle who are not taking the governor very seriously either; I saw two white females walking shoulder-to-shoulder along a Seneca Street sidewalk, neither one wearing masks, and the one with short blonde hair actually breathed just inches from the other woman’s air-intake orifices. Well, as long as they don’t get too close to me I don’t care what they do to each other. 

In the face of all of this, we ought to expect leadership from the tippy-top to provide some form of “guidance,” and obviously there is very little of that coming from Trump. As I mentioned before, the “buck” always passes Trump like a freight train. Trump does not care about anyone but himself, period. He doesn’t care about the 128,000 people who have died from the COVID-19 thus far, he doesn’t care that states following his “leadership”—or lack thereof— are seeing record daily increases in virus cases. And if he doesn’t care about that, why should he care about a few U.S. service members killed by Taliban militants for bounties placed on them by Russian intelligence operatives?

“Bountygate” is obviously something that Trump wants to go away real soon. The Associated Press reported that a Navy Seal team discovered a stash of $500,000 in a Taliban hideaway after three U.S. Marines were killed when their car was ambushed; captured Taliban militants admitted under interrogation that the money came from Russian operatives paying them to kill American troops even while “peace” negotiations were going on. I don’t know how much more “corroboration” you need for this to rise above the “suspicion” level, but what is particularly disturbing about this is that this information was discovered more than a year ago, and was reportedly transmitted to Trump in writing. John Bolton supposedly spoke to Trump about these suspicious activities, although mention of them was reportedly excised from his book for being “classified” information.

Trump’s stooges both in and out of intel expressed “outrage” that this leak of “classified” information is compromising American counterintelligence operations. But who are they trying to kid?  Trump has repeatedly denied knowing of such things in the past, only to have his lies found out later. How many more service members needed to die before Trump got “mad” at his pal Vladimir Putin? Trump wouldn't want this kind of compromising information coming out, which is why he tried to hide his infamous phone call with Ukraine’s president in a classified computer system—and who knows what other such compromising information he is trying to hide because of his deep “understandings” with Putin. Putin hates the United States, and he sees Trump as the willing fool who will help him in his quest to undermine this country domestic stability and its international interests. 

Trump has betrayed this country’s principles at home and abroad for nothing more than his own personal interests and dislikes, and now it appears he has even betrayed the service members he claims to “honor” to save both his skin and that of his friend, Putin. Just because his supporters are like flies attracted to his moral and ethical dung pile doesn’t mean the rest of the country should follow suit.

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