MARCH
17, 2018
Week
70
Experts
in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly
changing around you, so you’ll remember.
In
another frenzied week in America, Trump fired his secretary of state through a
tweet, and continued to stoke fears of imminent additional departures, in what
was described as a White House verging on mania. Trump is reportedly joyful,
feeling liberated to act on his impulses and authoritarian instincts. Even as
the Mueller probe and allegations of paying to silence Stephanie Clifford close
in, Trump is cocky and irreverent?—as if signaling he has matters in hand.
Russia
seems increasingly aggressive and emboldened, in sharp contrast to, and perhaps
with the silent complicity of Trump. Alarming reports surfaced not only of
Russia’s use of chemical weapons and possibly murdering another Russian exiles
in the UK, but also attacking US and European nuclear and energy infrastructure.
In response, our Treasury Department took the first baby steps in imposing
sanctions, while Nikki Haley and the White House issued a stark warning on
Russia’s use of nerve gas. Amid an almost completely decimated leadership
structure at our State Department, Trump, Kushner and Ivanka?—?although under
clouds for self-dealing and security clearance issues?—?consolidated worldwide
diplomacy in their hands.
- On Saturday night, Trump gave a 73-minute campaign-style dystopian and unhinged speech in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, ahead of Tuesday’s special election, campaigning for Republican candidate Rick Saccone.
- Trump occasionally mentioned Saccone and insulted his opponent (“Lamb the sham”), but mostly it was a campaign speech about Trump. Trump announced his new slogan for the 2020 campaign: Keep America Great.
- Trump called MSNBC’s Chuck Todd “a sleeping son of a bitch,” and mocked Rep. Maxine Waters for calling for his impeachment, referring to her as “a low-IQ individual.”
- Trump again called for the death penalty for drug dealers, saying “toughness” is the solution, adding drug dealers “who kill thousands” of people, “do you think they care who’s on a blue-ribbon committee?”
- Toronto Star calculated that Trump made 30 false claims during the speech, including “We put an infrastructure bill in for $1.7 billion,” “they want to stop DACA,” and “we have a big deficit with Canada too.”
- On Saturday, in a speech to the France National Front while touring Europe, Steve Bannon said “Let them call you racists. Let them call you xenophobes. Let them call you nativists. Wear it as a badge of honor.”
- On Saturday, in an interview with NBC News, Putin said the Russian government was not behind interference in the US election, saying, “Maybe they’re Ukrainian, Tatars, Jews?—?just with Russian citizenship.”
- Jewish groups and US lawmakers condemned Putin’s statement, including the Anti-Defamation League, saying “It is deeply disturbing to see the Russian president giving new life to classic anti-Semitic stereotypes.” Trump did not respond.
- On Saturday, NYT reported Trump is in discussions with Emmet Flood, who represented Bill Clinton during his impeachment process, about joining the legal team and helping him navigate his DOJ communication.
- Trump is also considering a shake-up of his legal team. Some allies say Ty Cobb’s approach of being cooperative with Robert Mueller is not working. In the summer of 2017, Flood turned down an offer to work for Trump.
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