Thursday, April 27, 2017

Trumpworld Grab-Bag: The Lost Art of Vetting

This is almost going to be too brief to be an honest to goodness "Trumpworld Grab-Bag" post, because it's really just about three guys: Michael Flynn, Sebastian Gorka, and Carter Page. I have issues with the Trump Administration's basic lack of sense on most issues, but the one that literally blows my mind the most is the national security thing. Trump says things that imply he'll be very strong on national security, and then...

He has people brought into his circle that just aren't the best, that are getting paid by other countries, and that seem like the kind of worldliness-challenged folks that act like a semi-permeable membrane for flow of information between Team Trump and who-knows-who.

Take Michael Flynn's known paid assistance to Turkey while not just being a Trump campaign policy advisor, but also receiving intelligence reports alongside of Trump. It turns out that that Turkey connection goes a bit deeper--and intersects with Russia. Now, you could always question Flynn's judgment regarding his RT involvement, but this goes a little farther. He knowingly was accepting money from foreign interests--full stop. One might want to imagine that a US military man with his distinguished record is capable of discerning and respecting that there are activities that don't befit the role of acting fully in the interest of his own country. US. Rep. Chaffetz' s assessment is stark: there is no evidence that he complied with the law. That means, he very likely broke the law. (Lock him up?)

But Trump chose this person and trusted him. Maybe because he saw him on tv. Trump seems to trust a lot of what he sees on tv.

See also: Sebastian Gorka. I feel like some aspect of calling him a "Nazi" or "Nazi-sympathizer" may be overstated and overlooks the more apparent problem with his participation in reviewing and effecting foreign policy for the US--his credentials look hyped. Haaretz has been doing real investigative vetting of Gorka's credentials. As Buzzfeed shows, Hungary didn't have a use for someone of his "skillset". That sounds...problematic.

Which brings us to still-talking Carter Page--who looked like the kind of doofus that the Rusians might use to try to cruise on inside the Trump campaign. Again--warning flags--but not enough to keep him off the campaign.

So--the best people? Or the most questionable? Seems like the latter, and that's a real problem--not fake news.
      

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