I am thinking of this Saudi murder issue. And of course it is complex, as all these things are, but crazily complicated by the many hidden factors& forces in play that are not being honestly discussed. I suppose we'll find out about them when the books are written years from now. 
What seems obvious & apparent is that one of the primary confounding factors is Trump's own personal interest. We have seen how his personal holdings/interests have skewed his policies & outlooks on our countries positions & interests but rarely so plainly, so clearly contorted.
Trump is sometimes mocked as being an idiot. There are valid reasons for that, but I think they are wrong in that they presume he is working for some agreed upon outcome that consistently fails to happen, as if he just cant get it right. The error is here:His goals are different.
As in the many other mind boggling scandels that, as many have observed w confusion and consternation would have sunk a different "ship", a different campaign, man, now presidency, his bellicose denial of undeniable facts & reality, unshakable obstinance to see what everyone ...
can plainly see is the fact, if not the truth of a thing creates its own confusion and inability to respond. We, as citizens of this great country, are predisposed to believe our leaders. However we may battle over details. We are not equipped to defend against outright assaults
on our good will and core values. The bald face, unashamed denial of the most basic of truths & facts, and in fact are told what is true is precisely opposite. Examples abound and are well known. It finally comes to this moment w the SA murder of the journalist.
This SA murder of the WP journalist may be the crack in the façade. The lie that cannot be swallowed. The point of this thread? I think it may be the case that Trump has got himself into a position where he has to lie, and then tell bigger more dramatic lies to cover.
Like a check kiting scheme, each check has to be bigger to cover the last one. Like Bernie Madoff. And like the Madoff situation eventually the game is up. Trump has to lie now. His personal stake in what is happening has been put at risk by forces outside his control.
Trump has to retreat to the positions he is taking on this SA murder case because, I posit, to follow the thread of this matter is to expose and unwind the entire game he has been playing.
It is similar to the Russian investigation - his tag line being, unprovoked & often out of context: "NO Collusion". While this is confusing when he says it, like being uncertain how to respond to someone w Turrets, I think it ties together as being his primary fear that all he
built may come crashing down if the walls of secrecy he has so assiduously built are breached. I think it is possible that these various investigations may have got to those levels, but still need a great deal of work to be properly understood. The recent NYT piece is just one
more example of the structure of the Trump Organization coming under scrutiny, and not being able to withstand it. It is, I aver, the reason why he never was going to release his tax returns. Ever. It was the "original" lie he foisted and we bought. We are predisposed to believe.
I think this SA matter is out of his control. Unlike some of these other issues he is not in the center of it, and has lost the ability to manage it. It threatens to be the thing that pierces the veil. When that happens, if it does, I think the entire edifice that is Trump
,and all around him, comes crashing down. Parallels have been made to Nixon. I think this one is the most relevant now: That Nixon knew what was going on the entire time. He tried to send up flak, distractions, denials, attacks, obfustications...until they no longer worked.
It seems to me that this SA murder has the possibility of functioning like Nixon's tapes. It may start a conflagration that no longer can be managed or controlled. It is why, I propose, he fights so hard,w such obvious lies & deceptions. It is how he knows how to escape scrutiny.
It is how he has done it all his life. It is the thing that makes every other thing about Trump that is so confusing and inexplicable make sense. Back to the beginning of this now too long thread. Trump is not stupid. He obviously is a master player. It may be that the rules
It may be the rules he has been playing by, and the strategies he has successfully employed in the context of that "game" are unable to actually withstand the forces & scrutiny of the one he is in now. Clearly he thought, if he thought at all, that the presidency would afford
him a great deal of power. Especially the power to cover up all these issues. His laments about Sessions not protecting him, and his attacks on the press as the enemy are central to his thinking. To a large degree he has been able to avoid the spotlight shining into these areas
But now this has happened. It wasn’t supposed to happen. And now his only play seems to be more of the same: Loud, bellicose denials. Attacks on those who would ask the easy & obvious questions. Overblown promises of "investigation" & tepid actions to that end.
What remains to be seen in this Saudi Arabia journalist murder case is whether it is indeed the issue that won't go away. The one that ultimately pulls back the curtains on the entire ruse that has been Trump before & now in the presidency.
Is this the "shooting on 5th Ave" that finally cannot be ignored?
If it is, I suspect all the other investigations and more will quickly come to astonishing conclusions. Ones we will not as quickly recover from as we work through how Trump happened to America.
If it is, I suspect all the other investigations and more will quickly come to astonishing conclusions. Ones we will not as quickly recover from as we work through how Trump happened to America.
Trump took advantage of the Achillies Heel in the American system, and the good will of the American people. He has exacerbated the divide, it serves his purposes to have the battle happen "out there". He has appropriated the power and prestige of the Office of the President
for his own purposes. You can hear it even now in the deference and respect offered to a man who has earned neither. [ Most recent was the 60 minutes interview.] If we get through this time more or less intact it will attest again to the depth of the American character.
The times and particulars are, of course, very different from the Civil War times. But I think some of the forces, questions, and divides are empowered now as then. America was able to get through that time. Not unchanged, but at least intact.
As then, it is what happens next that matters and that will determine the framework of how we move forward.
But we are not at that point yet. A war might yet be avoided. The times now, as then, call for a leader equal to the times. Like then it will not be obvious who tht is.
But we are not at that point yet. A war might yet be avoided. The times now, as then, call for a leader equal to the times. Like then it will not be obvious who tht is.
