Tornado Alley (PROG)

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We're starting to see the scale of Trump's personal corruption -- and it's massive

Mandatory stops at Trump resorts are the tip of the iceberg. This president has been "wetting his beak" all along

Heather Digby Parton
September 9, 2019 1:20PM (UTC)


So President Trump had a very normal weekend. He tweeted repeatedly about his mistake in telling Alabama it was in the path of Hurricane Dorian, insisting that it wasn't a mistake at all.

The controversy grew into something quite serious when it became obvious Trump was ordering an admiral to fall on his sword and take responsibility, and forcing political appointees at the NOAA to say his lie was actually the truth. Orwell has been mentioned. A lot.

Then Trump had an angry Twitter tantrum on Saturday night, announcing that he was canceling a secret meeting with leaders of the Taliban, that had apparently scheduled for Sunday morning at Camp David.

snip//

According to this tick-tock in the New York Times, Trump had decided to inject himself into the later stages of the negotiation with this Camp David gambit. But the whole thing was upended by his egomaniacal desire to one-up Jimmy Carter and get credit for a big peace deal without having the first clue what he was doing or understanding the stakes.

One of the parties he wanted for his photo-op was anathema to the Taliban, so they balked and then the whole thing fell apart — supposedly when Trump suddenly realized that the Taliban was still killing people. Nobody can quite figure out why he tweeted it out. One gets the feeling he doesn't know either.

Those two stories dominated the news this weekend, but there was another brewing that will start to come into focus this week — if, that is, the Democrats do what they say they're going to do. Congressional committees are reconvening and new reporting indicates they may have more information about Trump's corruption than has been made public.

A couple of weeks ago I wondered if President Trump wasn't hedging his bets a little bit on 2020 by accelerating the usual promotional activities for his properties.

On some level he must know that he's vulnerable, and perhaps sees that his window for using his power to benefit himself may be closing. In the last week we've received even more evidence that he's been quite successful at dipping his beak ever since he became president.

more...

https://www.salon.com/2019/09/09/were-starting-to-see-the-scale-of-trumps-personal-corruption-and-its-massive/?fbclid=IwAR1cALhWDX2ouSllyB1Fivm5b7X-8XD_7ytmfC6kAthGLs0OFpYU-NKMaI0