Everyone deserves a second chance.  Even MSNBC. Last night, in the wake of Comrade Trump’s major defeat on a flagship issue, I ventured back to MSNBC to see how the network was covering this event.  At that moment, Greta van Susteren was interviewing CNBC political analyst John Harwood. At the 38 minute 31 second mark in the show’s transcript, the following exchange takes place.

Van Susteren: I thought he was rather humble.

Harwood: Well, he’s been humbled.

Van Susteren: I was surprised by that.  I thought he looked quite presidential taking that defeat.

Harwood:  But he deflected blame on the Democrats.

Van Susteren: There was that.

As Maya Angelou reminds us, “When people show you who they are, believe them.”  In a single moment, Susteren demonstrated both her innate willingness to put a positive spin on Trump’s political defeat, revealing how tough it is to cure Fox News syndrome even after you leave the infection zone, and her complete lack of understanding what it means to be presidential.

The best evidence His Orangeness knew he was behind the eight ball were his personally initiated calls to two entities he had previously labelled “enemies of the people,” the Washington Post and the New York Times.”  The message was clear.  This is not my fault.  The Democrats are to blame.  In the Times call, he also expressed his frustration with the House Freedom Caucus ( i.e. members elected with Tea Party support).

This is just the latest of many instances during the first 64 days, Comrade Trump has shifted blame or responsibility to anyone other than himself.  The Muslim ban.  Flynn firing.  Sessions lying during his confirmation hearing.

We all need to pay attention as these are only the opening acts.  The main event is, and should continue to be, Trump campaign and White House ties to Russia. The blame game has already started.  Obama’s deep state.  Leakers.  And yesterday a new conspiracy theory from the originators of the Lee Harvey Oswald/Rafael Cruz bro-mance.  The new issue of the National Enquirer includes the following headline.  “Trump Catches Russia’s White House Spy!”  And it turns out to be none other than (drum roll) former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

As former Navy intelligence officer Malcolm Nance warned us, “The target is getting buggy.”  The National Enquirer was a consistent mouthpiece for the Trump campaign, not surprising considering the long-time friendship between Trump and the tabloid’s CEO Dylan Howard.  Occam’s razor (the best explanation is the simplest) leads one to the conclusion the most likely reason the White House is willing to put this on Flynn is they would rather admit they hired a Russian spy as national security adviser (so much for extreme vetting) than take responsibility for what might emerge from the FBI investigation and congressional inquiries.

House and Senate Democrats proclaimed the TrumpCare defeat as “a great day for America.”  In reality, the true winner was none other than Harry S. Truman.  If you think Barack Obama looks more presidential in the rear view mirror, look again.  Truman is in clear focus.  Greta, when Trump puts a sign on his desk that says, “The Ruble Stops Here” then you can spin it as presidential.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

Does the name Alfred E. Lewis ring a bell?  Probably not.  Yet it was under his by-line the Washington Post reported the June 17, 1972 arrest of five individuals at the Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate office complex.  The opening paragraph stated:

Five men, one of whom said he is a former employee of the Central Intelligence Agency, were arrested at 2:30 a.m. yesterday in what authorities described as an elaborate plot to bug the offices of the Democratic National Committee here. Three of the men were native-born Cubans and another was said to have trained Cuban exiles for guerrilla activity after the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion. (Washington Post, June 18, 1972)

The following day, the Post publishes the first story written by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein which made the initial connection between the burglars and the Committee to Reelect the President (CREEP).

One of the five men arrested early Saturday in the attempt to bug the Democratic National Committee headquarters is the salaried security coordinator for President Nixon’s reelection committee. (Washington Post, June 19, 1972)

Between June 19 and Nixon’s reelection on November 7, just three more Woodward/Bernstein articles made it into the Post.  With Nixon having garnered 60 percent of the popular vote and 508 electoral votes, Watergate appeared to be a footnote in American history.  It was not until May 19, 1973 that the Senate Watergate Committee began its nationally televised hearings.

I share this historical record as context for the coming days.  Yesterday was just the beginning of the saga to determine whether Donald J. Trump is guilty of treason (the only logical conclusion if, in fact, there was collusion between his campaign and Russian operatives) or whether the as yet unconnected dots are a series of possible, but highly improbable, unrelated coincidences.  (NOTE:  Nance’s Law, named after its originator former Navy intelligence officer Malcolm Nance, states, “Coincidence takes a lot of planning.”)

Yesterday was a good day for the resistance.  FBI Director James Comey, in what might be viewed as his mea culpa, first confirmed Trump and his campaign were under criminal investigation for their ties to and possible coordination with Russian government officials and operatives during the 2016 presidential campaign. Second, Comey and NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers confirmed His Orangeness is better suited to be a radio talk show purveyor of conspiracy hogwash than president of the United States.

There will also be bad days.  The White House will continue to feed its base false narratives.  The former president wiretapped Trump Tower (Trump Tweet, March 4, 2017). Paul Manafort played “only a very limited role on the campaign” (Sean Spicer Press Briefing, March 20, 2017).  Executive privilege will be invoked.  Trump will challenge the FBI’s or any congressional committee’s request to see his tax returns, an issue that is more than likely to end up in the Supreme Court as did access to the Watergate tapes.

And Comey is right when he says this may take a long time.  Human error is not an option.  Any inaccuracy, as evidenced by the White House’s vitriolic response to the New York Times use of the term “intelligence officers” instead of the more accurate “Russian operatives,” gives undeserved credence to the “fake news” meme spouted daily by Trump and his surrogates.

There will be bad days when the media takes it eye off the ball to report on some other story they believe is equally important.  (Is it time to re-watch the Dustin Hoffman/Robert de Niro film Wag the Dog?)There will be bad days when progress on the investigation seems non-existent.  And there will be days when Trump’s ardent supporters will remind us there is no “smoking gun,” only circumstantial evidence.  That was the same defense Nixon supporters used in 1972 and 1973.

Last night, John Dean, legal council to Richard Nixon during Watergate and who’s damning testimony before the Senate Watergate Committee on June 2,  1972  was a pivotal event in unveiling the cover-up, was asked by MSNBC host Chris Hayes for his take on House Intelligence Committee hearing.

They’re just starting to unravel things that were rumbling in the press.  So, it is not a pinnacle moment. It’s just a preliminary moment.  I was more stunned by the reaction of the White House.and their handling of it, which seemed to be over the top.

They are in a cover-up mode.  There is absolutely no question about that.

And John Dean should know. As he told Chris Hayes:

I’ve been inside a cover-up.  I know how they look and feel.  Every signal they’re sending is ‘we’re covering this up.’  Experienced investigators know this.  They know how people react when they’re being pursued.  This White House is not showing its innocence; they’re showing how damn guilty they are.

There is a certain irony that this first official notification of the FBI investigation came one day after the death of New York Daily News journalist and author Jimmy Breslin.  In his book How the Good Guys Finally Won, Breslin chronicles the process by which members of Congress, at great risk to their careers and reputations, opted to challenge a sitting president.  Ronald Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan wrote in her Wall Street Journal review, “A spirited recounting of how people better than Richard Nixon brought him down.”

American’s soul has been tested recently, but the final accounting, as always, will depend on individuals of conscience who courageously and meticulously approach the task before them.  And, if and when, the evidence requires judicial or congressional action, I believe these individuals (people better than Donald J. Trump) will heed their better angels as when the Supreme Count unanimously rejected Nixon’s claim of executive privilege and ordered the White House to turn over the oval office tapes?

So, if you believe in America and the principle of law, that belief must be unconditional.  There are days when it will be tested.  But it should never be abandoned.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP