Yun’s diplomatic efforts are on their “last legs,” one U.S. official said, adding that Yun is frustrated by an inability to communicate the urgency of the diplomatic situation to the White House.It is increasingly clear that Trump wants war. Hundreds of thousands -- millions -- will die. Even a "victory" would destroy this country. Superpower status derives not just from military force but from goodwill, and the civilized nations of this world will want nothing to do with Trump or with any system of governance which could allow such a vulgar, stupid and unstable man to attain such a high level of power.
“It is not so much that North Korea is shutting down, it’s that the message from the U.S. government is, ‘surrender without a fight or surrender with a fight,’” a separate U.S. official told NBC News.
Why won't the Republicans prevent this outcome? A handful of senators could make all the difference.
Flake, Collins, McCain, Corker, perhaps even Murkowski and Graham: They could all announce that they are going to caucus with the Democrats -- or they could refuse to caucus with any party (as independents commonly did before 1970). Either way, this move would give the Dems control over the committees. Although those senators would still be free to vote according to the dictates of conscience, the senate intelligence committee would no longer be chaired by Richard Burr, whom I feel has protected Trump quietly and effectively (much moreso than Nunes, who blundered his way through the same task in the House). Real investigations of Trump would be unleashed.
Even the threat of that outcome could force Trump to rethink his mad rush toward war. If he sought extra-constitutional authority, the response would be personally unfortunate for him. I believe that there are gas stations in D.C.
It is an open secret that most Republican politicians loathe Trump and continue to support him only because they hope to achieve tax reform. Are lower taxes so important to them that they are willing to risk the sacrifice of so many lives? A President Pence would also seek lower taxes -- and as ghastly as he would be in the oval office, I do not believe that Pence wants war.
6 comments:
Great suggestion! I wonder how much closer we have to get to the brink?
Pence is worse than Trump by far. He is owned lock, stock, and barrel by Charles Koch, the most evil man in the country. You think Trump is bad? Just try the complete destruction of the United States and all its governmental institutions merely because Koch, a "libertarian" piece of garbage, never wants to pay one penny in taxes ever again. He is a sociopath with way, way, way too much power and money. Pence is Koch's puppet.
Pence is one of literally hundreds of politicians in federal and state offices who are owned by Charles Koch. That more than Trump is why the country is on the verge of total destruction. Trump has actually prevented this "libertarian paradise" from coming into being.
Be careful what you wish for.
I do not believe Pence will ever be installed in the WH. He's complicit in this mess--knew what he was signing up for and did it anyway.
Corker left an interesting unanswered question on the cutting room floor. He was asked about the recent flurry of moderate Repubs no longer seeking reelection, and then who would be left to speak out against demagoguery? Corker paused, a very faint smile sliding across his face and said (paraphrasing here}, I'll be answering that in due time.
Something big is afoot.
As for the House Committee? The Daily Beast had a story up: only 3 out of 13 Republicans regularly attend the Committee's meetings. They're just not into the investigation but would rather follow every diversion down various rabbit holes. Wonder why????
Earlier this week, the distraction was Clinton/Uranium. Today it's who or what ordered the Steele dossier when they know perfectly well the original work was ordered by Republicans (I read Jeb Bush's campaign), and then picked up by Clinton's people. Nune's has been harping that the FBI is stonewalling on details and documents. This morning Paul Ryan joined the chorus. They demand to know what the FBI knows.
As I said, something big is afoot. I suspect the announcement of NY State's investigation of Manafort for money-laundering has rattled a number of cages.
Peggysue
The republican base turns out on election day, something Democrats don't. Senate and House republicans know the Great White Dope's base is motivated. If they want to keep their job, supporting the Trump lunacy is a gibbon. They whistle past the graveyard Trump isn't nutz.
Peggysue:
I agree that something big is happening behind the scenes because between Republican Senators from red states (though Arizona is probably now purple) retiring and conservative media aggressively and desperately recycling old Clinton scandal stories to the point where the MSM is back to attacking Clinton over nothing (2016 campaign all over again!), something is up. This isn't normal. OTOH, I'm still keeping my guard since I have lost patience with weekly predictions that something BIG is about to happen. INDICTMENTS ARE IMMINENT PEOPLE!
A national poll by Quinnipiac a fortnight ago found that 46% of Republicans want the US to attack North Korea, against 41% who don't. (The info is at point 48 of the poll report. The figures for Democrats are 16% for, 77% against.)
Several hundred thousand people have died in Iraq as a result of the US attack in 2003, not considering those who have been killed in Syria in events that probably would not have happened had the war in Iraq not occurred.
A Korean war would be on a different scale. It would be Armageddon. And it is hard to envisage wars not breaking out in other regions of the world at the same time. Bye-bye to the long "post-WW2" epoch.
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