Vladimir Putin

America On The Road To War With President Who Has No Clue On Diplomacy, And Craves To Be Flattered!

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America is on the road to war under President Trump, and expect it before the midterm elections of 2018, possibly late in this first year of the term.

Donald Trump has no clue on diplomacy, and craves to be flattered constantly, and one can be sure that Iran and North Korea are not going to flatter him, and he will overreact to insults, and will have a National Security Adviser, Michael flynn, who will give him bad advice.

Trump also has two many military people in his administration, and too many corporate types who see war as a way to promote the defense industries and obscene war profits.

Trump is the kind of person who will potentially use nuclear weapons, if he feels aggrieved.

He does not have the experience and judgment of Richard Nixon or George H. W. Bush, or the calm, cool demeanor of John F. Kennedy, or the confidence and common sense of Ronald Reagan.

Trump does not have the ability to make foreign policy decisions, and he will upend American foreign policy, including alienating our NATO allies in Europe by cozying up to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin who knows how to manipulate him. He also is likely to alienate China, which could cause troubles for Japan and South Korea, and complicate dealings with North Korea.

We are entering a nightmare scenario, with an unhinged, mentally unstable Commander in Chief!

Widespread Protests Against Trump Inauguration Grow Day By Day!

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Widespread protests against the Trump Inauguration are growing day by day.

No significant entertainers are willing to perform at his inauguration in Washington DC on Friday, January 20, 2017.

The Rockettes are divided over performance, with some dancers refusing to do so, although under pressure to follow orders.

Some members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir are also reluctant to sing for the incoming President, on moral and ethical grounds.

This is all perfectly understandable, as many see performing for Trump as equivalent of performing for Adolf Hitler, right or wrong.

The fact that Trump consorts with other dictators, including Vladimir Putin of Russia, and the leaders of such nations as Turkey, and the Philippines, and even has had praise for North Korea’s leader Kim Jon Un as a “strong leader”, is indeed alarming.

One gets the feeling that Trump’s willingness to ignore security information that shows Russia hacked our election process, and therefore helped Donald Trump, and seems to be engaged in a “bromance” with Putin disgusts and alarms millions of Americans, does not phase him one bit.

The Republican Party is starting to split with Trump on this, with Senator John McCain calling for hearings on Thursday, January 5.

So there are fireworks ahead, and it is expected that there will be widespread protests against Trump centered around Inauguration Day, totally appropriate freedom of assembly and nonviolent civil disobedience, and it is all a harbinger of the next four years!

So we can wish for a Happy New Year 2017, but there are warning signs ahead of a very difficult, tumultuous year!

Donald Trump Ups The Ante On Nuclear War, Abandoning Direction Since Ronald Reagan

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A very worrisome development is the tweet from Donald Trump, indicating his plans to build up the nuclear weapons capacity of the the United States, defying policy since Ronald Reagan negotiated with Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s.

The purpose has been to lower the danger of nuclear war, but now Trump, in reaction to Vladimir Putin’s reckless statement, has similarly reacted, upping the ante on the possibility of a reaction that could destroy the human race.

There has been concern all along that Donald Trump is too unhinged and careless, to be given the nuclear codes, since he is very thin skinned, and reacts badly to every criticism and attack, many of which he should simply ignore, but he does not have the ability to overlook anything said against him by anyone.

This is not a good Christmas and New Year’s gift to the nation or the world, and makes the upcoming inauguration on January 20, 2017, not one that will be widely celebrated in a nation where Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton, won a massive popular victory nearing 3 million, more than 11 Presidents have won out of 44 in our history.

Totally Inexperienced And Unqualified Appointees In Trump Administration: The Triumph Of The Neophytes

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Donald Trump is a neophyte, someone with zero government experience related to the position he competed for, and he has moved toward bringing total neophytes into his close circle.

Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State
Ben Carson as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Rick Perry as Secretary of Energy
Andrew Puzder as Secretary of Labor
Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education

Only Rick Perry has been in government, as Texas Governor, but he is no expert on energy issues, and is best remembered for being unable to name the Department of Energy as one of the government cabinet agencies he wanted to eliminate, were he elected President. And he received Cs, Ds, and Fs in science courses at Texas A & M University!

The other three other than Tillerson are out to destroy the purpose of their government cabinet departments, and Tillerson is a pure corporate guy, who has no background in foreign policy at all, except that he has made business deals with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Donald Trump is destroying the whole concept of experience and competence in these and many other appointments he has made, the worst group ever of appointees of any modern President!

The Republican Party, Donald Trump, And Russia: Ronald Reagan Is Turning Over In His Grave!

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The Republican Party is now faced with an incoming President who is cozy with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, and whose National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, and Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson, are also too close to the Russian dictator.

To have much of the Republican Party willing to accept this without complaint is an outrage, and a danger to national security.

Thank goodness for such Republicans as John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Marco Rubio for making clear they plan to put the feet of Rex Tillerson to the fire, and somehow, Michael Flynn, who also believes in conspiracy theories, but does not require Senate confirmation, must be prevented from serving Donald Trump in the White House, where his deleterious impact could be of great harm, outweighing that of Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

Ronald Reagan would be turning over in his grave, as Barack Obama said, if he knew what has happened, and so would Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and other dead Republicans, who made their careers on anti Soviet stands in the Cold War, including 1964 Republican Presidential nominee Barry Goldwater.

Yes, the Cold War is supposedly over, and Communism is gone, but is this true? Putin, after all, was part of the Soviet KGB Secret Police, and has blood on his hands, and has gained possibly the largest personal fortune of any human being on earth

We must deal with Russia, but to be naive about it, and give in to flattery, as Donald Trump has done and is doing, is alarming and dangerous to the national security of this nation.

Imagine the infamous Joseph McCarthy, the Red Scare villain of the 1950s, and how he would react to the craziness and lunacy of American foreign policy under a reckless, dangerous, unhinged Donald Trump!

Totally Unqualified For Cabinet: Ben Carson, Rick Perry, Rex Tillerson, And They Should All Be Rejected By US Senate!

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Donald Trump has selected three cabinet members who have absolutely no background for the positions they have been chosen for.

Ben Carson was a pediatric surgeon, who was conveniently given a “golden parachute” to leave Johns Hopkins Hospital since his behavior was becoming strange and weird, as people watching the Presidential campaign certainly noticed. He has NO qualifications to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, other than that he grew up in a poor family and lived in public housing in Detroit.

Rick Perry was 14 year Governor of Texas, and is not the brightest bulb in American politics, and when he sought the Presidency in 2011, he could not recall the Energy Department was one of the cabinet agencies he thought should be closed down. Now he is nominated to head that agency, although he has no knowledge of nuclear weapons or energy, and received Cs, Ds, and Fs in Science courses at Texas A & M University.

Rex Tillerson has been CEO of Exxon Mobil, and has never served in government, and is a chum of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who gave him the highest honor that can be bestowed on a foreigner, and they have done oil deals together and get along splendidly. But that is alarming to John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio and other Republicans, as well as Democrats, and would make Ronald Reagan turn over in his grave, as Barack Obama said today in a news conference, that such a pro Russian oil executive with ZERO knowledge of foreign policy, should be the nominee for Secretary of State.

All three should be stopped in committee by the Republicans or by filibuster by the Democrats in the Senate, as all three are a disgrace to the positions they have been nominated for by Donald Trump!

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

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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.

Trump Cabinet Appointments And Other Top Advisers Mostly A “Basket Of Deplorables”! An Outrage To Presidential Cabinet History!

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Donald Trump is nearing the end of his search for Cabinet appointments and other top advisers, and sadly, the group is mostly a “Basket of Deplorables”, an outrage to Presidential Cabinet history!

The problem is that some skeptical Republicans and the entire Democratic Party in the US Senate have limited ability to prevent or hold up more than a few of this disgraceful group.

The list of people Trump is offering us includes people too close to Russia; people who are billionaires and deeply engaged in the corporate culture; people who are totally inexperienced and unqualified to hold the positions they are being offered; people who are retired generals who have not been retired long enough from the military, so must have legislation passed to allow them to serve, undermining the idea of civilian control; and people who are simply outrageous in their views on the environment, education, health care, labor rights, and foreign policy.

It is hard to find anyone who one can be content with as a choice, and it seems as if Donald Trump is determined to select the kind of people which seem assured to wish to destroy not only the Barack Obama legacy, the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson, but also to promote the interests of major corporations such as in the oil industry and Wall Street at the expense of workers, consumers, and the middle class and the poor, while also stirring up animosity toward China, Iran, and North Atlantic Treaty allies, while strangely becoming cozy with Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

We are on the road to a massive constitutional crisis that may surpass Richard Nixon and Watergate, and Donald Trump seems very willing and able to create one crisis after another, as he lurches toward Fascist type government, and declares war on the news media and civil liberties and civil rights. He is already alarming many members of the Republican Party, which he feels no loyalty to, and to think that we are seeing John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Susan Collins, Ben Sasse, and Floyd Flake as already alarmed about his controversial statements and actions, and he is not yet inaugurated as President, but already is stirring a tempest, is a sign of the crisis that is coming after January 20, 2017!

I just published an article on the Trump Cabinet choices on History News Network, and it is posted on the blog on the right side for everyone to read and consider.

Would Mitt Romney Work For Donald Trump As Secretary Of State?

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The mere suggestion that Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican Presidential nominee, who vehemently opposed Donald Trump throughout the 2016 campaign, will be visiting with Trump, and might agree to be his Secretary of State, is mind blowing.

Romney is the most credible nominee for any post yet to be rumored to be a possible cabinet member for Trump, but it is hard to imagine that Romney would actually be offered such a position, or would agree to such appointment.

The two men are temperamentally exact opposites, and Romney ran his campaign in 2012 warning us how dangerous Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin, were, while Donald Trump has praised Putin, and suggested a bromance with the Russian leader.

How would Romney reconcile that difference, and how would Trump do the same?

Romney would add some badly needed stature to the Trump cabinet, but what would he get out of it, other than being mistreated by a boss who would be looking forward to firing him, or forcing him to resign over policy differences?

How would Romney overcome National Security Adviser nominee Michael Flynn’s close association and impact on President Trump?

And why would Romney want to give up his close family activities, and spend, if he survived in office, the next four years doing the toughest job in the world, in regards to stress and constant travel, such as a million miles in four years, as occurred with Hillary Clinton, and close to that mileage, if not more, for John Kerry?

What Would Joseph McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan Say About Donald Trump And Russia?

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Joseph McCarthy, the infamous “witch hunter” of Communism and the Red Scare of the 1950s, saw Russia as the enemy and had no tolerance for anyone who showed anything other than antagonism toward the Soviet Union.

But Donald Trump acts as if Russia under Vladimir Putin, formerly in the Soviet Secret Police, the KGB, is somehow just a strong man who is “popular” in his country, and seems to admire him.

Even one who is a harsh critic of McCarthy and his demagoguery, including this blogger, somehow knows that the Wisconsin Senator would be leading the charge against Donald Trump if he were alive today.

But the same could be said of Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, both who dealt with the Soviet Union and Communism, but had no illusions about the Russian leadership.

It is astounding how many Republicans, of a party that made Communism and Russia the biggest villain for decades, now sit back and accept Donald Trump’s “bromance’ with Putin.

It is not that America should not deal with Putin, but rather that America’s leadership understand his tactics and purposes, and not be living in an illusion as to the history and culture surrounding Russia and its leader.

Such illusions could lead to total disaster in international affairs!