Getting Kicked in the Asset

Once again the other day, Donald Trump tried to claim that having a good relationship with Russian president Vladimir Putin is such a really wonderful thing for the United States leader -- or as he put it, "It's known as...an ASSET."

I'm sure he totally missed the bitter irony that in the world of spies, when someone is used by a country to further that government's aims, the person is known as...an ASSET.  And here is Donald Trump, again, telling the world with great pride and zeal that he is an ASSET with Russia.

Now, to be fair, yes, there certainly are situations where it is a good thing to get along with a country that used to be an enemy.  "Used to be" being the operative term here.  If their goals have turned around and now mesh with yours -- or if they change policies and now begin to take actions that are in line with yours, then...sure, it's great that you know get a long.  But...

Oh, that "but..."  

But when the country which is your enemy stays the same and its goals that are contrary to yours stay the same and that enemy remains working throughout the world in ways that undermine yours, then -- no, it's not a good thing when you think they're your friend.  It's not a good thing at all when your enemy is happy with what you're doing.  It's actually a bad thing.  In fact, it's an extremely bad thing, awful, even dangerous.  That's not an ASSET, that's a massive problem.

If your enemy who is trying to undermine you throughout the world is happy with what you're doing...then you are doing something terribly wrong.  And it really doesn't take a lot of wisdom or insight to figure that out.  It's the kind of thing you might read on a Bazooka Joe cartoon.  Or in a fortune cookie.  "Your enemy likes what you're doing, so stop doing it."

During our lifetime, the Republican mantra was "Better Dead Than Red."  The core of the Republican-led McCarthyism was to root out Commies from not just the U.S. government but from America.  "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party" was the question asked by Republicans on the House Un-American Activities Committee, ruining people lives, putting people in jail if they wouldn't testify against friends.  Only 30 years ago, the patron saint of the Republican Party Ronald Reagan, hallowed be thy name, called Russia the "Evil Empire."  

And now Trump, the leader of today's Republican Party, is prancing around joyfully calling himself an ASSET because Russia and Vladimir Putin like him so much that they tried to manipulate the election for him.  And today's Republican Party seems to think this is a swell idea.  One wonders at what point today's Republicans stopped listening to their beloved Ronald Reagan that Russia is the "Evil Empire" and that it's better to have the support of Russia with a U.S. president who's an ASSET.

The only way Trump comes even close to being an ASSET is if you drop the E and T.