by Lynn Mandaville
Former CIA Director John Brennan tweeted Monday morning:
Why did Trump meet one on one with Putin? What might he be hiding from Bolton, Pompeo, Kelly and the American public? How will Putin use whatever Trump could be hiding to advantage Russia and hurt America? Trump’s total lack of credibility renders spurious whatever explanation he gives.
He asks more concisely and articulately than I can the three questions my husband and I have been asking each other over and over since the disastrous presser following the Trump-Putin Summit.
In the spirit of “truth is stranger than fiction,” and in the spirit of the Lone Gunmen of X-Files fame, we have come up with our own conspiracy theory to answer those questions.
First, we had to determine what one thing in this world Donald Trump cares enough about to actually give a rat’s petute and allow him to sell out the country he swore under oath to preserve, protect and defend.
His legacy as president of the United States doesn’t fit the bill. He hasn’t really done anything of substance to call his own. He’s just concentrated on dismantling the country as he inherited it from his predecessor. And he’s been on destruct mode for a while when it comes to foreign relations with our allies.
We ruled out Melania. His infidelity confirmed that.
We ruled out his reputation. His ruthless business dealings, compulsive lying and lack of compassion told that story.
We couldn’t really comment on his sons or daughter Tiffany. He’s oddly silent about his emotional attachments to them. But we quickly zeroed in on daughter Ivanka. The Donald clearly has a strong attachment to her, so strong it sometimes verges on the abnormal. This is the one thing we believe he cares enough about for which to commit the sins of the Trump/Putin press conference.
What do Putin and Russia have to gain? Russia still wants to dominate the globe. Things haven’t changed since the days of Nikita Kruschev — “We will bury you!”
How best to get hold of an entire developed nation? Threaten to kill the beloved daughter of a puppet president whose sole job it is to divide the nation against itself, to get its elected legislators to allow the erosion of basic constitutional rights, to allow the exploitation of the working people in order to create an elite aristocracy, and let the baser instincts of one man pollute the conscience of a nation.
Putin occasionally offers a glimpse of what he is capable. Covertly poison with a deadly nerve agent a former Russian agent and his daughter at an English pub or park. Allow a similar poisoning to kill an innocent citizen who happens to touch a contaminated item a few weeks later.
The private meeting today was to make iron-clad Putin’s intentions. Putin will use that threat, and some yet-to-be-disclosed information (perhaps Trump’s years of money-laundering for Putin himself) to keep Trump in line. Republicans have shown an amazing proclivity to defend Trump regardless of his behavior, so impeachment and removal from office are unlikely. Trump needs merely to continue in his current mode to deliver to Russia what it wants — The United States of America.
There it is in a nutshell. Our version of a ridiculous Lone Gunmen/X-Files conspiracy theory.
As of this writing we have not seen the kind of the patriotic outrage we wanted or expected over Trump’s performance in Finland.
Until and unless the proverbial excrement hits the whirling turbine, and congress decides the camel’s back is broken for good, maybe our theory, or some variation thereof, isn’t so far-fetched after all?
One thing is true your conspiracy theory is ridiculous.
What confuses me about the Democrats/Liberals or whatever one labels those who hate our President.
When he challenged China you screamed he was going to start a war. You advocated calmly dissucing things..a let’s not rock the boat attitude.
So now the President sits with the leader of Russia, without media or anyone but the translators.. and you all scream treason… Your hate of our Country’s President has so clouded your thoughts everything he does you hate.
I doubt Russia is as big a threat as China is to the United States.
What one must realize is the United States is not like Russia, China, or other countries who’s leader has no problem killing their people. If they protest, or try to change their government leadership, etc
You can not and will never get over the hate you posses for our President .If our Country fails and is ever conquered it will not be the fault of any President. It will be the hate that grows within our once United country that will be our downfall. Since the Democratic Party has been divided with success the new goal is our Country…
Can this division be stopped…most likely not….the hate has grown so strong even something as horrific as another Civil War may not resolve the problem…..there are to many groups with hate towards so many others ….there are no true battle lines.
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Ms. Mandaville,
You stated, “Until and unless the proverbial excrement hits the whirling turbine, and congress decides the camel’s back is broken for good, maybe our theory, or some variation thereof, isn’t so far-fetched after all?” Yes it is, please take care you are joining the tinfoil hat crowd. Seeing collusion behind every tree is not healthy and a bit over the top.
Jeesh, who cares about shooting someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue? Trump could sell out our country to Russia on a world stage and his supporters would still sacrifice their own integrity for his altar. As a small child in the late ’80s and early ’90s, I remember seeing Trump in the media and thinking that he embodied all of the poor character traits that went against the small-town values I was being raised with. For 25 years, Trump has been my proof that karma is an imaginary construct. The hate for Trump is not at all the problem. Hating Trump is normal, healthy, and rational. The great sickness our nation is suffering from is its love for Trump. Without hyperbole, Trump literally epitomizes the definition of a demagogue. What this is is a Cult of Personality. Trumpees are literally a cult. It is not normal, it is unhealthy, and it is irrational. Amid all of the incessant projecting, scapegoating, and whataboutism, trumpees have sold away the Christian conservative values they’d so strongly touted. Trumpees have sold out their own lifetime’s worth of personal integrity. And for what? What could possibly be worth pledging allegiance to this charlatan?
As for conspiracy theories, I’m inclined to stick with Occam’s Razor and go with the suspicion that Trump has a history of illegal dealings with Russian oligarchs propping up his failed businesses, hence his refusal to release his tax returns. That, and there’s probably a pee tape Putin’s dangling over his head.
Here we go again. Lynn is entitled to her opinion without being accused of creating a “witch hunt”. Does that phrase ring a bell? Trump has thrown “witch hunt” out ever since the special investigation. He has finally been forced to admit that Russian forces did try to influence the 2016 elections. You are criticizing her opinion of criticism of Trump. I can’t feel any sympathy for Trump for the “hate” aimed towards him. He brought it on himself with his very very biased actions.
I feel that his motivation for a relationship with Putin is brought on by his own bloated ego. He feels he is the very very most important and powerful man in the United States and feels that he is an equal to Putin. Maybe he is, but I wouldn’t consider it something to brag about!
Just a couple of questions…so if people disagree with your actions you are saying it is fine for them to hate you, and you are fine with that ?
So if the President of the United States is not the most powerful. important person on the Country who is ??
If our Country does not have a President equal or greater than other countries, how long will we remain a free Country??
Just need a little clarification on a few of your points.
If those who voted for and support the President of the United States are a cult…than if you ever voted and strongly supported any previous Presidents were you a member of a cult?
You spoke of small town values…if you grew up in this area..there were men ( wealthy, not always up front in their dealings as you think President Trump does ) but they developed and made these areas prosper.
As for selling out my Christian values…I disagree. I never hated or disrecpted any President past or present, I respect life from conception to death, when I and others went to fight for our Country ( whether one thinks these conflicts were necessary) we pledged allegiance to this Country and it’s leaders . Maybe all those may not be Christian values ….but they are to me.
Plain and simple, don’t vote for him in the next election for prez…..
Whoa Harry! Nowhere in my comment did I say that I (myself) hated Trump, I have very strong feelings about using that term. To me, saying you hate someone means you wish them dead. Maybe you have another definition?
Your last two sentences seem to forget the well quoted phrase – of the PEOPLE, by the PEOPLE and for the PEOPLE. No INDIVIDUAL should ever be allowed to think that they are the most powerful, most important person of a FREE COUNTRY. The very word – country- denotes an entire nation of individuals.. That is the biggest problem with our legislators now. Forgetting that they represent our COUNTRY and not their own political or personal agendas.
I guess I must have misinterpreted your sentence “I can’t feel any sympathy for the hate generated toward him because he brought it on himself.”
I guess if one has no sympathy for hate toward a person then they must approve.
Whether you accept it or not, every country has a leader, as do organizations, religions, schools, etc…
Without leadership there would be mayhem. Our founding fathers also put the House and Senate in place so our leader could never become a king dictator, etc…
So I stand by my statement — every president past, present or future will and should be viewed as a very powerful representative of our country in the eyes of other countries.
Our system has so far survived, and hopefully will continue.
After reading some of the responses, I can honestly conclude that some think stating facts and asking questions regarding the tariffs levied on 1,300 goods imported from China by our current POTUS is tantamount to hating the USA or hating the current POTUS.
What the author asked is reasonable. To date (July 21, 2018) there are 1,300 Chinese products that are the now more expensive to U.S. companies and individuals than they were in the first quarter of 2018. None of those tariffs are on clothing or footwear that would include Ivanka Trump’s fashion lines, MAGA ball caps like the President wears, the Trump Collection of Men’s wear of suits, dress shirts, ties, the Trump Home collection of furniture, lamps and chandeliers or on textiles the Trump Organization uses at its 17 golf resorts and hotels bearing the Trump name where the Trump Organization maintains control of supplying sheets, towels robes, table clothes, napkins etc.
We also have seen tariffs put on what have been our allies who are also in NAFTA, Canada and Mexico. None of those have any significant effects on the Trump Organization or Ivanka Trump’s companies that operate under the umbrella of the Trump Organization.
My own conclusion is based on Donald Trump’s actions since 1987 when he visited Moscow, then capital of the former USSR. Days after Trump returned from that trip, he took out full page ads in the New York Times, Washington Post and Chicago Tribune taking a stand that Japan and Saudi Arabia were taking advantage of the U.S. Since that time he has kept the same message, but recently we’ve added China and more recently Canada and Mexico to the list.
Since 1987, when Donald Trump started making public statements on the global stage, he’s never been critical of the USSR and now, Russia. Not when Russian troops rolled into Crimea and annexed what was part of the Ukraine. Not when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over Russia when it was clear was a Russian ground to air missile was used and the Russians kept investigators from the crash site for days, “sanitizing” the site. Not when Russia was supplying advisory troops and weapons to Ukrainian insurgents seeking close relationships with Russia. Not even when, while he was insulting Canada at the G7, while Putin was in China signing a $3B trade deal to sell nuclear power plant components and engineering to China and praising China’s President Xi.
Do I think there may be a tape of Donald Trump in a compromising position? Maybe, but with the loyalty of the Trump base, including evangelicals and other religious groups that have forgiven him for his divorces and his philandering while married to all three of his wives, if that was all there was they would overlook it. Donald Trump wouldn’t care.
We know The Trump Organization had a tough time raising capital from U.S. banks after its multiple bankruptcies. We know that the Trump Organization started using the German-based Deutsche Bank as its main lender when U.S. banks stopped lending to him. We know that Deutsche Bank paid over $740M in fines for laundering $10B of Russian oligarch money. We also know there has been heavy investment by Russians in Trump properties because of records and Eric Trump’s admission in 2014 when he told Boston based journalist James Dodson that “ Well, we don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia,” when explaining how the Trump Organization got funding to buy golf properties when money was tightening up going into 2007-08.
Mrs. Mandaville, I don’t you don’t hate America or even hate Republicans. You are simply asking questions that many people who support President Trump don’t want asked or investigated. Life is simpler when you just believe whatever comes from President Trump’s mouth along with accepting his excuses and ignoring claims like he couldn’t change border policy without Congress until he did. Very quietly with no photo op on a Friday afternoon. Crying WINNING and MAGA is enough for some.
There was a time, like in the mid 1970s when American legislators were Americans first and were Republicans and Democrats who didn’t cower when Nixon was investigated and ultimately forced to resign. Sadly, that’s not the case in 2018.
And so it goes.