This week is an example of how news moves extremely fast. Trump ‘lays an egg’ over the weekend (the wiretapping claim) and just 3 days later, we learn via Wikileaks that the CIA used tools that would make it look like their work was carried out by the Russians or others….So here is a snap shot:
Where Trump’s initiatives should succeed:
Trump’s insistence that he was wire-tapped | Trump’s characteristically bad tweets went out this past week indicating that Trump Tower was wiretapped by Obama. This is a typical situation of – how in the hell can we know since these kind of activities come out of the ‘deep-state’, the shadowy functions of our government. I’m inclined to believe Trump on this one. All the deafening hurrumphing from the intelligence community, the Dems, and the press did nothing to convince me otherwise and in fact, reinforced my belief that Trump is right here. Here is why: 1) ‘Plausible deniability’ from the guilty parties is virtually infinite in cases like this 2) An effort like this, by nature, would be hidden in the lowest levels of the intelligence cellar, far from where anyone could ever ‘prove’ anything. 3) Carefully listen to all the denials and you see a pattern. They are all couched in a lot of non-explicit language to suggest that they expect to go before a special prosecutor someday, hedging their fortunes with slippery truth. 4) No true offers of ‘transparency’ have been forthcoming. 5) The Flynn and Sessions hunt involves similar unresolved dynamics. 6) Obama has quite a track record listening to friends and foes including the press. Of course the press bend over forward for Obama. 7) Hot off the presses, the CIA has been implicated in massive electronic espionage efforts. While the CIA is forbidden to spy domestically, there’s nothing that says they can’t share tools and techniques with the FBI or other domestic black-ops. 8) And finally, a former NSA official is inclined to agree with Trump. So while nothing will be ‘proved’ any time soon, Trump’s concern is valid. Oh, and P.S., the liberal left used to be very much activated against the power of a state to eavesdrop on its citizenry.
Where we should take a wait and see approach to Trump’s initiatives before we get the pitchforks:
The FBI V Trump | This is not a real presidential issue per se, but there is a strange tug of war going on between the FBI (Comey), and Trump. On the one hand, it appears the FBI is borderline rogue, on the other, they are an essential part of the checks and balances on any administration.
Where Trump’s initiatives should fail:
Ben Carson, comments about slavery | Sorry people, Ben Carson is totally unfit for any public office.
And in other news:
Wiki-leaks released a huge trove of documents hacked from the CIA. The effort appears to have been all or substantially carried out on Obama’s watch and it greatly complicates and possibly does a 180 on a whole series of claims by the CIA and Democrats building a case that Trump colluded with the Russians. It will be interesting to watch how this is handled by the Trump administration.
