It’s Monday morning of Thanksgiving week as I begin to write this. Congress is on break this week. When do they actually work and considering what they do are we perhaps better off when they don’t? In any event I don’t expect as much to happen this week as in recent weeks. I’m waiting for a court decision and whatever else happens in the Trump scandals. With all that considered it is a good opportunity for another attempt at a catch up article. Let’s explore.
I guess the good news is that we avoided another government shutdown. When that is the good news it just tells you how dysfunctional Washington is under Trump. The government was slated to run out of money on Thursday and that day Trump signed a continuing resolution that keeps the lights on through Thursday December 20th. Yes, that is the Friday before Congress goes on Christmas break. If NFL punters had this kind of distance everybody would simple run on fourth down.
I, along with a lot of others, have not written much about the situation in Hong Kong to date. Today I will be inadequate. Congress passed legislation aimed at protecting human right in Hong Kong. Last week Trump said he was considering vetoing it because it might interfere with his trade negotiation with China. Standing up for human rights could potentially be a problem but the 39 (that I am aware of) trademarks China approved for Trump or his daughter Ivanka don’t? Well at least we know where Trump’s values are and they are not with democracy.
Staying with China for a moment; The Trump administration has begun approving licenses for sales of American knowhow to Huawei. The American intelligence community considers Huawei to be a security risk. Trump and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross care about money much more than they do about security.
Staying with money; on Thursday the Washington Post published an article by David Farenthold that the Secret Service spent $250,000 at Trump owned properties in just the first five months of his presidency. That is $50,000 per month. To put that in perspective the average American earns $48,100 per year. Keep in mind this is just one of Trump’s many scams. Is it any doubt why he can afford to work without a salary?
Trump took his road show to Texas last week. During it he visited a relatively new Apple Mac Pro factory. He bragged about how he made it happen. The factory opened in 2013. Again Apple CEO Tim Cook (or Tim Apple as Trump has called him) stood silently by Trump’s side and failed to correct him. Trump was also flanked by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and daughter/Special Advisor Ivanka Trump. Smiles all around – truth, well that’s another matter.
As it is in America, justice appears to be slow in Israel. After nearly three years of investigation Israeli Prime Minister and staunch Trump ally Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted for bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Sound familiar? What’s that thing about birds of a feather?
In another victory for the good guys, last week Thursday the highly conflicted and unqualified Barry Myers finally withdrew his name from nomination to head NOAA. This one never could break through the “sexier” scandals to gain headline status but nevertheless the media coverage it did get was enough to produce the optimal result for the country.
In somewhat of a slip of the tongue in a related case in federal court it was revealed that Congress is investigating whether Trump lied in his written statement to Robert Mueller. Considering the internal (and never tested in court) Justice Department policy this may have to be included in article of impeachment. Despite GOP rhetoric to the contrary, Russiagate is not at all dead.
Here is a final tidbit to leave you with that didn’t get nearly enough attention in my opinion. In the November 14th online edition of the Washington Post an op-ed appeared penned by Fareed Zakaria entitled, Zelensky planned to announce Trump’s ‘qou’ on my show. Here’s what happened. I suggest you read the article but the title tells you most of what you need to know.
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