elections

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Donald Trump, elections, Russia, sanctions, Trump and Putin, U.S. Congress, U.S. news coverage July 26, 2017

Trump supporters, in and out of Congress, are undermining democracy and the rule of law

It pains one to say it, but Trump supporters, in and out of Congress, are undermining democracy and the rule of law.

Our “authoritarian clown” has sucked all of the oxygen out of public life, seduced perhaps 40% of the population, and wrapped himself inside and around our brains to such an extent that we can hardly think of anything else. The media, and particularly the cable media, are thriving on the Schadenfreude of their viewers as the latter watch in disbelief each day as each new outrage and each new revelation about the president’s unbelievably coarse and often apparently unlawful actions occur.

“Trump did this today,” or “Trump is going to do that,” and so goes the refrain.

But spectators are not free of moral blame. You can’t just watch his actions and decry them. Something must be done to stop him.

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Crimea, Crimes Against Humanity, Donald Trump, elections, History, International Law, Russia, sanctions, Trump and Putin, Trump-Putin meeting, U.S. Congress, use of force, Vladimir Putin July 7, 2017

“It is an honor to be with you”: Trump and Putin at G-20 in Hamburg

Trump’s statement in the presence of Putin before going into their meeting says it all: “It is an honor to be with you.”

For Trump, it is an honor to meet the military aggressor who invaded the Crimea and the eastern Ukraine in 2014….
For Trump, it is an honor to meet the leader of a country which committed barbarous war crimes in Syria, bombing hospitals and civilian infrastructure in Aleppo, for example.
There is no statute of limitations for military aggression.
The U.S. will not improve relations with Russia by trying to appease the aggressor, Vladimir Putin.
Trump has been, and remains, the first pro-Russian president of the United States at least since 1917….

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Donald Trump, elections, European Union, History, human rights, NATO, propaganda, State Department, United States May 24, 2017

The Normalization of the Unforgivable — Trump and an America which is already half lost

With Donald Trump, we have been witnessing the normalization of the unforgiveable.

The rise of an authoritarian leader in the United States, who through outrageous lies, thuggish behavior, and the assistance of a large-scale Russian intervention in the 2016 elections, became President, would be great material for a movie but in fact be unbelievable, unless of course it actually happened.

During his campaign in 2016, the transition, and now his four months in office, Donald Trump has erased the boundaries of the impermissible, the unthinkable, and the very concept of the truth itself.

Now, in 2017, we can for perhaps the first time in many decades understand what happened after 1932 with the rise of the National Socialist Parry and its leader in Germany.
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Each day they chip away a little more at our concepts of the truth, of decency, and of the bulwarks against authoritarian behaviors that exist in a democracy.
We are desensitized. The outrage is drained from our souls. We begin to make excuses for Trump and his rhinoceri.
We begin to acquiesce.

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2016 U.S. Presidential election, Crimea, Crimes Against Humanity, Donald Trump, elections, human rights, internal supporters of human rights, International Law, Russia, sanctions, State Department, U.N. Charter, Ukraine, use of force, Vladimir Putin, war crimes May 11, 2017

High crimes and misdemeanors: Flynn, Comey, and Russians in the Oval Office

After Comey’s firing, it was learned that subpoenas have been issued to Michael Flynn to produce all papers and records related to his contacts and business dealings with the Russians.

Flynn has apparently commited acts which might constitute serious crimes. If prosecuted and convicted, he could spend many years in prison. His earlier efforts to gain immunity in exchange for his testimony before Congressional committees failed.

Flynn’s testimony could be explosive. It may be the key to blowing open the conspiracy involving collusion with the Russians, if there is one. If he talks, he could bring the whole Trump charade on Russia crashing down.

Hopefully he is under very good security protection.
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Russia’s “Trump card”

Putin’s “Trump card” is already paying off. While the focus in he U.S. media has been on whether there was collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians intervening in the U.S. election, less attention has been paid to the reasons for Trump’s pro-Russian positions and failure to criticize Putin.

The strongest hypothesis for this behavior is that Trump has been compromised by the Russians. This will remain the strongest hypothesis until an alternative, more persuasive explanation is presented.