A bad day
The President had a bad day yesterday:
- The FBI Inspector General found fault with his nemesis, former Director James Comey, for things he did that hurt Hillary Clinton’s election prospects, but no partisan bias in its decisions, in particular against Trump or the Republicans.
- The New York State Attorney General charged Trump and his three older children with crimes associated with the persistent misuse of Trump Foundation funds.
- A video showing Trump saluting a North Korean general went viral:
I disagree with Barry McCaffrey: a competent White House would have avoided any situation in which the President needed to shake the hand of a North Korean general, not to mention preventing the President from lauding Kim for his violent takeover of power and repression of the North Korean people.
Each of these events casts doubt on Trump’s legitimacy. It is now clear that Comey inadvertently helped Trump get elected, by publicizing the investigation into Clinton’s emails, announcing that it had been concluded, and then reopening it, all contrary to FBI policy. Trump may not like Comey, who has criticized the President for inappropriate pressure on the Russia investigation, but he owes him the White House.
The Trump Foundation malfeasance occurred not only in the past but also during the campaign, when its spending was used to support Trump’s bid for the presidency. The amounts involved–single digit millions–seem risible in the grand scheme of things, but that is irrelevant. The use of Foundation funds for both campaign and personal purposes is criminal, whatever the amounts. The case has also been referred to the Internal Revenue Service, which will hopefully try to collect on any amounts spent to settle personal obligations.
Worse than the salute to a general no doubt in part responsible for maintaining a tight clamp on North Korea’s citizenry, was Trump’s justification for his adulation of Kim: lots of people do bad things. This is not his first use of that excuse, which represents a complete abandonment of the traditional US concern for human rights worldwide. America was founded on the principle that all people (at the time, men) are created equal with inalienable rights. Trump has shown clearly that he doesn’t agree with that either at home or abroad, most glaringly and recently in its decision to separate children of asylum-seekers from their parents in order to discourage victim of human rights abuse from trying to enter the US.
The White House is trying to lay on a meeting with Russian President Putin within the next few months. Trump will try for the kind of show he put on with Kim Jong-un: a substance-free engagement with lots of flags and allegedly good vibes, no complaints about human rights, unilateral concessions on sanctions, and claims his interlocutor has agreed to things he hasn’t really agreed to. Trump will try to squeeze this meeting in before the November election, during the September/October blackout of any action by the Special Counsel. The President really doesn’t hide his interest in Russian support, which raises the ultimate legitimacy question: is he the agent of a foreign power?
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On the other hand, the general probably did not recognize the gesture as a salute, since the person delivering it was not in uniform and was in any case not returning a salute from himself. If it had not been this particular person’s action, it might have been construed as an emergency diplomatic measure to avoid shaking the general’s hand (while flumoxxing all non-Americans present), thereby saving a grateful nation from the sight of the impossible handshake.
As it was, we’re becoming resigned to the clown show, and the moment surely brought a little much appreciated merriment to the North Koreans present. The tale will probably even be incorporated into the morale-building coursework for young army recruits. (Their army, not ours.)