There is definitely something seriously wrong with Donald Trump. He settles on a story that he fired Comey because Rosenstein said he should, then abandons it during the interview with Lester Holt by saying he fired Comey to stop the Russia investigation, probably because he knew no one would believe he fired Comey over how "Poor Hillary" was treated during the email investigation (incredibly, he later tells Russian operatives the same thing when he met with them in the Oval Office).
Now Trump claims that his threat to Comey about "tapes" was merely an effort to make Comey testify truthfully about their conversations; and he now claims that this strategy worked, meaning that Donald has effectively verified all of Comey's testimony, much of which was profoundly damaging to Trump.
Trump actually had a beer party in the Rose Garden to celebrate the mere act of the House passing a health care bill, then turns around and calls that very same bill "mean" (then criticized Obama for stealing his "mean" branding!).
And more recently, he reverses himself on Russian election interference being a hoax perpetrated by some 400-pound dude laying on a bed and now claims it is true and is all Obama's fault so there is nothing he can do about it (that would be akin to FDR saying in 1933 that the Great Depression is all Hoover's fault so he [FDR] has no responsibility to do anything about it).
Now Trump claims that his threat to Comey about "tapes" was merely an effort to make Comey testify truthfully about their conversations; and he now claims that this strategy worked, meaning that Donald has effectively verified all of Comey's testimony, much of which was profoundly damaging to Trump.
Trump actually had a beer party in the Rose Garden to celebrate the mere act of the House passing a health care bill, then turns around and calls that very same bill "mean" (then criticized Obama for stealing his "mean" branding!).
And more recently, he reverses himself on Russian election interference being a hoax perpetrated by some 400-pound dude laying on a bed and now claims it is true and is all Obama's fault so there is nothing he can do about it (that would be akin to FDR saying in 1933 that the Great Depression is all Hoover's fault so he [FDR] has no responsibility to do anything about it).
I do have some "20-20 hindsight" criticism over how Obama handled the Russia election interference deal, but the bottom line is that people were made aware of what was going on (we forget that HRC actually accused Trump of being a "Russian Puppet" during one of the debates, so the issue of Russian interference to favor Trump was out there for all to see, although not all the details of the attack had been released at that point). I liked this point from Steve Benen:
"If Trump is going to blame Obama and his team for not responding aggressively enough, he might also want to have a chat with congressional Republican leaders – who were notified and who refused to take the matter seriously."
But it was more than merely the GOP not taking it seriously. The Washington Post reported last December that Obama wanted to put out a bipartisan warning to the American people as to what was going on, but McConnell flat out refused to participate in that and then threatened Obama that if he put out a more forceful statement unilaterally, then McConnell would treat such an announcement as a purely partisan political maneuver. That's why you don't see any Republican House or Senate members coming out and blaming Obama for not doing enough about Russia -- such a position would be too hypocritical even for the GOP. Trump is the only Republican in office criticizing Obama this way because he doesn't care that it completely defecates upon his previous statement that the Russia hack is fake news.
But I think that Obama's main reason for not putting out a more forceful warning to the American people was because he (and everyone else except for Michael Moore and Bill Maher) was certain that HRC was going to win anyway, so why fuel Trump's inevitable claim that the election was rigged. Even Trump and his campaign were sure Donald would lose, as were the Russians (Putin reportedly gave up all hope of Trump winning when Donald went after the Gold Star Family in August).
As I said, hindsight is 20/20. But if I was in Obama's shoes, I still would have put something more forceful about Russian interference out there in mid-October despite McConnell's threat. In fact, I would have mentioned that I wanted it to be a bipartisan announcement, but that McConnell wouldn't go along with that and I would detail to the American people the threat McConnell made and perhaps even suggest that McConnell may be aiding and abetting Russia (innocently or perhaps not-so innocently) by refusing to challenge Putin more forcefully. That's how Democrats need to deal with Republicans -- if the GOP pulls a knife, then the Dems need to respond by pulling a gun, politically speaking.
As I said, hindsight is 20/20. But if I was in Obama's shoes, I still would have put something more forceful about Russian interference out there in mid-October despite McConnell's threat. In fact, I would have mentioned that I wanted it to be a bipartisan announcement, but that McConnell wouldn't go along with that and I would detail to the American people the threat McConnell made and perhaps even suggest that McConnell may be aiding and abetting Russia (innocently or perhaps not-so innocently) by refusing to challenge Putin more forcefully. That's how Democrats need to deal with Republicans -- if the GOP pulls a knife, then the Dems need to respond by pulling a gun, politically speaking.
If the shoe were on the other foot, you know that a Republican president serving his last term would have put something more forceful out there if it looked like the Russians were trying to help Hillary. Obama's failure to do so is the typical Democrat pussiness that I've been complaining of for over a decade.
But at least I understand why Obama did what he did. I am way more critical of Obama's handling of the Affordable Care Act after it passed. He did little if anything to promote this new law, and that allowed the Republicans to brand the ACA as socialism (which is hilarious because the individual health care mandate was a market-based solution initially proposed by Republicans). Obama's lack of post-enactment support for the ACA (and the Democrats general failure to forcefully get behind that law) is unforgivable, in my opinion.
But this is all water under the bridge. The Russia turd is now squarely in President Trump's pocket, and I believe how he responds to it will be one of the defining moments of his hopefully-short presidency.
But at least I understand why Obama did what he did. I am way more critical of Obama's handling of the Affordable Care Act after it passed. He did little if anything to promote this new law, and that allowed the Republicans to brand the ACA as socialism (which is hilarious because the individual health care mandate was a market-based solution initially proposed by Republicans). Obama's lack of post-enactment support for the ACA (and the Democrats general failure to forcefully get behind that law) is unforgivable, in my opinion.
But this is all water under the bridge. The Russia turd is now squarely in President Trump's pocket, and I believe how he responds to it will be one of the defining moments of his hopefully-short presidency.
