Here are my observations on items in the news.
A LEAK AND STILL ANOTHER LEAK – In advance of his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee today, former FBI Director James Comey indicated that he would not testify that President Trump obstructed justice by asking him to ease off his investigation of Michael Flynn, according to a leak circulating Washington. Not so. He testified that he felt that the president directed him to ease up on Flynn.
The sanctimonious Comey failed to sway anyone with his excuse for not reporting the president for obstruction or resigning.
Then, during his testimony, Comey revealed that he had leaked a memorandum describing his private meeting with the president to a close friend at Columbia Law School with instructions to leak it to the media. Further, he admitted that he typed the memo on a classified laptop in his vehicle.
ONE THING THAT WAS CLEAR following the Senate hearing today was that the Senate and House should shut down their investigations in favor of the Robert Mueller’s special counsel. I am so tired of the Congressmen on the two investigating committees, who claim to be bipartisan, but reveal that they clearly aren’t when they start their questioning.
(Cartoon courtesy of Mike Lester.)
DEMOCRAT SENATORS FAILED in their badgering of four intelligence officials to get them to say that President Trump pressured them to ease up on the investigation of Michael Flynn and collusion with Russia. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), who stated on Sunday that there was smoke but no fire, was determined to get one of his witnesses to yell – FIRE!
MEDIA PEOPLE WITH DIVERSE OPINIONS on President Trump’s visit to NATO were highlighted in The Week magazine. Fred Kaplan in Slate.com chose to write about the president “rudely shoving aside the prime minister of Montenegro in order to preen at the front of a group photo,” and lecturing leaders for their chronic underpayments to NATO.
“More shocking still was Trump’s refusal to affirm America’s commitment to Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which calls for members to defend one another if attacked,” Kaplan decried.
In an opposing view, Kevin Drum in MotherJones.com, wrote, “Everyone needs to calm down. Trump may have not mentioned Article 5 … he was clear enough about his support for NATO.”
Michael Goodwin, in NYPost.com, remined his readers of the day Trump vowed the U.S. would “never forsake the friends who stood by our side after 9/11.”
Commenting that President Trump’s “clarity on the global stage was stirring and reminder of why he was elected,” Goodwin wrote “the president deserves credit, not liberal whining, for having the guts to remind (Angela) Merkel and other deadbeats that they’re not meeting their financial obligations to NATO’s joint defense.”
FORMER SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER was asked whether he missed Washington … he doesn’t … and what about President Trump? Boehner praised the president’s missile attack in Syria, but added “Everything else he’s done has been a complete disaster.”
I completely disagree, but Boehner should know – his leadership of the House was a disaster. Remember how he woke up one morning and decided he would resign? He had to know his disastrous tenure as speaker was due to be seriously challenged.
