Joe Conason: A Clear And Present Danger To The Republic

[babylonsister]

https://www.nationalmemo.com/a-clear-and-present-danger-to-the-republic/?fbclid=IwAR3x5SKf5gUak9BeRYqNwo8fYqUwUu-zqGsAokL8zJMUAA2JZyByrrvjCcw&cn-reloaded=1

A Clear And Present Danger To The Republic
Joe Conason
August 21, 2019

snip//

We consider Trump’s behavior bizarre because it is so incongruous with what we expect from an American president — whose sworn duty, after all, is to act in the national interest. But what if he is consciously acting against the national interest? That disturbing question arises again and again, as it did during the Russia investigation, because almost everything Trump does can be viewed as inimical to the nation. The Danish incident is only the latest example in the long list that shows a certain method to his supposed “madness.”

In one way or another, Trump has denigrated or undermined American relationships with nearly all of our traditional allies, sometimes repeatedly. He has complained publicly about the French, the Germans, the British, the Australians, to name a few of the most important, and slammed the European Union as a trading and military partner. Indeed, he has strenuously sought to destroy the EU while befriending the so-called populist far right — the heirs of our fascist enemy. That approach to European affairs just happens to coincide perfectly with the political aims of the Russian Federation.

Meanwhile Trump has abandoned long-standing US policy on human rights, not only committing violations on our border but encouraging dictators around the world. Within the space of a few days this year he berated the Canadian prime minister, our friend and ally, while praising the murderous dictator of North Korea. Maybe that was just crazy, or maybe it was something else.

snip//

Like the trade war that is decimating our agricultural heartland — among the US economy’s most vital sectors — these recurring acts of sabotage are cited by his supporters as evidence of his “nationalism.” They are nothing of the kind. They are inflicting damage that our most determined enemies could never have dreamed possible before he entered the Oval Office.

You can tell yourself it’s all merely proof of his mental instability, his narcissistic compulsions, his ignorance and stupidity. Or you can wonder, as I sometimes do, whether something rational and sinister lies behind this troubling pattern.

Either way, Trump is a clear and present danger to our republic.

[onecaliberal]

1. I would make one small change and that would be to add the Republican Party and trump is a clear and

Present danger.

[meadowlander]

4. +1. It takes a village to enable an idiot.

[Cosmocat]

5. YEP

this is the one thing that dems and the sane people just are not doing that is SO necessary. He is a SYMPTOM, not the cause, and putting all on him will make it WAY too easy for the GOP to avoid its responsibility for creating him (and enable the next monster to rise up) IF we can get to the point of getting rid of him (and god willing hold him accountable).

[erronis]

6. Agree. But perhaps the group that is behind the repuglicons and fomenting the rw

I know it is hard to trace all their slimy tendrils throughout government, corporations, and news media.

But it wouldn't surprise me to see the names of Murdoch, Mercer, Koch, Putin and others show up frequently. The self-named American Enterprise Institute as well as a lot of other talking fountainheads are part of the means to spill their poison over this country and other democracies.

[DemocracyMouse]

25. Thank you. When Dems regain control of the good ship America:

We must declare a vigorous and unyielding set of sanctions and prosecutions against that list (and add the NRA and the Republican Party).

Investigate, prosecute and sanction:

MURDOCH
MERCER
KOCH
PUTIN (and Russia's other crime families – and please don't give them that nice romantic moniker "oligarch" )
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY
THE NRA
PAUL RYAN
MITCH MCCONNELL

(Please add to this list)

[usaf-vet]

7. Veterans remember our oath. Support AND defend the Constitution against all enemies...

foreign (Russians) and domestic (Trump, republicans and their Russian allies).

[Haggis for Breakfast]

17. And that doesn't stop when we take that uniform off.

SEMPER FORTIS

[usaf-vet]

23. Absolutely! Honorably discharged in 1969. Still honoring the oath just like my dad before me.

[mr_lebowski]

2. Conason nails it, as he typically does .. also, if you want to visit the article w/o giving Facebook

credit for having brought you there ... here's an anonymous link ...

https://www.nationalmemo.com/a-clear-and-present-danger-to-the-republic/

[dalton99a]

3. He is Putin's saboteur, chosen to inflict maximum chaos and long-lasting damage

[dchill]

9. Which really does explain everything.

[usaf-vet]

8. Exactly! I want to know who is engineering this outrageous destruction of our country.

"You can tell yourself it’s all merely proof of his mental instability, his narcissistic compulsions, his ignorance and stupidity. Or you can wonder, as I sometimes do, whether something rational and sinister lies behind this troubling pattern".

We know who the puppet is what we don't know who is the puppeteer. And how did (he/they) get control of the strings and how do they maintain that control over the puppets?

[panfluteman]

10. It's Amazing that Americans Are Just Now Waking Up to This...

Donald Trump is a Russian agent, the Kremlin's greatest asset. He's not working for the United States, he's working for Putin's Russia. Everything he has done since entering the White House makes perfect sense when put into this perspective. Darn right he's inflicting more harm on the United States than even our most determined adversary could inflict, and he's doing it from within.

[colorado_ufo]

11. Absolutely.

The "I am the chosen one!" etc. are just red meat for the media, to keep them occupied and "off the scent." Trump and McConnell. Together, therein lies the menace. The rest are just boot-licking opportunists, with lower levels of involvement.

We are living a crucial chapter in American history.

We cannot let this become a coup that happened without a shot being fired, due to rot from within. It would be beyond ironic, after all the years of anxiety over the possibility of a nuclear war (that no sane person wants).

[bucolic_frolic]

12. I won't say what I really think

but i always refer people to the Robert Ludlum thriller, "The Holcroft Covenant". Nazi money resurfacing to launch a Fourth Reich. Also a title and topic of a Jim Marrs book, "The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America".

Americans aren't told very much, or don't make the connection. Yes there are terrorists. Each and every one of them must have money, and must get it from somewhere.

[world wide wally]

13. I think he is a traitor.

He has obviously sold out to Russia and all Pu

tin wants back is the destruction of democracy in the United States.
Trump is happy to oblivion get as long as Russia makes him rich.

[MadDAsHell]

14. We have 40% of the country who doesn't even agree with us on who is isn't an enemy

There's also a huge percentage of the population that doesn't really see any other country as an "ally," just as a country likely to take advantage of us. Trump has stoked those beliefs even further.

In 2012 seeing Russia as an enemy was a joke and got you laughed at. Just three years later they were the biggest enemy in the history of this country. That kind of 180 degree about face from government officials is, kind of understandably, hard for some of the dumbest Americans to comprehend/believe.

40% of the country still doesn't see Russia as an enemy (a stance even President Obama took as recently as the 2012 campaign), so obviously it's gonna be hard to convince them that there's anything wrong with Trump's actions towards/with Russia.

[Mc Mike]

15. I vote 'crazy, stupid AND evil'.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

16. TrumPutin, Moscow Mitch, AND Republicans are a clear and present danger

Don't let those greedy, selfish, enabling bastards hide in the shadows.

( e.g., see first link in 'sig' )

[EleanorR]

22. And of course Barr

Barr has refused to turn over a single piece of paper or allow a single witness to testify that might help us rid ourselves of the lunatic in office. Instead he acts as trump's personal attorney and protector.

[YOHABLO]

18. The Republican party represents a Kleptocracy that has chiseled away our Democracy.

They've been at it since the Reagan Presidency. The country has turned into a shite whole of guns and corruption. They blame the ''radical leftists'', the ''socialists'' > (FOX, Newsmax, OAN etc). It would seem most of the country could see through this lie, but as we've noticed the violence and destruction of human lives has increased, and the Republican Party sits back and allows it to continue. They are desperate to keep their power and their wealth. So who do they turn to for help? It's all part of the plan IMO.

[democrank]

19. Recommended

[NCLefty]

20. Undermining the relationships with our allies.. that alone: WHO was ever asking for that? Was

Was this a Republican issue, ever? I know they denigrate "European-style socialism," but I don't recall them ever advocating a weakening of our alliances. That threatens our military strength, and we know how they feel about that. Republicans weren't for giving Russia a pass on Crimea but, out of nowhere, Trump was.

Trump is a Russian asset and/or compromised by them. There's no other logical explanation.

[BlueJac]

21. K&R

[rickyhall]

24. The man (beast) makes Benedict Arnold look sweet & innocent.

I almost capitalized "man" but that would give the bastard undeserved respect...

[The Liberal Lion]

26. There's no way I'm willing to let trump off with the "by reason of insanity" excuse!

the man sold our country out to putin, he is actively doing everything he can to destroy our institutions and civic harmony, decimate our international relations with allies, destroy what had been left of our human rights and environmental leadership and further he does this all as a result of direct instruction from putin. Why do we continue to question this? Why are we attempting to explain this all by way of mental instability? trump is a traitor, an international human rights criminal, a conman and fraudster. He must face justice, he and all that have signed up for this betrayal.

[RVN VET71]

27. Chillingly accurate

"Meanwhile Trump has abandoned long-standing US policy on human rights, not only committing violations on our border but encouraging dictators around the world. Within the space of a few days this year he berated the Canadian prime minister, our friend and ally, while praising the murderous dictator of North Korea. Maybe that was just crazy, or maybe it was something else. "

Definitely something else. Trump is, indeed, using his powers in office to realign the United States with the authoritarian regimes, the dictatorships, the police states of the world. What existed before he stole the office of the president was a Western world of mostly democratic countries in Europe and North America -- and Australia and New Zealand, with the United States of America as its leader nation. What Trump is trying to create is a connected alliance of the very worst authoritarian regimes while, at the same time, supporting in earnest efforts in our formerly friendly allies in Europe to supplant democracy with fascism. In Star Wars terms, he is out to shift the U.S.and the free world to the Dark Side -- and his actions prove it most indubitably.

Were he to win -- by hook or by crook -- in 2020, the U.S. would be forever lost to the spirit and reality of democracy.

He has been assured by his ugly, hateful evangelical counsellors that he has, after all, been chosen by god to bring about the new dispensation, a new world order. Their assurances to him that he can, literally, do no punishable wrong in the eyes of the god that chose him only confirmed and strengthened in his own sick, sick, mind what he always believed, after all.

[Loge23]

28. But that was two days ago.

Conason's essay is correct, but that was two days ago.
Since then, the #IPOTUS has promoted Putin's return to the G7, plunged the stock market into another abyss, "ordered" businesses to not do business with China, and labelled the FED chair - whom he chose for the job - as an enemy to this country.
It should be noted - again - that this fool has the nuclear codes and that reminder is not hyperbole.

What will the rest of today and the immediate future bring? Whatever it is will all but completely wash away the latest outrages as it has done for the last 945 days. We're in a Groundhog Day from hell now and there's no end in sight.