Right click on link, then click on "Search google" to listen to Gaia's poignant self-produced video about her wonderful father, my dear friend, Peter Liotta: https://youtube/PRjXezg2cQ8
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Caroline Glick on Trump's treasonous behaviour.
Remember when the recalled French Ambassador was at a private dinner in London and referred to Israel as that "s----- little country." Far too many European elites feel the same way abut America and are using Trump's crudeness as a ruse to express similar sentiments. (See 1 and 1a below.)
And:
Slimier and slimier. (See 1b below.)
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Is anyone left in Congress who can pass a decency test? (See 2 below.)
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Bret Stephens does a parody on "Hellsink."
Bret burned his bridges and welcome at The Wall Street Journal and took his message/column to The New York Times and a new audience. He has serious misgivings about Trump, much in the vein of George Will. (See 3 below.)
Elitism remain alive and well at The NYT's.: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/
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Dick
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1)
Who is betraying America?
By CarolineGlick
Did US President Donald Trump commit treason in Helsinki when he met Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin? Should he be impeached?
That is what his opponents claim. Former president Barack Obama’s CIA director John Brennan accused Trump of treason outright.
Brennan tweeted, “Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki [with Putin] rises to and exceeds the threshold of ‘high crimes and misdemeanors.’ It was nothing short of treasonous.”
Brennan tweeted, “Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki [with Putin] rises to and exceeds the threshold of ‘high crimes and misdemeanors.’ It was nothing short of treasonous.”
Fellow senior Obama administration officials, including former FBI director James Comey, former defense secretary Ashton Carter, and former deputy attorney general Sally Yates parroted Brennan’s accusation.
Almost the entire US media joined them in condemning Trump for treason.
Democratic leaders have led their own charge. Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen from Tennessee insinuated the US military should overthrow the president, tweeting, “Where are our military folks? The Commander-in-Chief is in the hands of our enemy!”
Senate minority leader Charles Schumer said that Trump is controlled by Russia. And Trump’s Republican opponents led by senators Jeff Flake and John McCain attacked him as well.
Trump allegedly committed treason when he refused to reject Putin’s denial of Russian interference in the US elections in 2016 and was diffident in relation to the US intelligence community’s determination that Russia did interfere in the elections.
Trump walked back his statement from Helsinki at a press appearance at the White House Tuesday. But it is still difficult to understand what all the hullaballoo about the initial statement was about.
AP reporter John Lemire placed Trump in an impossible position. Noting that Putin denied meddling in the 2016 elections and the intelligence community insists that Russia meddled, he asked Trump, “Who do you believe?”
If Trump had said that he believed his intelligence community and gave no credence to Putin’s denial, he would have humiliated Putin and destroyed any prospect of cooperative relations.
Trump tried to strike a balance. He spoke respectfully of both Putin’s denials and the US intelligence community’s accusation. It wasn’t a particularly coherent position. It was a clumsy attempt to preserve the agreements he and Putin reached during their meeting.
And it was blindingly obviously not treason.
In fact, Trump’s response to Lemire, and his overall conduct at the press conference, did not convey weakness at all. Certainly he was far more assertive of US interests than Obama was in his dealings with Russia.
In Obama’s first summit with Putin in July 2009, Obama sat meekly as Putin delivered an hour-long lecture about how US-Russian relations had gone down the drain.
As Daniel Greenfield noted at Frontpage magazine Tuesday, in succeeding years, Obama capitulated to Putin on anti-missile defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic, on Ukraine, Georgia and Crimea. Obama gave Putin free rein in Syria and supported Russia’s alliance with Iran on its nuclear program and its efforts to save the Assad regime. He permitted Russian entities linked to the Kremlin to purchase a quarter of American uranium. And of course, Obama made no effort to end Russian meddling in the 2016 elections.
TRUMP IN contrast has stiffened US sanctions against Russian entities. He has withdrawn from Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran. He has agreed to sell Patriot missiles to Poland. And he has placed tariffs on Russian exports to the US.
So if Trump is Putin’s agent, what was Obama?
Given the nature of Trump’s record, and the context in which he made his comments about Russian meddling in the 2016 elections, the question isn’t whether he did anything wrong. The question is why are his opponents accusing him of treason for behaving as one would expect a president to behave? What is going on?
The answer to that is clear enough. Brennan signaled it explicitly when he tweeted that Trump’s statements “exceed the threshold of ‘high crimes and misdemeanors.’” The unhinged allegations of treason are supposed to form the basis of impeachment hearings.
The Democrats and their allies in the media use the accusation that Trump is an agent of Russia as an elections strategy. Midterm elections are consistently marked with low voter turnout. So both parties devote most of their energies to rallying their base and motivating their most committed members to vote.
To objective observers, the allegation that Trump betrayed the United States by equivocating in response to a rude question about Russian election interference is ridiculous on its face. But Democratic election strategists have obviously concluded that it is catnip for the Democratic faithful. For them it serves as a dog whistle.
The promise of impeachment for votes is too radical to serve as an official campaign strategy. For the purpose of attracting swing voters and not scaring moderate Democrats away from the party and the polls, Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer say they have no interest in impeaching Trump. Impeachment talk, they insist, is a mere distraction.
But by embracing Brennan’s claim of treason, Pelosi, Hoyer, Schumer and other top Democrats are winking and nodding to the progressive radicals now rising in their party. They are telling the Linda Sarsours and Cynthia Nixons of the party that they will impeach Trump if they win control of the House of Representatives.
The problem with playing domestic politics on the international scene is that doing so has real consequences for international security and for US national interests.
Consider, for instance, Europe’s treatment of Trump.
Europe is economically dependent on trade with the US and strategically dependent on NATO. So why are the Europeans so open about their hatred of Trump and their rejection of his trade policies, his policy towards Iran and his insistence that they pay their fair share for their own defense?
Why did EU Council President Donald Tusk attack Trump with such contempt and condescension in Brussels? Tusk, who chairs the meetings of EU leaders, is effectively the EU president. And the day before last week’s NATO conference he chided Trump for criticizing Europe’s low defense spending.
“America,” he said with a voice dripping with contempt, “appreciate your allies. After all you don’t have that many.”
That of course, was news to the countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East that depend on America and work diligently to develop and maintain strong ties to Washington.
Leaving aside the ridiculousness of his remarks, where did Tusk get the idea that it is reasonable to speak so scornfully to an American president?
Where did EU’s foreign policy commissioner Federica Mogherini get the idea that it is okay for her to work urgently and openly to undermine legally constituted US sanctions against Iran for its illicit nuclear weapons program?
The answer of course is that they got a green light to adopt openly anti-American policies from the forces in the US that have devoted their energies since Trump’s election nearly two years ago to delegitimizing his victory and his presidency. Those calling Trump a traitor empowered the Europeans to defy the US on every issue.
Trump’s opponents’ unsubstantiated allegation that his campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 elections has constrained Trump’s ability to perform his duties.
Consider his relations with Putin.
If there is anything to criticize about Trump’s summit with Putin it is that it came too late. It should have happened a year ago. That it happened this week speaks not to Trump’s eagerness to meet Putin but to the urgency of the hour.
After securing control over the Deraa province along Syria’s border with Jordan last week, the Assad regime, supported by Iranian regime forces, Hezbollah forces and Shiite militia forces began its campaign to restore regime control over the Quneitra province along the Syrian border with Israel.
As Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and all government and military officials have stated clearly and consistently for years, Israel cannot accept Iranian presence in Syria. If Iran does not remove its forces from Syria generally and from southern Syria specifically, there will be war imminently between Israel, Iran and its Hezbollah, Shiite militia and Syrian regime allies.
Israel prefers to fight that war sooner rather than later to prevent Iran and its allies from entrenching their positions in Syria and make victory more difficult. So, in the interest of preventing such a war, Trump had no choice but to bite the political bullet and sit down to discuss Syria face to face with Putin to try to come up with a deal that would see Russia push Iran and Hezbollah out of Syria.
From what the two leaders said at their joint press conference it’s hard to know what was agreed to. But Netanyahu’s jubilant response indicates that some deal was reached.
Certainly their statements were strong, unequivocal signals to Iran. When Trump said, “The United States will not allow Iran to benefit from our successful campaign against ISIS,” he signaled strongly that US forces in eastern Syria will support Israel in a war against Iran and its allied forces in Syria just as it fought with the Kurds and its other allies in Syria against ISIS.
When Putin endorsed Israel’s position that the 1974 Syrian-Israeli disengagement agreement must be implemented along the border, he told the Iranians that in any Iranian-Israeli war in Syria, Putin will not side with Iran.
Time will tell if we just averted war. But what we did learn is that Israel’s position in a war with Iran is stronger than it could have been if the two leaders hadn’t met in Helsinki.
And this is exceedingly important.
Trump is being condemned for adopting a conciliatory tone towards Putin while employing a combative tone towards the Europeans and particularly Germany at the NATO summit. This criticism ignores how Trump operates in the international arena.
Trump views his exchanges with foreign leaders as separate engagements. He has goals he wishes to advance with China; with North Korea; with Russia; with Canada; with Mexico; with Europe; with Britain; with US Arab allies. In each separate engagement, Trump employs a combination of carrots and sticks. In each engagement he adopts a distinct manner that he believes advances his goals.
So far, unlike Obama’s foreign policy by this point in his presidency, none of Trump’s exchanges have brought disaster on America or its allies. To the contrary, America and its allies have much greater strategic maneuver room across a wide spectrum of threats and joint adversaries than they had when Obama left office.
Trump’s opponents’ obsession with bringing him down has caused great harm to his presidency and to America’s position worldwide. It is a testament to Trump’s commitment to the US and its allies that he met with Putin this week. And the success of their meeting is something that all who care about global security and preventing a devastating war in the Middle East should be grateful for.
1a)What is happening to America from within is unbelievable, heart breaking. A crazy lady on national TV tells America (the world) that our President tells an average of 9 lies each and every day!!!!! (MORE FAKE NEWS)
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July 19, 2018 – Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton discusses how FBI Director Christopher Wray defended special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.
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What is happening to America from within is unbelievable. Hell, Russia, Iran, North Korea, China are pikers at trying to destroy America, we have worse bad actors (the Left) trying and doing it from within and our own Washington Leaders can't seem to stop this destruction. It's crazy! The rest of the world must be having constant daily belly laughs watching what is going on here in America. I was worried about America being taken over by Radical Muslims, they are pikers compared to the Dark Left.
or
1b)Tucker Carlson is alleging that Mueller has offered immunity to Tony Podesta. The Daily Caller reports:
Special counsel Robert Mueller has offered Clinton-connected superlobbyist Tony Podesta immunity in order to testify against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, according to Fox News host Tucker Carlson.“Tonight we can report exclusively based on two separate sources we spoke to today that Tony Podesta has been offered immunity by Robert Mueller to testify against Paul Manafort,” reported Carlson.The Daily Caller News Foundation has not independently confirmed the report.Podesta, whose brother is Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, worked with Manafort’s consulting firm in 2012 on a project to help a Ukrainian non-profit group that supported then-Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych.
If this goes through, Congressional Republicans could ramp up pressure for a second special council to investigate Hillary’s associates’ ties to Russia.
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2)Dem Rep Accused of Shocking Sex Coverup
Rep. Rick Nolan (D-Minn.) is facing startling accusations today that put his already-tough path to re-election in doubt.
The Congressman reportedly helped cover up sexual harassment allegations against his former legislative director – and alleged serial predator – Jim Swiderski.
The Washington Free Beacon reports:
MinnPost spoke to eight former employees in Nolan's office; three had specific harassment allegations against Swiderski, including repeated groping. The other five former employees provided corroborating details.
Nolan allowed Swiderski to resign in the summer of 2015 and tell colleagues he was looking for new opportunities rather than make him face formal disciplinary consequences.
Months later, Swiderski was hired to work on Nolan's re-election campaign.
The staffers contacted by MinnPost remain "disturbed" over how Nolan handled the situation, but Nolan's chief of staff Jodie Torkelson claimed responsibility for all personnel decisions in the congressman's federal office.
With Nolan's chief of staff prepared to fall on her proverbial sword, it's possible the embattled Congressman could survive these salacious charges.
Only time will tell.
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3)
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin conferred privately in Helsinki, Finland, on Monday, with only interpreters present. Since then, speculation has been rife about the content of their discussion. The New York Times has obtained a transcript of the conversation, published below.
3)
By Bret StephensWhen Donald Met Vladimir: The Transcript
Guidance from a like-minded leader.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin conferred privately in Helsinki, Finland, on Monday, with only interpreters present. Since then, speculation has been rife about the content of their discussion. The New York Times has obtained a transcript of the conversation, published below.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++President Trump: Your Excellency.President Putin: Donald.President Trump: I’ve got to be honest with you, Vladimir, if you don’t mind, I really could use some good news out of our meeting today. I’m getting absolutely killed for sticking it to Theresa May in England the other day.President Putin: Not like Alexander Litvinenko and Dawn Sturgess were absolutely killed, Donald. You may put your mind at rest. We consider your visit in Europe to be a great success.President Trump: Glad you think so. Sorry if I was a little rough on Angela about all the money Germany is going to give Russia through that Nord Stream gas pipeline of yours.President Putin: On the contrary, this was an extremely clever ploy, which impressed us greatly. We were concerned by anti-Gazprom — excuse me, anti-Russia — sentiment in Germany recently. But when you of all people criticize the pipeline, you force Berlin to support it is as a matter of national pride and principle! This is the essence of tradecraft: to convince those whom you seek to manipulate that they are thinking and acting for themselves.President Trump: I see. It’s like reverse psychology or something. Just like what we did with Trump University, make these morons think they were going to learn the secrets of my real-estate success!President Putin: Not exactly, Donald. That was outright fraud.President Trump: Hey, speaking of fraud, you know the fake news keeps saying you helped me win the election. And my guys are telling me you interfered somehow, and it makes my victory look tainted. I’m really sorry to bother you about this again, but they said I had to raise the subject with you. What do you say?President Putin: Donald, it is like what your President Lincoln once said: You can fool some of the people all the time and all of the people some of the time — but if you can discredit independent media, control state media, and inject enough dezinformatsiya in social media, you can fool almost all the people all the time. The rest you kill.But, in answer to your question: No.President Trump: I believe you Vladimir, I really do. Like, no offense, but I didn’t need you to beat crooked Hillary!President Putin: Certainly not, Donald. Mr. Comey’s timely intervention was more than sufficient. May we also say how much we admire how you have discredited the F.B.I. and the rest of your so-called deep state? To rally your supporters and confound your opponents by conjuring imaginary enemies is a method we have profitably employed for over a century, most recently in Ukraine.We are pleased to see you now use the same technique with your European allies.President Trump: Oh, they’re the worst! So full of airs and condescending. And we keep picking up the check! It’s like being married to Zsa Zsa Gabor or someone: You pay for everything; next thing you know she dumps you and keeps the house. No thanks!President Putin: An apt comparison, Donald. Truly you and all American taxpayers are being swindled. And, if we may ask, for what? With so much immigration, Europeans are not even European anymore. Did you know that NATO’s newest member, Montenegro, is almost the most Muslim country in the alliance, except of course for Turkey?President Trump: I did not know that!President Putin: It’s true. Yet your predecessor, Mr. Obama, invited them to join NATO, and they slipped in behind your back at the beginning of your term. Just imagine, young American troops, God forbid, might have to fight World War III to defend this tiny country of too many Muslims.President Trump: Not on my watch! It’s not like any of these little countries do jack for our security.President Putin: You might say the same about Estonia, for example, and other faraway countries of which, if you may permit us to say, you know nothing.President Trump: Couldn’t find them on a map, frankly.President Putin: Donald, we have the same goals. We want to defend the great Christian civilization of your Scottish and German ancestors against barbarians from the southlands. Yet we are being stabbed, stabbed in the back, by the exact same people! I mean global capitalists like George Soros and Bill Browder and he-women like Hillary and Merkel and feminized men like Barack Obama who have no will to fight!We must turn to face these backstabbers, Donald, not let the deep state manipulate us into fighting each other.President Trump: You have to come to Washington to deliver this message in person, Vladimir.President Putin: Oh, Donald, I thought you would never ask.Bret L. Stephens joined The Times as an Op-Ed columnist in 2017 after a long career with The Wall Street Journal, where he was deputy editorial page editor and a foreign affairs columnist. Before that he was the editor in chief of The Jerusalem Post. @BretStephensNYT • Facebook
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