So, there's the story of supposed "ceasefire" that Trump gloriously announced yesterday. Never mind that Trump doesn't get points for putting out a fire he started. And Turkey said it isn't a "ceasefire." And that it's only for five days until the Kurds can leave their homeland. And that Turkey accomplished its main goal and pushed out the Kurds. And Russia is moving in, which it's wanted for 40 years. And Russia-back Syria has regained its fully territory. And ISIS now is in position to reformulate itself. And that the U.S. had to bomb its own military base. That that the U.S. withdrawal means we won't be there to oversee that the "ceasefire" isn't violated. And maybe most of all that trust in the United States honoring its word has been completely undercut. Oh, and today, just one day after being gloriously announced, the supposed "ceasefire" has already been broken. But that isn't what I want to write about today.
After all, there is Trump announcing that the next G7 Summit would be held on his own private property. Never mind the insistence that he won't make any money from it because it will all be done "at cost" -- the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution says that the president cannot accept any money from foreign sources, not that he simply can't profit from receiving their money. And never mind that even if there turns out to be any profit and it's donated to charity -- no doubt he'd declare a tax write-off for that, and all the publicity and attention to his resort will be added value. And never mind that it was said that the "Trump brand" is so popular he doesn't need the P.R. -- records show the value of this one property alone lost $9 million over a three-year period. And never mind that at its foundation, regardless of what he does with the money afterwards, Trump is requiring that world leaders pay him to stay at his property for the Summit. And never mind the utter foolishness and hubris of so blatantly breaking the emoluments clause in the midst of an impeachment hearing and causing a humanitarian and national security crisis, like you want to shine a light at, "Look at how corrupt me and my administration are in case you are on the edge of thinking I should be impeached and convicted!" But that isn't what I want to write about today. No, today, I want to write about acting-Chief of State Mick Mulvaney. It was just an amazing performance he gave yesterday. Almost operatic in its depth of cluelessness and empty gall. Something remarkable to watch as he crashed and burned before your eyes -- made all the more remarkable because he seemed to come across like he was sure he was owning the room and all the stupid people there and watching on TV. As I wrote elsewhere, Mick Mulvaney isn't stupid in the classic sense, but terminally arrogant. And unfortunately for him that often manifests itself in deeply stupid ways. As we saw so majestically today. No matter how much Mick Mulvaney wants to move the goalposts from the Bidens to the 2016 election and the mythical "server" (which, again, is not "missing," it's in the DNC offices where it's always been) -- and no matter how much he wants to redefine the concept of quid pro quo, he was admitting on the record to things Trump not only has repeatedly denied, but denying things that Trump has said in public and that are also in the summary memo the White House released. That's a high hurdle to cross - especially when he himself may actually be a conspirator in it all. To admit that this was a quid pro quo (but a perfectly fine one...) is to ignore the countless times Trump has insisted vehemently on camera that there was NO quid pro quo. And to deny what Trump has said on camera and is in the White House summary memo is the believe that no one has heard the president repeat himself or has read what was published in most every newspaper and on most every news website. That's a wall that is so near-impossible to get over that if Trump could build something like that, it might be the kind of structure he should propose for the U.S.-Mexican border. It wouldn't only keep out Mexicans from the U.S. but also aliens from outer space. You know Mulvaney's smarmy "Get over it!" speech was a disaster when Republicans began slamming it in horror, and then even he had to come back later and try to explain that what he said in great detail he didn't actually apparently say. The problem, of course, is that he did actually say it, and it's on video in glorious Technicolor. And we haven't even gotten deeply into the matter of him trying to convince people that Trump's shakedown call to the Ukraine president wasn't really about Joe Biden, but rather the 2016 election and a mythical "missing server" that actually sits right where it always has in DNC headquarters. Never mind, too, that we've all heard Trump ranting about the Bidens and we've all read the White House summary memo about him talking about the Bidens. Mind you, I do understand why Mick Mulvaney and Trump want people to think the call wasn't really all that much about the Bidens, since there's no evidence they did anything wrong and Trump's conspiracy to involve Ukraine with Rudy Giuliani, his indicted henchman, and U.S. ambassadors now spilling the beans to Congress is what specifically brought about the impeachment hearings. But wanting to film-flam people into thinking that what they see and hear and know isn't so is really difficult when they see and hear and know it all. You can't move the goalposts when the Democrats in the House of Representatives are sitting on them and investigating your every move. The only real question to come out of Mick Mulvaney's press conference is how long the acting-Chief of Staff will have his job. And yes, again, all of that was yesterday. What kind of a day was it? A day like any other -- except, you are there.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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