Traitor Trump

Benedict Arnold

Benedict Arnold

Mr. Donald Trump was for leaks before he was against them.

Mr. Trump is strong in the truth because so little of what he says is true – and we all cherish what is rare.

Mr. Trump “won” an election by suppressing the truth and now he hopes to give flight to his lies by suppressing the press that would tell the truth about his lies.

Mr. Trump favored leaks in his public bromance with Russian President Vladimir Putin when they compromised former Secretary Hillary Clinton.

It’s a different “story,” however, when the leaks uncover how Mr. Trump’s adviser, Michael Flynn, may have been undermining the Obama Administration’s sanctions against Mr. Putin’s Russia for interfering in our nation’s presidential election.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Sally Yates found the taped conversation that Michael Flynn had with the Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in late December “highly significant” and “potentially illegal” because Mr. Flynn discussed the Obama sanctions against Russia.

At the time Mr. Flynn was a citizen.

When interviewed by the FBI, Mr. Flynn reportedly recalled no discussion of sanctions.

It is actually a crime for “any citizen” to have any communications “with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States…”

According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov, “there were [also] contacts” with the Trump team during the presidential election; Ryabkov said, “Obviously, we know most of the people from his entourage.”

This begs the question, whether and who in the Trump “entourage” may have acted in concert with the Russian’s hacking campaign during the election.

This traitorous line of conduct, undermining sanctions against a foreign nation state that interfered in our presidential election, makes unlawful sense because Mr. Trump was the direct beneficiary of that hacking interference.

During the campaign, Mr. Trump thanked Vladimir for hacking a high government official, Secretary Hillary Clinton, and called on Russia to keep it up, do more hacking, and release whatever else the Russians found.

When Fox’s Bill O’Reilly asked Mr. Trump how he could admire Trump, “he’s a killer,” Trump answered, “There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What do you think? Our country’s so innocent?”  Mr. Trump has an elastic definition of what’s “innocent.”

“Truth” be told, and Mr. Trump would deny this as well, Mr. Putin is a grand master of KGB treachery, seeking out opportunities in the political vacuum Trump is creating, and Mr. Trump is, by comparison, an inflated narcissist who can’t admit what he doesn’t know about such intrigues.

Indeed, former President Obama’s sanctions for Russia’s interference in our elections may have been effective, when you consider that we now have a Russian ship running up and down our Atlantic coast conducting surveillance and gathering intelligence that perhaps was available otherwise before the sanctions.  The Victor Leonov, the Russian ship, armed with an array of intelligence gathering equipment used to intercept communications and analyze U.S. Navy sonar capability, loitered off Virginia’s shore, near the world’s largest naval base.

We could use a variation on President James Monroe’s doctrine, President Teddy Roosevelt’s “big stick,” or President John F. Kennedy’s Cuban blockade to cut short this surveillance.

Asked what he intended to do at his latest Orwellian hate rant against the press, Mr. Trump said, what do you want me to do, blow up the ship?  Is that the best he can do?  If you’re Trump, and you don’t read, and you refuse briefings, perhaps it is.  Do we really have no way to jam their surveillance?  Are we not warning them to back off?  Really?

Plainly, the Russians have “private” information about Mr. Trump’s finances or something so much worse that even this brazen tv reality star can’t stand to have the information made public.

Senator John McCain has decried the chaos in the West Wing.  Mr. Trump says the government is running like a Swiss clock.

The whole sorry story of the corrupt Mr. Trump will be known – sooner or later.

In the meantime, the nation is at risk.

We are talking about a breakdown of the constitutional separation of powers, of the necessary checks on Mr. Trump’s despotic inclinations, of preserving the freedom of the press, and of the security of the nation.

4 thoughts on “Traitor Trump

  1. Jeanne

    “Plainly, the Russians have “private” information about Mr. Trump’s finances or something so much worse that even this brazen tv reality star can’t stand to have the information made public.”

    Well, then, Mr. Flannery, show us the evidence to support your assertion. Your comments are beyond stupid.

    For someone who is supposed to be educated, John Flannery is astonishingly ignorant about many things, including Islam and the situation in Sweden. He showed this ignorance when he participated in the panel on the Sean Hannity show the other evening.

  2. Jeanne

    For someone who is supposed to be educated, John Flannery is astonishingly ignorant about many things, including Islam and the situation in Sweden. He showed this ignorance when he participated in the panel on the Sean Hannity show the other evening.

    “Plainly, the Russians have “private” information about Mr. Trump’s finances or something so much worse that even this brazen tv reality star can’t stand to have the information made public.”

    Well, then, Mr. Flannery, show us the evidence to support your assertion. Your comments are beyond stupid.

  3. ALLISON PRIEM

    “Mainstream” news can be biased, it’s true. Fox, for instance, with its tens of millions of followers (that’s mainstream in most books), is biased to the right and touts Trump as the Savior in Chief and all around super hero for America. MSNBC is biased and touts Trump as a crazy, man baby who is being led on an invisible leash by President Bannon.
    Either way, trying to stifle the press and make it the enemy of America, while the easily duped are hanging on every syllable, is a dangerous game to play. The huge political split press bashing creates far exceeds that which the right majority needs. They used the press to gain the presidency and now they are slamming the press to hush it up and *keep* the presidency. They’re in control and yet, they continue to try and take every last ounce of blood from the people. Trump is trying to run unchecked through the minds of those who will believe whatever the Great Oz had to say. They take his words at face value and lap up the Kool-Aid with glee. There’s no need for continued political rallies to try and bolster your following, unless you’re afraid your following is going to fall off by the wayside on your crazy march to dictatorship.
    The “fake news,” on the other hand, continues to fact check his ridiculous stories and call him out (Sweden?). It’s too easy for them to uncover his weirdness, so he has to resort to baby tactics by putting his fingers in his ears and screaming, “I know you are, but what am I?”
    “Crooked Hillary” (the ghost of caring about America), had Benghazi and her emails, but Trump and his staff in bed with the Russians? And he’s trying to get the masses to believe that’s alright? That’s bulls… And his little lapdog fan girls will follow him all the way to the Kremlin if he asks them to.
    Third world dictators work hard to stifle the opposition. They start by silencing the free press and then they go after individuals directly. The ardent followers are safe until the opposition is silenced and then they too have to walk on pins and needles and sing their fake high praise, lest they be silenced as well.

  4. Steve Jones

    The press is alive and well in America. One only needs to read what left wing Flannery wrote to see that! Calling the president a traitor says it all!

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