Freak Out Friday – August 10, 2018

UPDATE: Now we understand why Trump is pushing a Space Force. It was announced that they were going to produce Space Force souvenirs and merchandise to benefit Trump’s reelection. How did I NOT see that coming?

Screw him. If you want real space souvenirs, go to here to pick up a 60th anniversary t-shirt or other souvenirs that will provide money to NASA. That’s where the real attention to space should be spent.

For the past couple of weeks I have either been on vacation or at conventions with minimal access to computers. I would like to think I missed something, but the fact is that Trump has been up to his usual schtick: Supporting Putin while simultaneously endeavoring to distract attention away from the increasing vise grip of the Mueller investigation.

1). No collusion! None!. Aside from the fact that such reiterations bring both Nixon (“I am not a crook!”) and Clinton (“I did not have sex with that woman!”) to mind, two things are inspired by his declaration. First, that he says it incessantly. And second, it’s irrelevant because he’s not being investigated for collusion, which really isn’t a crime. Conspiracy, however, is, and it’s that investigation plus others that are nailing all of his associates and various family members to the wall.

He declared that his “wonderful son” simply met with the Russians in order to get dirt on the Clinton campaign, which he alleged is done “all the time” and is not remotely illegal. First of all, he openly contradicted the previous excuse that the meeting had to do with Russian adoption. If you say a lie and it fools nobody, you don’t just toss it aside and basically say, “I was lying,” because it kills the expectation that you will be honest in the future (except we all know he won’t be, so maybe it doesn’t matter.) Furthermore, yes, it is against the law. Specifically 52 US Code Section 30121:

(a) It shall be unlawful for—

(1) a foreign national, directly or indirectly, to make—

(A) a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value, or to make an express or implied promise to make a contribution or donation, in connection with a Federal, State, or local election;

Providing dirt about your opposition is covered under “other thing of value,” because information is valuable. And no, Clinton didn’t do it too with the Steele memo, because they paid him to do research, so basically it was a commercial transaction and therefore legal.

So let him rant about no collusion all he wants. But conspiracy? Most definitely. It’s worth repeating: If this were a Democrat in office, the Senate would have been howling for impeachment for months.

Meanwhile his “wonderful son” was busy sharing a doctored image taken off CNN that claimed his dad’s poll support was higher than Trump’s at the same point in their presidency when in fact Obama was 5 points higher in the polls. And considering that Obama inherited a recession that many idiots blamed him for (just as they’re crediting Trump for an improved economy that is easily attributable to Obama) and that the GOP-led Senate made it a point to try and restrict him from accomplishing anything, it’s amazing Obama was even that high.

2). Still? Seriously? . Trump continues to get his base fired up by protesting football players who take a knee during the national anthem. He declared that the players “wanted to show their ‘outrage’ at something that most of them are unable to define.” Nooo, they’ve been able to define it quite well: as a protest over how the legal system treats people of color. When even Ving Rahmes winds up with cops coming at him simply because he was going into his own house, something is seriously wrong. Even the NFL, which originally had established a rule that players couldn’t protest, wisely tabled it since they realized that the rule would leave Donald Trump howling in victory while it simultaneously pissed off everyone who had any faith left in the concept of free expression. So Trump, the failed football team owner, continues to whine. Let him. He’s got plenty else to whine about.

3). Spaaaaace Forrrrce. (It works better if you imagine it being said in Space Ghost’s voice.)

Mike Pence had to go to the Pentagon this week and reinforce Trump’s call for a Space Force as the six branch of the military.

Here’s my question:

Did someone, as a joke, tell Trump that Independence Day was a documentary? And he believed it? Because that’s the only way I can see this bubbling out of what is roughly referred to as Trump’s mind. The branches of the military were created to serve as a defense mechanism (plus the Coast Guard to also help people in trouble at sea.). Is Trump under the impression that aliens will be attacking us? Does he think an airplane is going to fly too high and accidentally find itself floating off into the ether? In short, is he nuts?

Well, yeah. I mean, it’s pointless even to ask that question because the obvious answer is, “Yeah, pretty much.”

Apparently under the impression that since it’s the 21st Century, it’s time to create Starfleet, the Federal government has had no problem allowing the budget of NASA to languish. According to Wikipedia, “NASA’s 2018 budget is $19.100 billion in 2018 dollars — roughly equal to NASA’s 1963 budget of $2.55 billion. However, as a percentage of federal spending, NASAs budget is significantly lower than in 1963 and is actually more like 1960.” Yet Trump somehow magically wants to spend money on something that does not exist and is not remotely necessary, except to draw American view away from his copious legal problems.

4). Trump’s associates legal problems.. There may well be too many for me to keep track of, but let’s take a whack at it.

Attorney Alex van der Zwaan, an attorney, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. He was sentenced to a month in jail.

Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security advisor, also lied to the FBI.

Special counsel Paul Manafort is currently standing trial for 32 counts of tax evasion and bank fraud.

Rick Gates, a former associate of Manafort’s, cut a deal and testified in court that both he by himself, and also with Manafort, had committed crimes.

George Papadoupolos, a former foreign policy advisor, also pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.

Plus thirteen Russian nationals and twelve Russian agents have also been charged with interfering with the 2016 election. So every time Trump says “witch hunt,” let us remember that one of the first signs of a witch hunt is that the people being condemned are not really guilty of being…well…witches.

Chris Collins, the New York Senator who was the first to endorse Trump, is accused of insider trading.

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross is alleged to have siphoned off millions of dollars from his partners directly into his own pocket.

When one considers how often Trump referred to “crooked Hillary,” when pretty much all the accusations were the result of the GOP’s twenty five year war on her, and it turns out he associates with that many criminals…

Well, let me put it to you this way. Common sense says that the people who associate the most with criminals are other criminals. Trump’s choice of friends speaks volumes.

PAD