You know, Donald Trump has really stolen the show this election season. If the campaigns so far were a TV series, the Trump "show" would be the leader of the pack in the ratings. Regardless of the nature of some of the outrageous statements that Trump makes, he has dominated the press cycles and fueled an "angry" Trump crowd, seething with suspicion and hatred for others who "caused" their pain. And, as "the Donald" said recently, any press is "good" press. So, having captured the media with his outrageous statements and behaviors over the past 10 months or so, there is no surprise that his name recognition is in the stratosphere, along with the most famous woman in the nation - Hillary Clinton. What is concerning - if not terrifying - is that the recent poll data suggests that right now it is a coin flip that may determine which of the two becomes the next President of the United States - and in control of the nation's nuclear arsenal.
On the first day of the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia, a set of embarrassing e-mails suggested that the Party had been engaged in some activities that favored Hillary for the nomination. Of course, even Party Officials are entitled to their personal opinions, freedom of speech, etc., but in their role AS Party Officials, they also have a responsibility to be even-handed when a primary contest is underway. The Sanders Campaign has long charged that the DNC Chair and other staff had tilted the playing field to disadvantage Sanders and his supporters from the start. At least one of the hacked e-mails seemed to provide some damning proof that the DNC did "rig" the process - or, at least wanted to. Hmmmm... Wikileaks.... Isn't that the place run by Julian Assange? And, isn't he currently holed up somewhere in Russia as a guest of the Putin regime? And, didn't I just read in the NY Times that it appears that the hacks that plagued the DNC a few months ago seemed to be from a Russian Government operation according to a number of computer experts that reviewed the hacks? And, although the information was stolen some months ago, isn't it a curious coincidence that this seemingly damning information that would inflame the Sanders camp just happened to be released on the first day of the DNC Convention when it would do maximum political damage to the Democratic Party, its convention, and to the party nominee for the presidency, Hillary Clinton? Did all this result in the resignation of the Chair of the DNC - Debbie Wasserman Schultz on the very day that she was to open the Convention? And, does that considerable series of coincidences, and the resulting disarray in the Democratic Party, most advantage the Republican Party and their presidential candidate, Donald Trump? Hmmmmmm..... Does anyone really believe that this set of events is just happenstance? In any case, the DNC "hack" and the release of the information is currently under investigation by the FBI.
Now, I may sound like some conspiracy nut as I outline this issue, but I recently read an article by Josh Marshall on this matter. The information was also published on Facebook by Robert Reich - a staunch Sanders supporter, that put some of the pieces together. And, if accurate, there can be no other conclusion but that Putin and the Russian regime has attempted to interfere in the election process in the United States and that interference is intended to help Donald Trump! Any reasonably skeptical person would see this conclusion as suspect, of course. Why, after all, would Russia want Trump at the switch in the US? Trump has portrayed himself as a "strong leader" would would stand up forcefully to any threats to the US from any quarter. So, wouldn't a Trump Presidency be a greater risk to the Russian administration that., say a "weak" (as described by Trump) leader like Hillary? Well, like the Wizard of Oz, perhaps the man on stage is quite different from the man behind the curtain.... the former Iron Curtain.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, many of the former "Soviet Republics" applied for and were granted status as member of the NATO alliance. These include the Baltic states - Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, as well as Poland and a number of others. Notably absent so far, is the Ukraine - currently a very sore spot and substantial diplomatic conflict between Russia and the US. Josh Marshall focuses in on this strained relationship between Putin and Obama and took notice of the few comments and compliments that have taken place between Putin and Trump over the past several months. At first, he just thought that the expressed admiration between Trump and Putin was simply an odd set of comments. But, after a closer look at the possible connections between these two, Marshall came to a different conclusion - evidently, one that caught the attention of Robert Reich and gave Reich pause.
Marshall presents the following:
1. Trump's finances seem to be strained. Over the past year his debt load has nearly doubled - from $350 million to $630 million. In addition, his liquid assets decreased and most major US banks have blackballed him, likely due to his multiple bankruptcies.
2. Since his bankruptcies, he has become highly reliant on money from Russia, increasingly concentrated in the hands of Russian Oligarchs connected to Putin. In fact, many Trump properties around the world have been bought by Russian investors. Donald Trump Jr. told a group of investors that "Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of our assets." This includes Trump's "Soho Development" in Manhattan funded with more that $50 million from a Russian investment group. Perhaps the Trump tax returns could shed some light on these issues. Don't hold your breath.
3. Paul Manafort, Trump's new Campaign Chair, Manager, and top advisor, spent the last 10 years as an advisor to Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian Ukrainian former President who's ouster in 2014 led to the on-going crises and proxy war in the Ukraine.
4. Trump's chief foreign policy advisor is Carter Page - who's entire career involved investments in Russia and ties to Gazprom - the massive Russian energy company operated and controlled by the Putin administration. The Putin ties to Gazprom certainly empower him to chop off Page at any time. And, of course, Trump has repeatedly praised Putin as "a strong leader."
5. And, oddly, the Trump Convention team seemed interested in one one issue in the Republican Platform - the long-standing plank calling for aggressive arming of Ukraine to resist Russian territorial expansion. That platform plank was removed. Aside from this issue, Trump has evidently aligned himself with Putin in suggesting that the US might not come to the defense of a NATO ally as required by the mutual defense sections of the NATO Treaty, should a Russian invasion occur - say in the Baltics or in Poland. Given the stakes here, and the nuclear stockpiles in both US and Russian hands, such "coincidences" would seem to merit further review. Unlike Trump, I am not a conspiracy theorist and I do not subscribe to the notion that Ted Cruz' father was somehow involved in the assassination of JFK. But, there is enough here as outlined by Josh Marshall, that merits concern, suspicion, and a clear explanation.
By any measure, the Republican Convention was largely unhinged, dark, negative, and paranoid. Fact-checkers had a field day with Trump's acceptance speech noting that the vast majority of statements made by the nominee was simply not so. Lets hope that Josh Marshall's report outlined above turns out to be just a coincidence - a simple confluence of disconnected items leading nowhere. But, if it more than that, then the American public is entitled to know.
No comments:
Post a Comment