CSotD: The Company He Keeps
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The proper thing would be to build up to the best, but Anderson nailed Trump’s bizarre embrace of Kim Jong Un and North Korea so well that I’m using it to set the scene. Others picked out aspects to emphasize, and that’s valid, but Anderson wrapped it up in a single package.
Putting Trump on Kim’s lap is a good demonstration of a relationship in which one is subservient to the other. Observers know that Trump is a sucker for flattery, and although they got off to a rocky start, Trump later rhapsodized about love letters from Kim, which got laughs from the less gullible but seemed, at the time, harmless enough.
And having Trump repeat the campaign jargon we’re hearing from his political allies demonstrates the oddity of Republicans cleaving to an anti-communist line while their flag-bearer declares his affection for one of the world’s most virulent communist dictators. It also demonstrates how Trump is operating with no apparent interest in how his party will emerge from the midterms.
Even the faces tell the story: Trump is stern and determined while Kim has a smile that suggests he has things under control. And if Republicans don’t step forward and assert themselves, Kim will be right.
Boris emphasizes the shift in relationships, reminding us that Kim and Trump began by trading insults, with Trump calling him “Little Rocket Man” and Kim responding to Trump’s speech at the UN by saying, “I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged US dotard with fire.”
Boris suggests that the taming came about without a need for fire, though Kim launched a ballistic missile test just as the US and South Korea were announcing the military drill, a firey demonstration.
Trump then announced the exercises would be downgraded since they were “not only costly… but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful.” Well, yes, unthreatening except for the part about being tamed with fire and respectful other than the “mentally deranged US dotard” thing.
The only question left is whether he could bow any lower?
Juxtaposition of the Day
McKee accurately quotes the president, but resets the scene from a political rally in Michigan to a lovefest with his pal from Pyongyang, emphasizing the utter lack of logic between rhetoric and actions, and suggesting disloyalty in Trump’s embrace of the dictator.
Bagley expands on this by adding Trump’s seeming alliance with Russia, or at least his scaling back of support for Ukraine against the invasion and his shrugging off of reports that Putin is giving Iran assistance in targeting US bases in the Middle East.
The old saying is that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” but there is no saying about the friend of my enemy, since it seems obvious. Bagley depicts the Democratic donkey as puzzled by the disconnect between the president’s words and his actions, but perhaps with hope that the puzzlement will resolve itself into some sort of action rather than another stern letter from the Democratic leadership.
Being in the minority makes legislative responses problematic, but being less than 100 days from a major election suggests picking up the club that has been offered.
And, certainly, if the Republicans are going to kick off the election season by calling everyone they disagree with a “communist,” it shouldn’t take a tactical genius to point out the genuine, certified communists that Dear Leader is embracing as well as his policy of collecting “golden shares” of private industry for the central government to control, which smacks of Marxism.
Cole cites Trump’s belief that, like Nixon, his actions as president set the legal standard, and we’ve been seeing an odd trend of people — presumably too young to remember Watergate — declaring that Nixon wasn’t really so bad.
Nixon founded the EPA and in other ways responded to public interests. But half the names on the Wall are of Americans who died in Vietnam after he took office on a promise of peace, and subsequent investigation showed that he had purposely blunted LBJ’s attempt to end the war in order to advance his own election chances.
He then approved criminal acts of burglary and bribery in the Watergate scandal, while his Plumbers’ illegal activities in plugging leaks meant that Daniel Ellsburg could not be prosecuted for releasing the Pentagon Papers.
Two critical factors: (1) While there were those who defended his illegal actions, there was no Fox News to magnify their views, and (2) since Nixon’s actions were confined to the executive branch, congressional Republicans rose up to investigate the Watergate events and hold him accountable.
One of the final nails in Nixon’s coffin was the Saturday Night Massacre, in which he ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson, to fire the special prosecutor who was demanding release of the White House Tapes. Richardson resigned rather than carrying out the order, and Nixon turned to Deputy AG, William Ruckelshaus, to do the deed, and Ruckelshaus also resigned.
Finally, Nixon got Solicitor General Robert Bork to fire Archibald Cox, but the public response to the Massacre was such that it did Nixon little good to have rid himself of the special prosecutor, nor did it do much for Bork. Ronald Reagan later nominated him for a position on the Supreme Court, but the Senate refused to confirm him.
Seems unlikely that Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Todd Blanche, would reject any orders from the president, and, in fact, he said as much, which did not stop Senate Republicans from confirming him as Attorney General.
I toured the Washington Post building in the early 90s, and we stopped at a conference room whose walls were decorated with famous quotes about the Post. There it was, John Mitchell’s warning to Carl Bernstein to back off: “Katie Graham’s gonna get her tit caught in a big fat wringer if that’s published.”
But it was published, and more stories like it. Nixon resigned and Mitchell ended up disbarred and doing time for conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury.
However, Katherine Graham no longer owns the Post.
I guess you had to be there, but we sure aren’t there now.
Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.
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