June 11-16, 2017: Life in Trumpistan - Jobs Added, Witches Hunted, Creepy Cabinet Meetings

 

6/11/17: As usual, Trump has a bee in his bonnet – or under that weird shock of swept-back orange hair. He tweets:

 

“The #FakeNews MSM doesn’t report the great economic news since Election Day. #DOW up 16%. #NASDAQ up 19.5%. Drilling & energy sector...”

 

“...way up. Regulations way down. 600,000+ new jobs added. Unemployment down to 4.3%. Business and economic enthusiasm way up - record levels!”

 

This good news is being reported. By the end of the June the Bureau of Labor Statistics will note that under Trump, 1,081,000 jobs have been added to the economy in the first six months of 2016. 

These numbers, duly noted by the mainstream media every month, are almost as good as the numbers for the last six months of 2016, when, under Obama, 1,254,000 jobs were added.

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6/12/17: For once, as the sun sets over the White House, Orange Leader is content. Today he presided over a cabinet meeting for the ages. Sure, it had a creepy, Kim Jong-un kind of feel. 

But such praise for Orange Leader! 

Vice President Jesus kicked off the lovefest. “The greatest privilege of my life is to serve as vice president to the president who’s keeping his word to the American people,” Mr. Pence opined. Next up was Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta: “I am privileged to be here – deeply honored – and I want to thank you for your commitment to the American workers.” Sonny Perdue took his turn. The Secretary of Agriculture said he had a message from Mississippi, from whence he had just returned. “They love you there,” he assures Orange Leader. He thanks him for his greatness, and congratulates him for selecting so much other greatness, “the men and women you have gathered around this table.” 

Reince Priebus sums it up, “We thank you for the opportunity to serve your agenda.” (See: 7/29/17.) 

In a glow of pleasure, Trump decides to talk about his favorite subject. Has there ever been a greater president? he asks. He can’t think of one. Oh, maybe FDR did more in the first months of his first term, but no one else is close.

Trump loves to hear about Trump.

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6/13/17: Trump surrogates spend the week floating the idea that the president may fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller. 

__________ 

“His reputation is impeccable for honesty and integrity.” 

Newt Gingrich

__________ 

 

Newt Gingrich, known for lying to his wives and getting kicked out as Speaker of the House due to ethics violations, attacks Mueller. “Republicans are delusional if they think the special counsel is going to be fair.” 

This is odd. A month earlier, Gingrich tweeted: “Robert Mueller is superb choice to be special counsel. His reputation is impeccable for honesty and integrity. Media should now calm down.”

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6/14/17: Trump takes a fresh look at the healthcare plan passed by Republicans in the House of Representatives (See: 5/4/17.)  

Now he calls it “mean.” 

Displaying his typical lack of understanding of policy details, he insists the Senate “should add some money to it.” (See: 6/28/17.)

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6/15/17: It turns out not everyone in the world loves Donald J. Trump, self-proclaimed best president ever (possibly excepting FDR, but, yes, way better than Washington and Lincoln). 

Great Britain has placed on hold a plan to host a state visit for the president. Why? After all, Theresa May, visited Washington D.C. Now, The Guardian reports, Trump is worried about his image. 

He won’t come to Britain if he’s going to have to face large-scale demonstrations. A British reporter explains: 

Some may be surprised by this. From the violence and menace that became features of his ugly campaign, it was easy to assume that he liked a bit of edge at his public appearances. But on those occasions, he knew he would always have the support of far-right thugs and hangers-on who could drown out dissent and, if need be, throw a few punches at protesters, passers-by, anyone who would dare to question him. That intimidation, unprecedented in recent history, would have been more difficult to replicate here; he could hardly bring his street fighters with him. There are only so many seats on Air Force One.

 

The HeraldScotland piles on the “Fake News” with a similar anti-Trump story headlined “Victory for ‘people power’ as Trump puts UK Visit on Hold.” (See: 6/27/17.)

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6/16/17: The president fumes and tweets. This time the target of his wrath is Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. “I’m being investigated for firing the FBI director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director!” In case his loyal followers miss it, he adds: “Witch Hunt.” 

For anyone who can remember what happened a month ago, this tweet makes sense only if we ignore the fact the president was going to fire Comey regardless. (See: 5/11/17.)

April 14, 2018: Tragically Confused - Should the Blogger Believe Trump, or Comey, Rosenstein and Mueller?

 

4/14/18: I admit I am tragically confused. I am having the devil of a time deciding whom I can trust. Do I put my faith in President Payoff, his personal lawyer and Lou Dobbs? (See: 4/12/18.) 

Or should I believe people like Rod Rosenstein and Robert Mueller, who are overseeing an investigation into possible crimes committed by President Payoff and some of his pals? 

____________________ 

“Untethered to the truth.” 

Former F.B.I. head James Comey, describing Mr. Trump

____________________ 

 

Apparently, if you want to get paid to keep your mouth shut the man to see is Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. We now know Cohen has been involved in at least four payoffs so far.   

First, he worked out a deal to silence porn actress Stormy Daniels, who had a one-night stand with Trump. Cost: $130,000. 

Second, Cohen helped broker a deal to silence Karen McDougal, the Playboy Bunny who claims a ten-month affair with Trump. Cost: $150,000. 

Third, the doorman came cheap. Cost: $30,000. (He is said to have known about a housekeeper Citizen Trump impregnated.) 

Fourth, the whopper of all hush money payoffs, coughed up, not to help Trump, but allegedly paid by one of the top fund raisers for the Republican National Committee. This payoff went to silence a second Playboy Bunny. 

Cost: $1.6 million!! 

According to the Wall Street Journal, Cohen may also have stepped in several years back to squelch a developing story involving Donald J. Trump, Jr. 

In 2013 US Weekly had a credible source alleging an affair between Jr. and Aubrey O’Day. When writers called the Trump Organization for comment, Cohen went ballistic and threatened to sue. He would sue the magazine. He would sue the reporters. He would sue their mothers and their household pets. Was money paid perhaps to Ms. O’Day, also, to keep her quiet? (See: 3/29/18.) 

No one knows.

 

What lessons can we glean from the settlements above? I think we can all agree this proves the Republican Party is still the party of “family values.” At least none of these payoffs went to lesbians or gays! Standards, right! Should that doorman have held out for a bigger payday? Again, I think we can say he sold his story cut-rate. And do we know? Could that pregnant housekeeper, like so many domestics in America, have been an undocumented worker? 

We know Trump’s top advisers and rejected cabinet nominees have a shown a fondness for undocumented types. 

We know Trump loves hiring the undocumented, as well.

 

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SO, WHOM SHOULD I TRUST, in the context of the Russia investigation? Former F.B.I head James Comey, who said this week that Trump was a person “untethered to the truth?” Or Trump, man of multiple hush money payments, who cheated on his first wife, cheated on his second, and cheated on his third with – at minimum – Daniels, McDougal and possibly the maid? 

Can I believe the president when he calls Comey a “slimeball” and labels Rosenstein and Mueller “lowlifes?” 

Or would I be wise to distrust Trump? 

It turns out the fourth payoff went to a Bunny impregnated by Elliott Broidy. Broidy was (until the news hit Friday) a major fund-raiser for Trump and deputy finance chair for the Republican National Committee. A current member of that committee, perhaps not for long, is Michael Cohen. A third pillar of conservative respectability and the finance chairman for the RNC was Stephen Wynn. Wynn has exited after multiple women came forward to accuse him of forcing them to have sex. This included one victim who turned up pregnant but was paid $7.5 million to take a long hike. 

In searching for truth, how can a simple blogger and concerned citizen separate the sheep from the sex-crazed goats? Broidy was vice chairman of Trump’s inaugural committee. Last October, Broidy and Trump met at the White House to discuss subjects of interest to the United Arab Emirates, for whom Broidy sometimes works. Leaders of the U.A.E. hoped Trump would fire Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (which he soon did) because they felt he was too friendly with their neighbor and rival Qatar. 

Then the U.A.E. signed a deal with Circinus, L.L.C., Broidy’s security company, and paid out at least $200 million. 

At the time, Broidy was working closely with George Nader, an adviser to the U.A.E. Nader, a Lebanese American businessman, was once charged with child pornography in the U.S. but dodged conviction on a technicality. Then he got convicted in the Czech Republic and spent a year in the slammer. Nader recently made news again when stopped by F.B.I. agents at the Boston airport, and slapped with a subpoena. He promptly began cooperating with the Mueller investigation. 

There are allegations, as yet unproven, that Nader may have steered Emirati cash to…of course…the Trump campaign in 2016.

 

I tell you. How do I decide? Trust Trump? Trust Comey and Mueller and Rosenstein and guys like that? 

Maybe this will help. 

Broidy has been in the headlines before, although not for anything as titillating as banging a Playboy Bunny at a high per-bang rate. In 2009 he was forced to plead guilty when it was proven he made at least $1 million in illegal gifts to New York State officials in order to win a $250 million pension fund deposit for an investment firm he oversaw. According to The New York Times those gifts included “trips to Israel and Italy, payouts to official’s relatives and girlfriends and an investment in one official’s relative’s production of a low-budget movie called Chooch.” 

Now, to make my decision all the more difficult, on Friday, the RNC (yes, the same crew who brought you all kinds of sexual abuse), kicked off a campaign to prove James Comey is the liar who threatens America most. 

Here’s a screenshot of the RNC link: 

 

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FINALLY, GUESS WHO may in fact have taken a trip to Prague in 2016, as reported in the Steele dossier, the dossier which according to everyone who ever worked for Trump is filled with lies? 

Hint #1: This man once claimed, “I have never been to Prague in my life.” 

Hint #2: Christopher Steele, who compiled the dossier, said sources warned him this man who traveled in secret to Prague was involved in a conspiracy to coordinate ties with the Russians to help the Trump campaign. 

According to McClatchy, Mueller’ team has uncovered evidence that Michael Cohen traveled first to Germany. This would show up on his passport. He then crossed the Czech Republic border by train, which would not. 

Again, my dilemma is clear. If Mueller has evidence Cohen was in Prague and Cohen says he was never in Prague, who do I believe??? The guy in charge of paying off porn stars, or the former head of the F.B.I. and a decorated war hero? That would be the guy once confirmed by a U.S. Senate vote of 100-0. Did you know the U. S. Senate could agree, 100-0 on any topic, including: If an asteroid the size of Sri Lanka was speeding toward Planet Earth and NASA could launch a rocket to stop it, NASA should? 

Well, in Mueller’s case, they did.

 

* 

I SUPPOSE the enablers at Fox News might argue that Trump and the RNC crew salvaged a fig leave of dignity when Broidy went to great pains to point out, even though the Bunny he impregnated decided to have an abortion, it was her decision. Not his. “At the end of our relationship,” he said, “this woman shared with me that she was pregnant. She alone decided that she did not want to continue with the pregnancy [emphasis added] and I offered to help her financially during this difficult period.” 

So, I guess the only question left would be: What happened to the pregnant Trump housekeeper? Did she keep her baby? If so, is there another little Trumpling out there somewhere, running around? 

If the housekeeper were undocumented, could the little tyke be DACA-eligible? Or did the housekeeper abort?

 

BLOGGER’S NOTE (2/4/20): The allegation that Cohen traveled to Prague has never been proven; and while he later admitted to numerous crimes, he continued to deny he had visited the Czech Republic for such purposes.

 

BLOGGER’S NOTE #2: (12/13/20): By the time this saga is completed, Broidy will have pled guilty to conspiracy, Nader will cop a plea and get ten years in prison, and Cohen will rack up an impressive eight felonies and get sent to jail.