Treason- The State of the Case Now- Updated
I have been meaning to put this down on paper for weeks now, but haven't, for a reason that I have mentioned before: either people can see exactly what is going on in our country, or they just don't give a damn as long as someone else can be made to suffer more than them. Well, I guess Trump's abominable performance in Helsinki has pushed me over the edge, so here goes what is probably a futile waste of time.
Here are the basic components of an ironclad case proving far beyond a reasonable doubt that Donald Trump colluded with the Russian dictator to pervert our election process and put Trump in office. Yes, there were many other factors involved; the massive vote rigging which Trump's party has been up to for decades and the systematic, endless smear campaign which is now the only way Republicans know to beat Democrats (other than provoking racism and hatred, I guess) as the two leading examples. But chief among all of the vicious tricks the Republicans pulled in order to capture the White House was the treasonous collaboration with Russia, and the evidence of that is what I want to lay out in simple terms; and they are simple. Despite all attempts by Republicans to obscure the issues, the facts are clear and overwhelming.
What was involved here was a massive quid-pro-quo, or to use a currently more popular phrase, collusion. Like any contractual obligation, this requires the passing of something of value from each side to the other.
The Work of the Russians
We now know that there were over eighty contacts between the Trump campaign and administration, some very public, such as Trump's open call for the Russians to use their cyber-warfare apparatus to attack Hillary, but most carried out in secrecy.
We also know that Trump's people made extreme efforts to prevent these contacts and their content from being made public, engaging in a constant series of lies and denial which demonstrate conclusively a consciousness of guilt which constitutes clear legal evidence of intent, and which cannot be denied.
We will never know the real content of most of these meetings, because the Trump administration is determined to deceive about them forever, but we know enough beyond question to realize the the contacts, taken as a whole, involved a concerted (and sadly, successful) plan on the part of both the Russians and the Trump campaign to utilize the power of Russian spies to undermine our electoral process.
The Work of Trump
What did Trump get? He got to thieve the Presidency of the United States. And what did Russia get in return? Since taking office, Donald Trump has engaged in a seemingly reckless, continuous campaign to destroy this country's relationships with all of our long-time NATO allies, our neighbors Canada and Mexico, and numerous other countries with which, previous to Trump, we seemed to have prospects of nothing but long term cooperation, both diplomatic and economic. This has materially degraded the world's capacity to stand up to any aggressive acts Putin might decide to commit.
There is absolutely no rational way to explain this behavior on the basis of the interest of the United States or any other country in the world except Russia. It is a specimen of treachery unmatched by a long way by any Presidential behavior in history. So far successful in this behavior, Trump has now reached the point of essentially throwing off all restraint and openly flaunting his fealty to Vladimir Putin. Again, the purpose of all of this is far beyond the standard of reasonable doubt; no honest person could fail to see what is happening here.
The End Result
Taken as a whole, the behavior of Trump and his administration is patently, clearly a specimen of the most massive treason this country has ever seen.
There can be no question about Trump's behavior. It requires a massive torturing of facts and reason to not see his behavior as "adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort." That is because this is what it clearly is: treason, in the pure, Constitutionally defined definition.
Sadly, his equally treasonous party will never muster the decency as Americans to do the right thing about this, and even if Democrats take over, there is doubt that their leadership will have the courage to do the right thing either, instead taking refuge in empty talk of "moving on" and "healing the nation," as they have done before. Still let us be clear here: The present occupant of the White House is clearly and absolutely a traitor, bent on doing massive harm to the country. That is the reality and we must live with it.
Update: Yesterday, the very day I finally conquered my inertia to write this post, the following article appeared in the New York Times:
Foreign and domestic. The point is pretty obvious.
Here are the basic components of an ironclad case proving far beyond a reasonable doubt that Donald Trump colluded with the Russian dictator to pervert our election process and put Trump in office. Yes, there were many other factors involved; the massive vote rigging which Trump's party has been up to for decades and the systematic, endless smear campaign which is now the only way Republicans know to beat Democrats (other than provoking racism and hatred, I guess) as the two leading examples. But chief among all of the vicious tricks the Republicans pulled in order to capture the White House was the treasonous collaboration with Russia, and the evidence of that is what I want to lay out in simple terms; and they are simple. Despite all attempts by Republicans to obscure the issues, the facts are clear and overwhelming.
What was involved here was a massive quid-pro-quo, or to use a currently more popular phrase, collusion. Like any contractual obligation, this requires the passing of something of value from each side to the other.
The Work of the Russians
We now know that there were over eighty contacts between the Trump campaign and administration, some very public, such as Trump's open call for the Russians to use their cyber-warfare apparatus to attack Hillary, but most carried out in secrecy.
We also know that Trump's people made extreme efforts to prevent these contacts and their content from being made public, engaging in a constant series of lies and denial which demonstrate conclusively a consciousness of guilt which constitutes clear legal evidence of intent, and which cannot be denied.
We will never know the real content of most of these meetings, because the Trump administration is determined to deceive about them forever, but we know enough beyond question to realize the the contacts, taken as a whole, involved a concerted (and sadly, successful) plan on the part of both the Russians and the Trump campaign to utilize the power of Russian spies to undermine our electoral process.
The Work of Trump
What did Trump get? He got to thieve the Presidency of the United States. And what did Russia get in return? Since taking office, Donald Trump has engaged in a seemingly reckless, continuous campaign to destroy this country's relationships with all of our long-time NATO allies, our neighbors Canada and Mexico, and numerous other countries with which, previous to Trump, we seemed to have prospects of nothing but long term cooperation, both diplomatic and economic. This has materially degraded the world's capacity to stand up to any aggressive acts Putin might decide to commit.
There is absolutely no rational way to explain this behavior on the basis of the interest of the United States or any other country in the world except Russia. It is a specimen of treachery unmatched by a long way by any Presidential behavior in history. So far successful in this behavior, Trump has now reached the point of essentially throwing off all restraint and openly flaunting his fealty to Vladimir Putin. Again, the purpose of all of this is far beyond the standard of reasonable doubt; no honest person could fail to see what is happening here.
The End Result
Taken as a whole, the behavior of Trump and his administration is patently, clearly a specimen of the most massive treason this country has ever seen.
"Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort."
There can be no question about Trump's behavior. It requires a massive torturing of facts and reason to not see his behavior as "adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort." That is because this is what it clearly is: treason, in the pure, Constitutionally defined definition.
Sadly, his equally treasonous party will never muster the decency as Americans to do the right thing about this, and even if Democrats take over, there is doubt that their leadership will have the courage to do the right thing either, instead taking refuge in empty talk of "moving on" and "healing the nation," as they have done before. Still let us be clear here: The present occupant of the White House is clearly and absolutely a traitor, bent on doing massive harm to the country. That is the reality and we must live with it.
Update: Yesterday, the very day I finally conquered my inertia to write this post, the following article appeared in the New York Times:
"WASHINGTON — Two weeks before his inauguration, Donald J. Trump was shown highly classified intelligence indicating that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia had personally ordered complex cyberattacks to sway the 2016 American election.
Trump knew what the Russians did to elect him. He knew it officially since before he took office. He lied about it over and over and over again, but he knew the truth every minute of his Presidency. Just that much more proof that Trump is a treasonous agent of a foreign dictator who was illegally installed in power, but who is to this minute supported by virtually every member of his equally treasonous party, which will do nothing to stop the most horrible internal attack this country has ever seen, at least since 1865. A traitor leading a party of traitors, for which there is no remedy, as far as I can tell, short of liquidating them; and a carefully bred voting base of malignant, evil human beings that will never, ever accept the damage they have done. The following oath is taken by all employees of the Federal government, except the President:
The evidence included texts and emails from Russian military officers and information gleaned from a top-secret source close to Mr. Putin, who had described to the C.I.A. how the Kremlin decided to execute its campaign of hacking and disinformation."
"“I, _________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
Foreign and domestic. The point is pretty obvious.
Comments
1) Back in 1987, Trump had his own views on what alliances the United States should have:
"The Reagan administration, he [Trump] argued, should worry less about competing with the Soviet Union and more about teaming up with the USSR to get nukes out of everyone else’s hands."
This would involve engaging in military action against nations like France:
“I guess the easy thing would be to say you go in and clean it out.”
“Like the Israelis did with the Iraqi plant?”
“I don’t necessarily want to advocate that publicly because it comes off radical."
2) Trump has been a white supremacist for decades. Furthermore, he acts like he wants a fascist, white-supremacist Europe. Note that Richard Grenell is still the U.S. Ambassador to Germany. According to Politico,
"In an interview published late Sunday, Grenell told far-right news site Breitbart he “absolutely wants to empower other conservatives throughout Europe” and encourage people to rise up against “elites.”"
Who would these anti-elite conservatives be? Nazis and their ilk.
Which leads to
3) As you stated, "Donald Trump has engaged in a seemingly reckless, continuous campaign to destroy this country's relationships with all of our long-time NATO allies, our neighbors Canada and Mexico, and numerous other countries with which, previous to Trump, we seemed to have prospects of nothing but long term cooperation, both diplomatic and economic."
Given points 1 and 2, an alliance between Trump and Putin is as natural as the axis between Mussolini and Hitler. To both, it would be better to replace the governments of NATO members by parties like the UKIP and the Rassemblement National.
4) "There is absolutely no rational way to explain this behavior on the basis of the interest of the United States or any other country in the world except Russia."
I disagree. Trump probably believes that it is in the United States' interest to abandon NATO and ally with Russia. Putin doesn't need to give him directions, since he'd do the same things anyway. Fascists will inflict massive harm on the country while believing they're doing good.
5) "What was involved here was a massive quid-pro-quo, or to use a currently more popular phrase, collusion."
It's definitely collusion. It's in Putin's interest for someone like Trump to be the president. Of course he'd try to help the Trump campaign, even though it's illegal under American Law. Trump's ethical code basically consists of "me first." Of course he'd accept help from foreign governments, even though it's illegal. I'm convinced the GOP bigwigs would also accept help from abroad to hold control of the country.
It's even worse than treason.