The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    That explains it.

    By Flavius on Thu, 07/19/2018 - 12:34am |

    A woman, psychologist perhaps, on MSNBC argues Trump's gravest fear is being exposed as being a financial failure.

    Someone (maybe her?) argues that at some point, on the brink of a massive bankruptcy, he was saved only by an infusion of Russian cash arranged by you know who.

    Which explains reneging on his promise to reveal his tax records. And the collu...meetings at the Trump Tower "to discuss adoptions."

    Thus, his obvious terror that Mueller (likely via Manafort) will finally blow the whistle on him. And BTW reveal him as a failure at the very activity he has spent decades presenting himself as a genius.

    This, goes the theory, not a "golden shower" in a Moscow hotel suite, explains Vlad the Impaler's hold on Trump through which he is maneuvering to achieve his over riding objective: dissolving NATO.

    Whereas Donald the T, for his part, is revealed not only as a failure but in fact as something infinitely worse, a traitor willing to endanger his country chiefly to preserve a baseless rep as a financial genius.

    True? Maybe too neat. But does serve as an explanation of his otherwise inexplicable behavior.

    Substantially re written after original posting.

    Comments

    Sounds plausible to me...


    by AmericanDreamer on Thu, 07/19/2018 - 10:50am

    me too.


    by artappraiser on Thu, 07/19/2018 - 11:30pm

    The most likely scenario, but not just fear of losing his rep as a great business man. He likely owes a lot of money to Russian banks and/or Russians who could call in those loans.


    by ocean-kat on Thu, 07/19/2018 - 11:59pm

    The real problem is the GOP. Trump benefits from the party’s core beliefs. A majority of Republicans agree with Trump’s meeting with Putin

    https://www.axios.com/republicans-poll-donald-trump-press-conference-putin-5776322f-a483-4e21-b50c-028799b08367.html

    Putin appeals to white supremacists

    http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-putin-connections-to-american-alt-right-and-white-nationalists-2017-8

    Unfortunately there are enough on the GOP who support white supremacy or who will tolerate white supreacists in the party. Take Steve King

    https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/steve-king-white-nationalist_us_5b3276f0e4b0b745f1784ebe

    ​Trump just capitalized on the cesspool present in the GOP.


    by rmrd0000 on Thu, 07/19/2018 - 10:52am

    It's white supremacy but it's also the upward redistribution of wealth and power.  I believe that some elected officials in the GOP probably are not personally invested in white supremacy (though it may be easier to play that card with voters if they also can find a way to get themselves to believe it) but rather use white supremacist tactics, open and/or dog whistle as needed, as a necessary means to divide and conquer, gain power and pursue what for many of them is the more important, latter project. 

    It--the upward redistribution of wealth and power agenda--is more important to some of them in part because it can lead to personal financial enrichment, status, power, job security.  Plus a feeling for some that they are in their minds doing the right thing for the country, saving it from the great unwashed, ignorant, greedy masses who are dumbing it down, bankrupting it, or otherwise destroying it in their view.   

    eta: Put another way, for some GOP public officials, white supremacy is an evil means to various ends, not all of which are unique to the GOP by any means.  Lots and lots of folks I talk to, and even some here at dag I get the impression, implicitly or even explicitly remain less than sold or even deeply skeptical on this whole "democracy" project we sometimes tell ourselves we are engaged in.  


    by AmericanDreamer on Thu, 07/19/2018 - 11:31am

    25+ years of Fox News/hate radio and divisive uncivil racist homophobic Republican rhetoric, campaign ads, policy has made being anti-Democrat, anti-liberal the core ideology and cohesive social element of The Indoctrinated Base. They hate liberals, Obama etc,  more than Trump's murdering scum buddy lying Putie. That he helped Trump and hates gays is another plus with phony Christians.


    by NCD on Fri, 07/20/2018 - 12:39am

    Scylla and Charybdis. The damage  when individuals are evil   vs  when  they  yield  control to a misunderstood 

    system. 


    by Flavius on Thu, 07/19/2018 - 10:39pm

    this guess not from a psychologist, but rather inspired by a bunch of experts on kompromat:

    2nd of new "Swamp Chronicles" column: A Theory of Trump Kompromat

    Why the President is so nice to Putin, even when Putin might not want him to be.

    By Adam Davidson @ NewYorker.com, July 19, 2018

    [....]  In the years before he became a political figure, Trump acted with impunity, conducting minimal corporate due diligence and working with people whom few other American businesspeople would consider fit partners. During that period, he may have felt protected by the fact that U.S. law-enforcement officials rarely investigate or prosecute Americans who engage in financial crimes overseas. Such cases are also maddeningly difficult to prove, and the F.B.I. has no subpoena power in other countries. If, however, someone had evidence that proved financial crimes and shared it with, say, the special counsel, Robert Mueller, other American law-enforcement officials, or the press, it could significantly damage Trump’s business, his family, and his Presidency [....]

    Actually, I don't get why I'm not seeing evidence of more people on the left of the aisle in Congress jumping on Sanford's call for the tax returns Maybe I'm just missing things or maybe I missed how the idea was squelched once again somewhere? Anybody else see attempts at "viralizing" this?


    by artappraiser on Fri, 07/20/2018 - 4:07am

    Also, I think this is spot on about what the new Putin invite is about:

    [....] He took the extraordinary and risky move of inviting Mr. Putin to Washington. Discussions for a meeting in the fall were already underway, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said on Twitter.

    Mr. Trump was deploying a familiar tactic: barreling into the next news cycle by supplying the next bit of incendiary programming.

    Mr. Gingrich dismissed the ire over Mr. Trump’s news conference this week with Mr. Putin — “For most Americans news conferences in Helsinki are transitory and fleeting,” he wrote in an email. But he did not answer a follow-up message asking him what he thought of Mr. Trump’s invitation to Mr. Putin [....]

     from 

    WHITE HOUSE MEMO Trump Tries a Familiar Tactic: Providing a New Story Line by Katie Rogers & Maggie Haberman @ NYTimes.com, July 19. The article goes on to point out how pleased Newt Gingrich is now with the "revised" behavior, among other things.


    by artappraiser on Fri, 07/20/2018 - 4:21am

    It's a shame to see old Flav parroting the younger bed-wetting snowflake's hate-speech. They have nothing to offer Americans but failed ideas and conflict and the fact they don't have any power to control Trump or remove him drives their hysterical nonsense about a billionaire being a fininsal failure or Putin having some hidden influence on Trump. It's telling that they are jumping into bed with known CIA liars such as Brennan and other deep-state manipulators.

    by Peter (not verified) on Fri, 07/20/2018 - 9:51am

    Peter, your grammar's gone all to shit since you ain't be posting regular like. The good news is the substance is just as content-free, so no downtrend, same old same old. You miss us?


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 07/20/2018 - 10:01am

    Peter, watch your punctuation. You meant  s apostrophe,not apostrophe  s. 

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     


    by Flavius on Fri, 07/20/2018 - 10:17am

    So the “Deep State” wanted Hillary elected. To elect Hillary Comey announces a new investigation days before the election while neglecting to mention that Trump is also being investigated.

    The “Deep State” also tells Trump before the inauguration that Russia intervened to help get him elected. Despite being shown the evidence, Trump continues to lie about Russia’s involvement, he always Amy’s there were other people. 

    Putin admitted that he acted to elect Trump.

    https://www.newsweek.com/putin-trump-win-election-clinton-1026412

    ​Welcome back Peter. You continue to confirm my opinion of the intelligence level of Trump apologists.


    by rmrd0000 on Fri, 07/20/2018 - 10:22am

    Peter confirms the power of hate propaganda on people incapable of critical thinking.

    The Federal Reserve has now joined the Deep State, the free press, the EU, China, Japan, the FBI, the Democratic Party, the World Trade Organization, Montenegro, Germany, Mexico, Canada, California, Hispanic judges, NATO, Harley-Davidson, NFL football players,  John McCain, Obama, Hillary, Joe Biden, Maxine Waters, Jim Acosta, CNN, Baby Trump balloon demonstrators, Guatemalan asylum seekers, the Red Hen,, Pelosi and..... Angela Merkel as threats to MAGA.

    As an equal opportunity despot boot licker, Kim Jong  and Putin are Trump best buds.


    by NCD on Fri, 07/20/2018 - 1:30pm

    I call bait and switch troll tactics on trying to derail the conversation, Peter. Flav is not even considering Brennan's claims here, doesn't need to get into that. Because he saw the Helsinki press conference with his own eyes and is wondering: why? And he's a long time New Yorker and knows Trump's background himself and is throwing in facts about meetings uncovered by the Mueller investigation.  Actually mentions not Brennan, Clapper et. al. nor election tampering, but is referencing: a psychologist about Trump's current curious behavior.  The topic: why would a U.S. president be so deferential to a Russian leader against all precedent and against his own team's advice?


    by artappraiser on Fri, 07/20/2018 - 2:08pm

    So after saying that, I want to play your game Peter. Here's a question for you: Is Romesh Ponnuru at the American Enterprise Institute now a snowflake for calling Trump's behavior in Helsinki "appalling"? And that He was unwilling or unable, once more, to respond to a foreign adversary’s interference in our politics in the manner one would expect from the leader of a self-respecting nation. He refused, yet another time, to credit the unanimous conclusion of our intelligence services Etc. Etc. Do note it says "our intelligence services" as in: our current intelligence services, with heads hired by Trump.


    by artappraiser on Fri, 07/20/2018 - 2:20pm

    And after you answer that, I'd also like to know: why should one still see a president as competent, when, after 17 months in office, he still cannot seem to hire staff that is not plotting to derail him?


    by artappraiser on Fri, 07/20/2018 - 2:29pm

    But.

    It's better that they get along than not.

    The world is stuck with them. The only thing worse  would be  war.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

                     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     


    by Flavius on Fri, 07/20/2018 - 10:02am

    How is Russia hacking elections and pitting Americans against each other getting along? We are being attacked in a Cyberwar that is already underway.


    by rmrd0000 on Fri, 07/20/2018 - 10:14am


    by NCD on Fri, 07/20/2018 - 12:07pm

    Chamberlain 

    Ouch


    by rmrd0000 on Fri, 07/20/2018 - 12:14pm

    Andrew Sullivan offers a different possible narrative in his NYMag.com column and I also find it quite possible. And I suspect you might too.


    by artappraiser on Sat, 07/21/2018 - 2:04am