Senator Sheldon Whitehouse noted this morning that one of the few explanations for Trump’s bizarre behavior of late is that he might be sending Putin signals. Trump recently equivocated yet again about whether Russia interfered with the 2016 election, while at the same time, the entire apparatus of the national government is moving forward on the established fact that Russia not only meddled, but successfully meddled in the election. Whether it is the sanctions imposed upon Russia, the national security elements geared against further incursions, the political fall-out all around us, the United States of America recognizes what the Russians did and are still doing, only Donald J. Trump, President, continues to wobble on the question.
Whitehouse knows what is happening:
“I don’t know if he’s sending a flare into the sky to show Putin and the Russians that he’s still trying to lean their way wherever he can to provide them a little bit of signaling, but it’s hard to tell,” he said. “The only thing that makes sense is signaling and letting Putin and his crew know he’s still trying to be helpful.”
Whitehouse went on to give Trump’s national security team credit for continuing to call out Russia for trying to interfere in American democracy, despite the strange statements that the president regularly makes.
“I think the institutions of government are responding quite well to the Russian threat, not withstanding all this bizarre signaling and bizarre behavior from the president,” he said.
I suppose it is harmless to credit the national security team, given that there is little they can do without presidential action, an executive order or finding.
But, let me set out what should be happening, if we had an American president. Let me lay out a picture of what the last two years could have looked like had we had a real president leading our nation through this period:
First, the president immediately makes a presidential finding that the Russian government actively sought to weaken the United States by inflaming political discourse, undermining faith in democracy, calling into question the necessity and strength of a free press, and even altering the outcome of a presidential election.
The finding would result in crippling sanctions on the Russian government and all countries that do not honor our sanctions. The United States could put an embargo on Russian oil exports to the United States – and again, any country that wants to maintain closely allied relationships with the United States. The government could do the same for Russian aluminum and any other raw materials of the type that are the only real asset the Russian economy possesses. Such sanctions would cripple Russia and Putin. Not only would they cripple Putin, they would cripple Putin’s hold on the Russian government. Putin’s oligarch friends would be quite upset that he made such a reckless move, and could put Putin’s position atop the Russian government in peril.
A real president would have convened a 9-11 type of commission, made up of the country’s best men and women, men and women from inside and out of government, to examine what happened, make findings of fact, and suggested courses of action in the wake of the findings.
From that commission could come legislation that modernizes and nationalizes our election infrastructure. For now, the United States as a nation could go to paper ballots, tabulated by software that is open to both parties to inspect and oversee. The process would be such that no one would have any doubt that any audit of an election would yield the same results as those counted on election night.
A real president would have convened a commission of social media experts to set a new framework for how political “news” and discourse could be published by social media sites. All First Amendment issues would be honored, but some of the brightest minds in the industry could come up with some means of distinguishing what is just personal opinion and what is established fact through responsible news organizations. This – of course – would be tricky, but that’s why it is left to the geniuses in the industry.
A real president would have galvanized the country to guard against attempts to put us at each others’ throats. He or she would have emphasized all the things the country has done as a nation undivided, defeated Nazi Germany, won the Cold War, built the Interstates, the greatest public university system in the world, gone to the moon, welcomed China and India into the 21st century, lifting billions out of poverty, and we did it all as Americans, not Democrats and Republicans.
This is all just coming from me, someone woefully unqualified for the job. Imagine what someone truly qualified and called to the presidency could do?
Almost makes one sad, doesn’t it?
Video at the Bottom.
Twitter: @MiciakZoom, we need followers worse than ever as our battle with Facebook continues. Puppy Update, he has had a major setback and almost lost his paw to amputation. Still in the hospital, we’re hoping for the best, but infection has set in strongly now. He is in trouble. No prayers – pray for kids with cancer. Puppies deserve warm thoughts. My guy is too obstinate to let this beat him. I hope.
