Considering the fact that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson vociferously opposed the president’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capitol of Israel and to announce that we’ll be moving our embassy there, it’s not surprising that the State Department issued a new worldwide travel alert for any Americans dumb or reckless enough to think they’re still welcome in most of the globe’s countries. As you might expect, Trump would not listen to anyone who told him this would be a very bad idea, and went ahead with it anyway because he wanted to fulfill a campaign promise.
Several advisers said he did not seem to have a full understanding of the issue and instead appeared to be focused on “seeming pro-Israel,” in the words of one, and “making a deal,” in the words of another…
…The debate came to a head at a White House meeting Nov. 27 to hash out the waiver issue. According to people briefed on the meeting, Trump repeated his earlier assertions that he had to follow through on his campaign pledge, seemingly irritated by objections over security and the break with previous policy.
“The decision wasn’t driven by the peace process,” one senior official said. “The decision was driven by his campaign promise.”
Naturally, Trump did not heed warnings that he might endanger our diplomatic corp and produce more Benghazis.
Tillerson, mindful of the death of four Americans in militant attacks in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012, “pushed back vocally,” one White House official said. Already at odds with Trump over other aspects of the president’s approach to the Middle East, Tillerson argued that the move could unleash a dangerous chain reaction across the region.
R.C. Hammond, a Tillerson adviser, said Tillerson and [Defense Secretary James] Mattis requested time to evaluate U.S. outposts and fortify them if necessary…
“It’s insane. We’re all resistant,” said one Trump confidant who recently spoke to the president about it. “He doesn’t realize what all he could trigger by doing this.”
If this wasn’t bad enough, the Democrats can’t even present another face to the world because they’re divided and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer actually encouraged and approved the move.
Meanwhile, we’re seeing headlines like this– Hamas calls for Palestinian uprising in response to Trump’s Jerusalem plan— which were as predictable as spring showers.
Or maybe you prefer this headline: North Korea says war is inevitable as allies continue war games.
The so-called adults in the room utterly failed on the Jerusalem issue, so are we supposed to put our trust in them to steer a sane course on the Korean peninsula?
And don’t ask the Republicans to do anything about this because they’re too busy covering Trump’s ass: Republicans Hammer Mueller as Investigation Intensifies.
Fox News Channel personality Sean Hannity, one of the president’s informal advisers as well as one of his most vociferous defenders, on Tuesday night called Mueller “a disgrace to the American justice system’’ and said his team is “corrupt, abusively biased and political.’’
I hear a lot of political debate and commentary that I consider stupid, but the suggestion that we can just ride this out is actually beyond stupid. It’s dangerous.
No, removing Trump from power won’t magically fix what’s wrong with the Republican Party. That’s the thing about magic; it’s based on sleight of hand and deception. What you think you see doesn’t actually exist. We need to prioritize and triage this situation, otherwise we’ll bleed out while people are debating the post-operative protocols.
We are the patient, and if the patient cannot be saved we shouldn’t let it be because we decided it would be bad to get called “impeachment enthusiasts” or “giddy frenzied liberals” with an “fetish” for Trump’s removal.
It’s his confidants and members of Trump’s own cabinet and White House team who are calling him a moron and an idiot, and saying “It’s insane. We’re all resistant. He doesn’t realize what all he could trigger by doing this.” They’re the ones saying “he doesn’t seem to have a full understanding of the issues.” It’s the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who is telling us that Trump needs day care.
And, still, we’re supposed to apologize and ask permission to talk about Trump’s fitness to continue in office?
We’ve been warned. We’ve all been warned. And if we want to whistle past the graveyard because it seems impractical or too hard to save ourselves, we’ll earn the condemnation of anyone who survives.
