Friday/ the truth under siege

Editorial heading from The New York Times. The NYT writes: From the start, Michael Flynn, a retired army lieutenant general, was a disturbing choice as President Trump’s national security adviser. He is a hothead with extremist views in a critical job that is supposed to build consensus through thoughtful, prudent decision-making. The choice is now growing more unnerving every day. A conspiracy theorist who has stoked dangerous fears about Islam, Mr. Flynn was fired by the Obama administration as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency and led anti-Hillary Clinton chants of “lock her up” at the 2016 Republican Convention. He raised eyebrows by cultivating a mystifyingly cozy relationship with Russia, which the Pentagon considers a major threat.

Amid all the chaos of the Trump Administration, this feels like a big story.  Reliable sources told the Washington Post that now-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn talked to the Russians about Obama’s sanctions against Russia in December, before Trump took office.  If this is true, Flynn should be dismissed immediately (and be prosecuted).  He was already asked about it, and denied it.  He had VP Mike Pence, WH spokesman Sean Spicer and WH Chief of Staff Reins Priebus lie about it as well.  Is he guilty of colluding with a foreign power (Russia, no less) to undermine the Obama Administration’s foreign policy, and of lying about it?

Am I imagining this?, asks New York Times Op-Ed Columnist Roger Cohen.  From the column: Trump says “X.” Uproar! Hordes of journalists scurry to disprove “X.”  He moves on, never to mention it again, or claims that he did not say it, or insists that what he really said was “Y.”   People begin to wonder: Am I imagining this? They feel that some infernal mechanism has taken hold and is dragging them toward an abyss. The president is a reference point; if he lies, lying seeps deep into the culture. Americans start to ask: Will we ever be able to dislodge these people from power? What are they capable of?

A sample of my Twitter feed as I scrolled through it tonight. While a lot of illegal immigrants were deported under Obama, some observers feel that ICE is already more aggressive in rounding up people.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *