The GOP defense of Trump is getting more corrupt. Here's what's next

[dajoki]

The GOP defense of Trump is getting more corrupt. Here’s what’s next.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/11/01/gop-defense-trump-is-getting-more-corrupt-heres-whats-next/

President Trump, who possesses supreme confidence in his mesmerizing charisma and powers of persuasion, is considering a plan to recite the text of his corrupt call with the Ukrainian president on live national television.

“I will read the transcript of the call,” Trump told the Washington Examiner, suggesting he might do this as a “fireside chat.”

Trump did not say whether he will first blot out the corrupt parts with his trusty reality-altering Sharpie, though it’s a measure of our current depths that it’s easy to envision him reading selectively from the call summary and denouncing correctives as “fake news.”

Whatever becomes of this “threat,” it points to a major problem Republicans face, one that will only grow worse, forcing Republicans to adopt an ever more corrupt
posture in his defense.

...

Republicans, of course, have been pretending for weeks that Trump was concerned about generic “corruption” when he pressured Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to undertake sham investigations to absolve Russia of sabotaging the 2016 election and smear potential opponent Joe Biden before 2020.

That was easier before. But now that damning new revelations are confirming that Trump was indeed corruptly pressuring Ukraine to carry out those particular dirty deeds and that military aid was used to leverage them, Republicans are claiming both that they are engaging the new findings on substance while also pretending they don’t actually exist.

It isn’t that Republicans substantively object to what Trump did — many probably do not — it’s that this is hard to defend politically. But resolutely pretending these facts don’t exist will continue to get harder, because the sheer scope of the corruption is overwhelming.

The scope of corruption is mind-boggling
Remember, this whole scheme amounted to a months-long plot involving diplomats colluding with Trump lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani to manipulate our foreign policy and use hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid urgently sought by a nation under Russian attack to serve Trump’s political imperatives — to falsify the corruption of the 2016 election and facilitate the corruption of the next one.

...

[livetohike]

1. Should be fun. He should get the Mystery Science Theater

treatment .

[underpants]

2. Wow now they are getting ideas from Dennis Prager?

He does them on Facebook and they are about as enthralling as you would expect

[Timmygoat]

3. In the UK Independent online today

There is a long article about Barr and the Trump people going around Europe and the UK trying to get them to give statements in support of Trump etc, even to support his lies.

[grantcart]

4. I think they are down to "There is nothing in the Bible about bribing Ukraine".

[MyOwnPeace]

8. Good one!!!!!!

And amazingly enough, there are still those that would believe that!

[StClone]

5. GOP all roads point to Putin.

There is something disconcerting about the crazed efforts to defend Trump's criminality with obvious lies and conspiracy theories. The GOP is heavily dependent on its own criminality and Putin money to survive-they are all culpable.

[not fooled]

6. Sounds like another of demented donnie's phony promises

that never come to pass.

Although nothing would surprise me.

[erronis]

7. I can't wait to hear the orange-one read "and dot-dot-dot"

for those pregnant ellipses. I can almost hear Alex Baldwin's intonations.

And the dumpass won't understand that he wasn't supposed to read them - just elide over them.