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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAl Franken on Manafort
E.t.a: From Al Frankens Facebook page
Sean Spicer, who served President Trump for a very limited amount of time, described Paul Manafort as someone who played a very limited role for a very limited amount of time in the Trump campaign.
That very limited role, of course, was campaign chairman. And during Manaforts very limited time with the campaign (actually, he spent more time with the campaign than either Steve Bannon or Kellyanne Conway), he helped Trump secure and then accept the Republican nomination, and made sure that the convention platform dropped a plank that called for providing arms to Ukraine in its fight against Russia. And Manafort was there for Get-Dirt-on-Hillary meeting with the Russians at Trump Tower.
Of course, Manaforts time with the campaign wouldnt have been so limited had the media not zeroed in on his wildly lucrative consulting deal with brutal, Russian-backed Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych and on Manaforts shady financial ties to Ukrainian and Russian oligarchs close to Vladimir Putin.
Now that he has been convicted on multiple counts of financial misconduct, Manafort stands to spend the rest of his life in prison. As he girds himself for his next trial, most people believe that Manafort is expecting a pardon down the line from President Trump. My wife doesnt think so.
Franni has been saying for months that Trump wont pardon Manafortbecause he doesnt have to. Her theory is simple and chilling. Manafort knows that if he talks, the Russians will seek retribution. Trump knows this too, Franni believes. Perhaps, even, he and Putin discussed this in Helsinki.
PUTIN: Have no worry about Manafort talking. He knows is dead man if takes plea.
TRUMP: Wow! Good to know.
PUTIN: Same goes for interpreters. You hear me, you two?! Yuri, tell American interpreter I am serious.
RUSSIAN INTERPRETER: He means it. Hell have us both killed.
PUTIN: Very painful death.
RUSSIAN INTERPRETER: Very painful. Most likely a nerve agent.
Okay, I dont know if that actually happened. Maybe they just talked about adoptions. The point is, under Frannis theory, Trump doesnt have to pardon Manafort to keep him quiet. So, he wont.
Which would be pretty telling. Look, I dont like Donald Trump. Like many of us, I am sickened by his words and actions on an almost daily basis. And, in the grand scheme of things, his behavior towards the other sickening people he has surrounded himself with since getting into politics isnt the biggest deal. I mean, separating children from their parents at the border is infinitely worse than letting your former campaign chairman spend the rest of his life in prison. For one thing, Manafort kind of deserves it.
But, if, down the road, Trump starts pardoning every other player in this collusion scandal who didnt cop a plea, but not Paul Manafort, it will say something so deeply disturbing about Donald Trump.
I wrote in my most recent book that Trumps behavior leading up to his inauguration (refusing to divest his business interests, installing a white supremacist as his chief strategist, making up a ridiculous lie about illegal voting in order to avoid admitting that he lost the popular vote, etc.) suggested the kind of mental health problem that you would be disturbed to discover in your kids piano teacher, let alone the president of the United States of America.
Months later, that still checks out. As Michelle Obama said, Being president doesnt change who you are. It reveals who you are. Everything Donald Trump has done since becoming president tells us that he is selfish, callous, and cruel. And if Franni is right, we may be about to see just how deep the rot inside this man goes.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/21/politics/paul-manafort-trial-jury/index.html
MyOwnPeace
(16,951 posts)the "loss" being both Senator Franken being in there fighting for us, and what that dolt IQ45 has stolen from our great country.
LastLiberal in PalmSprings
(12,601 posts)... of every day Trump is president.
Every day that has been stolen from our country. Every day we could have had a president -- of either party -- who put country ahead of his or her own narcissistic needs. Every day we could agree or disagree with the president's policies, but not his morality and mental fitness to hold the office.
I also cry for our children and grandchildren, who will spend their entire lives affected by the repercussions of his presidency -- an economy destroyed by an unequaled nation debt; an education system hobbled by an ignorant Secretary of Education; fouled water and air; privatized and exploited lands which used to belong to the public; an FBI and DOJ where the top leadership has been eliminated; a State Department with key agencies eliminated, and long-serving civil servants leaving en masse, taking their institutional knowledge with them; and the most serious and egregious damage of all, the transformation of the federal judiciary into a carbon copy of the Federalist Society, with judges often appointed because they are young rather than qualified. And the total acceptance that another county can attack our election process without suffering reprecussions, or even acknowledgement by the president that the event happened. Especially since the perpetrator is his BFF.
And then there's the fucking Space Force, which will serve as an orbiting reminder of the worst president ever. Each night we will look up and see bright lights crossing the sky. I'll never look at the night sky again.
As I said, I cry for our loss.
Bluepinky
(2,279 posts)the end of honor and integrity in our political processes, and the normalization of lies, propaganda and corruption by those wielding political power.
the ongoing expansion of a two-tier society, with those at the top getting more of the benefits, and those in the middle and bottom getting less.
the rise of hate groups, white nationalism and racism.
the scapegoating and vilification of journalists, eroding our first amendment rights.
Jarqui
(10,131 posts)and it comes down to
"shut up or we'll kill your daughters families while you watch while rotting in a NY state prison"
Trump and Putin are a form of organized crime.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)We need his voice now more than ever. I'll never forgive those who denied him the due process and investigation he requested.