Just when I think this president and his posse couldn’t get any stupider, they prove me wrong. Again. Amidst all the accusations of collusion with Russia to influence the 2016 election, Junior released an email chain that revealed how he was expecting to meet with a Russian government attorney who had damaging information about Clinton that would expose her or some such*.
::double headdesk::
The sheer stupidity of it had me at a loss for word, which is highly unusual for me. All the frantic denial by this president and his people, and Junior casually tweets out the emails like it ain’t no big thing. Independent journalist, Jared Yates Sexton, went on a Twitter rant about how he’s been chasing this story for a year, and then Junior just went and told on himself. Sexton was just as dumbfounded as I was, though he said it much more eloquently. My favorite tweet is this:
I…worked on this story for a year…and…he just…he tweeted it out.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) July 11, 2017
Maybe it’s because I’m a big fan of ellipses to indicate incredulity, but it neatly sums up the ‘what the fuck just happened’ feeling that all rational people experienced when reading about this hot mess.
I will say, though, this tweet made me laugh:
I just met you /
And this is crazy /
If you’re interested in collusion /
Call me maybe?— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) July 11, 2017
How can you not go a bit crazy after reading what Junior did? Normal people don’t willingly put the noose around their own necks or their father’s. Now, granted, the NYT was going to publish a piece that contained the same information, so maybe Junior thought a good offense is a good defense, but giving how strenuously the president and his acolytes have been in denying any of this shit happened, it’s astounding that Junior would just give it out for free.
This was my brain’s way of dealing with it:
This president: I’m the stupidest man alive!
His son: Hold my beer, Dad.
— Minna Hong (@asiangrrlMN) July 11, 2017
I tend to joke when I can’t process something, and I’m still reeling over this particular idiocy on the part of Junior. He’s explained that this is how you do things in business which is problem number one. Running the country isn’t the same as running a business, and there are very different rules.
Side note: I’ve seen the word treason being thrown around to describe what Junior did, and it’s made me uncomfortable because treason is a very specific thing. We have to be at war with a country in order for collusion to be treason, and we’re not at war with Russia. It’s unethical and perhaps illegal (I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t play one on TV, either), but it’s not treason. Just as this president didn’t blackmail Morning Joe by threatening to have the National Enquirer print negative things about him (Joe). Again, it’s unethical and possibly illegal (think First Amendment), but it’s not blackmail since no money was requested. Words have meanings, folks, and I think it dilutes an argument to use the wrong terms. I know treason sounds dramatic and epic, but this is simply not it.
Anyway, Junior is the most interesting of the older Trump children, but not for a good reason. He’s the oldest and supposed heir to the legacy, but he’s been bypassed for Ivanka, who is clearly the golden child of the family. There’s a story circulating on the internet about how Junior was slapped by his father (while Junior was in college) for not being dressed for success when his father came to pick him up to go out somewhere, and I don’t know if it’s true, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was. This president is an abuser, not to mention narcissistic, concerned about how he looks (and his children are only an extension of himself), and exceedingly thin-skinned. As a child of such a person, you learn to fear him, but also crave his approval. It’s clear that the three older children haven’t matured enough to break free from their father, so they’re destined to repeat the cycle of seeking his approval, being beaten down for not living up to his expectations.
Arguably, Ivanka has ‘won’ this game by being his favorite,** and I have to imagine that Junior isn’t too happy about it. It probably eats him up inside, as evidenced by his tweet about taking Ivanka’s place if the left is so pissed about her substituting for her father at a G20 meeting (which, I can’t even. I just can’t). It’s pathetic because he thinks he’s so badass, but he’s only gotten where he is because of his father. Which probably doesn’t help with his mental health. He has to know his father thinks he’s a piece of shit, and yet, he’s dependent on the whims of his father for whatever he has.
Back to business as usual. Even in the business world, this president (before being president) was viewed as not trustworthy and unreliable. He’s known as someone who doesn’t pay the people who work for him, and a contract with him isn’t worth wiping your ass with it. It’s no wonder he brought the same shady ethics into the presidency with him. He’s also someone who thinks only what he thinks about something matters. If he likes someone, he doesn’t care about silly things like qualifications. Just look at his cabinet–it’s filled with sycophants and bootlickers with nary a qualification between them.
It’s not surprising that Junior would collude with the Russian government (or someone he thought was part of the Russian government) in an attempt to bring down Clinton. He’s desperate to please his father while having learn his father’s sleazy tactics at the same time. In addition, he’s been taught that outside of the house, he can do whatever he wants, which is privilege in a nutshell. I don’t know if he’s stupid (well, he is, but it’s more complex than that), but he certainly thinks the rules don’t apply to him. The same can be said about his father, but this post is more about Junior than Senior. Did Junior know what he was doing was unethical? Possibly. Illegal? Probably not. Whether or not Junior is stupid, he’s incurious, and that’s even worse. It probably never occurred to him to question if he should collude with the Russian government to interfere with the American election. He wanted to help Daddy by getting information about Clinton, so he happily took the bait being offered to him.
“Who wouldn’t take the meeting?” Junior asks, elegantly shrugging his shoulders. Anyone with a conscience and/or half a brain, dipshit. Put aside the dubiousness of the meeting, how could he not smell a setup? That’s the thing that really gets to me–he actually bought what was being sold to him.
In the end, is it going to matter? I don’t know. There have been several times in this president’s short (but seemingly endless) reign in which I’ve thought that maybe he would be held accountable for his behavior, but it hasn’t happened yet. Also, in this case, if push comes to shove, he’ll probably throw Junior under the bus and say he (Junior) acted out of his own accord. Junior will probably take the bullet for his father, hoping it’ll show what a good son he is. Is this going to amount to the president being impeached? I highly doubt it.
Addendum: There is nothing that this president or his cadre could do to dissuade his supporters from supporting him. He’s become a symbol of their free-floating rage, and they will defend him to their death. I’m done with hardcore supporters of this president because there is no common ground, and our end goals are diametrically opposite. This isn’t about politics; it’s about differing views on humanity, and I will not countenance what this president stands for.
I hope the Russian collusion crisis will be the thing to finally bring this president down, but I’m not holding my breath.
*You’ll be surprised to find out that the person didn’t have anything solid, only vague innuendos.
**It’s probably not a good thing for her in the long run, but that’s not the point of this post.