Keep An Eye On This - By Josh Marshall

[DonViejo]

This is important to note. By all evidence President Trump had to be pushed to sign off on this expulsion of Russian diplomats/spies. Reports also say that Trump refused to commit to the expulsion until he saw that other European allies committing first. Both domestically and internationally, Trump seems to have been faced by a fait accompli. All that said, he did sign off on a major expulsion. Yet note that Russia appears to be placing the blame on the United States and President Trump.

At some level perhaps this is unsurprising. The US is Russia’s decades long geopolitical rival – not the UK, Germany or the Netherlands. But this is part of a pattern that is worrisome and revealing on a number of levels.

This latest move notwithstanding, President Trump has been extremely accommodating toward Russia and lavish in his praise and defense of Vladimir Putin. It has not been reciprocated. Russia has continued with a series of aggressive buzzing of US navy ships, particularly in the seas north of Europe. Putin gave that wild speech about new nuclear missiles that could obliterate Florida and could overwhelm any missile defense (we’ve known both are true for like half a century). Trump’s toadying has been met with provocations and what can only be called trolling, though perhaps that’s not yet part of international relations jargon.

Something is up here.

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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/keep-an-eye-on-this-8

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Why The President Has No Personal Attorney

By Josh Marshall | March 27, 2018 7:58 am

I can think of lots of reasons no respected or prestigious lawyers are willing to represent the President. But I suspect this may be one of them that gets less attention than it should. From TPM Reader JB …

No big law firm can rep Trump because of powerful partners (especially female) redlining it and the associate recruiting pr disaster it would trigger (especially with young women). Repping Trump is a political statement no large law firm can afford to make. Big city lawyers are disproportionately Dems.

Most firms now have at least a few powerful female partners and they ALL have 50 percent young women as associates. Of course many of the men despise Trump too, but it is the women who are saying you represent this fucking pig and I will quit tomorrow and everyone knows they mean it. And any firm that represented Trump may as well just give up on attracting female associates. It would become their entire brand overnight, and it is a terrible black mark. The top firms are interchangeable, so it doesn’t take much to drop to the bottom of young associates’ list. Yes, the fact that he won’t pay, will fucking lose spectacularly and along the way will inevitably force his lawyer to choose between suborning perjury and quitting (if he can), but the truth is it’s the Trump brand they just can’t afford. He’s a Swastika.

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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/why-the-president-has-no-personal-attorney

[jodymarie aimee]

1. thanks Don

your posts are the best.

[njhoneybadger]

2. Putin is playing with tRumps head

[Timewas]

6. maybe

But maybe he is bowing to the facts and giving t-rump some cover...re:trying to make him look like a tough guy and a feeble attempt to show not colluding

[RandomAccess]

7. And showing him who's boss

Russia is demonstrating for all the world to see just how owned Trump is.

And one of the most important parts of "all the world" is Trump himself.

Russia is humiliating him, and everyone knows how Trump handles that: not at all.

[JHB]

9. Playing bongos on it

[getagrip_already]

14. Or.... It is a sharade to make us "think" he is acting tough on russia....

but look at where the expulsions occurred. Seattle. Had it been washington, or nyc, it might have hurt.

But Seattle is just a convenient scapef goat. It won't hurt russia but they can feign injury.

It's all a ruse to let trump say he isn't putins puppet, while putin gets to keep proving he is.

[uponit7771]

16. +1, going after the oligarchs is "tough" anything else peripheral

[Nasruddin]

21. When one malignant narcissist plays another ...

Amusing - hope we all survive it.

[NewJeffCT]

3. Josh Marshall

is almost always a good read. He's well informed and he keeps his articles fairly short most of the time.

[FakeNoose]

26. Yes it's a very good point about the women lawyers

... however it doesn't explain why his old pal Rudy Giuliani abandoned him. Or Chris Christie.

There must be tons of ultra right-wing lawyers hooked up with the Mercers and the Koches.
Nobody is going to bat for him? I think they all know he's dead meat.

[NewJeffCT]

29. That's what surprised me as well

nobody in all those GOP lobbying firms and big corporations is there a Republican lawyer willing to represent Trump.

Yes, law firms skew Democratic, but it's not 100% Democratic or even close.

Part of the reason Republicans have been so keen on capping lawsuit damages for decades now is because they think it will hurt lawyers monetarily and lawyers give more to Democrats...therefore, hurting Democrats

[SharonClark]

4. Good to read a post that actually says some intelligent

[PJMcK]

5. Hes a Swastika

That’s a priceless quote.

[byronius]

18. Really, that was an excellent word nugget.

[dchill]

20. That's my take, as well.

[Javaman]

24. Yup, I was thinking radioactive monkey shit, but "he's a swastika" works much better. nt

[longship]

8. Josh is always top drawer.

One of my mandatory daily visits.




R&

[spanone]

10. K&R...

[genxlib]

11. In other words

Putin is sophisticated enough to manage a public image of not being in collusion.

Trump is not.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

12. Putin is using USA chaos to cover himself throwing his weight around. Impeachment is OK w Putin too.

Impeachment means more chaos.

Mueller indictments means more chaos.

Trump and Kushner twisting on a debt hook means more chaos.

[erronis]

13. Again, perhaps a deeper connection is involved

I just posted this on https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210419639.

What if both putin and dump (and of course the whole repuglican potty) are being directed by something/someone else? I'm not a conspiracy nut (well, maybe a bit), but we ought to consider that even these pinnacles of power may not be all-powerful.

Of course greed, lust, and some of the other sins are pretty powerful. But I don't know they can mess with national and international relations as well as has been done recently.

[getagrip_already]

15. I'm not saying it's.....

[img][/img]

[uponit7771]

17. Of course, I never thought Putin was in complete control he's being lead by money too and his ex

... Stasi buddies.

The KGOP in the US is most likely taking a bunch of their money since CU. A Rubio pack taking a million from the Russians ?!?!

Man I hope Russian money isn't tied up in any dems

[Bernardo de La Paz]

19. Putin needs the oligarchs and the oligarchs need Putin. . . . nt

[erronis]

27. I can't believe that all democrats are above reproach or venality, even tho we are saintly...

[uponit7771]

28. Yep, the leaders of false equivalencies will say "both do it" crap

[Baitball Blogger]

22. Russia's response to the new sanctions suggests that Putin knows it's not Trump who is pushing the

hard line. One of his minions came on board and said that the sanctions do not line up with the phone call.

Now the spinners are saying that it's a good idea to have contrasting foreign policies.

[Angry Dragon]

23. Traitor-in-Chief

[AJT]

25. I read that the ACLJ has attorneys working for 45

kind of on the down low.

[Cha]

30. KICK4Josh!