Phone Calls

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                                        Phone Calls
 
            The House’s impeachment inquiry is proceeding at a  deliberate pace, all started by a phone call from President Trump to Ukraine President Zelensky.  An even more insidious phone call occurred several weeks ago, when Trump spoke to Turkish dictator Erdogan, promising to remove U.S. troops from northern Syria, allowing the Turks to invade the area and begin their genocide of the local Kurdish population.  This has led to those same Kurds, formerly valiant allies of the United States,  seeking refuge from Syrian dictator Assad,   starting an “alliance” with the Russians!  The abandonment of the Kurds (with the ancillary problem of a potential rebirth of Isis fighters in the region) plays right into the hands of Vladimir Putin’s geopolitical ambitions.  Trump, of course, is fine with that and his only focus in the Middle East are the Saudis, because they pay for U.S. armaments.  And that’s really the bottom line, for Donald Trump, isn’t it?  It’s all business.

            Neal Brennan is a brilliant comedian who appeared on Monday night’s (October 14th) The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and presented what might be the most accurate analysis of Trump’s presidency to date. (You can Google: The Daily Show October 14, 2019 and scroll to minute 16:11 to see the whole routine)  Simply put, according to Brennan:

“Trump doesn’t think he got elected, Trump thinks he bought America.”  When Noah questioned whether that could be true, Brennan pointed out “He tried to buy Greenland . . . and it wasn’t even for sale!”  In further explaining Trump’s perspective, Brennan noted: “He doesn’t think he works for America;  he thinks he owns it.  Listen to how he talks: (clips were shown here --- with the following Trump quotes) ‘My generals and my military; my guys at NASA; my miners; my farmers; Look at my African-American over here.’”  Indeed, if you listen to Trump speak, particularly when he’s not using a teleprompter, he sounds like America’s owner, not its steward.  As Brennan continued: “Trump thinks everyone in the country works for him.  It’s why he’s sending his Attorney General around the world to focus on his personal vendettas.  Trump thinks the Attorney General is, generally, his attorney.”  Funny, for sure, but a bit too close to home. 

            That Trump can’t believe the Congress has the right to impeach him extends the “ownership” concept.  How can people who work for you have the audacity to tell you that you can’t be the “Boss” any longer?  It speaks to Trump’s ignorance, arrogance, and Mob Boss mentality that he proceeds as he does.  Once again, I don’t believe the media is reacting with the outrage his actions merit.  As the Russians move in with the Syrians to destroy the Kurds (or if they simply sit back & let Turkey do it), as Trump escalates his attacks on Congress's constitutional rights, and as more and more evidence surfaces as to the Trump team’s attempts to fix the 2020 election, our media outlets (excluding Fox News, of course, since they are State Sponsored Media) continue to “report” these stories “even-handedly.”  Media outlets should be screaming like their hair’s on fire about Syria, about Trump’s defiance of Congress, and about the corruption of the election process.

            “Reporting” is not enough!  The purpose of a Free Press is to be a Civilian check and balance on an out-of-control Executive Branch.  We know the Republicans in the Senate will die on their Trump sword rather than remove him from office, so the Media is all we, the American people, have left.  The House will pass Bills of Impeachment and proceed to try Trump.  The Senate “jury” will not convict this Rogue President so all we, the People, have left is a Media that will exercise its power and aggressively broadcast the corruption and misdeeds of this Administration!

            And what of that phone call with Erdogan?  We know Trump is very proud of his Trump Towers in Istanbul --- big money-makers (which he has not separated himself from!): how much did that have to do with his acceding to Erdogan’s desire to wipe out the Kurds?  This President is all about self-interest.  While he screams about Joe Biden’s son’s “corruption,” his own children  (including his son-in-law) continue to wheel and deal on a global scale, leveraging their access to the President for profit (Ivanka has 34 Chinese trademarks!).  These stories --- all of them --- need to be front and center --- on a daily basis in our Media.  Anything short of that creates a 2016 flashback, when the Media persisted in its contention that “both sides have a legitimate argument.”  It is more than obvious that that train left the station a long time ago. 

            My only advice is:  if the Media does not pick up the gauntlet, it is incumbent upon citizens like you and me to talk to people, to make sure these issues are front and center.  We need to let people know what’s going on --- and make sure everyone goes out and votes in 2020.  If the Media won’t do it, then we must.