John Bolton

The Insult Of Considering Inviting The Taliban Terrorists To Camp David Around The September 11 Commemoration Anniversary

Just as the 18th anniversary of the September 11th attacks was about to be reached, Donald Trump decided he would invite the Taliban terrorist group which harbored Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda to peace negotiations at Camp David.

Camp David, where Dwight D. Eisenhower invited Nikita Khrushchev of the Soviet Union.

Camp David, where Jimmy Carter invited Menachem Begin of Israel and Anwar Sadat of Egypt.

Inviting the Taliban, who have no intention of making peace, and only want to suppress women and deny music and other modern ideas of civilization, is an insult to all those who died on September 11.

Thankfully, after an American soldier was killed by the Taliban, Trump abruptly changed his plans, but it led to a breach with National Security Adviser John Bolton, leading to his either being fired or resigning.

No one is trying to defend Bolton, who is a serial hawk responsible to a great extent for the Iraq War, and wants to go to war with Iran and North Korea without any thought.

But on this issue of the Taliban, for once, John Bolton was correct, and what the President has done by even considering dealing with the Taliban, is an insult to the nearly 3,000 victims of September 11, and the 2,500 military who have died in Afghanistan since 2001, along with about 20,000 wounded!

The Growing Threat To Mike Pence On The 2020 Trump Ticket

It has been fascinating to watch Vice President Mike Pence squirm and try to keep a poker face every time he is seen behind President Donald Trump.

It is clear to any perceptive observer that the Trump-Pence team is a “shot gun marriage” of convenience, with the evangelical right wing loving the overly puritanical Mike Pence and his wife Karen, who promote anti gay prejudice, and show no compassion or empathy toward those less fortunate. This fits perfectly with the Christian Right, which is only interested in making money and promoting hypocrisy, as they go after gay rights and women’s rights with a viciousness totally unlike the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Pence has kept his mouth shut and his thoughts to himself, as far as we can discern, but the news that Pence apparently sided with former National Security Adviser John Bolton, just fired, in his opposition to the crazy idea to invite the terrorist Taliban of Afghanistan, who harbored Al Qaeda before the September 11, 2001 attacks, to Camp David for a peace accord, is astounding.

So there is apparently a breach between the President and the Vice President, rarely public news in the history of the relationship of Presidents with Vice Presidents.

And just this week, rumors that Ivanka Trump, the President’s daughter, and Jared Kushner, his son in law, were lobbying for Pence to be replaced on the 2020 Presidential ticket by a woman, now seems to make more sense that Pence is starting to resist the craziness of his boss.

Of course, Pence denies he disagreed on the Taliban and Camp David, but since Pence is such a good liar, manipulator, and total religious hypocrite, it will be interesting to see what happens in the next year between Trump and Pence, and the odds of some news of a breach getting out to the public, seems quite likely.

Is The Influence Of National Security Adviser John Bolton Declining?

National Security Adviser John Bolton, a true “hawk” on foreign policy, and one of the major culprits in bringing on the Iraq War, and known to be an advocate of war with Iran, seems to have been sidelined by Donald Trump.

After Trump came within ten minutes of bombing Iran over a shooting down of an American drone, but pulling back, the star of John Bolton seems to have been sent into space, so to speak.

Bolton was not present when Trump met Kim Jong Un of North Korea at the DMZ between North Korea and South Korea, and instead had been sent on a mission to Mongolia, which seems like being sent into space, ironically.

It would be great if Bolton was fired by Donald Trump!

The fact that Trump seems at times to be a bluster bully with words, but not actions, is, of course good, but it still destabilizes American foreign policy.

In any case, it could be that John Bolton may be shown the exit soon, and let us hope for that.

Military Invasion Of Venezuela The Wrong Thing For America To Promote

The situation in the South American nation of Venezuela is horrendous, with massive starvation and suffering, under a horrible dictator, Nicolas Maduro, and his refusal to allow food and medical aid to come in from next door Colombia.

There is no question but that Maduro must be removed from office, but that is not through US military intervention directly.

The United States has used military force in Central America and the Caribbean on a irregular basis since the time of Theodore Roosevelt, and helped to overthrow the South American Chilean government of Salvador Allende in 1973 during the Richard Nixon Presidency, although in that situation, no US troops were sent in, simply collaboration with military generals.

But the changes in government promoted by the US invariably led to more harsh right wing dictatorships, and have undermined the relationship of the United States with its neighbors in Latin America.

Many foreign nations have withdrawn recognition from the Venezuelan government, and Juan Guaido, the leader of the National Assembly, has been declared the de facto interim President by that body.

Economic pressure and attempts to win over the military are appropriate by all nations which love freedom, but the worst possible action would be to send in military forces, which would incite civil war, and likely make America the villain, and cause a long intervention and the loss of many lives, both Venezuelan and American.

But it seems as if Donald Trump, Mike Pompeo, and John Bolton are bent on military action, just as they seem to be moving in that direction regarding Iran.

So we could have two massive wars as the 2020 Presidential and Congressional elections come upon us next year, just as with George W. Bush and Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld and unwise, and unsuccessful military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, which have undermined America, and cost a great amount of treasure, both human and capital.

Donald Trump Has Gone Bonkers By His Action To Withdraw US Forces Fighting ISIS In Syria

The absolutely worst moments of Donald Trump’s Presidency are upon us.

Trump, totally ignorant and clueless on American foreign policy, has ordered the complete, rapid withdrawal of all US forces from Syria, at a time when ISIS is still a threat, and many enemies gain by our withdrawal.

Russia, Iran, Turkey, the murderous regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, and the terrorist group Hezbollah all gain.

The NATO allies–Great Britain, France, Germany, Canada and the rest–, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the Kurdish allies who are anti Turkish and anti Assad, all are major losers.

Total disarray and gains for authoritarian governments is the result, and we will rue the day that we decided to leave the fight against ISIS, which is not yet totally defeated.

This is all part of a clear plan by Trump to help his friend Vladimir Putin, and Turkish dictator Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and ironically, the major enemy of Israel and Saudi Arabia, the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Our President is clearly a menace, and many Republicans, including Senators Bob Corker of Tennessee, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marco Rubio of Florida, and Jeff Flake of Nebraska, are coming out of the woodwork to express their disgust and disdain of what the President is doing.

This is the time for James Mattis, Secretary of Defense; Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State; and John Bolton, National Security Adviser, all of whom were strong supporters of remaining in Syria, to announce their mass resignation, and call for Donald Trump to resign.

As I finish this essay, Mattis has announced his resignation, making ever more dangerous the reality that there are no real “adults'” advising Trump on military policy.

Meanwhile, the stock market has been in free fall, and it looks as if the government will be shut down over Christmas, due to the insistence of Donald Trump that there be a 2,000 mile built across our boundary with Mexico, an insane and wasteful idea that will not guarantee security.

It is time for Vice President Mike Pence to speak out against the President, and show some guts and courage to speak his mind.

Marist Public Opinion Poll: 83 Percent Democrats, 76 Percent Independent, 57 Percent Republican–Let Mueller Investigation Move Forward

At a dangerous moment in the probe of Donald Trump by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, as Trump unravels more than ever before, and has fired so many people on his staff, greater than any President after one year in office, a Marist poll demonstrates that the American people want the Mueller investigation to move forward to completion.

It is now ten months since Mueller was appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to investigate the firing of FBI Head James Comey, and it is clear that evidence has been gathered leading to convictions and indictments already, that show widespread corruption in the Trump Presidency.

Republicans in Congress have been unwilling to pass legislation to insure that the investigation will move forward, believing Donald Trump will not fire Mueller, but the feeling is that any day, that could happen.

Based on the Marist Poll–83 percent Democrats, 76 percent Independent, 57 percent Republican–it seems as if there would be a storm fire if Trump went ahead and fired Mueller, similar to what happened when Richard Nixon fired Archibald Cox in 1973. One would think there would be a movement, even by many Republicans, towards impeachment.

The problem is that even impeachment support by Republicans would take time, and an unhinged Donald Trump, with a crazy National Security Adviser, John Bolton, advocating “regime change” on North Korea and Iran, could take us into one or two massive wars that could cause tremendous loss of life, and possible nuclear war. Also, the “tariff wars” Trump is promoting could cause a world wide Great Depression or Great Recession at the least.

So public opinion is on the side of backing Mueller over Trump, but no matter how one looks at it, America and the world at large is in the midst of a constitutional crisis, which seems much more severe than Richard Nixon and Watergate 45 years ago!

The War Cabinet Emerges: Larry Kudlow, Mike Pompeo, And John Bolton: Great Depression And Aggressive War Against North Korea And Iran On The Horizon!

Donald Trump has now forced out Gary Cohn, Rex Tillerson, and H. R. Mc Master, and replaced them with Larry Kudlow, Mike Pompeo, and John Bolton, and this turnover after only 14 months in the White House is a danger sign of trouble ahead.

Trump’s “Tariff Wars”, discouraged by Cohn, now will move forward, and Tillerson and Mc Master, both strong in their criticism of Trump oriented foreign policy of “America First”, upending traditional foreign policy for 70 years, now will move into a phase of aggressiveness in foreign policy that is likely to lead to warfare.

One can now expect that we might end up in a Great Depression, or at least a Great Recession, as we are going down the road of protectionism, which was pursued by Benjamin Harrison in 1890 with the McKinley Tariff, which led to the Panic of 1893; and also pursued by Herbert Hoover in 1930 with the Smoot Hawley Tariff, which made the already begun Great Depression much more deeper.

And we can expect that with Mike Pompeo and particularly, John Bolton, two hawks in foreign policy, the first being a Tea Party activist elected to the House of Representatives, and the second, unable to be confirmed by a Republican Senate to be United Nations Ambassador, and only there for less than a year as a recess appointment under George W. Bush, and very much advocating “regime change” regarding North Korea and Iran, we can expect two wars before the year 2018 is over.

Trump may be thinking that getting engaged in two wars will cause “patriots” to rally around the flag, and help the Republicans to retain their control of both houses of Congress, and one must recall that in Presidential years, anytime there there has been a war, the President running for reelection has always won.

So Trump might be planning to use war as a way to a second term in office, which history must make every sane person be alarmed over such prospect!

Trump’s “Congratulations” To Putin A Danger Sign To National Security Long Term, And Demonstrates How Unhinged And Dangerous He Is!

Donald Trump was told by his National Security Adviser, H. R. Mc Master, and his Chief of Staff, John Kelly, NOT to ‘congratulate” Vladimir Putin for his phony election victory in Russia.

He ignored both of them, a clear danger to national security of the nation, and now Mc Master is out, and crazy lunatic war hawk, John Bolton, who still believes the Iraq War was justified; who was unable to become UN Ambassador under President George W. Bush, and was only a recess appointment for less than a year; and who has advocated openly on Fox News Channel the idea of “regime change” in both Iran and North Korea, has replaced him.

This is an alarming development, and it is believed Kelly is on his way out, and might not be replaced as Donald Trump may believe he does not need a Chief of Staff, that he can handle everything on his own, with the help of Bolton, who will have greater access as National Security Adviser daily than anyone else.

It is now clear that Donald Trump is more unhinged and dangerous than we ever imagined, and if the military leaders John Kelly, and maybe even Secretary of Defense James Mattis leave, there will be no control on Donald Trump’s military actions.

So war may be in the offing soon!

Republican Split Begins, As Several US Senators Indicate They Are Ready To Fight Trump Cabinet Appointments

It is now clear that Donald Trump will NOT work to avoid Republican party splits, but instead will do everything he can to stir division within the party, and within America, as shown with his horrendous Cabinet appointments.

Democrats MUST fight tooth and nail against many of the Cabinet appointments, including the nominees for Attorney General (Jeff Sessions); Health and Human Services (Tom Price); Labor (Andrew Puzder); Education (Betsy DeVos); and Environmental Protection Agency (Scott Pruitt).

But there are Republicans unhappy over issues of foreign policy, including close association between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson: and the proposed nomination of John Bolton to be Deputy Secretary of State, despite his continued belief that the Iraq War was justified, and the opposition of many top Republicans who despise the former United Nations Ambassador by recess appointment under George W. Bush, who could not be confirmed by the US Senate.

Republican Senators, including Marco Rubio, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Jeff Flake, Rand Paul, Ben Sasse and Susan Collins, and possibly others, could prevent some of these appointees in committee or on the floor, and in league with Democrats, create more Cabinet turmoil and rejections than any modern President, reminding us of the battles some earlier Presidents, including John Tyler and Andrew Johnson, had with Congress over their choices for the Cabinet and the courts.

Also, even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan are calling for a full investigation of Russian hacking of the Democratic Party campaign in the recent election, and many are alarmed by Donald Trump seemingly cozying up to Putin, and Trump’s denial that he believes the evidence of such hacking as concluded by the Central Intelligence Agency, undermining respect and support of the President Elect for the intelligence agencies. And Trump’s refusal to get intelligence briefings regularly and to show mistrust of the Intelligence community, which is so important for the national security of the nation, is very worrisome and alarms many in his own party, as well as the nation at large.

Disarray At Trump Tower: So Many Candidates, Some Totally Dangerous Or Ridiculous! And Major Problems For Midtown Manhattan!

There is disarray in Trump Tower in Manhattan, and massive traffic issues below in midtown Manhattan.

Donald Trump seems to want to live in Trump Tower a lot of the time, rather than the White House, which creates major traffic, economic, and security issues.

Fifth Avenue and 56th Street is now barricaded, and traffic will become impossible, and trying to protect the President-Elect is a security nightmare, as it requires tremendous manpower of New York City Police and the Secret Service, and is creating problems for businesses, auto traffic, and pedestrians, which will only get worse.

But also, Trump seems totally disorganized, and rumors are spreading of some candidates for different positions in the government who are totally dangerous or ridiculous!

For Secretary of State, the candidates seem to include former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani; former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton; South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley; and former Massachusetts Governor and 2012 Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney. The first two named are dangerous for the State Department, as they have no sense of personal diplomacy, and are both loud mouths, with Bolton being the more scary. Haley adds good looks and a woman to the list, but no real qualifications to be Secretary of State. Mitt Romney is the most credible, but really has no diplomatic experience to speak of. And Haley and Romney were bitter opponents of Trump, and did not endorse him.

Then we have the crazy idea of Sarah Palin being Secretary of Interior or Secretary of Energy!

Already, we have Stephen Bannon as Chief Counselor and Senior Adviser in the White House, despite his racist, nativist, antisemitic, Islamophobic, homophobic, and misogynist behavior and utterances. And we have General Michael Flynn, fired by Barack Obama from the Defense Intelligence Agency leadership in 2014, who has also shown elements of antisemitism, and suggested that Hillary Clinton be jailed, to be National Security Adviser. These two appointments do not require Senate confirmation, but it is clear with the chaos in Trump Tower, that Donald Trump will have problems with confirmation of some of his cabinet and other appointments.