Donald Trump kicked off #TreasonSummit 2018 in Helsinki on Monday by striking a surprisingly hardline stance on Russia right out of the proverbial gate.
I’m just kidding.
Trump underscored the notion that he has no real list of goals or concrete expectations for this summit (something he said himself in an interview with CBS’s Jeff Glor, clips from which made the rounds over the weekend) when he delivered the following series of characteristically nonsensical remarks at the opening photo op:
We have a lot of good things to talk about, and we have a lot of things to talk about. We have discussions on everything from trade to military to missiles to nuclear to China.
As usual, it’s not clear that Trump understands how to use the English language, because “military” and “nuclear” are generally adjectives, not nouns. But you can forgive him, because after all, he’s speaking in something other than his native Russian tongue.
Here’s the clip:
Trump also congratulated Putin on holding a successful soccer tournament.
Notably, Putin seems to be even more amused than usual at this whole spectacle, donning his trademark smirk, while a visibly nervous Trump oscillates between giddy and terrified.
Bloomberg notes that “Putin arrived in Helsinki about a half-hour late, while Trump didn’t depart the resort home where he was meeting with advisers for the summit until after the Russian leader arrived at the presidential palace.”
That absurd bit of posturing ended up delaying this whole thing by an hour.
Obviously, Trump is under tremendous pressure to press Putin on election meddling, especially in light of the Department of Justice’s move to indict 12 Russian operatives for interfering in the 2016 election just 72 hours ahead of the summit.
In the same CBS interview mentioned above, Trump suggested he’d consider asking Putin to extradite the accused, but that’s obviously a laughable proposition.
On Monday, prior to the meeting, Trump blamed the FBI investigation into Russian meddling for a deterioration in Washington’s relationship with the Kremlin:
Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 16, 2018
Russia responded from their official Foreign Ministry account:
We agree https://t.co/7l087Qwmj3
— MFA Russia ?? (@mfa_russia) July 16, 2018
And with that, the farce is complete.
This is a truly fascinating website. When discussing finance it’s astute, well-informed, and fairly balanced. When discussing politics or international relations it reads like the product of an algo programmed by a Clinton-worshipper out of Langley.
Or maybe it reads like a trained political scientist (me) pissing off conspiracy theorists (you).
Thank you for confirming for the rest of the readership the continuing relevance of the Dunning-Kruger effect.
unfortunately, the Steve Bannon, post-Truth reality has created a situation where the most laughable, uninformed geopolitical analysis is seen as somehow more “accurate” than real analysis by people with formal training and/or by people with actual foreign policy experience in government.
you’re lying to yourself. the crap you read on alt-Right websites is just that: crap.
if it looks like clickbait and sounds like clickbait and cites Alex Jones and Fox News, well then it’s probably clickbait.
and while readers are fawning over it and hanging on it as though it’s some kind of glimpse into the Matrix, the people writing it are laughing at their own readers while using that click money to buy mansions and luxury cars.
that’s the reality of the situation. if you’re ignorant enough to buy into that, well then, by all means. but you can save your conspiracy theories for one of those websites. the next reference to “Langley”, etc. etc. gets you a permanent ban here.
THANK YOU! YOU SPEAK FOR ME AND MILLIONS OF OTHER PEOPLE! EXCELLENT!
This was published May 2, 2018:
https://qz.com/1267508/all-the-people-close-to-donald-trump-who-called-him-an-idiot/
Again – THESE PEOPLE know this prick and work with this prick and have reason to form these opinions. These people are not just some clown on television who spews bullshit worship of a vile evil ignorant prick.
Joint press conf epic. This is scary. For those not watching history will record this as a joke.
I watched every second of it. TREASON, witnesses by millions of us. Everything prior has been leading up to this. 2.5 hours in private — and we only saw results from the podiums after that 2.5 hours. The most irresponsible and ignorant behavior by any Unites States President. Our future generations will read about this in their history books . . . his own family surely must be stupefied and horrified.
I wonder what the members of Congress are thinking right this minute. This is a crisis and I hope they realize it!
Probably not, since doing so will likely be illegal.
trump is a self-obsessed, ego-driven buffoon. He found that he could not manipulate Putin (or Xi of China last year) in the manner that he does most other foreign leaders using bullying and irrational behavior. So, he got played by Putin, as he retreated to his “good cop” strategy.
But, this is not treason. Such a claim can and will be dismissed as typical blog and twitter hyperbole.
A real critique should focus on trump’s unwillingness to prepare for, and tackle difficult and substantive issues.
What is the appropriate word for when the leader of a country takes the stage with the leader of a foreign adversarial power in order to lie to the world and to his own people that said people have been attacked by said foreign adversary?
Nyet, this is treason and it requires IMPEACHMENT starting today. Republicans wake the fuck up and do what needs to be done. If any democrat did what this buffoon HAS DONE you would be falling all over yourselves drafting articles of impeachment today.
DEFINITION: TREASON – SEDITION – – mean disloyalty or treachery to one’s country or its government. Treason is any attempt to overthrow the government or impair the well-being of a state to which one owes allegiance; the crime of giving aid or comfort to the enemies of one’s government.
Sedition is any act, writing, speech, etc., directed unlawfully against state authority, the government, or constitution, or calculated to bring it into contempt or to incite others to hostility, ill will or disaffection; it does not amount to treason and therefore is not a capital offense.
WIKIPEDIA: Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
However, Congress has passed laws creating related offenses that punish conduct that undermines the government or the national security, such as sedition in the 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts, or espionage and sedition in the Espionage Act of 1917, which do not require the testimony of two witnesses and have a much broader definition than Article Three treason. Some of these laws are still in effect. Some well-known spies have been convicted of espionage rather than treason, such as Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
SO, BEFORE YOU SCOFF AT TREASON CHARGES, perhaps we should wait to see what Flynn and/or Manafort and/or Cohen all have to say.