You know that someone realizes that they're in deep trouble when they go from "I made a perfect phone call" to "I didn't want to make the call, but he made me." (By the way, it's especially noteworthy when you're president of the United States, someone who famously is difficult to force to make a phone call he doesn't want to.)
The thing is, Trump's finger-pointing isn't just idiotic -- It's idiotic from any angle, including the angle where Rick Perry didn't likely force Trump to actually make the phone call about liquid natural gas. (And all the more so, by the way, since liquid natural gas isn't even mentioned once in the summary memo. Now, sure, it's possible that it got mentioned at some point in the 30-minute call, but not only was it clearly not important enough -- if it happened -- to even include reference of in the summary memo, but they likely won't be able to prove it since it doesn't seem like the White House will ever want to release the full transcript of the call.) Whether or not it's even true (which you must admit would normally seem important, but actually isn't here), what is most idiotic about the claim is that it doesn't matter at all who told Trump to make the call to the president of Ukraine about liquid natural gas. What matters -- indeed the only thing that matters -- is that Trump illegally extorted the president of Ukraine during the phone call. Something he did over the false issue of Joe Biden, and holding back military and financial aid to the country. Not liquid natural gas. I'm guessing that Rick Perry didn't tell Trump to do that. (By the way, carrying the idiocy to its next logical step, if Perry did tell Trump to do that, Trump didn't make clear if he thought it was was wrong of Perry to have done so. If it was wrong, then why on earth did Trump go ahead and do it?? However if he doesn't believe it was wrong, then why even bring it up as an excuse??) It's just idiotic angle after idiotic angle. But what might be the most idiotic unexpected consequence of Trump "claim" is that blaming Rick Perry for the call Trump says he didn't want to make not only makes Trump look incredibly weak, but most of all...it tells every cabinet member -- You Are Not Safe. It says to them that their boss, this Trump guy, is willing to throw any of his cabinet members if he thinks it will get him off the hook somehow. And they could be next. He got Vice President Mike Pence involved, and Attorney General William Barr involved, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo involved, and not dropped it all at the feet of Rick Perry. So, if you're in the cabinet, and there's anything squirrely going on at the White House, keep looking over your shoulder. To show you have I really mean it when I say this is idiotic from every angle -- the person Trump has chosen to throw under the bus for absolutely no reason or benefit, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, is scheduled to announce within days that he will be leaving the administration in months. So, it's not like Perry has any great reason to take one for the team and fall on his sword for his boss. He's going to be gone from there anyway!! And can defend himself to his heart's content. The idiocy of this near-explicable Trump claim (other than total foolishness and utter desperation) goes on and on from any angle you look at. This is not shocking. It is, however, numbing. I saw this Twitter post the other day. I thought it summed up things really well --
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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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