Few things feel as good as righteous indignation, moral condemnation, and schadenfreude as an opponent gets her well deserved comeuppance. And, this story certainly feels that way to me. It is an I told you so confirmation that does the battered egos of progressives and liberals in Fascist America some good.
Does anyone remember the opening months of Obama’s administration in 2009 when a lot of his political appointees had to withdraw over tax problems. They went ahead and paid their back taxes whether they were for nannies that they paid under the table
We don’t punish white-collar criminals in this country. Not really, and certainly not by comparison to how we punish poorer, less white people for less severe offenses.
or taxes they hadn’t paid on other transactions. I remember at the time realizing that this wasn’t a problem peculiar to Obama and his appointees. For this many of his appointees to have these problems, it had to be systemic: people in that upper echelon of social class not only legally evaded taxes, they illegally did so too, and did so with impunity until the harsh light of federal confirmation hearings were shone upon them.
I’ve often called the 2016 election the Great Civics Lesson, and in this sense it continues. It used to be that the upper class would hide their extravagances and not flaunt their advantages until forced to in open court. Now, the Congressional Republicans and the Ol’ Pussy Grabber’s administration are not even trying to hide their naked self-serving agenda.
They believe that their will be no consequences for their wholesale looting of the US and circumventing of our democracy and Constitution. Unless they are voted out in November, there won’t have been. And, with a recent poll showing cracks in the blue wave: 28% of young adults 18 – 29 saying they are absolutely certain they will vote in 2018; less than a third of Hispanics saying they are certain to vote; and just over half of Blacks saying they are certain to vote, they may not be held accountable.
While the Repubes may feel that they are immune from any accountability, they are committing a grievous error: they are not listening to any dissent; they are committing groupthink.
Worse, than committing groupthink and all the incumbent disaster that it brings, they believe that they will survive the next economic crisis and resulting damage to the country unscathed. And, they don’t even consider the possibility that their actions can directly lead to the destruction of the US. They are oblivious to any negative repercussions of their actions.
Donald Trump and the crisis of elite impunity
The Russia scandal is about more than collusion. It’s also about the corruption of America’s elites.
By 19
As seemingly every national political figure not already hopelessly in the tank for President Trump rushed Monday to denounce his disastrous press conference with Russian despot Vladimir Putin, few condemnations received as much attention as this one from former CIA Director John Brennan:
Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of “high crimes & misdemeanors.” It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you???
— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) July 16, 2018
I don’t know why Trump and his team accepted, and at times actively solicited, the help of Putin and Russian intelligence in winning the 2016 election, and why they have appeared at times to actively serve Putin’s interests once in office. Maybe they were just taking whatever help they could get; maybe the pee tape is real; maybe Jon Chait is right and Trump has been a Soviet/Russian agent for three decades.
Continue reading at Vox: Trump-Putin press conference: the Russia scandal is about elite impunity – Vox
The Psy of Life 
Reblogged this on cabbagesandkings524 and commented:
Calico Jack on the (eventually) fatal illusions of impunity
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To me, the most revealing part of the infamous press conference (The one in Helsinki, not one of the othe infamous ones.) was not Trump’s fawning acceptance of putin’s denial of election meddling (which everyone else in the room, with the possible exception of a few reporters from Fox “News” and a few from Russia knew was a lie), was Putin’s answer to the question about trust between him and Trump. There, he told the truth. “Trust no one.” He knew that to Trump the meeting was about a personal relationship, and there, next to Trump he said clearly that he was not there for a personal relationship, but to pursue his country’s interests only. That it was a meeting, not between Vladimir and Donald but between the Russian Federation and the United States, and, “He has no reason to trust me and I have no reason to trust him.” The clear implication was, “If he trusts me rather than his own intelligence and law enforcement professionals, he is a fool.” Of course, Mr. Putin is not above taking full advantage of a fool.
But, the election is coming and no Republican up for reelection dares be too hard on the fool.
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Howdy Bob!
I think Putin knows exactly how to play the Ol’ Pussy Grabber. He’s known it from the start. I don’t think anyone ever took the Ol’ Pussy Grabber seriously. I don’t think he’s a Russian asset in the traditional sense of having a handler. I think he is very manipulable and Putin et al. are just playing him for all he’s worth.
To me, the most damning part of all of this is the Repubes, especially those in Congress, playing along and trying to milk it for all the self-serving gain that they can. The second most disturbing part of all of this is that there is fully one-third of the American populace who looks at it all and says, “Meh, I don’t know. Whatev.” And the third most disturbing part of it is the tiny minority of Americans who look at it and says, “If he won by Russian meddling, so what! I’m getting what I want. If they need more meddling in the future, so be it as long as they win.” I mean, those three together are the undoing of America.
Huzzah!
Jack
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For far too many it is a matter of: (1) Reelection before country; (2) Agenda before country; (3) Trump is The Man (4) Campaign money (especially dark money from oligarchs, domestic and foreign) above all else .
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Why isn’t anyone mentioning transparency? The 45th person elected to our highest office seemingly has the least transparent administration in recent memory. What transpired in that two hour meeting with Putin? Or the meeting with Kim Jung Un? Whatever the 45th says he can turn around and claim to the contrary he never said it. Trumpism turns everything upside down and backwards. We now have Trumpspeak.
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Howdy Jerry!
I couldn’t agree more. We have Trumpspeak a gaslighting doublespeak meant to keep us confused and off balance and as far away from the truth as possibly can be.
But, it is so much more than just the Ol’ Pussy Grabber. The real scandal and tragedy is the complacency and the utter corruption of the GOP. Hopefully, their hubris will be their downfall. If not, it will be the downfall of us all.
Huzzah!
Jack
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