A slightly dysfunctional government.

My last post I said that our government is becoming dysfunctional . OR Is it slightly dysfunctional? Skepticism about the competence of the masses to govern themselves is as old as mass self-government. The sudden shake-up in Trump's administration reveal a weakness that crossing boarders of both parties . An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released  found that 57% of the country believes the government should do more to solve problems and meet the needs of Americans, as compared to 39% who believe the government is doing too much.  I think government is doing too little for its people . I am against raising taxes .  I am for things like better healthcare for one . More affordable housing . I not calling for handouts . I looking for the government to solve the problems our society , not spend so much money on other nations. I don't  know if that makes me a "populist" . But government should look out for the welfare of its citizens. The voter flip-flopping exploded  in  2008, the American people elected a liberal president, House and Senate. What resulted was anything but gridlock. Democrats passed an unprecedented stimulus package, Obama Care, and the Frank-Dodd bill. In 2010, the country revolted, swung back to the right and elected a conservative House, the likes of which has not been seen before. 2017 came it swung way far to the right with Donald Trump as President. In one of the "strangest" elections ever . (1)>>The coup as I called it now is falling apart with the accusations of Russian "meddling" -Senate hearings , which only erode Congress . I can't really completely blame Mr. Trump  - Mr. Obama . The downward spiral has been decades in the making . The resurgence of American distrust of government has a growing place in the nation's political dialogue. Gallup reports that over the past five years 35–45 percent of Americans have reported little or no confidence in their national government—close to the European average. In September 2013, 60 percent of Americans, a record level, thought the Federal government had too much power. The big-state, social-democratic model faces a growing challenge, just as “anything goes” capitalism did in the first half of the twentieth century. 

Sean Spicer's sudden resignation .  

President Donald Trump’s mysterious post to Twitter in the wee hours of MAY Wednesday morning about “constant negative press covfefe” may have sparked hours of jokes and overnight confusion, but to hear White House press secretary Sean Spicer tell it, the president’s tweet was no typo.“The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant,” Spicer said at Wednesday’s off-camera press gaggle in the White House briefing room. He refused to elaborate and ignored questions shouted by reporters. It followed a rarely seen self-deprecating joke from Trump early Wednesday morning that made light of the typo (or newly invented word) the president had birthed hours earlier. Mr Spicer's resignation has been rumoured about for months. After a tumultuous start to the year, he became a national target of ridicule, and was mocked by Saturday Night Live with a recurring character portraying him.The President reportedly asked Mr Spicer to stay on as press secretary after he hired Mr Scaramucci, but Mr Spicer held fast that the appointment was a major mistake.     (2)>>For Sean Spicer it may have been vary hard to make any sense of Donald Trump , or even defending him . Last month it was reported the White House was considering stopping Spicer from dealing with the press following a series of embarrassing gaffes. A senior official said discussions had taken place to shift the under fire press secretary from his daily spokesman role into a senior communications position.Spicer has been a frequent source of criticism for his performance at the White House lectern during daily news briefings, although President Donald Trump has stood by him through a variety of controversies. In April, Spicer sparked outrage and calls to be sacked after he said "even Hitler" didn't use chemical weapons . Spicer repeated a claim that the secretive Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) were drafted in to avoid any “American fingerprints" on the alleged surveillance. Although the Home Office refused to comment on claims, one official said called the allegations "totally untrue and quite frankly absurd."  As the White House has struggled to come to terms with the fact that the Russia investigations are not going away, Spicer was under immense pressure. The president blamed him for media stories that portrayed Trump in a negative light. In addition, Trump attacked Spicer for his supposed failure to push back against "fake news." On the flip side, the media correspondents of the White House press corps became increasingly frustrated with Spicer's reluctance to address their concerns. This put Spicer in an unenviable catch-22 position. There’s an element of comedy to this: Spicer’s job is to explain the president’s positions to the press and the public. And sure, the press secretary can’t be expected to be an expert in every topic. Except that Spicer knows a thing or two about trade policy, having served as a spokesman for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative during the George W. Bush administration. For Spicer, Trump’s decision to install Scaramucci above him—the press secretary reports to the communications director—was too much to take. Given the highs and lows of Spicer’s time at the White House, this was an unusual choice of hills to die on. Spicer began his tenure as press secretary with a bizarre rant about how Trump’s Inauguration audience (3)>>“was the largest audience to ever witness an Inauguration, period.” (It wasn’t.) For someone who was never fully inside the Trump circle of trust, the performance had the ring of an eager gang initiate committing a crime to please the boss. Trump, who regularly watched the briefings, which were broadcast live on cable news, reportedlycomplained about Spicer’s pale suits and later seemed to become aggravated that Spicer was becoming famous, or at least infamous. Spicer’s temper tantrums, ill-fitting suits, and mispronunciations turned him into a pop-culture sensation. 

Scaramucci's UN-Divided Loyalty ?

Where Spicer struggled to defend the indefensible — President Donald Trump's inauguration crowd size — (4)>>Scaramucci came in on a day of chaos at the White House and painted a picture of relative calm. During an appearance on Fox Business in August 2015, Scaramucci called Trump a bully whose campaign would "eventually implode."In response to Trump's criticism of hedge fund managers, who he said "move around papers," Scaramucci called Trump "a hack politician" and said his comments were "anti-American.""Right out of Elizabeth Warren's playbook," the Wall Street financier said. "Are you a Democratic plant for Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren? Stand here and tell us otherwise." Scaramucci challenged Trump to criticize him, saying he'll be the president of the "Queens County bullies association." "The politicians don't want to go at Trump because he's got a big mouth and he's afraid he's gonna light them up on Fox News and all these other places, but I'm not a politician," he said.  "You're an inherited money dude from Queens County —  bring it, Donald. Bring it." Scaramucci might be the biggest "kiss ass" in politics with his flip flopping as we have seen a sudden about face .... Now he says "We are committed as true professionals to the team and the process of getting the administration's message out," Scaramucci said. "I think there's been at times a disconnect between the way we see the president, and how much we love the president, and the way some of you see the president."
Find the LEAKER!....
 Scaramucci’s reputation in GOP political circles as a press leaker may have originated in 2012, when he tipped off a Bloomberg reporter to the time and location of a fundraising event for the Republican super PAC Crossroads GPS, according to a report in Politico at the time. At the event, Crossroads chief Karl Rove made disparaging remarks about then-GOP Senate candidate Todd Akin, who was under fire for comments questioning whether a woman could be impregnated by rape. The comments, which were posted by Bloomberg, were immensely embarrassing for Rove, who apologized to Akin. Scaramucci, in turn, apologized to Rove.  Anthony Scaramucci flatly said Sunday that he as going to fire all future leakers on his watch. “We have to get the leaks stopped,” Scaramucci said on Fox News Sunday. “What’s going on right now is a high level of unprofessionalism, and it’s not helping the president. … I will take drastic action to stop the leaks.” Part of that effort will include getting rid of people as Scaramucci said he is ready to “pare down the staff” at the communications office to stop the leaks. "It’s not fair to the president. It’s actually not fair to America." Leaks to the press have been pervasive throughout the first six months of Trump’s presidency. They’ve ranged from highly consequential stories, such as the president himself revealing classified information during a meeting with Russian officials, to gossipy revelations about internal battles among the president’s inner circle. Scaramucci is no better man for the job !

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

(1)>>The coup as I called it now is falling apart with the accusations of Russian "meddling" -Senate hearings.  When it comes to accusations that Russia hacked or otherwise interfered in last year’s US presidential election, the Kremlin has consistently denied any involvement.Now, some Russian officials are pointing the finger at Washington, saying it’s America that is meddling in Moscow’s domestic affairs. In fact, Kremlin officials say, the US has been doing it for years.Hacking? The Kremlin’s website is attacked daily “from within US territories,” Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, said this month.Information warfare and fake news? Washington-funded media outlets like Radio Free Europe and the Voice of America have long run what the Kremlin sees as an anti-Putin propaganda campaign aimed at supporting the Russian opposition.A report prepared by a committee of the Russian parliament said American media outlets engaged in biased and “anti-Russia” coverage of Russian parliamentary elections in 2016.The FBI and several congressional committees are running multipronged investigations of possible cooperation between the Trump campaign and Russia and potential obstruction of justice by Trump. The president has repeatedly called the probe a “witch hunt” and a “phoney story”. (2)>>For Sean Spicer it may have been vary hard to make any sense of Donald Trump.   Spicer resigned from his post Friday soon after President Trump hired Wall Street financier Anthony Scaramucci as his White House communications director.  Scaramucci's new job has caused some tension among Trump's top advisers, it's being reported. Priebus and Chief Strategist Steve Bannon were against the hire, to the point they said Scaramucci would get the communications job "over their dead body."At his first appearance before the press corps, Scaramucci denied those rumors.    (3)>>“was the largest audience to ever witness an Inauguration, period.” (It wasn’t.)       In his first daily press conference, Mr Spicer summoned journalists to the White House and accused them of “deliberately false reporting” after attendance of Mr Trump’s inauguration was compared unfavourably to Barack Obama’s in 2009. Aerial photographs showed a significantly larger crowd in 2009 but Mr Spicer insisted: “This was the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration. Period. Both in person and around the globe.” (4)>>Scaramucci came. At one time Scaramucci was pro gun control, for climate change advocacy, and anti wall. Not any more. He has a new boss. Trump is bringing New York to DC. He has many New York lawyers working for him and now Scaramucci as communications director. Welcome to the swamp Mr. Scaramucci. Fake news? Read Scaramucci's own tweets. He'll fit right in in DC.  URL: { http://www.businessinsider.com/scaramucci-deleted-tweets-trump-communications-director-2017-7 }  well before he deleted them!

Our Government is dysfunctional . No repeal , no Replace ..

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
No repeal no replace .

Our Government is dysfunctional . Both Democrats and Republicans . Political disintegration plagues Congress, too. House Republicans barely managed to elect a speaker last year. Congress did agree in the fall on a budget framework intended to keep the government open through the election—a signal accomplishment, by today’s low standard, hard-line conservatives had revoked the deal, thereby humiliating the new speaker and potentially causing another  crisis . As of this writing, it’s not clear whether the hard-liners will push to the brink, but the bigger point is this: If they do, there is not much that party leaders can do about it. They can't do nothing.   (1)>>Could not come to the table over Obama-care . Republicans could not "repeal or replace" Republican destructiveness is even worse than it ever was —and the party is paying for it with a surge of anti-establishment populism that is tearing apart its coalition base. Trump's win has in reality forced the party of No into finding a solution for healthcare , which is something the majority of the GOP has hated since President Obama fostered the issue of healthcare reform on the platform. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that the Republicans would abandon their replacement plan efforts and instead focus on just repealing the existing law. (1.1)>>The bill would include a two-year delay to allow Republicans time to draft a replacement plan with more support.  The lack of response from Trump came after Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) announced Saturday that he is recovering from a surgery and would be absent from votes, depriving Republicans of the support they need to advance the legislation. The development temporarily dashed McConnell’s hopes of wrapping up the health-care debate by passing a reworked version of the (1.2)>>Better Care Reconciliation Act this week. The bill, which would roll back much of President (1.3)>>Barack Obama’s health care law, has been one of the party’s top priorities for years, and the delay is a major embarrassment to Trump and McConnell. At least five GOP senators — conservatives and moderates — have said they would vote against even beginning debate, and the bill would be derailed if just three of the 52 Republican senators voted against it. (2)>>Back in 2009 - Republicans refused to coalesce around the Democratic effort to create a decent Health Care product for the public? Remember the Tea Party whose members didn't even know that Medicare and Medicaid ARE government programs? Actually, I do believe that when someone doesn't believe that a product that is being offered to the public is good, it is that individual's moral responsibility to NOT vote for it. And what is being offered as Trumpcare ISN'T a good idea because it will deny millions of folks any kind of health coverage. The fact of "denying coverage" to millions of Americans goes against the Market Based system that has held back the tides of reform for decades . (2.1)>>The Insurance companies need millions of consumers for profits , this is the problem . You would think with such a pool of people in a insurance group would bring down costs . Its never worked . Monthly premiums have gone up for decades .Health insurance premiums will increase by 5 percent in 2017 for employees, according to a recent study from the National Business Group on Health, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that represents large employers.That's about on par with employers' predicted expenses. The 133 companies polled expect their own health-care expenses would rise by an average of 5 percent in 2017, once they have put through plan design updates for the new year.Without those plan changes, employers' expenses would rise by 6 percent in 2017. In the end . House Democrats are are happy that the Republican healthcare replacement is DOA . Both parties will not come to the table. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's two year delay for example is a sneaky way to let the Insurance Companies get away with more increases . It is more than ironic that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested that they may need to “shore up the individual market” when the Congress has been the main reason for the instability.

NOTES AND COMMENTS: 

(1)>>Could not come to the table over Obama-care . The Cruz amendment undermines basic supports of any insurance program. This bill will force insurers out of markets, if not out of business. Medicare for All can be the answer to this problem if you let it be. One track for people 65+ who have paid in advance for decades for anticipated coverage and another track for all others, who are paying for current coverage. The insurers will get many more lives to cover, market stability and a huge risk pool of over 300 million covered lives. Both employers and employees will pay less than they do now. People will be able to leave jobs and move to other states without worrying about losing their coverage. Pre-existing conditions and 10 Essential Elements are covered, rendering those debates moot. CMS professionals know how to do this. Since 2009, 10,000 Americans a day have been turning 65; meaning this program is scalable. If the politicians would stop worrying about a "win" or sullying Obama's name and legacy, maybe they could do the right thing for the American people. (1.1)>>The bill would include a two-year delay.  Delay of the repeal is extremely ludicrous , and it endangers millions of Americans . Obama-care as "claimed" by the Republican party led by Pres. Trump is that Obama-care is failing and heading for collapse.  If its going down , either way , still  Republican Congress  understands that they would get (metaphorically) 'tarred and feathered' by those folks they represent who would lose the Health Care/Medicaid coverage - suggested to be something in the neighborhood of 23,000,000. GOP defections increased after Congress’ budget referee said Monday.  The measure would leave 22 million more people uninsured by 2026 than Obama’s 2010 statute. I don't HONESTLY believe that a government fix as being outlined by the government , or the Obama-care system is NOT going to make healthcare affordable . Controlling costs means putting the Healthcare Insurance industry on notice for gouging prices . Which is making costs going through the roof , leading to bankruptcies . This the problem . Since the Healthcare Insurance industry lobby  has held sway Congress of both parties .  (1.2)>>Better Care Reconciliation Act .   The Senate bill aimed at repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act would irreparably weaken Medicaid, significantly increase the number of Americans without health insurance coverage and allow states to waive essential health benefits, such as mental and behavioral health care and substance use treatment, according to the American Psychological Association.   Kaiser Foundation has a complete summery of the entire "replace" law if you like to read it here { http://kaiserf.am/2u9vgBq } . FORBES has this to say otherwise about it : "A major criticism of the draft Republican Senate healthcare bill, the "Better Care Reconciliation Act," has been that it will destabilize the individual health insurance marketplace. The amendments recently suggested by Texas Senator Ted Cruz were said to make that possibility much more severe. The revisions released today to the BCRA, however, clarify that the "Cruz amendment" is not nearly as problematic as supposed. In fact, the revisions substantially reduce the risk of market instability and may well permit a Obamacare-like market and a substantially deregulated market to coexist. The wise GOP decision to abandon tax cuts for the wealthywill help fund the changes needed to permit this dual market situation. That decision also liberates Republicans credibly to cite the need for serious deficit reduction to rebut arguments that their healthcare bill actually reduces the number of uninsureds."  (1.3)>>Barack Obama’s health care law.  President Obama went behind closed doors with interest groups to put the package together; no sane person would have negotiated in full public view. In 2013, Congress succeeded in approving a modest bipartisan budget deal in large measure because the House and Senate Budget Committee chairs were empowered to “figure it out themselves, very, very privately,” as one Democratic aide told Jill Lawrence for a 2015 Brookings report. TV cameras, recorded votes, and public markups do increase transparency, but they come at the cost of complicating candid conversations. “The idea that Washington would work better if there were TV cameras monitoring every conversation gets it exactly wrong,” the Democratic former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle wrote in 2014, in his foreword to the book City of Rivals. “The lack of opportunities for honest dialogue and creative give-and-take lies at the root of today’s dysfunction.”   (2)>>Back in 2009 . The healthcare nonsense is only enhancing the dysfunction, has he forgotten the last 8 years? I thought this was all supposed to stop when Obama was out, thanks for proving it wasn't Obama with the problem. The American healthcare system is driven by capitalism and greed. Companies that are directly connected to your well-being are sold on the stock exchange. Your needs are met after the CEO gets his millions, lobbyist are funded, the politicians are bribed, and dividends are paid. And if you can’t pay for your medical care the system will drive you and your loved ones into poverty.    2018 can't come soon enough.  (2.1)>>The Insurance companies need millions of consumers for profits . Obamacare continues to be a slow-motion train wreck. An analysis by Charles Gaba (an ACA supporter) shows that average premium increases in the non-group market will average 24% for 2017.  Last month's decision by Aetna AET +0.61% (the nation's third largest insurer) to dump 80% of its Obamacare subscribers for 2017 came on the heels of the decision by UnitedHealth (the nation's largest health insurer) to likewise cut back enormously on its participation in the Obamacare exchanges (3 states in 2017 vs. 34 states this year). Yet another of the nation's "big 5" health insurers,Humana HUM +0.50%, will offer coverage in just 156 counties in 2017, 88 percent fewer than this year.

" Caught" Red Handed . Donald Trump Jr , other Musings ...

When you really drill down to it, the existential dread overhanging all of this anxiety about the "theory " that the  Russians  had been interfering in our elections, though all this talk that Putin had our election boxes stuffed with propaganda that somehow curtailed the vote that colluded to elect Donald J Trump is the most preposterous story of the 21st American Century .  I have written considerably on this in the past , My own theory is we have a vary corrupt system in place . I rather focus on that rather than to go in an investigate any evidence of Russian cohesion in influencing the outcome of the election result .I firmly believe that Hillary won the { popular vote } ,  that she may have "won" more votes than were counted , but she lost to the Republican controlled Electoral Collage . It's simple as that . (1)>>Trump won because of an American coup { I believe } led by a GOP controlled Congress . To that the ringleaders did not want a woman President at all . Most of all they did not want Hillary . If the Russians did help to change the outcome , if we go and believe that Putin helped Trump in some way . We must also believe that they helped the Republican party .  If those dotted lines are factual . The truth if its the truth as it is as I am exposing here . The Democratic process was flushed down the toilet . The whole election really was invalid . (2)>>Who knows maybe Hillary Clinton was part of it ? Maybe the debates for the nomination of the Presidency we all saw on television were a farce Legally speaking, there are definitely both criminal and counterintelligence investigations probing into potential contacts between members of the Trump campaign and Russian government outlets and affiliates. Hell, the President of the United States has confirmed the existence of the criminal investigation. Remember Trump has had past business dealings in Russia . 

 Donald Trump Jr .
A bombshell report in the New York Times revealed the junior Trump's enthusiastic response to "obviously very high level and sensitive" morsels supposedly collected by the Kremlin--a report so accurate that the young Trump shared the proof himself on Twitter rather than try the #FakeNews dodge. Then the President's eldest son paid a visit to Fox News host Sean Hannity's show. So far At the beginning of the year, both U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence maintained that no one from Trump’s campaign had any contact with Russians or Russian officials.(3)>>Yet on Sunday Trump Jr., who campaigned for his father, put out a statement that a meeting last June with Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya was attended by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and the Trump campaign’s chairman Paul Manafort.Trump Jr. said he was told Veselnitskaya would have “information helpful to the campaign.” When they met at Trump Tower last June, Veselnitskaya said “she had information that individuals connected to Russia were funding the Democratic National Committee and supporting Ms. Clinton,” Trump Jr. said.It is unclear whether the Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, actually produced the promised compromising information about Mrs. Clinton. But the people interviewed by The Times about the meeting said the expectation was that she would do so.When he was first asked about the meeting on Saturday, Donald Trump Jr. said that it was primarily about adoptions and mentioned nothing about Mrs. Clinton. Veselnitskaya, who started her career as a Russian government prosecutor in Moscow, has a long track record lobbying on behalf of Russia to kill the Magnitsky Act—a 2012 anti-corruption bill in Congress that sanctioned Russians. Russian President Vladimir Putin retaliated against the bill with his own law blocking Americans from adopting Russian babies. Although she provided no information on Clinton, Veselnitskaya pressed Trump Jr. on reversing the sanctions. Donald Trump Jr. also has denied any wrongdoing occurred in the meeting, which also included then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and senior aide. "The information they suggested they had about Hillary Clinton I thought was Political Opposition Research," Trump Jr. said in the Tuesday statement. "I first wanted to just have a phone call but when they didn’t work out, they said the woman would be in New York and asked if I would meet. I decided to take the meeting...As Rob Goldstone said just today in the press, the entire meeting was 'the most insane nonsense I ever heard. And I was actually agitated by it.'" President Donald Trump broke his silence Tuesday afternoon, praising his embattled eldest son for his "transparency" after going three days without a single comment on the deepening scandal about Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer during the height of the campaign.“My son is a high-quality person, and I applaud his transparency,” Trump said, according to deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who read the statement to reporters at Tuesday's off-camera press briefing.Until then, Trump had been conspicuously silent about the growing firestorm involving Trump Jr., who is facing more revelations about a meeting he held in June 2016 with a Russian lawyer promising damaging information about Hillary Clinton. (4)>>The presidents own silence had deepened the mystery around the latest twist in the long-running Russia scandal, which has proved to be, at the least, a major distraction for the Trump White House and could pose a significant threat to his close allies and overall presidency.

OK, if Russia did it . Just what did they want to get out of it ?

The Democratic Left is dreaming for the smoking "gun" to get Trump impeached . So far = Trump Jr's meeting with Russian counterparts  on digging up dirt back in 2016 . Coincides with Donald Trump asking " Russia to hack into Hillary's emails " is so self incriminating  is beyond damage control . My next question is , OK what if Russia did it , how and why pick Trump ? I guess set up a theory here . What was the motive behind such a meddling in our elections ? (5)>>The Answer is that the Obama administration was a complete failure in regards to our nations relations with Russia . President Obama , Hillary Clinton , John Kerry crafted a dangerous path over Ukrainian- Crimea  situation . The Russians were alarmed how relations between the two countries sunk . Former Russian President Gorbachev was warning about the new  "cold war" , the situation was far worse , what was cold was getting hot . NATO was conducting military exercises  along Russia's boarders . It was a show of force to Putin . Perhaps was a attempt by the Obama administration to set up a missile defense system in Europe to counter Iran's nuclear program . While the American news media was transmitting false information to the American audiences of escalating situations  which were created by our government in Syria . The American -Obama factions spread "fake news" by trying to convince Americans that the Russians were the bad guys . The Russians picked up on this , began to wonder what was going on with the American government under Obama .  What we Americans hardly knew was that while all the negative propaganda against Russia was being spewed  from the Obama White House a plan was being hatched by a inner circle of Republicans to end the cold war , stop Hillary Clinton from becoming President .  Enter Donald J Trump . During his campaign , various interviews Trump spoke about "getting along with Russia " , "working together to end the Syrian conflict" . This new philosophy was  was just the opposite of what the Media , the Press & Obama had fueled . The Syrian conflict was created by the Hillary -Kerry secretary of the state duo  pushing regime change in the middle -east , the overthrow of Assad government by crafting a civil war , sending arms to terrorists whom guised as Democratic freedom fighters . This conflict sent Putin in a tail spin . Assad is a Russian ally. The middle east in flames . Donald Trump's "peaceful" jesters brought as hoped by Putin a way out of the Obama sanctions , hoped for a new road to end the new cold war , return to normalization . Russia is vary much connected to the United States . Russia owns much of our nation debt . Every thing is so closely linked by global standards that a war with either  China or Russia would not make any sense . President Obama , Hillary, Kerry should have known that , but to the end by expelling Russian diplomats in December 2016 was just plain stupid . Putin otherwise did just the opposite he kept the American diplomats in Russia, kept a cool head , while Obama boiled .  Trump's win in my view was not about what the Russians did . Donald J Trump the billionaire  business man was a least a good choice by the GOP after winning the nomination . Trump is damaged goods with a long history of business dealings with Russia . Beauty pageants , sex ,   drugs , mafia . The first Lady herself posed nude as model in several magazines in Europe . Its rife with the scandalous . For the Media dirt diggers its a feast . They can pick out so much out Mr. Trump its never GOING TO END. Russian motives what ever they really are as I explained above . Its all about world peace . If the Russians had to meddle in our election system , hack into our voting machines , just to get Trump elected , pretty much it shows how desperate a foreign power is to resume normal relations with our government . Ending the new cold war Obama started . It shows how not so perfect our government really is . Russian meddling reveals the vary flaws in our own Democracy .  Yes, we need to fix our two party system.  FIN.

NOTES AND COMMENTS: 

(1)>>Trump won because of an American coup { I believe } led by a GOP controlled Congress . This probe is a window into our own corruption. Donald Trump's campaign managers and presidential advisers are not some secret society operating in the shadows, but are a known entity who have been around for decades. THE BIG QUESTION IS . WHO IN THE D.C. REPUBLICAN CONGRESS KNEW WHAT WAS GOING ON ? Per NBC News: The FBI, with the help of the Treasury Department, the CIA and other agencies, is examining evidence of possible contacts, money transfers and business relationships between a variety of Trump associates and Russian officials, the sources say. The investigation goes well beyond Flynn, Manafort and a possible American connection, to include how Russian intelligence services carried out the campaign of fake news and leaking hacked emails that intelligence officials say was meant to hurt Hillary Clinton and benefit Donald Trump. Someone had to have known .  (2)>>Who knows maybe Hillary Clinton was part of it ?  Hillary ran twice for President in 2008  & 2016 . Each case a  alternative candidate won . First Obama , Trump . Was She was a "jinx" in our election system?   I think you could make a good case from the combination of the GOP's Gerrymandering, voter suppression efforts and Supreme Court stacking, that Republicans are essentially trying to establish minority rule in the U.S. Republicans ...were not concerned about Russia’s attempt to rig a US election. , the only answer I can come up with is that they figured it was somehow helping Mr. Trump (Or perhaps more importantly, hurting HRC) so why mess with a good thing. ... consider that investigators had reason to believe there was involvement in a Russian plan to alter the election by not just Russian/Putin operatives but: a) Trump campaign and people, b) Trump administration and people, and c) GOP leadership.No question in my mind that  Mitch McConnell knew that there was a plan in place to swing the election in favor of Republicans. He may or may not have known it would be with Russian help but he did know.  (3)>>Yet on Sunday Trump Jr.,   Trump has kept a light schedule since returning from the G-20 summit in Germany on Saturday, making no public appearances. He had been active on Twitter, but his messages ranged from railing against Democrats to bringing the Olympics to Los Angeles to defending his daughter Ivanka’s role at the G-20. There have been no tweets about Trump Jr. Trump Jr. has no more political experience than his dad and the Russians knew this.  They played him like a violin to see if he would take the bait of a promise of dirt on his opponent.  He got nothing except possibly a felony violation and a pile of egg on his face.  (4)>>The presidents own silence had deepened the mystery.  President Trump launched a Twitter attack against Senate Democrats Tuesday morning for failing to confirm his nominees — but stayed silent on the mounting controversy over a meeting between his son and a Russian lawyer.  Also, why would republicans be defending Trump unless they, themselves, have something to hide. It seems, if most republican members of congress were clean, their best outcome would be to appear unbaised, interested in the truth, have Trump impeached and blame the Democrats.  (5)>>The Answer is that the Obama administration was a complete failure in regards to our nations relations with Russia .   That Putin intervened in the 2016 American presidential election in ways that helped put President Trump in the White House, and that Trump’s “associates,” perhaps the president himself, “colluded” with the Kremlin in this “hijacking of American democracy.” Cohen points out there is as yet no forensic evidence that the Kremlin stole and disseminated Hillary Clinton’s e-mails, no reason to assume that American voters were zombie-like citizens animated by Russian “propaganda,” and no grounds to conclude that Trump associates who had business dealings with Russians—as did thousands of Americans—colluded with them in any subversive ways. Nonetheless, this narrative, which declares “Putin’s intervention” to have been an “act of war,” has generated a McCarthyite warfare atmosphere in Washington that makes any conflict-resolution diplomacy exceedingly difficult, not to mention the US-Russian détente promised by Trump during the presidential campaign

G20 Summit . Putin & Trump . Opinion (s).

On Friday, the day the summit kicked off, some protesters torched cars and trucks, looted retail stores, lit off firecrackers and blasted music from Jimi Hendrix in a bid to drown out the classical music playing at a concert hall where world leaders met. (1.1)>>Thousands are protesting capitalism, climate polices and globalisation, among other issues. When the last G20 summit took place in Hangzhou, a city with more than six million inhabitants, China found a brilliant solution to this problem. Weeks in advance of the 2016 G20 summit, where China announced its decision to ratify the Paris Agreement, the Chinese government declared a week-long holiday and encouraged citizens to leave the city. The current Hamburg incarnation of G20 is very different to the two most significant G20s so far – in 1999, which was an attempt to create global governance after the Asian crisis, and in 2008, in response to the financial crash. While the “traditional” G20 was unified in either promoting or implementing the so-called Washington Consensus, it seems the new G20 can only agree to disagree. (1.2)>>President Donald Trump is set for a day of tense talks with G20 leaders as he meets Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to reports, the pair "shook hands and said they'll see each other soon" as they prepare for a head-to-head on Friday afternoon.  Mr Trump will sit down with Mr Putin for the first time on Friday afternoon, an encounter that will be intensely scrutinized following allegations by US intelligence agencies that Moscow meddled in the US election to help Trump win. Both the United States and Russia can agree. And the opportunity of the G20 summit in Hamburg this weekend is ideal. It allows anything from a full, formal sit-down meeting to a staged informal encounter in which both sides invest minimal political capital. But don't get your hopes up.In a rational world, the two leaders' agenda would be packed with must-solve problems. American and Russian forces, and their local proxies, are perilously close to clashes in Syria. Terrifying near-misses have become almost routine over the Baltic Sea. A huge Russian military exercise, Zapad-17, looms in September, causing jitters in NATO's front-line states of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The core G20 message was that trade must be used to boost economies, hardly an earth-shattering insight from a meeting of global leaders, surrounded by finance and trade ministers.Much of the real activity was what the diplomacy 'business' calls 'bilaterals', a sort of diplomatic speed-dating. There were inconclusive side-discussions between (2)>>Russia and the US on Syria [a deal was later finalized in Geneva]. Canada was reportedly busy lobbying individual European leaders (why so many European leaders at the G20?) to try to rescue a rather shaky CETA. UK PM Terese May was busy trying to explain what ' Brexit ' might mean for already stagnating global trade as well as insecure EU citizens living in the UK. German Chancellor Angela Merkel closed the G20 summit in Hamburg with a rebuke to President Donald Trump's stance on climate change, but the group of the world's economic leaders appeared to make a concession on his protectionist trade policies.Officials had been at an impasse over an increasingly isolationist United States and Trump's climate change and trade policies for most of the summit, and Merkel made it clear the United States had made talks difficult."Unfortunately -- and I deplore this -- the United States of America left the climate agreement, or rather announced their intention of doing this," Merkel said as she closed the summit and presented a G20 declaration.

NOTES AND COMMENTS:
(1.1)>>Thousands are protesting capitalism, climate polices and globalisation, among other issues.  The right to protest is as valid as any other human right, almost certainly more valid than property rights. It deserves, accordingly, maximum respect by the police and other organs of state violence.  Another issue that should be questioned regarding these unidentified "black bocs" is, protesters want to get their message out and many carry signs. Not one of those black bocs had a sign, message or purpose other than violence, and the only payoff for violence would be to discredit the protesters and turn the public against them.Protesters want and need the support of the public, as that is the only way to gain the change they desire, so it doesn't make any sense for the protesters to shoot themselves in the foot by causing violence and monetary loss to those whose very support they need.

(1)>>President Donald Trump . As the latest Pew Research opinion poll shows, more people around the world have confidence in Putin than Trump. When the American leader meets his G20 colleagues, they will treat him with wary pity, along with Britain's Theresa May, who represents another country that is hurling itself over a geopolitical cliff. Mr Trump what was most memorable for him, he too would say the Putin meeting - but also his day in Warsaw, when thousands of Poles chanted his name and "U-S-A". Remember the crowd does for him what a battery station does for a Tesla car.His speech on the challenges facing the West was well crafted with an argument to make. And he just sounded - well - more committed to the idea of the "West" than he did when he was last in Europe at the Nato summit and the G7.  (2)>>Russia and the US on Syria [a deal was later finalized in Geneva].  On Friday, the presidents of the United States and Russia met in Germany for over two hours behind closed doors to gab about their crushes, Syria, Ukraine, and Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election. Heading into the meeting, it was unclear whether Trump would bring up Russia’s hacking of the Democratic National Committee, but afterward both Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (who were both in the room) confirmed that the two leaders did indeed discuss it.Tillerson spun the meeting as if Trump had been tough on Putin,saying that “the president pressed President Putin, on more than one occasion, regarding Russian involvement.” But Tillerson also said that “there was a very clear positive chemistry between the two” and that there “was not a lot of re-litigating things from the past.” Hmm. If that weren’t bad enough, according to Lavrov—whose account has been partially disputed by the White House—Trump basically assured Putin that the accusations of election-meddling were just bitter attacks from the losers and haters.