So What ...

Michael Cohen will do his level best to eviscerate President Trump in public House Oversight Committee hearings today. He will use every card in the Democrat deck ... Trump is a liar, a racist, a cheat, a con man, a misogynist and a traitor ... in other words, there is a rail, a vat of hot tar and a pillow-full of of feathers that needs to be used on this man as soon as he returns from Hanoi ... where he is doing his level best to eliminate North Korea’s threat to unleash a nuclear winter.

Obviously it is not coincidental that the House Democrats are trying to rain on Trump’s Vietnam parade. Politics is politics after all. And it is also fairly obvious that a man facing three years in prison for, among other things, lying to Congress ... might abandon his vow to take a bullet for Trump. Instead, he is doing his damnedest to shoot Trump clear through the heart. Somehow this dramatic U-turn on Cohen’s part does not put a shine on his character.

But, you know what? I don’t think that Cohen’s open-hearing mud balls will have the expected effect on Trump. I could be wrong, but I think most Trump supporters (not loyalists) understand our president’s foibles ... and, although not happy about them, still appreciate that there are far bigger things at stake here. If Trump can keep us from being vaporized by nukes from any adversary, we can overlook a payoff to a porn star. To me, so what ... it is the Democrats and Cohen who are appearing the most sullied in this whole sordid sideshow.

The Chicago Way

Al Capone

Today on talk radio Mark Styne used the term “The Chicago Way” to describe the tactic that David Plouffe, a “political adviser” of President Obama, is using to smear the Republican head of the House Oversight Committee, Darrell Issa (see: Huffington Post Story).  Plouffe zinged Issa on Twitter as “Mr. Grand Theft” and “Insurance Swindler,” referring to 30 and 40 year old possible blots on Issa’s record.  No matter that these charges were not legally pursued in either case, clearly these libels are meant to blunt Issa’s attempt to get to the bottom of the numerous Obama scandals … shades of Bill Clinton’s response to his many dishonors (particularly his vicious and press-abetted smears on the Special Prosecutor, Ken Starr.)

We see the Windy City Way repeated over and over again in the career of the President … often spearheaded by his consigliore, David Axelrod.  First, when Obama ran for the Illinois Senate and then later for the U.S. Senate … for the sordid details in both cases see: US Politics Story.  Even, lily-pure Mitt Romney was besmirched last year as best as could be done … in that he “murdered” the wife of one of his employees … and he tortured his dog on the top of his car.  Now, under the aegis of our President, the Obama administration has been exposed for more Al Capone-type thuggery, but on a far far grander scale … in the IRS’s targeted suppression of conservative groups and the sordid and far-ranging Justice Department wire-tapping of AP and Fox News reporters.  Representative Issa now has the unenviable task of getting to the bottom of these political outrages.

How could anyone be surprised by these Chi-Town methods ... really?

Afterward: See also: Breitbart Story for a more complete explanation of the charges against Issa.

Déjà vu

Sitting through much of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s Benghazi whistle-blower hearings yesterday, I had a creeping case of déjà vu.  It seemed to be playing out a lot like those Watergate TV hearings that I slavishly followed all those many years ago.  It is a soap opera and a passion play wrapped in a fact-finding mission.

Already Twitter and the blogosphere is alive with speculation, interesting insights, and dire predictions.  And, unless the White House can get its media ducks in a row, I think that we may have an entertaining summer of more such melodrama, particularly if Jon Boehner appoints a special select investigative committee. If you want to get your feet wet on what transpired, read more from these two perspectives: Time Magazine and NY Post.  And, for those so inclined, here is a long on-the-scene narrative of what happened last Sept.11th: Greg Hicks' Transcript.

I will not jump to any hasty conclusions now (not that I don’t already have some) but I do intend to follow these Benghazi-gate developments closely and will do my best to cut through the political gristle to find those morsels of viand veracity. 

Stay tuned.