Puppet Is Too Polite

By the time of the pre-election debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump it was already clear that there was something wrong with the relationship between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. And when Hillary Clinton pointed that out by calling Trump Putin's puppet the Donald denied it. “NO puppet,” he said. “You're the puppet.” It is the same tattered tactic Trump always employs; he always accuses his critics of doing what he is being called out for doing. It is doubtful that Trump's attempted verbal jujitsu actually fooled anyone in this instance, but there were obviously enough people who did not care about his fawning over the Russian dictator to allow Trump to win the election.

Now Trump has displayed such a disturbing subservience to Putin that it is causing normally cautious people to question Trump's loyalty to the United States! What I am talking about is the joint press conference with Trump and Putin at Helsinki in which Trump publicly accepted Putin's denials in the face of every one of our intelligence agencies saying that Russia has and still is attacking our electoral system. And no, those agencies did not say they “think” Russia hacked Trump's opponents and weaponized the contents of the purloined files; instead they definitively stated that Russians (both in the military and civilians) participated in the hacking and other subversive efforts to help get Trump elected. It should be noted here that the indictment of members of the Russian military for this attack is convincing evidence that Putin is lying. Saying that members of the Russian military were not involved or acted on their own without Putin's knowledge defies credulity in light of the detail and evidence presented in the indictment.

The press conference referred to above was preceded by a private meeting between Trump and Putin. The fact that this meeting was private, with interpreters being the only ones other than Trump and Putin present, was of great concern to America's diplomats and security personnel, and with good reason. Trump prepared for that meeting by doing things he knew would greatly please Putin -- things like criticizing NATO and the EU and insulting both British Prime Minister, Theresa May and German Chancellor, Angela Merkle. It does not take a genius to figure out why this pleases Putin? Vladimir Putin calls the dissolution of the Soviet Union a great tragedy, and he is determined to restore it. Harry Truman established and promoted NATO, the Marshall plan, and trade agreements between the European countries and members of NATO as a defense against threats posed by what Ronald Reagan described as the “evil [Soviet] empire.” In that regard Putin sees the military alliance of NATO and the prosperity of the European Union nations as a grave threat to his ambitions. The very frightening thing about the private meeting is that we do not know what agreements were reached or what Trump promised to Putin. What we do know is that the press conference following the meeting was a puppet show featuring a smirking Vladimir Putin pulling Donald Trump's strings right there in front of everyone. I was an embarrassing and appalling spectacle. The fact that Putin can pull Trumps strings should scare the hell out of everyone who values freedom!

Pundits are at a loss to explain what many have called this bromance between Trump and Putin. We keep hearing that Trump is insecure and emotionally immature. We keep hearing that he has no intellectual curiosity and is very ignorant and naive. We keep hearing that he cannot admit that the Russians attacked our electoral system because doing so might make people question the legitimacy of his election. All of those contentions are probably true, but they leave a lot to be desired in regard to explaining why Trump is acting like Putin's man ho. And yes, I do mean man ho! Calling Trump a puppet is far too polite and describes the what but not the why. I have a one word explanation for the why, and that word is, “Corruption.” Trump has been bought and paid for!

I know what I wrote in the preceding paragraph may seem too harsh, but we cannot ignore Trump's unsavory reputation as a businessman, his refusal to produce his tax returns, and his refusal to divest himself of businesses that create conflicts of interest. When American banks responded to Trump stiffing them by refusing to loan him or any of his companies any money, Trump turned to Russian Oligarchs for his financing. Many of his financial dealings with those oligarchs and the banks controlled or influenced by those oligarchs are very suspicious, many people even say shady. In light of those shady dealings I believe the most cogent explanation for Trump's panic over the Mueller investigation is that that investigation is likely to uncover the festering corruption that is making Trump work against the best interests of this country and its allies. Why else would Trump purposely weaken our ability to defend ourselves by attacking the credibility of the FBI and all of our other intelligence agencies while undermining the European Union and NATO?

Whether you agree me or not in regard to Trump's motives, there is one thing that is irrefutable: the only choice the Republican Party now gives us is between the worst government Putin can buy and a government minus Trump and the Republican diapers covering his ass. Wake up America! Our economy and our democracy have been placed in grave peril by a corrupt president, a feckless Republican Party, and a vicious adversary! If you do not vote to replace the soiled diapers covering Trump's ass with Democrats who will hold Trump in check and protect the very legitimate and necessary investigation Mueller is conducting do not complain about the corruption, the economy, or the fact that America is giving up its influence in the world and its well recognized greatness. By the way, how do like the price you are now receiving for your soy beans and other farm products?