A Warning

by Anonymous

Once again, for the record, that’s how you know Donald Trump is not joking—when he sends someone out to say that he was joking.

The president claims the bureau is an untrustworthy breeding ground of Deep-State conspirators. Over and over again, he calls the FBI “crooked” and disparages its employees. “Tremendous leaking, lying and corruption at the highest levels,” “a tool of anti-Trump political actors,” “politicized the sacred investigative process,” “tainted,” “very dishonest,” “worst in history,” “its reputation in tatters.”

No external force can ameliorate his attraction to wrongdoing. His presidency is continually jeopardized by it, and so are America’s institutions.

After wildfires devastated homes and properties in California, Trump insisted that federal funds be cut off to the state. No emergency dollars should be flowing to Californians, the president told staff.

he has turned the government of the United States into one of his companies: a badly managed enterprise defined by a sociopathic personality in the c-suite, rife with infighting, embroiled in lawsuits, falling deeper into debt, allergic to internal and external criticism, open to shady side deals, operating with limited oversight, and servicing its self-absorbed owner at the expense of its customers. We should have seen this one coming.

Those privy to the content of the president’s phone calls with foreign leaders were red-faced with embarrassment. To us, he came off like a complete amateur, using important calls to brag about himself and make awkward comments.

Trump’s social media addiction was unmanageable.

Trump’s social media missives were limiting US response options to an overseas incident, the full details of which will not be released for some years.

Sure, uncertainty can keep foreign enemies on their toes, but after a while, they stop taking you seriously, which is what is happening to Trump.

“I hope you’re able to find the thirty thousand [Clinton] emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by the press.” It was the first time in memory a US presidential candidate urged a foreign power to conduct espionage against his opponent.

Though he would later take credit for the sanctions to claim our administration had been unusually tough on Moscow, Trump in fact was furious.

Commentators have speculated, without any evidence, that Moscow must “have something” on the president. I wish I could say. All I know is that whatever drives his love for Putin, it’s terrible for the United States because Vladimir is not on our side and no US president should be building him up.

The president’s secretive interactions with foreign leaders are generally concerning. International negotiations are often kept under wraps for good reason, but Trump’s efforts have gone beyond the norm. When he hides them from members of his own administration, it should set off alarm bells. What arrangements does he make with regimes like Russia behind closed doors? Why doesn’t he want people to know?

We should see Trump’s actions as fireable offenses, regardless of whether or not Congress determines they are impeachable ones.

I, for one, don’t want this president cutting secret deals with Vladimir Putin.

“I like him, he likes me,” he said at a rally a few months after meeting Kim. “I guess that’s okay. Am I allowed to say that?” He affectionately described the communications between the two leaders. “We went back and forth, then we fell in love. He wrote me beautiful letters, and they’re great letters. We fell in love.” In my time in public service, I never thought I would witness a grown man in the Oval Office fawn over a thuggish autocrat like an adoring teenage fan.

“The president sees in these guys what he wishes he had: total power, no term limits, enforced popularity, and the ability to silence critics for good.” He was spot on. It was the simplest explanation.

He enthused to reporters about Kim Jong Un’s ability to control his population: “He’s the head of a country, and I mean he’s the strong head. Don’t let anyone think anything different. He speaks, and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same.”