If you have HBO I encourage you to carve out some time to watch their latest documentary on the life and times of former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee. The most important take away from the film is how different the so-called Russian collusion scandal is from Watergate, which brought down Richard Nixon. Yet, in watching this documentary you can easily grasp the desperate fantasy of the Trump-haters who are hoping for a repeat of a President being humiliated and forced from office.
The other major event in Ben Bradlee's life that provides more insight into the current Trump Derangement Syndrome that has seized most of the media is the Janet Cooke scandal. Cooke, an African-American woman hired by Bradley, became infamous for fabricating a story about an 8 year old inner city heroin addict. Her editors included Bob Woodward and Ben Bradlee. Their desire for the story to be true blinded them to the bald lies of Cooke. She won a Pulitzer for her story, but it fell on Bradlee to inform the Pulizer committee that the award could not be accepted. This was a major stain on his legacy.
That sure sounds a lot like the current state of the media. We have witnessed this type of hysteria ourselves in just the last two days. First there was the Brian Ross debacle, which entailed Ross peddling the lie that Trump ordered Flynn to contact the Russians. That "fake news" elicited an emotional orgasm from Joy Behar on The View. She was on the verge of writhing on the floor as she prematurely celebrated what she thought would seal the impeachment of Donald Trump. Whoops. Ross had to retract that story.
Deutsche Bank, which had loaned him hundreds of millions of dollars when no one else would, even after he sued the firm. Now, investigators probing the ties between the Trump campaign and Russia are wondering why—and they’re beginning to take a closer look at the president’s accounts with his favorite bank, which also happens to have strong ties to Russia itself.
The New York Times reports that banking regulators are currently “reviewing hundreds of millions of dollars in loans made to Mr. Trump’s businesses through Deutsche Bank’s private wealth management unit . . . to [see] if the loans might expose the bank to heightened risk.” Meanwhile, the Guardianreports that executives at Deutsche are “expecting that the bank will soon be receiving subpoenas or other requests for information from Robert Mueller,” and that the special counsel’s investigative team and the bank have “already established informal contact in connection to the federal investigation.”
What the hell? Why was the media today cheering and acting like this was some new revelation. Then things took another weird turn. The White House and Trump lawyers flatly denied the story:
“We confirmed that the news reports [that] the special counsel had subpoenaed financial records related to the president are completely false,” Sanders said during the daily press briefing.
“No subpoena has been issued or received. We have confirmed this with the bank and other sources. I think this is another example of the media going too far and too fast and we don't see it going in that direction," she said.
Now please compare and contrast today's events with those from the Watergate era. Back then Richard Nixon accused the press of lying and making up facts, but it turned out that the press largely had the story right. It was Nixon who was lying.
Trump is derided regularly as a liar and mocked for his attacks on the press but, so far, it is the press that has been pushing prevarications. Trump, by contrast, is not experiencing the humiliation of Richard Nixon, who insisted he had no knowledge of the Watergate break in. Nope. Trump strongly insists that neither he nor his campaign colluded with Russian and the evidence revealed to date backs him up.
Watergate and "Russiagate" do share a common trope. During Watergate the Washington Post was mostly a lone voice covering the story. Washington Post publisher at the time, Kate Graham, reportedly remarked that she was worried that none of the other papers were covering the story. And it was an important story. It exposed political corruption and abuse of power and a threat to our democracy.
How is that in common with Russiagate? The real story is that the FBI, the NSA and the CIA effectively conspired to try to destroy the Presidency of Donald Trump. Hardly anyone in the media, mainstream or fringe, are writing about this fact and trying to rally public support for action. What is one to say when confronted with the fact that the FBI paid money to a former British spy for alleged dirt on Donald Trump that was initially commissioned by the Clinton campaign. And who is the FBI Agent paying for the dossier? Why a fellow now revealed as a Clinton partisan.
This piece is intentionally short. I just want to get the discussion rolling. But there is something rotten in Washington and it is not Donald Trump, no matter how boorish he is at times.
Trump may not be rotten. However, he is definitely not very intelligent. Assuming that he has some greater plan for the good of the country is allowing yourself to be lost in a dream world.
I met the man twice in the mid-seventies. He is neither intelligent nor in the least bit altruistic. In the end you will see that he does not live up to your expectations. Buy hey, you are entitled to your opinion.
Posted by: David E. Solomon | 05 December 2017 at 11:19 PM
It is a shame you wanted to start the discussion with such a stupid comment. I have made no representation whatsoever about the intelligence or lack of intelligence of Trump. I have expressed nothing regarding "my expectations" for him or his policies. I get it. You don't like the man and want to grind a meaningless axe.
Posted by: Publius Tacitus | 05 December 2017 at 11:52 PM
How much of what we see is the real DJT and how much is a projected public persona?
There's truth and lies, but then there's just plain old bullshit which has nothing to do with either. He seems to throw a ton of it around as a diversionary tactic. I understand the technique, but I can't see through the smoke screen to divine what he's up to or who he really is. So I continue to dispassionately observe.
Posted by: EEngineer | 06 December 2017 at 01:12 AM
DJT's threat to "drain the swamp" has created fear, uncertainty and doubt amongst the swamp folk. They naturally fight back. By definition, all swamp critters must toe the neocon line else they would have been fired by previous incumbents. They are all therefore fair game for DJT.
Posted by: walrus | 06 December 2017 at 01:49 AM
Maybe a citation could be offered here, but there does not appear to be any support for the assertion made by the author of this piece that "...the FBI paid money to a former British spy for alleged dirt on Donald Trump...".There were reports that the FBI 'considered' paying Steele to continue his work, ( a not altogether uncommon practice), yet within the more responsibly researched reports it was also clearly stated that in the end the FBI did not in fact pay Steele anything for any work at all.
Posted by: sbjonez | 06 December 2017 at 02:36 AM
As it happens the FBI and most probably the others were created by executive order.
Perhaps it's time to end them by executive order.......
INDY
Posted by: Dr. George W. Oprisko | 06 December 2017 at 03:32 AM
PT,
I admire your persistence and agree with the points you make in this and your other posts on the topic of Trump. This is an extremely important subject matter. A President was elected, lawfully, and a bunch of stupid ninnies got their panties in a knot over that and are therefore more or less willing to support a Borgist ("deep state", if you prefer) coup d'état. Said ninnies are immune to the rational arguments you present because they are not intelligent, they are hyper emotional and many of them belong to a cult called "liberalism" (or the "progressive movement", if you prefer). When you belong to a cult, you must suspend reason; make it subordinate to the hive mind. You lose all perspective. They believe all kids of ridiculous notions that fail to withstand the most basic rational scrutiny; like Islam and feminism can be allies, socialism would work if only it were applied correctly, if a man puts on a dress he has actually become a woman and that such a person would make a good 11 series in the military, low skill/low IQ immigrants - legal or otherwise - are actually good for the country......so of course they believe that a coup d'état is appropriate when the target is Trump. In their madness they have convinced themselves that Trump is uniquely dangerous. He is going to destroy the world via ignoring global warming, tax cuts, immigration reform, pushing the nuclear button just for fun; all of the above and maybe more. You know this, of course. You did mention "Trump Derangement Syndrome".
As for the rest of the subject matter, personally, I feel that what with all that has been revealed about the FBI, CIA and NSA, someone should be bringing the involved members of these agencies up on charges related to treason, sedition or whatever legal terms are correct. Actually, these people should have their doors kicked down and be brought out in hand cuffs. Death sentences should be on the table and should be applied when legally possible.
This is no more Watergate than a man in a dress is a woman.
The depths to which the govt, populace and values of this country have degenerated have never been more on display than in this witch hunt. We are in very bad shape. The media is thoroughly scurrilous. Officials in bureaucracies are treasonous and have no respect for the rule of law. Half of the citizens are insane and support the media and the traitors.
If someone doesn't at least just pull the plug on this "investigation", it's going to ruin what's left of this country. It may be too late. A lot of ninnies are going to wake up to a very harsh reality.
Posted by: Eric Newhill | 06 December 2017 at 05:08 AM
From day one the Republicans were trying to impeach Bill Clinton by investigating every dark corner of the Clintons' past and present until they could find something that would stick. Same thing with Trump except this time it goes far beyond the opposition party to include elements of the government, most of the media and even leading members of his own party. Elections be damned, we have an empire to maintain and he is seen by the establishment as too impulsive, unstable and so far uncontrollable to be allowed to stay in power. While no threat to the sacred cows of Wall Street and Israel or even to drain the swamp they are terrified of his unpredictability, hence the full court press unprecedented in American history to remove him from office. My very low opinion of Trump doesn't blind me to the dangers inherent in this effort.
Posted by: Peter Reichard | 06 December 2017 at 05:21 AM
To the main points of the post; Watergate was independent investigative reporters doing their job and this "investigation" is a bunch of palace conspirators attempting a coup d'état. The former is farmer looking into the matter of his missing hens and the latter is the foxes looking into the farmer.
Posted by: Eric Newhill | 06 December 2017 at 05:24 AM
PT - Isn't the point you've just made central? The issues here are far more important than the personalities?
I like what I've seen of our PM, Mrs May. Nice person, to my outsider's way of thinking. Doesn't alter the fact that I consider her policies and philosophy to be hopeless. And since we're never going to meet her in the pub that's what counts. Would it not be possible to separate things out in the same way with Trump? Set on one side the partisan arguments about his personality - politics is not a TV show - and consider him on the basis of what he may or may not do or be able to do?
You mention briefly the Steele affair. I still find it difficult to believe that an ex-UK Intelligence Officer can get mixed up in American politics to this extent and scarcely an eyebrow raised. Surely someone's asking questions somewhere about this? The facts are clear enough, for once.
Posted by: English Outsider | 06 December 2017 at 05:45 AM
Actually, I think he shares many of Bismark's qualities:
"a political genius of a very unusual kind [whose success] rested on several sets of conflicting characteristics among which brutal, disarming honesty mingled with the wiles and deceits of a confidence man. He played his parts with perfect self-confidence, yet mixed them with rage, anxiety, illness, hypochrondria, and irrationality. ... He used democracy when it suited him, negotiated with revolutionaries and the dangerous Ferdinand Lassalle, the socialist who might have contested his authority. He utterly dominated his cabinet ministers with a sovereign contempt and blackened their reputations as soon as he no longer needed them. He outwitted the parliamentary parties, even the strongest of them, and betrayed all those ... who had put him into power. By 1870 even his closest friends ... realized that they had helped put a demonic figure into power.[6]"-wiki
Bernie can be Lasalle.
Posted by: JMH | 06 December 2017 at 07:29 AM
I think, I hope, I believe, I persuade myself that all is unfolding as it should. Mueller turns up nothing but further examples of officials pimping themselves out to foreign governments; meanwhile revelations of bias on his team; meanwhile chewing away at the Fusion GPS thing (one of the key pillars); meanwhile investigation of the FBI. And, off stage, a slow but powerful campaign exposing many of Trumnp's enemies as corrupt, perverted hypocrites. And, from time to time, unexpected presents like Brazile's book.
But faster please
Posted by: Patrick Armstrong | 06 December 2017 at 07:55 AM
I agree about the Trump Derangement Syndrome that has afflicted the media. I think they are suffering from O.C.T.D.: Obsessive Compulsive Trump Disorder. There are some in the media who are of the opinion that this may not be working with most Americans. I saw two pieces this morning from BBC and The New York Times:
Trump May Be Winning
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42242839
Why Don't Sanders Supporters Care About Trump....
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/11/14/opinion/bernie-supporters-russia-investigation.html
Perhaps this is the start of a change or a recognition that the MSM's habitual crying wolf behavior is not resonating with Main Street. I can only hope, but I stopped watching the national news long ago.
Posted by: Martin Oline | 06 December 2017 at 08:02 AM
The crucial point is not about respect for the man. It is respect for the office. All men are flawed, and high position exposes additional flaws.
It is evident, to this outside observer, that Trump won "fair and square" according to the established procedures. The variety of "dirty tricks" used against him, both before the election and after, is astounding. There was a "back room" negotiation on election eve, visible in public as the long delay in final over-the-top results, and Trump's apology to his supporters for the delay, "it was complicated".
That truly is water under the bridge, and at least must be so, if you wish to preserve your republic. You all have the right to withhold consent and trash what you and your fathers and grandfathers have achieved. Most will not like the outcome. But I sincerely hope that you, each and collectively, instead will choose the positive aspects of this model:
"... that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
Best wishes,
kr
Posted by: Ken Roberts | 06 December 2017 at 08:30 AM
I empathize. You put a lot of thought and time into a valuable piece of enlightenment and you get this Solomon guy bragging he's met Trump as post #1?
Who cares?
Posted by: JohnA | 06 December 2017 at 08:50 AM
The ABC story had to be "clarified" given they originally reported Flynn had contacted the Russians DURING the election when in fact it was AFTER the election. The story had consequences on the stock market:
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4129355-cost-fake-news-s-and-p-500
This all happened on the eve of the passage of Trump's tax cuts and it seemed timed to hurt the stock market. It may even possibly have torpedoed the tax cuts by putting into question Trump's legal standing as president.
Posted by: Greco | 06 December 2017 at 08:56 AM
Sorry JohnA it is not bragging. There is nothing to brag about for having met Trump. I met him because I had worked for Barnes & Noble Bookstores as a corporate book buyer for their college stores. At the time I went to work for B&N (in 1974), people who I had known for years in the book business regularly said: "you know who you will be working for don't you". The word in those days was that B&N was bought out of bankruptcy by Len Riggio with backing from the mob.
I was never involved in any of that and I only stayed one year. However, we were strictly given orders by Len Riggio to never say nasty things about Joey Gallo or "other boys in the neighborhood".
When I met Trump, I did so with another B&N personality (now long dead). He was attempting to open a very large bookstore in the Bonwit Teller building during the years after Trump's purchase of it and before he started tearing it down.
Trump struck both of us at that time as neither very intelligent nor very stable. He could not hold a conversation for more that a few moments and contunualy wandered around the room. Now I would say he had Attention Deficit Syndrome (not sure if the term was used in those days).
Trump did not appear to be offensive, just not one of the brightest bulbs on the block. I think some many commentators believe he has some grand plan. Personally, I think his grand plan is self-aggrandizement. NOTHING ELSE MATTERS TO HIM....
Posted by: David E. Solomon | 06 December 2017 at 09:44 AM
I detest Trump as a person but still acknowledge that he is our current President. I will continue to fight against the implementation of his policies and work hard to to try to insure he does not win a second term. Other than that in 3 more years the American people will have an opportunity to judge his performance and make a decision on his worthiness to continue as President. That is as it should be.
Trump has taken some hard shots, some deserved and some not. That is the nature of our current political system. When Trump traveled the nation proclaiming Obama was not American born and thus an illegitimate President is also an example of "all is fair in War and politics".
Posted by: jdledell | 06 December 2017 at 10:04 AM
David,
He was smart enough to get elected, defeating a dozen professional republicans and the Democratic machinery along with the MSM. "In the end you will see that he does not live up to your expectations." I thought he was a boor and a mediocre showman. In that regard he's exceeded mine by surviving this long.
Posted by: Fred | 06 December 2017 at 10:20 AM
You are correct that there is no public source yet confirming the FBI paid Steele. However, the FBI's refusal to turn over relevant documents regarding their relationship with Steele tells me there was money paid. What is indisputable is that the information in the dossier was used as a predicate to seek permission from a FISA court to go after Trump and his team. That is outrageous.
Posted by: Publius Tacitus | 06 December 2017 at 10:35 AM
nothing to add. well said!...
Posted by: semiconscious | 06 December 2017 at 10:38 AM
A brilliant psychological evaluation, and done with so little data.
It is quite possible that Trump had no interest in you at that time and felt little need to massage you and your friend.
Posted by: Charles | 06 December 2017 at 10:42 AM
is this doom-and-gloom or hope-assaulting-experience? Am guessing that the only thing he has shares with Old Otto is a preference for the classic method of donning trousers.
OOPS! there's this (was reminded of it by the hyperventilatory "breaking news" about Blackwater/Erik Prince):
As this has been the SOP of Karl Rove (presumably), of Jedgar, and before that [__fill in the blanks___], the only thing unprecedented about the Prince/Blackwater story is the disregard for omerta.
DISCLAIMER: The Princess Radziwill who published the passage on von Holstein was an opportunistic swashbucklereuse type and [guessing] would have been so even in less horrifically interesting times.
Posted by: rjj | 06 December 2017 at 11:19 AM
Could it have been a lack of interest in retail booksellers and bookselling. Publishing and distribution are the critical control nodes in that business.
Posted by: rjj | 06 December 2017 at 11:29 AM
jdledell,
I'll remind you that Obama himself used to say that he was born in Kenya. So he was born in Kenya before he wasn't.
Also, it is very different for a private citizen to make accusations than it is for entrenched members of govt bureaucracies to concoct reasons to depose a lawfully elected POTUS. Your attempt at equivalence is not very good.
Posted by: Eric Newhill | 06 December 2017 at 11:32 AM