Friends, this week's Newsmaker Show is positively bursting with topical analysis. Brian and I talk about Jeff Sessions' ill-fated bid to rejoin the U.S. Senate, after his even more ill-fated stint as U.S. Attorney General. Sessions was a great Senator, once upon a time, and he showed courage as the first member of that august body to endorse Donald Trump in 2016. Nonetheless, his decision to recuse himself, and thus allow the creation of a special counsel overseeing the Trump-Russia farce, did tremendous harm to the President and to the country. He was kidding himself if he thought the good people of Alabama would reward his disloyalty. Fare thee well, Jeff!
Brian and I also talk about the renaming of the Washington Redskins and the steady advance of cancel culture, the recent resignation of a New York Times editor because of the Twitter mob that now decides which opinions are out of bounds, and the question of whether children should return to the classroom in August/September.
Historically, we cover scintillating topics like the historical significance of President Nixon's overtures to China, and the personal and political strengths and weaknesses of Jimmy Carter.
Tune in, why don't ya?
https://wlea.net/newsmaker-july-15-2020-dr-nick-waddy/
I have a feeling that there will come a time when The American People are going to get terribly tired of these damn fool politicians on both sides of the fence. I wonder how much of the tax payers money has been spent on their political wars that could have been spent on infrastructure, creating a viable health care plan, to mention just a few of the projects that are sitting on the side while they exercise their huge egos. Again, I am talking about politicians on both sides of the fence.
ReplyDeleteRay, faith in politicians (and journalists) is at an all-time low. That's a factor of the cynicism our culture generates with industrial efficiency, however, not necessarily of the ineffectiveness of our government and the inadequacy of the services it provides. Actually, I think the American people are well provided for, by any objective standard -- we just don't see it that way. And it's our self-pity that might cause us to jettison the very system that has blessed us with so many rights and opportunities. Perhaps God will repay our ingratitude with misery, oppression, and deprivation? It wouldn't be the first time.
ReplyDeleteAt this point I am just hoping that the Trumpalistas, The Bidenistas, The Obamalistas, aid and abetted by the Clintonistas don't destroy the country and kill all of us. Ha! Yes we are well provided for compared to the people living in some other countries I could name. However, our politicians have no right to continue these vendettas they are conducting against each other at our expense, and using our tax money to do so. We are being played off against ourselves like pawns, while a bunch of well heeled elites jerk us around.
ReplyDeleteI think it's time that we had other parties represented in Congress besides The DemoCRAZIES and the RePOOPlicans, don't you?
ReplyDeleteAs it is, these two parties run and control everything almost without opposition. Reminds me of the Blues and Greens in the Byzantine Empire. Always at each others throats.
Dr. Waddy, I am very surprised that you criticize Sessions for recusing himself from the investigation into a possible conspiracy between the Russians and the Trump campaign. He was advised by the ethics officials in his own justice department that he needed to recuse himself to avoid a conflict of interest. I thought you would support the rule of law.
ReplyDeleteRecusal was not an act of disloyalty to Trump, but the legally proper thing to do -- which is what you want in an Attorney General -- unlike Bill Barr, who is the reincarnation of Roy Cohn.
Ray, it's true that politicians are wasting our money...but to be fair an awful lot of Americans are crying out for them to spend MORE, not less, and way too many of us are feeding at the trough. If you ask me, wasting money is the least of America's problems. We have money to burn. It's the less tangible defects in the U.S. of A -- cultural, moral, and spiritual -- that trouble me more.
ReplyDeleteRay, it probably is time that we shook up the two-party system. Trump could accomplish that by leaving the Republican Party, I suppose, and the Lincoln Project folks would love to see him go. For that matter, the Dems could easily split in twain. That our party system chugs along indifferently is a sign, I propose, that many of the apparently massive fissures that divide us are really just political sleights of hand. Both parties are thriving, in terms of electoral success and funding, after all. Why should they want to rock the boat? The key, from their perspective, is to whip up as much partisan hatred as possible. It's good for business.
Rod, the only problem with your formulation is that Trump-Russia collusion was always nothing more than a fever dream of Trump haters. As a conspiracy theory, it holds about as much water as the notion that J. Edgar Hoover shot JFK while sleepwalking in his negligee. Let's face it, those of you suffering from TDS have never met an anti-Trump narrative that you didn't find plausible and in fact presumptively true. Jeff Sessions never should have recused himself because he did nothing wrong. Neither did Trump.
Dr. Waddy, the investigation was into a possible conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia. Jeff Sessions was part of that campaign. As Attorney General, he was ethically required to recuse himself because he could possibly be the target of the investigation. An Attorney General (at least all Attorneys General before Roy Cohn Barr) must avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest.
ReplyDeleteAs an aside, we won't know whether or not Trump did something wrong until he is tossed out in November/January. At that point, an investigation of his tax returns could reveal connections with the Russians that were previously unknown.
Rod, are you under the impression that Mueller never got access to Trump's tax returns or financial information? I doubt that very much...although it doesn't appear that we know for sure. Anyway, if you think Trump listed on his tax returns "Big Bribe from Vlad" or "Pee Money", you might be disappointed.
ReplyDeleteSessions was part of Trump's campaign, sure. Rod Rosenstein helped to precipitate the Mueller inquiry by advising Trump to fire Comey...but for some reason he's not compromised. Virtually all of Mueller's staff were Democratic operatives, but they weren't compromised. Sessions drank the mainstream media Kool-Aid, if you ask me. There never should have been a special prosecutor.
Dr. Waddy, you are entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts. Trump directed Rosenstein to write up the memo that advised Trump to fire Comey. That gave Trump cover for doing so. Once the lead investigator became fired by a person who was being investigated, Rosenstein, as the person overseeing the investigation, had few options but have a special prosecutor.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, 13 of 17 of Mueller's staff were Democrats or contributed to Democratic candidates. That does not make them Democratic "operatives."
There is no indication in the Mueller report that Trump's financial records were ever examined.
True, the Mueller report doesn't mention Trump's finances, but to me that suggests that the investigative team came up empty, not that they never thought to inquire on the subject. I don't know of the Mueller team being denied ANY documentary evidence that they requested. Personally, I think they poked and prodded all they could, and they shook down Trump's associates as best they could, and still they found no proof of any crime on Trump's part, except imaginary ones invented for the express purpose of nailing Trump. Anyway, we can speculate all we want about what's in Trump's tax returns. Chances are you and I will never see them. Letitia James might. Let's see what use she can make out of them.
ReplyDeleteSo you're saying Rosenstein followed an illegal, or at the very least an unethical, order to participate in the firing of James Comey...and that made him the ideal candidate to oversee the Mueller investigation? I'm not buying it. I also don't buy the idea that Comey was "investigating" Trump. He was chasing his tail, harassing the likes of Carter Page, but Trump was never the formal target of any investigation, at least until Mueller sunk his teeth into him.
The Trump-Russia farce was running on fumes until Trump fired Comey. Whoever counseled him to do so was, in my opinion, working to sabotage the Trump presidency. Timing is everything, and Trump's timing couldn't have been worse.