There is a cold snap in the Northeast as I write. Reading this article in Slate about the Russian recruitment of Trump, I feel a Cold War snap, but this time, the shoe is firmly on the other foot.
I love the treason talk in this context. It is so reminiscent of conservative and Cold War liberal nomenclature used in the 1940s through really almost the present when speaking about anyone deemed "left" of what is, in each era, called in corporate media the "center." This is fabulous tasting popcorn so early in the morning.
Yes, yes, Trump fans. Please start talking about how unfair this sort of language this article is promoting. That the article is promoting "guilt by association." That it is "criminalizing politics." Yes, yes. I just munch away on popcorn waiting for your apology to every American who ever said, "You know, other nations have national health care..." and people like you would say, "Oh, you mean, like in Soviet Russia? Why don't you move there?"
Or that so called right wing libertarian who loved to say stuff like, "You know who liked the progressive income tax? Karl Marx. And you know where that ended up. Soviet Russia, a dictatorship! I won't support any candidate with anything nice to say about Russia! Ever!" My new retort to those right libertarians, who invariably support Trump, is: "So why the red hat? Why support Putin-loving Trump? Maybe your idea of a great country is...Russia?"
Yeah, I love applying Cold War nomenclature here. Trump as stooge. Trump as dupe. Trump as asset. Trump as, yes, traitor to his country, beholden to a foreign country, and a leader in that foreign country who was a major player in the Soviet Union's secret police (the KGB). Yes, a leader now in Russia who, as a KGB officer, hated that Gorbachev pursued democratic or republican reforms which undermined a dictatorship that KGB officer supported. Yeah, Putin. Hard line, block opponents from running against him, and suppress free media Putin. Yeah. Putin.
Oh yes, I am acutely aware that the Trump administration mantra is that the U.S. and Russia are merely cooperating to fight against international Islamic terrorism and other nations deemed world threats. That sort of justification, however, did not seem to help those who were friendly with the Soviet Union when we were on the same side fighting against German Nazis, Italian Fascists, and Japanese feudal warlords. Or when some worried after World War II about use of the atomic bomb and nuclear weapons that could destroy much of humankind, and who wanted international cooperation even with those we disliked.
Oh yes, I am acutely aware that the Trump administration mantra is that the U.S. and Russia are merely cooperating to fight against international Islamic terrorism and other nations deemed world threats. That sort of justification, however, did not seem to help those who were friendly with the Soviet Union when we were on the same side fighting against German Nazis, Italian Fascists, and Japanese feudal warlords. Or when some worried after World War II about use of the atomic bomb and nuclear weapons that could destroy much of humankind, and who wanted international cooperation even with those we disliked.
All of this just gets me singing now, "And we'll have fun, fun, fun, till Trump-ie takes the Mueller away"...or maybe more fun when that happens. Yeah, more fun. Trump will likely take Mueller away from the investigation when Mueller is on the verge of fully proving Trump's responsibility as someone who was supposed to be in charge. If he does, it is a demonizing win either way with at least some of what political scientists and pollsters call "swing voters." For that narrative attacks Trump at the core of his perceived greatest strength, which is his claim that he can fool others, but he cannot be fooled. Well, this entire investigation leads to at least a conclusion that Trump is an asset, a stooge, a dupe, or a tool of a foreign intriguing dictatorial leader, Putin.
There was a whole apparatus set up after World War II to attack anyone who said anything nice about the Soviet Union, and it quickly became used to attack anyone promoting social democracy in the United States or any continuation of the New Deal or anyone seeking international cooperation through the United Nations. Today, with the evidence already out there about Trump's dealings with Russian oligarchs, Deutsche Bank, his kind words for Putin over many years (in stark contrast to his tweets against so many other people), his trust in Putin's words over the conclusions of American intelligence agencies, Democratic Party leaders and minions around them in the corporate media and political consulting really ought to be able to show Trump as at least an asset or a stooge here. Come on Congressman Adam Schiff. Come on Rachel Maddow. Be our Henry Hyde, Adam. Heck, be at least our Senator Pat McCarran, if not Senator Joe McCarthy. And Rachel, please be our Matt Drudge, our Ann Coulter, our Bill Buckley, our George Sokolsky, our Pat Buchanan, oh so many people in those apparatuses of Red baiting.
This talk of Trump as stooge to traitor is just the sort of noise we need to also hear as we march into and through the Congressional mid-terms of 2018. Party like its 1950, man! And let's remember our political science: Swing voters love noise. And that noise may well have coattails: "Why have you supported Trump's treasonous pro-Russia agenda, Republican Congressman or Senator?" Ann Coulter's and Bill Buckley's right wing martyr Joe McCarthy spoke of "twenty years of treason." We have "two" and counting. And if one really studies Trump's history, one finds his ties to Russian oligarchs and one of the only banks that would lend to him, Deutsche Bank, which has long had ties to Russian oligarchs and money-laundering Russians, go back...twenty years or more. Oh yeah! Nailed it!
Oh, and let's remember, we can chew gum and walk down the street. Some want to focus on impeachment and Cold War nomenclature thrown at Trump and his Republican supporters? Fine. Others want to focus on how the tax bill is designed to undermine important American institutions such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid? Great. Some want to replace Congressional Republicans with Democratic Party candidates who stand for new New Deal policies? Really great. Everyone has a role to play to, oh let's say it, take back our nation from the oligarchs, dupes, stooges, cronies, and anarchists posing as conservative and Republican legislators.
For my other blog post on this topic of Trump and dupe to treason politicking, see here.
For my other blog post on this topic of Trump and dupe to treason politicking, see here.
