Freak Out Friday = June 9, 2017

It just never stops. Then again, I have no idea why the Trump family would care what we say. After all, according to son Eric, anyone who is in opposition to his father is not considered to be a person. Well, let’s see what concerns the non-people this week.

1). Blaming Democrats taken to a new level.. So Trump used his favorite means of communication, Twitter, to accuse Democrats of making it impossible to post people to offices. “Dems are taking forever to approve my people, including Ambassadors. They are nothing but OBSTRUCTIONISTS! Want approvals.”

Except here’s the problem: Trump has presented only a handful of nominations to the Senate after ordering that all politically appointed Ambassadors resign as of January 20. He did nominate ambassadors for China, Israel and the United Nations: all approved. The New Zealand ambassador is expected to be approved shortly by the full Senate. Nominees for the Bahamas, Japan and the Vatican are in various stages of the approvals process, and that’s it. In point of fact, including Ambassadors, there are 442 appointments waiting for names to be announced. That is somewhat insane, and the fact that Trump is blaming the Democrats (who are in the minority) for his inability and unwillingness to do his damned job is just…

Well, actually, it’s typical.

2). Hope Springs Eternal.. Yesterday was James Comey Day, which became something of a national drinking game as bars put out challenges where free drinks would be served every time Trump posted: which, in a fit of sanity or self-restraint or good governing by his staff, he didn’t do. Comey, the guy who helped sink Hillary, sat in front of the Senate and–depending on who you were–either vindicated Trump (so said Trump, his attorney, and a handful of senators) or instead lay the groundwork for impeachment (everyone else, except for John McCain, who wound up spouting such an array of word salad that we just wanted to check him into Bellvue for 72 hours of observation.).

Not since Bill Clinton wanted to define the word “is” has a president’s language been so thoroughly parsed. It all comes down to Trump’s assertion that he “hoped” the Michael Flynn investigation would be halted. Was that an order or was it not? Obviously, it all comes down to context. If he says it as an offhand remark to four other guys while having drinks, yes, it’s a wish. When he says it one on one to the guy conducting the investigation, yes, it’s an order. Of course it is. When your father says to you, “I hope you understand what I’m telling you,” this isn’t a vague wish that you grasp the general principles. It’s an order. And if you don’t understand it, you’ll get punished. Which is exactly what happened to Comey. He did’t obey Trump’s wishes and he was fired. End of story. I’m sorry, but if you can impeach Clinton for lying about getting a blow job, you MUST impeach Trump for trying to stop an investigation and firing the guy who was conducting it. It’s no more complicated than that.

Did he do anything right?. He didn’t tweet. Best thing he could have done.

PAD