Private Mars Rocket II

Yet More Trump

Thu, 17 Oct 2019 13:38:27 GMT

I've said a lot about Trump as of late, but every time I think he hits bottom he keeps digging. At the moment I'm starting to be concerned about his mental health. To wit:

1) Regardless of the merits of our involvement in Syria, our rapid pullout and abandonment of our allies was stupid. Is he really all there mentally?

2) The letter he sent to Turkish president reads like schoolyard taunts from a not-very-bright fifth grader. This is not to mention that if he didn't want Turkey in Syria he could have just left the handful of US troops there and been done with it. Is he really all there mentally?

3) On the subject of said letter, who in their right mind would think releasing the letter was a good idea? Is he really all there mentally?

4) The wife of a US diplomat killed a British teenager in a car accident. Given the Britain has good courts and is a staunch ally, one would think it would be a no-brainer to order her back to Britain for a trial. Instead Trump tries to stage some cut-rate Jerry Springer reconciliation on camera. Is he really all there mentally?

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Trump

Wed, 09 Oct 2019 13:23:18 GMT

Yesterday, Trump's lawyers sent a letter to Congress regarding the impeachment process. On Sunday, Trump announced we were pulling out of Syria. I have thoughts.

On Impeachment

1) Trump's letter repeated the claim his call with the Ukrainians was "perfectly good." Yeah, not so much.

2) The letter demanded that the House follow various procedures, including giving subpoena power to the Republican minority. The thing is the only requirement of the House is to vote articles of impeachment to the Senate. How they get to that is up to them.

3) Regarding subpoena power - the former Republican House and the current Republican Senate had or have subpoena power. They didn't and aren't using it. Maybe they know the people they call aren't going to say what Trump would like them to say?

4) The letter basically dares Congress to vote on an inquiry. If they do, much of Trump's already-scanty legal cover goes away. Calmer heads would have just stuck with not cooperating. But Trump is not calm, and his followers really want a fight. It looks like they'll get one.

On Syria

1) I was not particularly in favor of our getting involved in Syria. However, once you get involved, just jumping out with no planning or notice is as bad or worse than jumping in.

2) Given Trump's economic interests, it's hard not to wonder if the pull-out was intended to help grease the skids on Trump Tower Turkey.

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Impeachment

Wed, 25 Sep 2019 13:45:44 GMT

The Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy called and said I had to write an article on impeachment. (BTW, I'm still waiting for the check for the last time they called.) So herewith, thoughts:

1) Regardless of what the Bidens did, it's an abuse of power for a sitting US President to call a foreign leader and press them to investigate US citizens. This is especially the case if those US citizens are not fugitives from justice or otherwise can't be tried in US courts.

2) Again regardless of what the Bidens did, it's an abuse of power to have your private attorney, Rudy Giuliani, work with the State Department to set up meetings to press said foreign power to conduct an investigation.

3) "But what about what they did?" is not an excuse. That excuse stopped working for me in first grade.

4) John Scalzi is on-point about the political calculus on why the Democrats were slow-walking impeachment. Basically, it's highly unlikely Pelosi will get enough Republican Senators to vote to remove Trump from office. But if the Senate doesn't vote to remove with these allegations, it will be clearly partisan politics.

5) Various alt-right types are cackling that the Democrats have "walked into an impeachment trap." Given that to them, Trump can literally do no wrong, I'm not sure I agree. The key point here is that this is not the Clinton impeachment. We're not trying to remove somebody for cheating on his wife. This is more like Nixon, where felonies were committed to fix an election.

6) Some have speculated that Trump either wants to be impeached and/or is playing some multi-dimensional chess game to manipulate events. I am dubious. I think he is a narcissist and engaged in classic gaslighting. This is learned but semi-conscious behavior aimed at getting what the gaslighter wants done in the moment. After all, there were dozens of more subtle and more importantly less traceable ways to get the message to the Ukrainians that they needed to find dirt on the Bidens if they wanted the money.

7) Finally, I think this whole process will be slow, messy as hell and unpleasant. I am looking forward to it with all the eagerness and joy I look forward to my next colonoscopy.

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