T2B4: Trolling the Transition
First up, likes ❤️ and shares 📣 are much appreciated. I know for a fact you want me to be rich and famous, so go right ahead and
So far in this series
Starting today, I'm contracting the beginning to T2BN seeing as it will be about the transition for another 70 days.
Troll in Chief
It shouldn’t surprise anyone the Trump team is using all its resources to de-legitimize the Biden victory, from the direct assault on its validity by Trump himself to the innuendo peddled by his subordinates. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked whether he’s planning on working with the Biden transition team and if not, what’s going to be the impact on national security. His answer:
That’s quite the troll. Well played 😀. Trump is trolling even harder:
The headline suggests he wants your money to help contest the election results - fight lawsuits? fund recounts? - but actually, the fine print says: ‘your contribution will benefit Trump Make America Great Again Committee.’ What is this committee?
Last week, similar solicitations by the Trump Make America Great Again Committee came under fire because of language in the fine print claiming that 50 percent would go toward retiring the Trump campaign committee’s general election debt.
In other words: paying off Trump’s loans (yet again) and to give him money to influence Republican races in the future. Gives you a sense for what the gullible are being asked to pay for.
Thanks for 📖. If you like this essay:
Esper and Espel
In other news, Trump fired his defense secretary Mark Esper while the CIA director Gina Espel is making the rounds of Washington to make sure she doesn’t meet the same fate. Mitch is supporting her and Trump needs Mitch. I would be surprised if she’s fired.
Why fire them at all?
Because they aren’t doing his majesty’s bidding. Esper refused to unleash the US military on protestors in DC. Espel refused to certify Jared’s judgement of MbS’ innocence in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. NYT sayeth:
Ms. Haspel has supported a string of agency conclusions at odds with White House positions, including the culpability of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia in the death of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Russia’s paying of bounties to the Taliban to kill American troops in Afghanistan and North Korea’s unwillingness to give up nuclear weapons.
Or quite possibly Trump dislikes names that begin with ‘Espe’ and wants to fire all ExpeXs in the world. Who knows? Also why should we care?
This is why:
The US military is everywhere and despite what people say about the Chinese or the Russians, I think the US is a far superior fighting force. The reason for enduring American power, both at home and abroad, is the strength of its institutions and the competence of the people who lead them. And one on one, American bosses are surprisingly down to earth. Given a choice, I would much rather be stuck in a dark room with Mark Esper than Rashid Dostum. And yet, off the top of my head, I can count 34 nations the US ‘influenced’ after WWII:
Chile, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Cuba, Haiti, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, The Soviet Union (doh!), Libya, Congo, Angola, Mozambique, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, North and South Korea.
Mark them on a globe and superimpose that map upon the chart of bases. See the correlation?
American power is awesome in every sense of that term. Trump was the first president who took an axe to its sources. Turns out you don’t need Skywalker if Darth Vader is raring to do the job.
All good things must come to an end, but having arrived at the conclusion of this essay, share it before flying off.
