December 20, 2018--Trump's Distractions

If you are wondering why Donald Trump is ordering the removal of all U.S. military forces from Syria, declaring ISIS defeated even those they aren't--up to 30,000 ISIS fighters remain--the answer by now should be familiar: this retreat, which he initiated without consulting Congress or his State Department or Pentagon, is to distract us from the Michael Flynn fiasco and the humiliating collapse of his own private family slush fund, the Donald J. Trump Foundation.

You do have to admit that pulling the Syria withdrawal seemingly out of a hat is impressive in one way--who but Trump has our 2,000 troops on their radar screen ready to be brought home as a distraction from his political troubles. As of 5:00 am this morning on the New York Times webpage it is the lead story. Flynn and the Foundation are buried somewhere. He managed to turn both into one-day stories.

But don't mishear me--Flynn and the Foundation will contribute to bringing him down, especially when we get to see what is redacted in the Flynn charging memo: that he and Flynn openly conspired to play politics and strategic footsie with the Russians. As I have speculated here, Flynn was likely wearing a wire during some of those conversations, including in the Oval Office, and these tapes will turn out to be Trump's smoking gun.

And if you are wondering why Trump seems so adept, so quick in coming up with distractions of the Syria kind I suspect there is a simple explanation for that too--he has a pre-bickered list of them in his jacket pocket which he can pull out at a moments notice. 

(Ever think about why he never buttons his suit jackets? Not because they don't fit any more after he's gained at least 50 pounds since moving into the White House where the vanilla ice cream is available by the bucket, but to allow easy access to the distractions list.)

Investigative reporter that I am, from unnamed sources I have a copy of the list which I will share with you--

DJTRUMP DISTRACTIONS

Withdraw troops from Iraq

Withdraw troops from Afghanistan

Withdraw troops from Honduras

Withdraw troops from Japan

Withdraw troops from South Korea

Withdraw troops from Germany

Withdraw troops from all NATO countries

Withdraw troops from all bases in the United States
Start war with Honduras
Start war with Panama
Start war with Costa Rica
Start war with Mexico
Start war with California

Fire all Internal Revenue Service personnel

Fire all traffic controllers

Fire Ron Rosenstein

Fire Sarah Huckabee Sanders

Fire Kellyanne Conway

Fire Kellyanne's husband

Fire Jeff Sessions

Fire Rex Tillerson

Fire Reince Priebus

Fire Sean Spicer

Fire Jeff Sessions

Throw Sessions under the bus

Trow Spicer under the bus

Throw Kellyanne under the bus

Fire Wolf Blitzer

Fire Rachel Maddow

Fire Mika Brezezzzinzki

Throw Mika Bzezinzkiz under the bus

Throw Don Jr. under the bus

Throw Eric Trump under the bus

Throw Jared Kushner under the bus

Throw Ivanka under the bus

Throw Melania under the bus

Fire Omarosa

Fire Alec Baldwin

Fire Donald Trump

August 28, 2017--"This Jew"

According to Gary Cohn, Donald Trump's top economic advisor, he came very close to resigning after Trump, at his intemperate news conference three days after the violent torch-lit march by white supremacists in Charlottesville, equated the counter demonstrators with the neo-Nazis."

With Cohn standing awkwardly next to Trump in the lobby of Trump Tower, the president said, there are "very fine people on both sides," presumably including among the anti-Semites who chanted, "Jews will not replace us."

As one of Trump's highest ranking, most observant Jews (Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump aside), pressed for comments, Cohn had nothing to say publicly for days, though people close to him, the New York Times reported, said he was "disgusted and deeply upset" by Trump's comments.

He now claims he was thinking about what to do. Even, he said privately to friends, going so far as drafting a letter of resignation. 

Finally on Friday, after nearly two weeks of silence, Cohn revealed the results of his struggle--

Citizens standing up for equality and freedom can never be equated with white supremacists, Neo-Nazis, and the K.K.K. I believe this administration can and must do better in consistently and unequivocally condemning these groups and do everything we can to heal the deep divisions that exist in our communities.

He added--

As a Jewish American, I will not allow neo-Nazis ranting "Jews will not replace us" to cause this Jew to leave his job. [My italics]

Cohn also revealed that he spoke directly with Trump about his feelings. Thus far there is no detailed report of this alleged discussion. From the tepid nature of Cohn's formal statement, one can only guess how the meeting went.

The last thing Cohn wants to do, as he said, is to leave or lose his job. Especially since he has another one in mind as the current one awkwardly unfolds--he is looking forward to being named by Trump to replace Janet Yellen when her term as Federal Reserve System chair expires at the end of January.

In the long tradition of Jews serving as counsellors and advisors to princes and men in power (a version of this is Henry Kissinger serving anti-Semite Richard Nixon), Cohn does not want to receive the Reince Priebus/Steve Bannon heave-ho when he has something else of self-interest in mind. 

As skin-crawling as this makes this Jew (me) feel, Cohn doesn't get the prize for the most craven comment of the week by Trump's palace Jews. His other sycophantic Jew, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin--(who my mother, I know, would refer to as Steve Munchkin)--shortly after the events in Charlottesville came to his lord's defense--

While I find it hard to believe I should have to defend myself on this, or the president, I feel compelled to let you know that the president in no way, shape or form believes that neo-Nazi and other hate groups who endorse violence are equivalent to groups that demonstrate in peaceful and lawful ways.

This must mean that Munchkin doesn't want to mess up what he perceives to be a good thing and that the missus has more shopping to do.

After the Holocaust, surviving Jews vowed "never again." They pledged to do all in their power to confront anti-Semitism and prevent future genocides. And to that end committed themselves to not remain silent but to act fearlessly in the face of bigotry and hate. 

Though I am a non-observing Jew, I know this is still my responsibility. To the Jewish people, and more generally to all of humanity. We are required to speak out when we see injustice. And, equally important, to do our part to actively heal the world. Healing the world is Judaism's highest calling. It is called Tikkun Olam. 

Tikkun Olam is not about clinging to one's job. It is not about ignoring the moral implications. In fact, it is all about being guided by moral implications.

For the sake of their souls, Cohn and Mnuchin need to talk with their rabbis. 

Left to Right--Cohn, Mnuchin, Trump

August 18, 2017--What's Really Going On

From Donald Trump's perspective, it's not about white supremacy, it's not about America first, it's not about support for neo-Nazis, nor is it about immigrants. Though he does have hateful positions about all of these. 

As with almost everything about him, it's personal

For most of his followers, including that frightening base of about 25 percent of racist Americans as well as nearly 80 percent of Republicans who still support him, it is about some of these matters; but his appeal continues to derive primarily from his ability to mobilize the anger Americans feel at the eroding quality of their lives and their frustrations about America's diminishing place in the world.

Trump continues to be depressingly adept at exploiting their sense of decline and dislocation. He knows the buttons to push to elicit support when he sees it necessaryto shore up his coalition. Especially those who are at the hard core of his base. The ones he encourages through dog whistle statements and tweets that sanction the ugliest of reactions. The kind of scary hatred and violence we saw on display this past weekend in Charlottesville.

Again, none of this comes from genuine concern about Americans who feel they have been left behind (too many in fact have been). It is all about Donald Trump. Not about America but Donald Trump.

And so what we are witnessing is his latest reaction to what special counsel Robert Mueller is bringing to the boiling point--the role Trump himself played in stealing the presidency and his years of financial dealings with the Russians.

Concurrent with giving sanction to the mobilization of neo-Nazis and white supremacists were reports during the past two weeks about the FBI raid on former Trump campaign manager, Paul Manafort's house; what is turning up in the more than 20,000 documents the Trump campaign turned over to Mueller's people and what their perusal is beginning to reveal about collusion in the election with the Russians; and Mueller's move last week to seek testimony from senior White House aids, including recently-fired chief of staff, Reince Priebus.

Only Donald Trump knows what he did and didn't do. And this is clearly terrifying him.

If his hands are clean, he should have no concerns. On the other hand, if there is clear evidence that he knew and/or encouraged working with the Russians to undermine Hillary Clinton and/or if he has had significant financial dealings with Russians (many of them likely to be dirty), he has a lot to be more than concerned about. He should be feeling desperate.

Feeling desperate would explain much of his recent behavior, most vividly on display in his gyrating reaction to what was perpetrated in Charlottesville.

His desperation about his own, personal collapsing circumstances could be what has been motivating his increasingly grotesque behavior.

Again, it's all about Mueller.

Thus, we should soon see a renewed move to fire him and the offer of pardons to Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort. Both vulnerable to being "squeezed" by investigators in the hope that they will throw Trump under the bus to save their skins and keep them out of jail--which is where both are headed.

Meanwhile, while Charlottesville was blanketing the news, North Korea hasn't been sitting on its hands--expect reemerging threats from moves to launch more ICBMs and even renewed testing of nuclear weapons. This will give Trump the pretext to strike back and thereby clear the headlines of anything having to do with white supremacy or Trump people colluding with the Russians to undermining Clinton's campaign.

We'll see what the generals will say or do about that.

Of course, expect to see Steve Bannon receive his walking papers from the current chief of staff, John Kelly. Assuming Kelly himself doesn't quit before doing that.

Then, there is what Trump's senior advisors who are Jewish will do--treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin and chief economic advisor Gary Cohen . . .

Son-in-law Jared Kushner might . . .

And daughter Ivanka may . . .

Left to Right--Gary Cohen, Steve Mnuchin, Donald Trump

August 4, 2017--Jack: "What If . . .?"

"What if if there's no there there."

"What in God's name are you talking about?" Jack is not at his best when he tries to be clever.

"I called to see what you think."

"About there-there?"

"About my boy. The Donald." Jack was sounding chipper.

I thought--what am I missing? He's chipper after the ten days Trump just completed? Failing to get the Senate to pass even a vacuous healthcare bill; Congress' passage of a veto-proof Russian sanctions bill Trump opposed; the fiasco about his direct involvement in drafting Donald Junior's note about the dirt-on-Hillary meeting with Russians; and then of course Sean Spicer's quitting; the mini-appointment of Anthony Scaramucci; Reince Priebus' "resignation." Things of that sort.

"Here's what I'm thinking. I mean wondering about."

"Go on."

"I mean, as I said, maybe there's no there there." I sighed. "For month's you and people like you have been talking about Trump's being guilty of colluding with the Russians to undermine Hillary's campaign and how Trump probably has all sorts of business dealings with the Russians. Not to mention that scurrilous BuzzFeed dossier that claims that Trump, while in Russia for the Miss Universe pageant, was caught on tape fooling around with prostitutes. I forgot what you called it--something about a razor?"

He really had me confused. He said, "The razor business."

"Ockham's Razor, right," I said, remembering. "About how it's used to come up with the simplest explanation for a lot of seemingly unrelated information."

"That's the one."

"How almost everything Trump has said or done that has anything at all to do with Russia--from his refusal to acknowledge their meddling in Clinton's campaign to his going ballistic whenever it's hinted that one of his children was involved, and of course firing Comey and saying how he would also like to sack Mueller, all of this and more," I said, "'makes sense,' in Ockham's Razor terms if Trump himself was up to his eyeballs in dirty-dealings with Putin and the Russians."

"Exactly."

I was surprised to hear Jack agree with this, so I added--"Until Mueller and his battalion of lawyers get to the bottom of things, Trump is the only one who knows what he did and didn't do. His being guilty would explain almost everything that has been going on."

"That's my point!" He was getting more excited by the minute.

"What's your point? That Trump is drowning in his own . . ."

Jack cut me off, "That maybe he did and maybe he didn't."

"Here we go," I said, more and more exasperated. "I don't have time for games, so either get to your point or I'm hanging up."

"This is America, right?"

"More talking in riddles," I said, ready to hang up.

Jack pressed on, "In America you're innocent until proven guilty, right. Apply that to Trump. As you say, he's the only one who knows what he did and didn't do. It's conceivable, then that he could have clean hands. No colluding with the Russians to defeat Hillary, no substantial financial ties with Russia, and no truth about anything much in that so-called dossier,"

"Anything's possible," I said, "Even that he has clean hands, but what are the chances . . ."

"Think of it this way. He loves to entertain and surprise. Notice how different things are after only three days of General Kelly becoming chief of staff. No incendiary tweets, no crazy off the cuff remarks or inappropriate behavior."

"Let's see how long that lasts."

"Months ago, after he was nominated and then really after he was elected, people, even you, wondered if he would pivot. Become more presidential. Maybe he's finally about to do that. He has been letting the investigations play out, he's fulminated about Mueller, but he's still there. Do you think if Trump was seriously, legally guilty he would let Mueller continue? Wouldn't he roll the dice and fire him?"

"Where are you going with this," I asked Jack.

"Maybe there's another Ockham's Razor analysis--that there's no there there."

"Again you . . ."

"That Trump's been playing Mueller, the media, and all the rest of us. Just when he's about to go down for the last time, just before the house collapses on him, he'll pull back all his defenses, share his tax information, and show everyone there's nothing of substance behind any of the charges."

"I'll tell you what I think is going one with you."

"I'm all ears."

"Pure and simple, he's crazy and you're scared. Because you think he's going under. Just yesterday there was a story in the Wall Street Journal that Mueller empaneled the grand jury. To Trump, and to you too, this must feel ominous. So you're looking desperately for explanations other that he and his cohorts committed crimes."

Not dealing with that, Jack said, "Time and time again he's proven to be crazy like a fox. If what I'm saying is true, what do you think will happen to his approval ratings? I'll bet they'd soar to 60 percent. At that time he could become the powerful president a lot of us have been waiting to see him become. Think about how that would be viewed by both the public and Congress. It would be like a Houdini escape--it looks as if he's finished and then when all seems lost he surfaces and everything is well. Better than well."

"I suppose anything's possible. But this one strains credulity. To let himself get into so much unnecessary jeopardy is way beyond putting on a show. I know he's into providing entertainment and maybe in some case flirts with near-death experiences, but if what you're saying is true, he really is reckless. In fact, worse than reckless."

"I like your comparing him to Houdini," Jack said, "Like all magicians Houdini was a master of diversion. He gets you to watch his left hand while he's doing his thing with his right one. You yourself acknowledged Trump is great at diverting attention. This could be his masterpiece."

"Like I said--this is crazy. Talk about there not being any there there."

"Good one," Jack said, laughing. "Let's be a little patient and see how this plays out."

July 31, 2017--Bring In the Generals

Reince Priebus is out and General John Kelly is in.

For months there have been rumors about replacing Priebus as White House Chief of Staff. Half the reason Anthony Scaramucci was brought in as Communications Director was to get rid of Priebus, who Trump had growing misgivings about but not the cojones to fire face-to-face. He appears only capable of doing that on reality TV.

So they tortured Preibus until he had enough and said enough. Big-bucks cable news and book deals await.

Kelly, a highly-decorated four-star Marine general will be moving from heading the Department of Homeland Security as soon as he can fill out the paperwork. Let's hope he doesn't forget to mention any meetings he had with Russians. Who will replace him in Homeland Security is anyone's guess. Maybe, God help us, Rudy or Christie?

Trump does like his generals. And he has appointed seemingly good ones in high level positions. Jim (Mad Dog) Mattis in Defense, H.R. McMaster as National Security Advisor, and General George Dunford as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Though generals are not by nature my favorite people, I am feeling good about these men.

As the Trump presidency continues to come undone, I am reminded of the last days of Nixon's reign. As he realized his time was nearly up, as the evidence became conclusive that he was involved in the coverup of the Watergate break-in, as he himself began to unravel, not sleeping, drinking heavily, and reportedly talking to the presidential portraits on the walls of the White House, concerned about his sanity, his chief of staff, General Alexander Haig, and his secretaries of Defense (Donald Rumsfeld), State (Henry Kissinger), and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (General George Brown) talked among themselves that if in a stupor he commanded them to launch nuclear missiles against, say, Russia, they would commit technical treason and not carry out Nixon's orders.

I am assuming that similar discussions are now occurring among senior members of Trump's administration. At least I hope so because as Trump sees himself more-and-more cornered, as only he knows the full extent of his dirty dealings with Russians both in business ventures and undermining Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign--with Trump likely directly involved in both--one sleepless night he might call for a nuclear attack on North Korea or Syria. With North Korea it may come to that, but to the generals who know best about the perils of such an intervention, it may be wise for them not to carry out a bomb-first-think-last order of this kind.

In popular culture, in films such as Seven Days In May and Dr. Strangelove, it is the generals who seize power and get their hands on nuclear weapons. But in Nixon's day and hopefully now, it may be the the generals who will save the country.

General James (Mad Dog) Mattis

July 28, 2017--The Mooch

Though it's only been a week it feels like at least a month, or maybe two since Antony (the Mooch) Scaramucci became Donald Trump's Communications Director.

First there was his introduction to the White House press corps when his answering "a question or two" turned into his upstaging his new press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. For that half hour, off in a corner, she was seen frowning, out or reach of the cameras.

He was so happy with how the session went-- it was broadcast on live TV--I mean he so much liked the way his hair and makeup looked that his first directive to Sarah was to be sure that the next time he appeared on TV that the same person be available to make him again look like the Four Seasons Frankie Valli.

Frankie Valli

That next time turned out to be a day or two later when he made a big thing of his top agenda item--stoping the leaks that are poring out of Trump's paranoia-swamped White House.

When asked, again looking good on camera, how he planned to stop the leaks, he said he just might have to fire everyone. Adding quickly, "But not Sarah."

If I were Sarah, I be updating my resumé.

Ditto chief of staff, Reince Priebus because a day later, again on TV, the Mooch was not looking so good. (Maybe he had already fired the hair person.) This time, visibly perspiring, he squinted into the camera to plug a leak about none other than himself.

In case you missed it, here's that story--

Politico published a piece on Wednesday about the financial forms Scaramucci submitted last month when he was being considered for another job in the West Wing. They posted a copy of the forms themselves, which revealed that he's worth only $95 million--I say "only" because he had hinted previously that he was already a billionaire. Sound familiar?

In a tweet about this embarrassing matter--we're talking again about size--he suggested that Reince had been the leaker and readers were left to speculate if he was going to fire him. Or, since he doesn't yet have the authority to do that (Priebus presumably reports directly to the president), joining Jeff Sessions, Scaramucci started Reince twisting slowly in the wind.

But here's the best part--

No one leaked the papers! It seems that 30 days after forms of this kind are submitted they are in the public domain. Through the Freedom of Information Act, they are available to anyone who requests a copy.

When this was brought to his attention, the Mooch, for the first time in a week, didn't have anything to say and was nowhere near a camera.

Actually, here's the best part--

At the end of his first week on the job, here's what he learned: "People in Washington are back-stabbers. I'm a business man. I'm more of a front-stabber."

The scent of testosterone was detected in the White House air.

One more. I promise, it's the last one--

On the day he was hired, when asked about a potential rivalry with Reince Priebus, Scaramucci said that they are like brothers, adding that he "loves him."

And then on Thursday morning, again not on camera, he reiterated they are like biblical brothers. Tweeting, he wrote, "Some brothers are like Cain and Abel, other brothers can fight with each other and get along. I don't know if this is reparable or not."

We know how the Cain and Able business worked out.

Sorry, I lied. There's more. With the Mooch it's hard to keep up with all the breaking news--

This came in overnight from the New Yorker's Ryan Lizza, who reported about a phone call he received from a very agitated Scaramucci. He was in a rage about a story Lizza wrote about a private dinner at the White House earlier in the week. It was intimate and in addition to Scaramucci included Fox News' Sean Hannity, apparently one of Trump's closest advisors.

From Lizza, the Mooch was most interested in learning who leaked the information about those chowing down with the president. Lizza of course demurred and this set Scaramucci into an obscenity-laced rant, with his ire directed toward Reince Priebus, who he called a "fucking paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac."

Channeling Priebus, he added--"'Oh, Bill Shine [co-president of Fox News] is coming in. Let me leak the fucking thing and see if I can cock-block these people the way I cock-blocked Scaramucci's [appointment] for six months.'"

It's never a sign of mental health to talk about oneself in the third person.

April 10, 2017--Trumpology

In the old days of the Soviet Union, since it was a closed system impervious to Western snooping, one way to read the currents and countercurrents of Soviet leadership--who was in, who was rising, and who was about to be disappeared--was to analyze the pictures of the fur-hatted inner circle arrayed on the top of Lenin's tomb during May Day and other revolutionary celebrations.

Kremlinologists in Washington were tasked to figure this out and they did so by comparing from year to year who was moving into closer proximity to Lenin or Stalin and who was about to slide off the picture plane and soon thereafter into the literal abyss.

Where is the notorious Lavrentiy Beria, head of the fearsome KGB, this year? What about Molotov? Is he losing or gaining power and influence? And who is this upstart Nikita Khrushchev who's star seems to be rising--last year he was nowhere in sight; this year he's only four places from Stalin?

With the inner circle of the Trump White House in turmoil, with the Steve Bannon faction trying to oust son-in-law Jared Kushner and his allies, with Reince Priebus struggling to hold on as chief of staff, and with others close to Trump denying that anything of this sort is going on, with everyone spinning and lying, to get to the truth, as with the Russians, we are left with having to analyze images of the president's unruly team in action. We need to do a content analyst of them in much the same way that we used to try to figure out what was happening in Moscow.

Look carefully of the picture below. It is of the Mar-a-Lago situation room where Trump and his team retired Thursday afternoon to discuss the missile attack on a Syrian airbase.

Mar-a-Lago Situation Room

Seated at the adult table, of course, are Trump at its head and an assortment of Cabinet secretaries. To Trump's left is Rex Tillerson, the almost mute Secretary of State who up to now, nearly three months into the Trump presidency, has not spoken many more than 200 words in public. Across from him, at the president's right are fellow billionaires Wilber Ross, Secretary of Commerce and Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury, who is not quite at the table. And then it gets interesting.

To Mnuchin's right, decidedly at the table is Jared Kushner and across from him, not at the table but leaning aggressively forward is Gary Cohn, Trump's favorite economic advisor and Kushner ally, who is being discussed as Reince Priebus' replacement. At the table, with the growing bald spot or tonsure is Priebus himself who appears to need to be careful because Cohn is eyeing him ominously and is about about to pounce on him and seize both his chair and job.

Most interesting to Trumpologists is where Steven Bannon is relegated. Earlier in the week he was unceremoniously dumped from his self-assigned seat on the "Principals Committee" of the National Security Council. Here, about as far away from the adult table at a small children's side table of his own, is the dramatically deflated Senior Strategist. And because of the nasty way in which the picture is framed it looks as if Bannon is wearing a lampshade on his head.

 Moscow, Palm Beach--a picture is worth at least a thousand words.

And, oh, my advice-don't bet against the son-in-law.

February 27, 2017--A Week Without Trump: The Curated Life

This is not going to be easy.

I am addicted to Donald Trump and the only way out is to go cold-turkey. I am obsessed with all things Trump from the entertaining to the outrageous, the infantile to the crypto-totalitarian, and also the hallucinatory. So I need to dose off for a week to see if that works. If it doesn't, I may have to check into the Betty Ford Clinic. I suspect they're offering a new Trump Intervention Program for which there's probably a waiting list.

This means no Fox News, no MSNBC, no CNN. And of course no Steve Bannon, no Reince Priebus, no Ivanka, and, the one I'll miss the most this week, no Kellyanne Conway.

But if I want to cleanse myself, after writing and posting 207 pieces about Trump and his world, it has to be for me no-Trump-none-of-the-time. I'll leave all-Trump-all-the-time to the cable news networks.

One caveat--if it is revealed that Trump knew about or, better, orchestrated the reach-out to the Russians working to undermine Hillary Clinton's campaign in order to help himself win the election, or if the gossip in the infamous BuzzFeed dossier is confirmed, I will not be able to contain myself. I know I will fall off the wagon and immediately resume blogging about Trump.

So, between now and then, here is Monday's Trumpless piece about curated lives--

While waiting for the Trump era to implode, out in LA, some, a few, are living the very good life. A life of unimaginable luxury or vulgarity--take your pick--that is being curated for them because they lack the confidence and taste to figure out what in fact constitutes a lavish life.

For example, there are a couple of places for sale, one asking $250 million, the other twice that, both of which can serve as metaphors for this new Trompian version of conspicuous consumption.

The former, the one that can be yours for $250 mil, at 38,000 square feet, sprawls across the hills of Bel-Air and comes with12 bedrooms, 21 baths, a four-lane bowling alley, and three kitchens. It has an 85-foot infinity pool and a 40-seat theater with reclining seats and a film library stocked with more than 7.000 pre-selected titles. There is a mammoth wine cellar with nothing by the finest wines, carefully pre-selected because, I am certain, the Russian oligarch who will likely buy this pleasure palace does not have the taste buds nor nose to appreciate anything other than icy shots of Stoli. Wine to him will be all Gallo. Dare I say a case of Lafite Rothschild before swine.

But here's my favorite part--as the New York Times reported four-weeks ago, a story that got lost in all the Trump clutter, in addition to the multi-million dollar art collection (included in the purchase price) the less expensive of the places comes with a 12-car garage, or "auto gallery," that includes a collection of collectable cars, including a 1936 Mercedes worth, they say, $15 million. But--a downside--there is no car elevator like the one Mitt Romney famously had in his La Jolla beach house. Nothings perfect.

And how could I forget--in this Age of Trump for two years the place also comes with a fully-paid seven-person staff, including a chef, chauffeur, and masseuse.

As the seller said, "It's all about the feeling and experience you get when your in the house." Or pool, or bowling alley, or movie theater, or one of the nearly two-dozen bathrooms.

*   *   *

For the second day of my week without Trump, with spring training underway, I am working for Tuesday on a baseball story.

So far, so good. Today I managed to mention Trump only four times. For me I consider this progress. Tomorrow . . .

February 22, 2017--Milo Yiannopoulos

More evidence of implosion--

General Michael Flynn is gone, fired as National Security Council Advisor, replaced by an adult, and with him goes some of the paranoia and conspiratorial thinking that pervades the West Wing.

Many on both sides of the aisle are hoping that chief strategist, Stephen Bannon and his protégée Stephen Miller will soon follow. Kallyanne Conway has already been marginalized. Have you seen her recently? Is she still being "counseled" and reeducated for hawking Ivanka Trump's schematas? Is she the next one to be jettisoned?

If so it could be that there is some low-wattage light flickering at the end of the very long Trump tunnel.

More good news--

The ever-hypocritical Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) has just withdrawn its invitation to senior Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos to address their upcoming convention.

Greatly "admired" by Bannon, according to the New York Times, for his alt-right orthodoxy which includes dollops of racism and anti-Semitism, Milo has been in the headlines recently for having been driven away from speaking at Berkeley where protesting students proclaimed with some violence, forgetting the free-speech history of their institution, that there is "no free speech for hate speech."

CPAC made a big deal of this, totally enjoying the irony at Berkeley and, mounting their high libertarian horse, invited Milo to address them as evidence that conservatives are less politically correct and more constitution-minded than liberals.

They were OK with the hate speech part of Milo's repertoire but when it leaked out that he also has spoken positively about man-boy pedophilia, including among Catholic priests, that was too much even for CPACers. They pulled the plug on him and made frantic rounds of the morning talk shows to try to explain away their hypocrisy.

They are for free speech but not when it "crosses certain lines." Clearly one of those lines doesn't include forbidding a CPAC speaker to hint with winks and nods that it's all right to be a white supremacist or anti-Semite.

Does this foretell Stephen Bannon's fate? With Yiannopoulos on the loose and CPAC at a boil, Bannon's presence, whispering in Trump's ear, may embolden Bannon's White House enemies (Reince Priebus and Jared Kushner among others) to put pressure on Trump to do a little more house cleaning.