General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIt's Worse Than We Thought
March 4, 2018 1:06 pm
By Josh Marshall
I was speaking to friends last night at a belated birthday party and I told several of them something Id like to share with you now. While Ive been following the Trump era for going on three years and long been a pessimist about the depth of his corruption both venal and otherwise the last two weeks has made me think the situation is significantly worse than Id imagined.
Let me refer very briefly to two points.
First, weve had a flurry of stories over the last week about massive loans Jared Kushners family company has received from entities Jared Kushner was in some way working with or meeting with in his governmental capacity. Political types are accustomed to speaking of creating conflicts of interest or creating the appearance of a conflict. Those dont apply here. These look like straightforward efforts to use his vast governmental power to extract hundreds of millions of dollars in loans from people who need things from the US government which is to say, most people who can easily part with a few hundred million dollars.
The most stunning revelation ties to Kushners already known role recklessly allying himself with the Gulf states trying to isolate and effectively blockade Qatar. The conflict between UAE and Saudi Arabia and Qatar is complicated and its particulars dont concern us here. But it was a high-stakes, reckless gambit which could have and still might lead to a major war between various US-allied states in the Gulf. We dont know enough to make any firm statements yet. But weve seen enough in the last week to make it seem plausible that Kushners aggressive, enabling behavior in that crisis was tied to his efforts to get money to bail out his family company. If that is true and I suspect it is it would amount to a level of corruption entirely unparalleled in American history.
We had good reason to believe Kushner was trying to pull something like this off during the transition, trying to secure a major loan from a Russian state bank or other concerns in China. But those deals foundered in the face of press scrutiny. I had assumed that Kushner had been forced to keep his hand at mainly away from the cookie jar at least for now. That doesnt seem to have been the case at all.
Second point. We are back in a round of stories about Trump allies being worried about President Trumps mental state, stories of his raging at various enemies, frustrated that his 2016 campaign is being investigated while Hillary Clintons is not. The organizational chaos in the White House, were led to believe, is both being driven by the Presidents moods and in turn pushing him further into anger or agitated depression. Out of the blue he launches a trade war with major US allies to sate his need to attack and lash out. Theres a simpler explanation for all of this. The legal noose is tightening around the President, his family and top advisors. He is scared and angry.
more
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/its-worse-than-we-thought
dalton99a
(81,468 posts)Lindsay
(3,276 posts)that the First Rule of Trump is, "It's always worse than you think."
Welcome to the club, Josh.
duforsure
(11,885 posts)When you have you're kids and son in law traveling around the world at our expense shaking down other countries, for policies, business deals, loans, and payoffs for protection it demonstrates this is a mob family in the White House running this country strictly for their own interests, and should all be in prison. Everything he accused others of, he's done or is doing. Kind of scary .
Doitnow
(1,103 posts)Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)in recent months in Saudi Arabia. Remember Trump sent Kushner to Saudi Arabia to meet with King Salamon and his Son. The House of Saud owns the lions share of Citi Group and Boy wonder Jared was a close personal friend of the Saudi Prince who Purged his Cousins and Relatives from power positions with in the Kingdom.
And Jared got his 584 million loan . Funny how the Blockade of Qatar came about. They went to Jared!
ginnyinWI
(17,276 posts)What's to stop this type of crowd when they have nothing but greed and lust for power as "values" to live by?
The law, sooner or later.
They say you can be judged by the company you keep. Just look at all the criminals, gangsters and other shady types the Trump clan has been in thick with all these years even going back to DJT's dad! We probably don't know the half of it.
It needs to end, and it will. Sooner or later.
Grammy23
(5,810 posts)including the Kushner branch, we will be aghast to see how deep it runs. Furthermore, as the details about tRumps behavior behind the scenes emerge, we will be stunned to find out how very close we came (or are) to world wide wars and destruction. He appears to be unraveling at a faster pace these last few months. Rumors of his screaming rages are coming over the transom to our waiting ears.
I believe we are deliberately being kept out of the loop on exactly how bad things are. But rumors will leak out. Bits and pieces of this horrendous chapter in our history as a nation are making their way into the mainstream media. At some point the Mueller investigation will be concluded and the findings made public. More indictments will be handed down and people inside the administration will be convicted and end up in prison. Who? Too early to say. But some will sing like canaries to try to save their hides. Up the chain this will go and maybe the guy at the top will get what is coming to him. Like the TV miniseries, we will have to let this one play out to figure out the plot, the complete cast of characters and who to blame in the end. Sadly, I dont think we can even imagine the scale of the corruption, greed and deception we have experienced since tRump glided down the escalator to announce his candidacy. He carried a whole cast of characters and dirty tricks on the way down to mingle with the peasants.
louis-t
(23,292 posts)Ought to be interesting.
Grammy23
(5,810 posts)Rachel will have to rip up her script ...again...and go with the flow.
PatSeg
(47,418 posts)I also get the feeling that this is far worse than any of us could imagine. Trump's paranoid, reactive behavior alone tells me he has a lot to hide and he's never been good at hiding his corruption and misdeeds. He can't bully and lie his way out of this one. He should have stayed out of politics.
Grammy23
(5,810 posts)He intended to exploit the campaign and build his brand. He had no intention of actually being President of the US. Thats why he was completely unprepared with nobody selected for the key positions. He was not up to date on important policies and hot spots in the world.
Once it sank in that the job was his, he figured hed delegate most of the responsibilities of the office and spend his time doing anything he damn well pleased. His plan has not gone so well and the strain is starting to really grate on him. The complete meltdown is coming. They wont be able to hide it. I hope someone videos it and sends it straight to the internet for all the world to see.
PatSeg
(47,418 posts)It was clear that he wasn't prepared to be president and his campaign was sloppy and disorganized. He was getting lots of free publicity for the Trump brand and possibly some foreign financing on the side. He never wanted to BE president, just run for president. Everything is a show for Trump.
Yes, a video of the big meltdown would be delicious. May this man get everything he deserves.
redstatebluegirl
(12,265 posts)and entitled. He has NEVER worked a day in his life.
not fooled
(5,801 posts)to staff the administration and Federal agencies. That's a lot of the problem--dump himself would have inflicted damage, but by turning over the actual running of most things literally to the kook brothers, we get all of the wanton destruction of OUR Federal government and citizen protections.
The kook brothers are in effect running the country. To our detriment.
puke: :
MFM008
(19,806 posts)KNEW if the maggot got in the level of corruption and awfulness would be historic.
lastlib
(23,222 posts)..."the level of corruption and awfulness would be historic."
Donnul Dwump and his spawn and their Russian/foreign clique are raising the bar on corruption to stratospheric heights. It is HIGH TIME to bring them down and put them away for good!
world wide wally
(21,742 posts)PJMcK
(22,035 posts)True Blue American
(17,984 posts)As Brad Paisley would say!
NBachers
(17,108 posts)CrispyQ
(36,461 posts)magicarpet
(14,145 posts)The checks and balances are dysfunctional or worse totally nonexistent because the Rethugs control the House and Senate and will not provide the oversight so badly needed.
We need to gain majority control of the House or Senate or better both, come the November election 2018. Or this country is well on it's way to a Banana Republic-an Fascist Dictatorship of Oligarchs. The US Constitution and Democracy will only be considered a quaint concept that outlived it's usefulness and we're discarded to be replaced by our new Authoritarian Christian Theocracy.
We have been covertly dragged to the half way point of realizing this goal - most Americans do not yet realize it yet.
Skittles
(153,150 posts)RandomAccess
(5,210 posts)It staggers me to think of how many tiny threads and the legions of people need to be tracked and pigeon-holed and accounted for. Amazing.
longship
(40,416 posts)Happy to support TPM.
Click through! It's one of my daily visits.
Firestorm49
(4,032 posts)Now, we can add to the list, the comment by Trump that perhaps he could be the president for life. There will be very little opposition from McConnell and Ryan, as total control going forward is all that this game is about.........and money, of course.