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With every week that passes, I become more and more aware of how comedians feel. I mean, whenever they may think they are about to run out of material, something happens in real life that enlightens them to think of new jokes. Although far from funny, to political scientists following events in Washington, I am beginning to believe the same thing applies - if you can't think of anything else to write about, just wait - Washington will produce the absurdity needed to inspire more thoughts. And this week did not disappoint.
Now that the calls for investigations into Trump ties to Russia actually began to heat up, Trump himself tweets what could be viewed as something more aptly found on a middle school playground. Kind of a "Oh yeah, well look what you did!" Case in point - Attorney Jeff Sessions reluctantly admitted to meeting with the Russian Ambassador (twice) during the campaign after having denied such meetings during his sworn confirmation hearings. Then Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer indicated a desire to have the Senate investigate the meeting and perhaps scrutinize Sessions for "omitting" this fact when asked at the hearing. What does the president do? He posts a picture of Schumer with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2003 on his Twitter feed, writing; "We should start an immediate investigation into @SenSchumer and his ties to Russia and Putin. A Total hypocrite!" Now that's a logical response to a real self-inflicted problem - not! So when there is mounting evidence indicating a member of Trump's inner circle may have lied or at least misled the Senate Judiciary Committee on his contacts with Russian officials during the campaign, what does the President do? He tweets a response one would expect from a sixth grader in an electronic playground spat. Schumer, sensing the president is suspect to "click bait" tweeted his response back; “Happily talk re: my contact w Mr. Putin & his associates, took place in ’03 in full view of press & public under oath. Would you & your team?” (See: www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/03/03/schumer-and-putin-shared-doughnuts-14-years-ago-now-trump-wants-an-investigation/?utm_term=.9b9dc6611332). All of this might be be funny if it wasn't so sad. We have a president engaging in immature twitter battles with his political opponents. Did Schumer strike a nerve with the president? (Side note, relations with Russia were better 14 years ago, as Putin met with President Bush at Camp David that year as well). Apples to oranges? You bet.
Then we had the bombshell from Trump (tweeting while AGAIN at his Florida country club), claiming Obama ordered secret wiretapping of Trump and his campaign offices at Trump Tower. "Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!" He went on to tweet - "Is it legal for a sitting President to be "wire tapping" a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!" And then again tweeted "How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy! (See: www.cnn.com/2017/03/04/politics/trump-obama-wiretap-tweet/).
So when the president feels threatened by virtually anything, we can expect he will lash out with what he deems an appropriate attack - except it would seem appropriate only to him and his most loyal sycophants. Typically it is usually unwise to attack former presidents, it is more unwise to attack Obama for something he could not have ordered. A wiretap requires a warrant issued by a Judge, in this case a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judge (created under the Patriot Act). Presidents alone do not have the power to order such covert actions. So where did the president get his information that supports such a claim? You guessed it. Infowars and Breitbart (that's the best you can do Mr. Bannon?). Instead of relying upon the vast network of intelligence agencies, Trump instead relies on conspiracy based fake news outlets. What makes it worse? Trump earlier in the week demanded that all leaks the media should cease using "unnamed sources" for their stories against the Administration - except now Trump does the exact same thing - citing unnamed sources outside of his "spin machine." Imagine if Trump alleges something about a foreign enemy and uses it to justify a military attack?
And for the first time, I feel compelled to inquire into Trump's mental state. Why? Because he alleges Obama is a "bad (or sick) guy!" IF Trump opens the door to a president being "Bad or Sick" then it's fair game to begin to question his motives seemingly based more on uncontrollable emotions. Just today, Schumer (yes that guy) indicated "Trump is in trouble." Schumer on Meet The Press stated; "If he falsely spread this kind of misinformation, that is so wrong. It's beneath the dignity of the presidency ... it shows this president doesn't know how to conduct himself." "If it's true, it's even worse for the president, because that means that a federal judge...has found probable cause that the president, or people on his staff ... have probable cause to have broken the law or to have interacted with a foreign agent." (See: www.politico.com/story/2017/03/schumer-trump-tapping-235696). So what gives? I guess we will have to wait and see. One thing is for sure. The GOP Congressional Leadership has to be considering how far they will let this president go promoting unfounded personal attacks (and lies) while he becomes an embarrassment not to just the party but to the presidency itself! I'm not holding my breath, but like comedy, you just can't make this stuff up!
As President Andrew Jackson once wrote; "Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error." We should expect and demand more from our presidents. Have a great week!
Now that the calls for investigations into Trump ties to Russia actually began to heat up, Trump himself tweets what could be viewed as something more aptly found on a middle school playground. Kind of a "Oh yeah, well look what you did!" Case in point - Attorney Jeff Sessions reluctantly admitted to meeting with the Russian Ambassador (twice) during the campaign after having denied such meetings during his sworn confirmation hearings. Then Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer indicated a desire to have the Senate investigate the meeting and perhaps scrutinize Sessions for "omitting" this fact when asked at the hearing. What does the president do? He posts a picture of Schumer with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2003 on his Twitter feed, writing; "We should start an immediate investigation into @SenSchumer and his ties to Russia and Putin. A Total hypocrite!" Now that's a logical response to a real self-inflicted problem - not! So when there is mounting evidence indicating a member of Trump's inner circle may have lied or at least misled the Senate Judiciary Committee on his contacts with Russian officials during the campaign, what does the President do? He tweets a response one would expect from a sixth grader in an electronic playground spat. Schumer, sensing the president is suspect to "click bait" tweeted his response back; “Happily talk re: my contact w Mr. Putin & his associates, took place in ’03 in full view of press & public under oath. Would you & your team?” (See: www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/03/03/schumer-and-putin-shared-doughnuts-14-years-ago-now-trump-wants-an-investigation/?utm_term=.9b9dc6611332). All of this might be be funny if it wasn't so sad. We have a president engaging in immature twitter battles with his political opponents. Did Schumer strike a nerve with the president? (Side note, relations with Russia were better 14 years ago, as Putin met with President Bush at Camp David that year as well). Apples to oranges? You bet.
Then we had the bombshell from Trump (tweeting while AGAIN at his Florida country club), claiming Obama ordered secret wiretapping of Trump and his campaign offices at Trump Tower. "Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!" He went on to tweet - "Is it legal for a sitting President to be "wire tapping" a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!" And then again tweeted "How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy! (See: www.cnn.com/2017/03/04/politics/trump-obama-wiretap-tweet/).
So when the president feels threatened by virtually anything, we can expect he will lash out with what he deems an appropriate attack - except it would seem appropriate only to him and his most loyal sycophants. Typically it is usually unwise to attack former presidents, it is more unwise to attack Obama for something he could not have ordered. A wiretap requires a warrant issued by a Judge, in this case a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judge (created under the Patriot Act). Presidents alone do not have the power to order such covert actions. So where did the president get his information that supports such a claim? You guessed it. Infowars and Breitbart (that's the best you can do Mr. Bannon?). Instead of relying upon the vast network of intelligence agencies, Trump instead relies on conspiracy based fake news outlets. What makes it worse? Trump earlier in the week demanded that all leaks the media should cease using "unnamed sources" for their stories against the Administration - except now Trump does the exact same thing - citing unnamed sources outside of his "spin machine." Imagine if Trump alleges something about a foreign enemy and uses it to justify a military attack?
And for the first time, I feel compelled to inquire into Trump's mental state. Why? Because he alleges Obama is a "bad (or sick) guy!" IF Trump opens the door to a president being "Bad or Sick" then it's fair game to begin to question his motives seemingly based more on uncontrollable emotions. Just today, Schumer (yes that guy) indicated "Trump is in trouble." Schumer on Meet The Press stated; "If he falsely spread this kind of misinformation, that is so wrong. It's beneath the dignity of the presidency ... it shows this president doesn't know how to conduct himself." "If it's true, it's even worse for the president, because that means that a federal judge...has found probable cause that the president, or people on his staff ... have probable cause to have broken the law or to have interacted with a foreign agent." (See: www.politico.com/story/2017/03/schumer-trump-tapping-235696). So what gives? I guess we will have to wait and see. One thing is for sure. The GOP Congressional Leadership has to be considering how far they will let this president go promoting unfounded personal attacks (and lies) while he becomes an embarrassment not to just the party but to the presidency itself! I'm not holding my breath, but like comedy, you just can't make this stuff up!
As President Andrew Jackson once wrote; "Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error." We should expect and demand more from our presidents. Have a great week!
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