February 10, 2017--Ridicule

Thursday morning we finally made it down for breakfast at 10:00. At least an hour later than usual. We lingered in bed as the snowstorm intensified. It was magical to watch our terrace turn into a giant snow globe. And we also lingered, in truth, because so much was going on. With and among Donald Trump and his band of co-conspirators.

By 10:00 AM the following had already happened--

In a series of three tweets he savaged John McCain for criticizing the ill-fated Navy SEAL operation in Yemen. McCain, he raged has been "losing so long that he doesn't know how to win."

Senators from both parties who had informal one-on-one meetings the day before with Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, were quoting him as saying that he was "demoralized" and "disheartened" by Trump's overnight tweets and comments that disparaged the federal courts. He made it known to the senators that he was comfortable with their quoting him directly.

I have been following these matters for decades and cannot recall anything even vaguely comparable.

Rona said, "That's because there has never previously been anyone like Trump in the White House. Even Nixon was more restrained in his assaults on the courts and never has a Supreme Court nominee allowed his words to be quoted publicly."

Trump took to mocking one of the senators who shared Garland's lament--Connecticut's Richard Blumenthal. In yet another tweet Trump blasted him for inflating his resumé in regard to his service in Vietnam, something Trump himself did when, after receiving four or five deferments, claimed he did his service in high school when he attended the New York Military Academy.

Then there was the Ivanka Trump flap. Trump began it himself when he called Nordstrom out for cancelling Ivanka's line of clothes. Trump said it was for political reasons, the store said it was because they weren't selling.

Brother Don, Jr., chimed in suggesting in a tweet of his own that shippers should boycott Nordstrom and signal they are doing so by cutting up and returning their credit cards.

Not to be outdone, favorite flunky Kellyanne Conway, while being interviewed on the inane "Fox and Friends" called for Trump supporters to "go buy Ivanka's stuff.  Doing so, as a government official, may be against the law. She was reportedly "counseled" for this infraction later in the day.

Finally, over coffee, wondering what this all means, Rona said, "I know how we can get rid of Trump."

"Impeachment?"

"No, resignation."

"No way but I'm interested in what you're thinking."

"Through ridicule."

"Say more."

"What's the one thing he craves the most?" She answered her own question, "To be in the center of things, in the spotlight, with all eyes on him while being adulated. That's why he's so obsessed with how he's faring in the polls, how large his crowds are at rallies and the Inauguration. That's why his touchstone no matter the purpose of the meeting is 'The Celebrity Apprentice.' He even began his comments at the Annual Prayer Breakfast by mocking the ratings Arnold Schwarzenegger was pulling after taking Trump's place as the host. 'Pray for his ratings,' he incredibly said."

"And so?"

"He thinks of himself as the entertainer or celebrity in chief. That's why he watches TV all the time. To see what people are saying about him. To be famous is his highest aspiration and that's why he's so protective of his image, his brand and can't stand it when late night talkshow hosts make fun of him or, much worse, how a show he used to appear on regularly, 'Saturday Night Live,' ridicules him mercilessly week after week."

"We don't watch it that much," I said, "But did the last few weeks. Via On Demand, and they sliced him up savagely, hilariously. Alec Baldwin has taken on his essence and the skit with Melissa McCarthy mocking his press secretary were works of comic genius. But I'm not entirely getting your point about the political impact of this."

"If all of these folks keep it up, Trump will not be able to appear in public. He certainly will not be viable in Manhattan at his favorite 21 Club or soon in Palm Beach. This would be like cutting off his oxygen supply. And so he'll wind up living alone in the White House. Don't underestimate the power of satire and ridicule. In his case, it could very well do him in."

"He'll resign?"

"That's what I'm thinking. Comedy as another of our checks and balances."

December 12, 2016--BREAKING (FAKE) NEWS!

Dateline: New York, December 12, 5:24 a.m.

NBC announced late last week that president-elect Donald J. Trump will continue to be the Executive Producer of The Apprentice when it returns to the air on January 2nd. It was not disclosed if Mr. Trump while president will continue to be paid his producer fee or will receive a dollar-a-year. As co-creator he owns a 50 percent share of the program's earnings.

Brian Stelter, host of CNN's Reliable Sources was quoted as saying that no previous president of the United States has had a financial association of any kind with a commercial TV program. When political figures or candidates appear on late-night programs such as the Tonight Show, including sitting presidents, they do not receive the Screen Actors Guild minimum that other guests receive.

Others interviewed who prefer to speak off the record said that this is not only unusual, but that there are other forces as work that explain why Trump is continuing to stay directly involved in the show. All point to the host who replaced Mr. Trump--Arnold Schwarzenegger, former governor of California and the secret previously-unreported relationship between him and the president-elect.

Schwarzenegger was born in Thal, Austria when Austria was still behind the Soviet Iron Curtain and sources point out that the recent presidential election was interfered with by Vladimir Putin's K.G.B. which hacked into the voting machines in key states that were subsequently carried by Mr. Trump and thereby clinched for him the Electoral College victory.

They point out further that Trump, as part of his debt to Putin and Russia, even before Election Day, heaped praise on President Putin which was reciprocated.

The same sources noted the close ties between Putin and some of Trump's key appointees.

For example, Breitbart's Steve Bannon, Trump's behind-the-scenes chief strategist, is a long-time advocate of the U.S. forging strong relations with Vladimir Putin as a way of driving a wedge between the two great communist superpowers--China and Russia. He is responsible for convincing Trump to tip global relations from the Asia focus called for by President Obama to a European focus and thereby, through an improved relationship with Putin, link American interests to the growing pro-Russian nationalist movement sweeping Western Europe.

In addition, retired three-star general Michael Flynn, Trump's National Security Advisor designee, has for many years been one of Putin's favorite U.S. generals. In 2015, for example, he was the paid guest of honor at a gala honoring RT, a government-owned media outlet. It was hosted by President Putin, who sat at Flynn's table during the festivities.

And just the other day it was revealed that Trump will nominate Rex Tillerson, Exxon-Mobil CEO, to be Secretary of State. In his CEO role, he visited Russia numerous times and is currently actively seeking to put the finishing touches on a multi-billion dollar gas and oil deal with Rosneft, a major state-owned petroleum company. The Wall Street Journal reported that "few citizens are closer to Vladimir Putin than Rex Tillerson," indicating he has spent more time with Putin than any American other than Henry Kissinger.

Tillerson and Putin

It is clear that there are deep connections between Donald Trump, his emerging team, and Russia, largely in various connections to Vladimir Putin.

How does Arnold Schwarzenegger fit into this picture?

During his tenure as governor of California, Schwarzenegger initiated legislation that doubled the areas off the coast of California that could be leased for drilling by major oil companies, including Exxon-Mobil.  Through the Exxon connection, the governor was able to meet and make deals with the Russians who then became major importers of California agricultural products.

When Schwarzenegger was term-limited and ineligible to run for a third term, with his private life in tatters, he turned to Donald Trump to help him resurrect his career. Movie roles followed and more recently, when Trump was let go by NBC as host of The Apprentice, behind the scenes as executive producer, Trump influenced the choice of Schwarzenegger as his successor.

Bannon and Flynn, taking note of this, because of their own on-going relationships to Putin and through him to Russia, used their back-channel connections to NBC to influence the hiring of Schwarzenegger.

Further, knowing the details of the former governor's birth and upbringing and his extensive and dependent relationship to Putin and Russia, to maintain these lucrative partnerships, Schwarzenegger's benefactors see him to be a potential presidential candidate in 2020 if Trump decides not to run for a second term, or in 2024 when it is expected that Hillary Clinton will for the fourth time seek the presidency.

Critics note that to make Schwarzenegger eligible for the presidency, since he was not born in the United States, it will be necessary to amend the Constitution. In secret, Trump and his team, led by Steve Bannon and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are already at work on that process, including exploring if Trump can amend the Constitution by executive order, bypassing Congress and the states.

And although Schwarzenegger was married to Maria Shriver, John Kennedy's niece, there is no direct evidence that the former governor was involved in the 35th president's assassination.

A final note--it is reported that when in New York this group of Trump advisors' favorite restaurant, just a few streets from Trump Tower, is the Russian Tea Room; and in Washington, DC, Russian-connection colleagues Flynn, Bannon, Tillerson, and Trump himself are frequently found at Comet Ping Pong pizzeria. Trump is the one eating his slices with a knife and fork.

Putin and Flynn at the RT Banquet