Scions and Scoundrels
What befalls a country riven by a dynasty of deception and disrepute? What comes of a country being forced by its puerile president to retreat from its world leadership, set to a soundtrack of world mockery? What to make of an enterprise of corruption that Trump calls a family when they abandon any semblance of propriety and all things we once found appropriate?
The America that I know and love is hanging by a thread, and Trumps scandalous camarilla is playing with the shears.
The latest shoe to drop is that Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort (campaign chairman at the time) met last summer in Trump Tower with a Kremlin-linked Russian lawyer because, according to emails released by Trump Jr., he was told that he would receive dirt on Hillary Clinton as part of Russia and its governments support for his father.
Trump Jr.s response: If its what you say I love it especially later in the summer.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/13/opinion/donald-trump-jr-emails.html
MBS
(9,688 posts)Every single word is spot on. Please do read in full.
But just to give people a little more taste of Charles Blow's powerful words, here is an excerpt from the conclusion:
_____
. . . On Trumps best day, he was worse than the other Republican candidates. And yet, he won the nomination, and that man the worst of the worst beat a woman who had more qualifications on the first page of her résumé than he could ever have achieved in his whole pathetic life. And now that man and his spawn born into nefariousness and groomed by nepotism are waging an all-out war on the country he is supposed to lead. Trump has attacked every traditional institution in this country, from the judiciary to the press. But possibly the most dangerous and destructive has been his assault on the truth itself. . .
My son Donald did a good job last night. He was open, transparent and innocent. This is the greatest Witch Hunt in political history. Sad! Everything in that tweet is not only a lie, but it is in diametrical opposition to the truth. But that is Trumps tactic: Dont shade the truth with a little lie; destroy the truth with an enormous lie. Consider the truth and then say the exact opposite is true. . .
Trump Jr. wasnt open, transparent and innocent. He is devious, knavish and guilty as sin.
I say that we must learn to discard as dishonest everything emanating from this White House. If its not a lie (and it often is), its a diversion. Yes, listen to his speeches and read his tweets. Being an informed, engaged citizen demands that you remain aware of what the countrys so-called leader is thinking and doing.
But then shunt it aside. Its all garbage and a waste of mental bandwidth. You only have to remember this: These people are not to be trusted. Their greatest interest is in their own enrichment. They believe that they exist in a space above the law and outside the rules.
Run everything that you hear from the White House through this filter: The presidency is a blasphemy and Trump is not only a disgrace but also an assault on the culture and the country.
And take comfort in this eternal truth: For all things, there comes an end.