Author: BC

“From whence shall we expect the approach of danger? Shall some trans-Atlantic military giant step the earth and crush us at a blow? Never. All the armies of Europe and Asia…could not by force take a drink from the Ohio River or make a track on the Blue Ridge in the trial of a thousand years. No, if destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men we will live forever or die by suicide.”

Abraham Lincoln

At least four in ten Americans are in the thrall of nihilism. There simply is no better word to describe the malady. They use no context for assessing the world other than hopeless cynicism engendered by a media platform dedicated to nothing else. The problems they see, the fears they constantly experience, the visceral anger they espouse and the bone-deep resentment they feel all emanate from one enemy…. progress, and the cabal who promotes and employs it with nothing but sinister motivation.

This bloc of fellow citizens was long ago overwhelmed by the relentless march forward the basic human inclination to adapt to and better coalesce with our surroundings produced. They are a societal tipping point of a breathless sprint forward by humankind in the 20th and 21st century that, in just several generations, changed more than dozens before it combined. The results have overwhelmed the capacity of many for tolerance, leaving them susceptible to vile and regressive messaging, which advancing technology has rendered proximate at all times. A cottage communications sector, that started simply trying to distinguish itself from the competition and carve out its share of a burgeoning news and information market, has morphed into a massive and nefarious force, dedicated only to continually fomenting the division that has secured it many billions of dollars.

The Republican Party tried in 2010 to manipulate this malevolent tide to its benefit, picking and choosing issues it could tweak to its advantage, the better to expand the base. But after initial success the monster quickly ate its master and in 2016 turned its attention outward. Bill Barr yesterday embodied the carnage we now experience as this mindless Godzilla tramples the essential foundations that gird our system of governance.

More than 45 years ago John Mitchell was educated on the personal ruin tied to mistaking the role of the Attorney General with that of a racketeer. Yesterday, Bill Barr seemed not a bit impressed by those lessons. In fact, he did a soiled President’s bidding with confidence, like a man who understood the race was won, and he had picked the right horse, Elliot Richardson he wasn’t!

The Mueller Report provides extensive documentation of the civic catastrophe suffered from Decision 2016. More than uncovering a near constant disregard for truth, and a casual embrace of illegal actions, it opens a window for a close look at the antithesis of responsible government. The report describes a ship of fools disdainful of any legal constrictions on its compulsive corruption. Over and over again investigators uncover inept schemes, undertaken with full criminal intent, modified only by their incompetence. Time and again ignorance and failure to realize illegal objectives seem to provide sanctuary from further prosecution, as if ineptitude entitles one to clemency. Mueller’s reticence to push his mandate’s envelope and prosecute the inner circle of Trumpism’s malfeasance runs afoul of expectations his partisans adopted, and increasingly leaned on as the President clarified hourly his disinterest in rising to the demands of his office.

The report places emphasis on DOJ legal opinion that the President is protected from indictment and Trump’s refusal to personally meet with investigators for deciding to merely provide facts without action or even any concrete recommendations. Yet and still, the report offers and entirely different picture than Barr has offered both times he was relied on, and the President emerges anything but unscathed and vindicated by the findings.

Barr declared Trump’s “sincere beliefs” more than enough to excuse ten meticulously documented episodes of trying to dismantle a process he previously expressed certainty would end his Presidency. And lost in the hideous muck Trump has dirged about any mention of Russian efforts to interfere in Decision 2016, Barr fully confirmed the entire exercise’s most basic premise: that what the President termed a conspiracy by Democrats to taint him was in fact a concerted foreign attack on US democracy. Even as he declared, in direct conflict with the publication he was summarizing, Trump was vindicated, Barr granted unarguable credibility to the process Trump had always shrilly denounced as a sham. That nobody even thinks to hold Trump accountable on that score punctuates how distracted we have become.

The report describes a campaign team open to uncovering “dirt” on its opponent by any means necessary. Far from ambivalence, team Trump members from George Papadopoulos and Carter Page, to inner circle members such as Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort exhibited unbridled enthusiasm toward any useful material Russian operatives could provide. Moreover, Mueller’s team clarifies Trump and his braintrust constantly cited, shared and retweeted pure lies conjured by Russian hackers and bots, not merely to tarnish Hillary Clinton, but to caustically divide American voters and weaponize established biases.

We can now be sure, once in office, Trump never subordinated his insecurity and paranoia to the national interest, never seriously considered anything but nurturing a bloc of support at the expense of national unity. From the outset, this Administration was flailing at enemies rather than governing, attacking basic institutions instead of promoting any constructive ideas to encourage consensus. Nothing has been done for any purpose other than to weaken opposition, discredit criticism. Regardless of how safe or precarious the Mueller Report leaves his legal position, no responsive human being can read it and believe Donald Trump has any genuine concern for much beyond machinations that serve to allay his destructive narcissism.

Incredibly, the report implies Trump was saved from himself by subordinates who refused to carry out his directives. White House Counsel Don McGahn was ready to resign rather than dismiss Mueller, and apparently refused to carry out the order. It’s now clear a big job requirement for this White House is a willingness to lie as casually as Trump, whatever the consequences. It seems the reluctance of a number of staffers, like short-timer national security aide KT McFarland, to create emails in line with Trump’s compulsions to create false stories – prominently on display as early as the transition – spared the President from liability.

Throughout all 448 pages of the Mueller Report one is struck by the chaotically unstructured nature of the Trump Administration. The entire operation seems a fully disjointed amalgam of independent operators pursuing anything but the coordination of policy. There is an air of distrust among the principles with nobody seeming sure of what they are doing. Nowhere in any page Trump is featured on is there much other than reproach and recrimination. Toxic is the ideal adjective. From the very beginning these were not happy campers. The last thing one senses from the report is any interest at all in serving the public.

It is a testament to both Trump’s ugly insecurities, as well as his cognizance that Barr’s acclamations do little to absolve him of the many misdeeds other prosecution teams are addressing, that his tweets attacking the Mueller enterprise continue unabated. However, it’s certain Barr’s deceit will be more than enough for the wretched core to embrace with the servile fervor they accord their champion. That stridency, coupled with 24/7 Fox/AM sedition, will create fierce headwinds for Congressional investigators as they bring Mueller to the Hill to add meat to bone. Barr no doubt has reinvigorated jackals like Jordan and Meadows to run interference for Trump. What we are about to see is the next act in our American tragedy, our steady march toward, as Lincoln put it, death by our own hand. One thing we know, and the Mueller Report has crystallized, Trump and the wretched core have no problem with that. BC

In 1997 Bill Clinton was President and I was still getting used to life as married man and the looming enormity of parenthood. Selling fax machines was at its peak, providing a nice living, but cresting before a descent into obsolescence. I still had hair, but my comb was on the same path as fax machines. And if it was early April it meant I was taking Thursday and Friday afternoons off to watch the Masters, sport’s most wonderful event. That year there was buzz; we were going to see if the prodigy from the West coast was for real…. this kid, Tiger.

My expectations were in check, even though I had marveled at his last US Amateur win, when he truly seemed a man among boys. It was crazy how, not only could he torque his body like a cyborg to drive the ball 20-30 yards further than the rest of the field, but he never seemed to miss the testy 6-footer, effortlessly draining golf’s most annoying abasement. Yet and still, I figured he’d be in line with another prodigy, who, while enjoying tour success, was finding Major victories a tougher nut to crack….. Phil Mickelson.

Thursday’s front nine seemed to confirm my expectation; Tiger struggled and made the turn at +4, inauspicious. Moreover, the back nine appeared particularly penal in 1997…. I reckoned Tiger was about to be humbled by Bobby Jones. I got up to get another brew, my choice back then, 22 Oz. Heinekens, and sat back to watch the schooling. But then he birdied 10 and 12! Suddenly his tentative walk to the next tee became the confident and laser focused stride that would define his greatness. When he eagled 15, things started to feel special. This was not Phil Mickelson! He shot 30 on the back nine en route to an eventual rout, which would pretty much be the norm for the next decade. The Tiger Woods era had begun.

Woods’ domination of golf in his prime will never be matched in any other sport. At a time when the pool of young and exceptional golfers was exploding, producing talent from around the globe, Tiger rendered tournaments foregone conclusions. He won so often, by so much, that he threatened to deflate the ballooning interest he had created. In 76 stroke play tournament wins, Woods won by a combined 229 strokes. In the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach, the rest of the field couldn’t break par. Woods shot 12 under. It’s fair to say, had Tiger never been born, Ernie Els, already a dual US Open winner and pegged for greatness in 1997, may have enjoyed 10 Major victories. As it was, he has the distinction of finishing second to Woods more than any other player, struggling to only two British Open titles after Tiger came on the scene. Mickelson would not break through for his first Masters until well after suffering the ignominy of the “best not to have yet won a major” label. Two great golfers, who suffered the misfortune of being the greatest’s contemporaries.

I remember vividly thinking to myself, as Tiger hoisted perhaps his 12th or 13th Major trophy, that history would begrudge him for a storyline that was too perfect, everything too damn easy. Sure, his focus and commitment were recognized by all, but still. Surely life could not deal pocket aces over and over again, fame and riches beyond imagination, without any struggle at all. Instead of the “greatest,” Woods’ seemingly effortless brilliance and unencumbered success would mar the verdict, donning him the “luckiest” instead. Nobody can dine on nothing but chicken salad to the grave… at some point chicken shit has to be on the menu.

After his fourth Masters title in 2005 Woods began to betray chinks in his armor. The ungodly body torque his swing required began to take a toll. News items of assorted aches and pains became more frequent, as did “fores” off the tee. After he gutted out an 18-hole playoff win for his 14th Major in the US Open at Torrey Pines over Rocco Mediate, it was revealed he had played with a broken leg. For the first time there was vulnerability in the Woods narrative, a hint that the hordes of life’s vagaries may be closing in….. and then it all fell apart.

Since Tiger Woods’ personal peccadillos exploded into relentless tabloid scandal, and his body, no doubt encouraged by unrelenting stress, fully abandoned him like many sponsors, fellow pros, and the PGA establishment, more than a decade has flown by. What seemed idyllic became a sad saga, an unrelenting grind marked by futility. Those of us concerned the story was just too neat and tidy need not have worried, Tiger got his and then some…. and then some more. It took a while for us Tigerphiles to finally begin thinking of throwing in the towel, but one can only watch so many false starts and early withdrawals, missed cuts and ugly double bogies, dejected assurances focused on what went right rather than wrong…. the hacker’s mantra. How foolish we were to doubt him.

What Tiger accomplished Sunday has no equal. Professional golf at the highest level is sport’s most unforgiving competition. At 43 winning the Masters with no health issues is special. When Jack Nicklaus performed the feat at 46 it became golf’s greatest moment…. until Sunday.

Anyone who has had spinal surgery knows the pain and drudgery which follows. Golf at the $5 nassau level suffers greatly when swings produce jabs of discomfort; at the very top it’s a disqualifying distraction. The willingness of Woods to go under the knife four different times, and continually humble himself before peers he used to dominate, speaks to sacrifice that so often underpins true greatness.. Years of struggle to simply not embarrass himself, answering the constant questions from reporters, reworking his swing in line with his faltering body’s limitations, failing again and again, all components of an unrelenting test of character. At some point even those closest to him had to feel they were patronizing him about playing on tour again. Winning the Masters? C’mon. Delusional.

The Masters is unique in that every past champion is technically invited to join the field every year for life. That rule has undergone some unspoken modification as previous winners, well into middle age and long since not competitive, stunk up the joint and actually slowed play looking for lost balls in Augusta azaleas. Just 18 months ago the 2019 champion was far closer to that indignity than any green jacket. Now it’s in his closet and all of us who doubted him recognize the folly of our impatience. Great men do great things…. the greatest do the greatest things. Tiger Woods, the best to ever play any game at any time. BC

After the Nuremberg Trials were largely successful in bestowing collective condemnation on Nazi atrocities during WWII, American public opinion edged toward an internationalist sensibility on basic human rights. Such a mindset was critical to completing the full transformation from isolationism to global leader. If we were going to engage vigorously throughout the planet under the rationale of “spreading democracy,” we had to be mindful of universal truths and open to some form of transnational enforcement when they were grievously violated. It only made sense.

Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Sudan and most recently Syria all punctuate the glaring failure of international treaties in deterring nation-state criminals from launching pogroms against their fellow citizens. Tragically, “never again” has become a worn and empty trope, a salve on guilt rather than any determinant of commitment to action. Yet and still, as a matter of national understanding, and a guiding ambition, the US has never had any choice other than to exhibit patience if not enthusiasm for international justice. After all, its tenets are reflections of what we have always held our system out to be… intolerant of gross abuses to human freedom. To do any less would tarnish the brand we have been selling since the end of WWII.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has been operating out of The Hague in the Netherlands since July, 2002, the result of the Rome Statute, which has 124 signatories. The Court follows meticulous guidelines to assess and authorize investigating charges of atrocities. To date, 44 individuals have been indicted in the ICC, including Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony, Sudanese president Omar Al Bashir, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, to name a few.

The US has been in Afghanistan and Iraq now almost twice as long as we were in Vietnam. From the start it was acknowledged that fighting fanatics like the Taliban and ISIS was nasty business and would require some rolls in the mud. Over almost two decades some of those forays have been laid bare for public consideration. Abu Ghraib was the most prominent example of the ugliness American personnel were capable of when not provided rigorous structure that demanded accountability. Tales of CIA and Blackwater involvement in torture of captives in Afghanistan, Iraq and “black sites” around the world are a deeply disturbing facet of the war on terror that all previous administrations pledged and sought to demonstrate they were taking seriously. Even though US administrations had problems with treating our people on a par with African strongmen, the importance of at least lip service to accountability was a bipartisan given; our military reflected best practices and abuse was rogue behavior and not tolerated. After all, even though our national interests often lead to moral hypocrisy, it’s never been anything we are proud of. We strive to be better. Until now.

This week the Trump foreign policy braintrust is celebrating a “great victory,” one national security advisor John Bolton termed “the second happiest day of my life.” Trump, too, was jubilant with the “major international victory.” What, one may ask, caused such satisfaction? Some big pact? Maybe a diplomatic breakthrough? Not with this bunch. No, the jubilation is geared toward the ICC’s decision to end an investigation begun in 2016 into alleged crimes against Afghan detainees held by US forces and interrogated by CIA operatives. ICC judges made clear the decision not to proceed had less to do with any innocence of the accused as with the futility of building a case in the face of, not simply a lack of cooperation, but coercive opposition by both US and Afghan authorities. In other words, the ICC’s resources to investigate were overwhelmed by US means for covering up the facts.

Indeed, Trump greeted the decision by declaring any “attempt to target American, Israeli or allied personnel for prosecution will be met with a swift and vigorous response.” It’s been a full team effort diving to the bottom, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo doing his part last month by promising to deny or revoke visas of any ICC investigators looking into actions by the US or allies. It’s a good bet the President will be touting his cabal’s coordinated success at obfuscation to the wretched core at his next rally.

Of course, both Trump and Pompeo are speaking out of turn as far as European allies go since all are Rome Statute signatories and bound to cooperate with the ICC. The United States was an original participant but pulled out in 2002 in preparation to launch war and occupation. Who did the honors and “unsigned us”? John Bolton…. on what he termed the 1st happiest day of his life. God’s truth!

So, exactly like the Mueller Report and any inquiries into Russian election interference, any talk about US misdeeds abroad are simply “witch hunt” lies which will bring MAGA’s wrath down on the accuser. The ICC now joins countless others on Trump’s enemies list, except when they have something convenient to use against another of our now countless foes. Either way, from extolling how “great” Egypt’s tyrant el-Sisi is doing, to providing pep tweets to Kim, to now equating war crimes investigations with nefarious intentions, we are lurching quickly to the wrong side of history’s tracks. America First is morphing right before us from “sorry, we already gave at the office” to “what are you going to do about it?”

Donald Trump’s brand has never reflected anything other than the most odious traits of the human condition, and it now defines US policy. Being smart means getting away with stuff. Courage is bold-faced lies and attacking accusers. Shared values are a stick to use against those you want to exclude, and moral outrage is whatever works at the moment to tarnish opponents. Truth exists only as some obscure notion to contrast minute-to-minute declarations that inconvenient facts are “fake.” Trumpism flys in the face of everything our national character is supposed to be, far more closely resembling what we heretofore routinely condemned in countries we counted as implacable adversaries. So the only thing shocking about this Administration’s disgusting celebration of formally renouncing the decency we used to claim is our indifference to it. BC

If the nation is able to send Trumpism packing one way or the other, some of the damage will be harder to repair than other harm he caused. Regrettably, much may be permanent with consequences that will greatly hobble any strategies we employ to regain our global leadership credentials and international brand. One of those areas is the Middle East, specifically the Arab-Israeli conflict and both our role as an honest broker, as well as Israel’s position as a credible negotiating partner. It’s not hyperbole to say the destruction being done right now to both may be impossible to fix, while dooming Israel’s once vibrant democracy and permanently transforming it into a militarist national security state in full betrayal of the mission statement its creation was founded on.

The Likud Party was formed by religious hard liners, men like Begin and Shamir, former members of Irgun, a violent independence group. From the moment the Israeli Army secured possession of the West Bank, the men who would create the Likud had no intention of giving it back; after all, to them the land was sacred, Judea and Samaria…. Israel’s destiny.

Since its founding in 1973, with some interruption, Likud has greatly influenced both the Israeli political landscape and events in the region. While operating within the concept of land for peace, which forms the gist of the Arab-Israeli peace process, Likud leaders have encouraged aggressive Israeli settlement of West Bank lands. Though Gaza and the Sinai to the west were bargaining chips Likud was more than willing to toss into the pot, the West Bank was an entirely different matter.

The personal integrity of men like Begin, Shamir, even Sharon, was never at issue. These were, after all, founding fathers of their nation. Whatever mistakes they made, no matter how grievous the results, it was an article of faith their actions were taken in pursuit of Israel’s interests. Yet and still, their viewpoints were extreme on Judea and Samaria, and the unspoken goal all pursued was to settle the area enough to make it a political impossibility for any Israeli regime to bargain it away. The optics of uprooting Israeli citizens from their homes as part of some political agreement with those considered by many implacable enemies never aided approval ratings. Leave it to attrition, Likud has always believed, time and settlement will decide things.

Benjamin Netanyahu is a formidable man, with a sharp intellect and intimidating baritone voice that, matched with a straightforward charisma, makes ignoring his assertions impossible. Those are his personal features at odds with comparisons to the fully vapid Trump, but past those he checks off all the boxes as Israel’s version of the Donald. Forget Fifth Avenue, Netanyahu could run naked down Dizengoff Street squawking like a chicken and his bloc of voters would shrug and muse about the heat. Corruption? Israel’s attorney general has recommended indicting the Prime Minister on bribery, corruption and breach-of-trust charges. But where Netanyahu’s character frailties most substantially intersect with our soulless President is their shared willingness to pander at the expense of the national interest.

Trump thought nothing of ending decades of US policy continuity and moving our Embassy to Jerusalem. Since he gives no consideration at all to anything substantive, it was a no brainer, an easy bone to toss his wretched core as a “promise kept,” and gain Israeli acclamation. Ditto recognizing annexation of the Golan Heights. You can’t recognize damage to what you don’t understand or care about. Netanyahu on the other hand makes his deals with the devil with full cognition of the consequences, and, like Trump, he’ll go as low as he has to.

So in addition to tying himself at the hip to a man whose most ardent fans dismiss the holocaust as fake history, Netanyahu took no chances on election eve and made it official; he favored applying Israeli sovereignty to West Bank settlements, subtracting them permanently from the Arab-Israeli negotiating table. That most of the world’s nations hold to the position that the settlements are illegal and in conflict with basic premises underlying the peace process didn’t phase the Prime Minister as he finally gave voice to unspoken Likud ambitions, all for a few votes. Destroying whatever was left for Arab moderates to grasp a hold of didn’t seem to bother Bibi much either……. Trumpian to the core.

Coming on the heels of Netanyahu’s declaration that “Israel is the nation-state of Jews alone,” an unambiguous attack on the country’s Arab citizenry, it is now clear, like Trump, there is no floor to where Bibi will go for the sake of personal and political sustenance. In Trump, he has been gifted the perfect flunky for his purposes, a US President wholly unmoored from any responsibility to US national interest or geopolitical propriety, and a wretched core of supporters enamored with reactionary symbols of fealty to Israel the hucksters they adore have long touted in concert with anti-Muslim bigotry.

What are the longer-term consequences of this immoral abandonment of basic policy and principles? Nothing good. Arab moderates like Jordan’s Hussein and any Palestinian opponents of Hamas will have no position to fall back on. They will be between the rock of the Trump/Bibi boot and the hard place of Arab extremists proven correct that there is no longer anything left to negotiate for…. land for peace is dead. Fight or surrender.

Israel’s creation was based on an argument few people of conscience could refute after the holocaust’s horrors… Jews could not rely on other nations for their basic right to exist. With independence in 1948, a full panoply of Israeli leaders pledged that, while the right to exist was non-negotiable, Israel would value the rights of all its citizens and govern by a higher moral code. For decades hard choices have been made as a result of the tension between those two basic obligations, but few of Israel’s friends questioned the motivations of its leadership. Sadly, Netanyahu’s full embrace of Trump, and emulation of all his worst qualities, appears to have secured his re-election and ends those days, ushering in as dark a period for Israel as we are currently suffering here. Tragic. BC

At the top of my list of great movie musicals is Oliver! Seeing it on the big screen as a ten-year old boy was magical. Everything about it was larger than life and the exquisite romanticism for that particular Dickensian time and place stayed with me to this day. The other preeminent feeling it instilled was gratitude for a full stomach. From the classic first scene of the orphans sentenced to days on end of gruel, through Fagen’s moldy sausages, on through the great scenes of London’s underclass enjoying bowls of stew with mugs of gin, basic sustenance was never far from view.

One vivid scene takes place at the start as the pathetic waifs march in for yet another bowl of heinous gruel while singing “Food Glorious Food.” Meanwhile, the kitchen is bringing monstrous helpings of all things hot and fresh for the visiting politicos to feast on upstairs. Those servings include two heaping bowls of steaming carrots and brussel sprouts, both of which I had previously despised, that the boys stop to gaze at with lust while taking in the aroma. I remember like yesterday the epiphany of understanding right then and there life was a relative exercise and I was very fortunate. Next to endless gruel, even plants from the dirt would taste damn fine. I never looked at a carrot or sprout the same way again.

Lately we’ve been presented with an analogous set of circumstances and forced to reassess what figuratively constitutes a carrot or brussel sprout when it comes to the the nation’s governance, indeed its prospects as a going democratic concern. . After a dizzying array of outrageous Trump appointments that made gruel seem substantial, our standards for optimism have been driven into the soil. After all, the first wave, which included the likes of DeVos, Price, Zinke, Pruitt and Carson illustrated clearly Trump campaign reassurances “the best people” would be on hand to provide checks on the President’s mercurial nature were less than dubious. Then came a wave of replacements like Kudlow, Bolton, Pompeo, and Mulvaney and fear became desperation as government by Fox/AM became a reality. The answer to whether it could actually get worse was resounding as Mathew Whitaker took over at DOJ, and Bill Shine entered the White House. Suddenly, Judge Janine as a Supreme Court nominee was no longer just an inane joke. Worse than gruel…..we’re talking assorted larvae.

All of this provided the context for a huge bipartisan sigh of relief that greeted Bill Barr’s selection to become Attorney General. Finally! A man with credentials that don’t include a paycheck with Rupert Murdoch’s signature. A real public servant! Someone who served a genuine President and wasn’t laughed out of town or reviled by all those he encountered! A serious selection!

Barr had actually served as senior Bush’s Attorney General from 1991-93. By all accounts, his confirmation hearing was a love fest. Senate Judiciary Chairman Joe Biden sung Barr’s praises for “candid responses” that included labeling Roe v Wade a travesty, but agreeing to respect the decision – in other words, obey the law – and declaring the key to curbing violent crime was more prison space. Conservative but honest. Never underestimate candor!

When George Sr. became a one-termer, Barr glided into private practice, but not before he headed an adhoc crime commission formed by then freshly minted Virginia law-and-order Governor George Allen. The group, after some exhaustive work, came up with the boldest and most daring idea for more effective criminal justice they could muster…… abolish parole! Barr was one tough lover!

Seems Barr came to Trump’s attention the way many lawyers meet him, as a possible member of his defense team. Well, wouldn’t you know, the two began chatting and sort of hit it off. As luck would have it, Barr supported the President’s firing of Comey and saw absolutely no issue of obstruction of justice! Moreover, Barr informed Trump how disgusted he was that some members of Robert Mueller’s team had made donations to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Small world! Finally, Barr apparently validated many a Trump tweetstorm by letting the President know Jennie Rhee and Bruce Ohr of the Special Counsel’s team were awash in conflicts of interest. Talk about kizmet! What luck….Trump happened to find a guy who agreed with him all the way down the line AND had integrity! Pure miracle.

Barr’s confirmation process went every bit as smooth as near 30 years earlier, and for many of the same reasons. No, he couldn’t promise to make the whole Mueller report public, but he was being honest. Congress and the people would see plenty…. trust me. Remember, I actually have gravitas….. Mr. straight shooter. You could have had Whitaker for God’s sake… don’t be ungrateful. I’m my own man; if I bury Mueller’s work it will be for the right reasons. Need I remind you everyone agrees I’m highly principled?!

And so here we sit with two years of top investigative work synopsized in a few paragraphs. After numerous indictments of members of the President’s campaign team, including the conviction on multiple counts of his campaign manager, Barr’s assessment that Trump is essentially free and clear is all we have. Meanwhile, Trump and his state media apparatus have more than enough to declare him both Sacco and Vanzetti, a martyr to the deep state’s nefarious whims.

Apparently, Barr is a very careful and deliberate reader. When, what or even if we see the Mueller report now seems anyone’s guess. Yet and still, the murmurs steadily growing from disgruntled Mueller team members that there is much more to their findings than Barr’s summary pretends, validates the obvious…. the Mueller Report must be released to the public yesterday or a cover up is in the works. There exist no good reasons for delay… zero.

Saying it too often doesn’t make it less true; this Presidency is ruining us nine ways to Sunday. The fact Barr was heralded as some salvationary nod to propriety from a White House utterly bereft of any only clarifies another consequence of the demolition of standards underway since that awful first Tuesday three Novembers ago. The silver lining should be understanding the lesson it provides…. the gruel Trumpism has foisted on us should never diminish the standards we demanded before it. We deserve much better and settle for less at our peril. BC

Back in 2015, when Trump was just starting to make noise about running for President, which most sensible people dismissed as just more hot air, a childhood friend posted a declaration on Facebook that the New York narcissist was exactly who the nation needed. My comments to him were incredulous and, with a fair level of sarcasm and disdain, I highlighted his Fox/AM proclivities and their knack for making regular consumers morons. Naturally, he took significant umbrage and messaged me how he didn’t appreciate being taken to task or having his academic bona fides challenged. After all, he had been mentored by the redoubtable Stephen Moore, who was already in the Trump corner. He was proud of that part of his background, and spoke of it like its very truth heartened both his and Trump’s credentials as formidable intellects. I saw no reason to up the ante on our conflict so I simply acknowledged his point tactfully and moved on even though, as one fully familiar with Moore’s snake oil economics, I was tempted to stridently doubt the wisdom of associating oneself so closely with such a fringe element.

Few federal mandates have given US taxpayers more bang for their buck than the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. Enacted as a means to confront and prevent financial crises usually caused by public panic, the Fed’s role has steadily grown through the decades and now, not only focuses on maximizing employment while preventing inflation, but also includes research and planning geared to stabilizing financial markets while readying strategies to deal with crises that may occur. The Fed has determinedly attended to its political autonomy and strives to act solely in line with economic best practices.

It’s been at least tacitly accepted through administrations of both parties that politicizing the Fed is a no no. While not illegal, it’s been commonly regarded as bad form, a red flag of an undisciplined Presidency. Sure, some Fed Chairman embraced a public persona more than others, Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker come to mind, but the unwritten rule for Presidents has been to let them do their work outside the political news cycles. The exceptions to the rule have only helped to strengthen it. LBJ went ballistic when the Fed, alarmed by inflation pressures, tightened money supply just as our deepening quagmire in Vietnam crystallized an emerging guns vs. butter budget reality. He actually summoned the Fed Chairman, William McChesney Martin, to his ranch for a scolding. Martin later recalled he was initially shocked by Johnson’s bullying, but left more determined to follow his own inclinations. Reagan Chief-of-Staff James Baker actually demanded Paul Volcker not raise interest rates until after the 1984 Presidential election. Volcker was unswayed.

Of course our current President demonstrates time and again his indifference to any manner of best practices or tradition. Moreover, rather than dealing directly with those he knows are his intellectual superiors, and current Fed Chairman Jay Powell certainly qualifies, Trump prefers the cowardice of AM tweetstorms. In fact, he has already signaled Powell out for just such treatment a couple of times as the markets faltered. Nobody should doubt, when Trumpenomic chickens come home to roost, the Federal Reserve will be scapegoat numero uno.

All of which brings us back to Moore, as sycophantic a Trump lackey as any in the current public sphere, and now a nominee for a slot on the Fed’s Board of Governors. There is quite literally no outrage the President has foisted, either during the 2016 campaign or after inauguration, that Moore has not spun with a reverential determination. Forget tariffs, previously a conservative taboo, or ballooning deficits, which Moore couldn’t go after Obama with enough fervor for, in his role as CNN contributor, the Heritage Foundation fellow has been glad to defend the slimiest of Trump behavior. Indeed, he has given Rick Santorum all he can handle in the “did he really frickin just say that” department.

As to his qualifications for a job heretofore deemed the pervue of accomplished economists with the intellectual gravitas necessary for bipartisan Senate approval, let’s just be charitable and say Moore’s resume is noticeably light. But don’t take my word for it, the reaction has been as lopsided as it’s been emphatic. Economics columnist Robert Samuelson is as dispassionate and apolitical as they come, but he wasn’t mincing words in a piece wholly devoted to the folly of Moore’s nomination. It isn’t so much Moore as merely one member of the Fed’s Board that Samuelson frets about, it’s the “terrifying” possibility his placement could lead him to become the Board’s Chairman, which would require a skill set he isn’t in the same zip code of possessing. The specter of a certified Trump yes man at the helm during a financial crisis his policies could create is fodder for nightmares.

Perhaps University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers captured the broad spectrum disdain for Moore’s nomination best when he asserted: “Call your favorite economist. Whether they’re left, right, libertarian or socialist, none of them will endorse Stephen Moore for the Fed. He’s manifestly unqualified.” Ouch! And Moore’s brand of economics? Think World Wrestling Federation. Instead of facts, data and principles, Moore provides, as International Economics Director at the Council on Foreign Relations Benn Steil notes, “relentlessly partisan, illogical and fact-fudged” analysis.

Whether it’s providing fact-free economic alarm regarding imaginary US financial obligations to global climate-change strategies, or near comical fabrications about how the recent Trump Tax Cuts will actually reduce federal deficits, Moore’s contentions are far more likely to produce eye rolls than nods of agreement. Often on CNN, he simply isn’t taken seriously, so baseless are his claims.

Of course it’s hardly a surprise that, in an ocean of economic thought and academic talent, Trump would land on the guy whose latest project was authoring a gushing tribute to his singular greatness. Sadly, the selection provides yet another opportunity for “thoughtful” Senate Republicans like Susan Collins, Lisa Markowski, and Lamar Alexander to illustrate how callow they are.

Confirming Moore for the Fed will be just one more stake in the heart of the long- held bipartisan demand that certain positions require quality at the expense of politics, competence instead of servility. Moore’s confirmation will assure, should the reckless policies of this White House hit the fan, the critical Fed response will have the added burden of one wholly unqualified and partisan voice gumming up the works… just another knife jammed into the machinery of our government as a result of 2016’s civic catastrophe. BC

It’s a heartache when autism renders your otherwise beautifully athletic, 6’5” 165 lb. son unable to compete at traditional sports. To compensate I’ve lived vicariously through the exploits of several close friends’ children, frequently joining my buddies in the stands to cheer on their kids’ best efforts. It’s wonderful, of course, but not quite the same. It has been particularly bittersweet recently, as Sue and I have regularly attended Marshall High School basketball games with Luke to root for a very competitive squad anchored by a couple kids we watched him grow up with. Often, we sit near their parents and absorb some of the thrill. None of this pity party means we’re not immensely proud of the accomplishments Luke doggedly pursues within his own parameters… it just is.

A debilitating deficit Luke deals with is an inability to carry over one experience to the next. That is, he can be bowling and roll a strike, react immediately to the achievement, and then seemingly fully discount it by the time we interact with him. I know he has recorded it in a file, but it’s most often stored away so fast we can’t enjoy the moment together…. he’s already pondering the next thing.

All of which made what happened several weeks ago unique and memorable. Luke plays on a Special Olympics basketball team at Marshall. They were invited to a local tournament held with hundreds of people in attendance, all enthusiastically cheering the players, restoring whatever chunk of my faith in community that may have frayed as part of our divided national condition.

When Luke’s game began he seemed particularly focused, loping from end to end and scoring repeatedly, to the point the mentors gently reminded him to pass off a bit more. Of course we were overjoyed in the stands, as a packed gymnasium cheered him on. When the game ended I headed to the bench to congratulate him, confident his response would be something like “now let’s go get chicken from Crispy and Juicy dad!” Instead he looked me in the eye and entreated “did you see it… I scored lots of points.” As astonishing as it was short-lived, the moment provided fleeting certainty of progress I grabbed a hold of. He may have simply been scripting a response he knew I wanted to hear, but I prefer the alternative explanation… the whole event excited him enough to break through his rigidities and express himself spontaneously. Around here we take our victories where we can get em, and thinking too much is just the way to give them back. Additionally, I was left to ponder how many other kids Special Olympics have hoisted out of their routines and inspired to another level, thrilling their parents. I doubt achievement is stingier with the exhuberance it provides the disabled versus typical kids.

Mick Mulvaney is a Tea Party creation with a brand steeped from the outset in the movement’s bitter pettiness. In 2011, buffeted by dark money and under the cloud of a financial scandal he has never adequately explained, Mulvaney came to Congress as a bean counter on a mission to take on wasteful Obama largesse. Whether it was lazy welfare queens or abortion mills like Planned Parenthood, Mulvaney was on the case, avenging beleaguered taxpayers and looking to whittle government down to size. As nasty and unempathetic as they came, John Kasich on meth, the idea of Mulvaney as OMB Director in 2012 was every bit as nightmare-evoking as Trump in the White House.

Now he wears three hats in a freak show of nihilist governance that cherishes nothing and holds even less sacred. And so it was that Betsy DeVos stared vapidly at incredulous House Members this week and shrugged her shoulders…. “we had to make some tough decisions,” she blankly acknowledged, taking responsibility for what had been initiated in the West Wing, but which she would be carrying the water for.

Tea Partiers have always equated the Department of Education with lib schemes to impose federal brainwashing on their children; they want it gone. Like most of Trump’s Cabinet, DeVos is a rabid fox guarding the henhouse, undermining the enterprise she heads. She’s certainly not doing battle with the West Wing to spare her department budget wreckage. Regardless, whether actually doing away with funding for Special Olympics originated with Mulvaney – he never met a set of numbers he didn’t want to crunch – or DeVos, seeking to subsidize as much charter school encroachment as possible, each had to know it would be both controversial and doomed to failure. Yet neither seemed to mind much, particularly DeVos, who appeared energized declaring Special Olympics, like other godsends for the disabled community, are a philanthropic not taxpayer responsibility. As a measuring stick for the true chaotic despicability of this regime, her casual cruelty clarified our worst impressions. As for Trump, he almost certainly was uninformed. But does he even care one way or the other? Clown question.

Not a day goes by during this Presidency we don’t witness what we’ve been fortunate enough to never have endured before it. That doesn’t make it any more palatable. Sometimes they really step in it, like this week, and touch a nerve not yet bisected by Fox talk tracks. After all, MAGAites have disabled children, too. Should we take heart that some corridors remain off limits, preventing Trumpie devoids from staggering through destroying all they can just because…. Obama? Perhaps. Moreover, taken together with another Mulvaney brainchild, a renewed idiotic determination to wreck the ACA, it seems a safe bet there will be more gifts coming the Democrats way as 2020 nears, so our horror can be tempered with increased opportunity to vanquish its malevolent creators. Yet and still, this wretched tribe targets our most vulnerable without second thoughts; that should cost decent people sleep. All of our children deserve much better. BC

“To be courageous, these stories make clear, requires no exceptional qualifications, no magic formula, no special combination of time, place and circumstance. It is an opportunity that sooner or later is presented to us all. Politics merely furnishes one arena which imposes special tests of courage. In whatever arena of life one may meet the challenge of courage, whatever may be the sacrifices he faces if he follow his conscience – the loss of his friends, his fortune, his contentment, even the esteem of his fellow men – each man must decide for himself the course he will follow.”

JFK – from Profiles In Courage

JFK is perhaps the closest thing that exists to a 20th Century bipartisan icon in today’s fully polarized body politic. Fox/AM often trots out liberalism’s martyred prince to illustrate “how far left the Democrats have gone.” That many observers do the same with Reagan to highlight how reactionary the GOP has become doesn’t account for the chutzpa the Hannitys and Carlsons show when claiming Kennedy would now “probably be a Republican.” Nevertheless, JFK’s Pulitzer Prize winning collection of essays provides a wholly relevant point of departure to consider what kind of candidate we should hope for to confront the worst President ever to seek re-election.

Of course anybody with a pulse and not reliant on lithium to stay out of jail represents an improvement. Yet and still, why not seek the best we can hope for, not necessarily from a policy point of view, but from the standpoint of character. After all, the menace Trump poses stems from his ugly wretchedness as a human being. The extreme policies he embraces have more to do with his reckless desire to hold close a base of nihilists than any ambition to convey an enduring ideological stamp. Considering Trump in any other way normalizes his pestilence, which makes more likely its ability to survive him.

In surveying the growing Democratic field it’s gratifying to see that some of its most serious contenders are women. This clarifies Democrats ignored the rubbish put forth by too many that Hillary’s electoral ills were more about her sex than her imperviousness as a candidate. Indeed, as we witness the degradations a genuine misogynist foists on the office he never wanted, and certainly feels no urgency to promote the standing of our society’s better half while within, it is reassuring to witness a full quorum of qualified women prepared to mount serious candidacies. Yet and still, and quite obviously, that doesn’t mean they should be judged by different criteria, or receive passes based on gender. Where they’ve been, and how they got here, are as fair game as the storylines of their male opponents.

Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota has thrown her hat in the ring and is a formidable contender for the nomination. In a field increasingly moving leftward, she may very well be able to stake out a significant chunk of moderate ground. Her contributions in the Senate have been solid; she has amassed a body of work with many impressive aspects which bolster her qualifications for high office.

That said, from the standpoint of the courage and character this cycle’s Democratic nominee should possess in heaps, a review of her past raises concerns. Klobuchar made her bones as a county prosecutor two decades ago during a period where voters, particularly white voters in suburban Minnesota, were demanding law and order as crime rates spiked. After being elected by a razor thin margin, the new county attorney was glad to oblige, actually embracing the Rudy Giuliani approach of aggressively prosecuting lesser crimes as a strategy to address more serious offenses. Trouble was, in Minnesota, just like New York City, minorities were disproportionately run in and handed sentences often out of whack with either fairness or common sense.

Nothing in the record shows Klobuchar as anything but glad to play along; indeed, after winning her first term by a 1 % margin, voters rewarded her get-tough approach with a lopsided reelection win. Meanwhile, jails in the state filled to capacity, many minority inmates serving stiff sentences for relatively minor crimes. Looking back from today’s vantage point, with sensibilities informed by a different standard more concerned with empathy for those whose basic civil rights suffered at the foot of policies catering to white fear, Klobuchar has some explaining to do. Her answers have left much to be desired.

Rather than owning up to the political expedience another time demanded, and simply acknowledge it may have been a mistake that she has now learned from, Klobuchar knee-jerked her inner swamp denizen and revised her past. Her tenure as the county attorney actually saw a general reduction in inmate populations, declared the Senator, citing statistics of an obscure liberal think tank that would not survive even a cursory double take. In fact, when the Washington Post’s fact checker, who has become any concerned citizen’s bestest buddy in the age of Trump, dissected her proposition, he was compelled to give her four Pinocchios…. a liar’s rating. Called to address the falsehoods she had promoted, a Klobuchar staffer spewed weasel inanities that are always employed when the gig is up and the goal is simply moving on to another issue and news cycle.

To be fair, Klobuchar is no outlier when it comes to a past checkered by that time’s political winds. Joe Biden ran a campaign punctuated by his resistance to busing in a state now defined by inequities its shoddy public education system creates. Cory Booker has been a sponge for special interest campaign cash, and way too good a friend to Big Pharma. Kamala Harris weathered a genuine scandal as a DA, resulting in the dismissal of hundreds of cases. And so on…. But Klobuchar is distinguished by her current response…. one that, stripped of its profunctory claims toward good faith, roughly equates with a typical Trump whopper. No thanks!

Surviving the Trump abyss in tact as a going democratic concern will require some overcompensation in certain areas. One of those, to my eyes, is a demand his successor lean heavily on some basic qualities our Chief Executive does not possess… integrity, courage, empathy, and an abiding adherence to transparency. Simply relegating the Democratic nomination to a contest of policy positions, a referendum on where the pendulum has swung, doesn’t cut it. To paraphrase JFK, we should be concerned about the path each has followed, and perhaps reward those who took a more difficult road less traveled. Klobuchar’s recent piss poor defense of flitting along the 90s’ “get tough on crime” jet stream badly fails to fill that requirement. BC

“Little Mickey, get in here!”

“Yes Sir! Although I am surely not worthy, how can I at least attempt to meet your needs?”

“Listen Mickey, this Twitter blackout is killing me. These fingers need to move! The deplorables want me declaring victory over that deep-state scum, Mueller!”

“Sir, I know you’re anxious, but we need to wait. It’s still not a slam dunk. Granted, no indictments is promising, but Barr used the word “comprehensive” to describe the report. A lot of ground was covered, and you faced loads of liability.”

“Don’t give me that, you little rat, it was a witch hunt! Whose side are you on anyway?!”

Your greatness, it cuts me to the quick you could ever question my loyalty. I’d not only take a bullet for you, I’d take one for Uda… Er, I mean Don Jr. I’m all about MAGA! But listen, this thing has many aspects; Mueller’s team opened plenty of cans with lots of worms…. uh, for no good reason of course.”

“It’s all bullshit, Mickey. Powerful men like me and Vlad won’t be leashed. My people want me to keep my promises. That’s what I’m doing and then some… like that hill in Israel… what’s it called again?”

“The Golan Heights, Sir.”

“Yea, the Golem Heights. Hey, cool, named after that little freak in The Lord of the Rings, huh? Loved those movies. Actually sat through most of them. Tyler’s daughter is hot.., with the Spock ears. Loved her. Anyway, I’m an ally you can count on. Bibi said jump, I said how high! That is MAGA foreign policy right there! Now that I’m not going to jail we can really start delivering. But, damn it Mickey, I need to tweet!”

“I understand best of all mankind, it’s got to be hard, but just hang tough for a bit longer. Remember, Mueller isn’t the only witch hunter out there. The Southern District of New York can act on his findings. That would be trouble.”

“Screw those assholes, they’re weak. I own New York. They’ve never laid a glove on me. That rat bastard Cohen did his best and Sean says Mueller’s got nothing. That’s good enough for me. I want to send out some warnings and let Chuckie and Nancy know they better be careful. The Sons of Anarchy love me!!”

“Well, your highest of all IQs, he did pretty much prove you lied, er, embellished, from start to finish with that floozy. Those checks are very bad sir.”

“Why… you little scab! I’ve had it with you! He did that all on his own, I didn’t know anything about it. Bad enough I have fake news to worry about, my own Chief of Staff/Budget Director/Head of Consumer Protection stabs me in the back! You’re history, Mulvaney!”

“My deepest apologies, oh hair that’s the most natural, it wasn’t my intention to anger you. I’d carry your golf bag on the hottest day, and look the other way any time you sought a better lie, sir. It’s simply that Congress is now in the Democrats’ hands and, whatever Mueller’s Report concludes, Schiff is going to keep at it.”

“Let him try! Sean and Tucker already promised they have my back! Shiftless will be public enemy number 1 now that Mueller only proved I lied at every conceivable opportunity. Fair is fair. My people understand the difference between the law and politics. They want to move forward and focus on that rotten Federal Reserve trying to ruin my economic miracle. The brilliant, er, who’s that great economist I’m appointing again?”

“Stephen Moore, oh most virile of all men.”

“Yea, Moore… he’ll shake things up over there! Love how all the snowflakes are crying he doesn’t have any credentials. Who do they expect me to pick? Some lib?! Love driving them crazy. Besides, Kudlow says he’s the best. I like him, too… even if he is a stuttering son of a bitch… hee hee. Hell, he’s more of a weasel than you, Mick!”

“Uh, thank you most decisive. I think. Anyway, please promise to stay off the Twitterverse for a while longer. Let’s make sure it’s a done deal before taking a victory lap. Go get in another round sir. Better yet, I believe the Greg Gutfeld show comes on soon. You know how much you love that little imp…”

“Yea, he kills me. Hilarious, but loyal! Ok, Mickey. But this type of discipline is tough. Trump does as he pleases, when he pleases. Just call Barr and remind him who he works for! I don’t want any of this integrity bullshit with him. Get me a copy of that report with plenty of cliff notes! Got it! Meanwhile, I’ll call Pudgy Pompeo and conference in Bibi. That election is going to be close. He sure is going to owe me!…..”. BC

George Kennan was perhaps the greatest American diplomat. An East European expert, it was Kennan who slapped American policy makers out of their obtuseness toward the emerging threat Stalin’s Soviet Union posed to the West. Kennan was the architect of Containment Strategy, initially designed as a delicate balance between discouraging Soviet aggression while avoiding World War III, which most understood to be in nobody’s interest.

Underwriting the entire franchise, particularly during the dangerously fluid years immediately following WWII was the fine art of US-European diplomacy, dedicated to the consolidation of NATO and the establishment of a global system of trade. Diplomacy was key because the US had emerged as preeminent and would need to demand many things of many people and countries. They couldn’t be ordered, but rather had to be tactfully instructed on the benefits of multilateral relationships subordinate to an overall vision of collective security. Nothing could be taken for granted, and the contributions of all had to be appreciated, each to his unique capabilities.

It’s worth noting how successful those diplomatic efforts were. Seventy-five years later, Europe remains at peace and the trade system underwritten by the Marshall Plan produced relative prosperity throughout the decades. And Kennan’s Containment paradigm? Despite plenty of mistakes it’s open-endedness surely encouraged, Vietnam chief among them, it resulted in the collapse of Soviet power while sparing the world another global military catastrophe.

Of course moving forward within today’s disparate geopolitical systems and augmenting many outdated elements of European collective security was always going to require a deft touch and bold, intelligent diplomacy. Tragically, those qualities are slim and none at Foggy Bottom these days…. and slim blew town a while back. Exhibit A of the dearth of this Administration’s diplomatic talent is Richard Grenell, our preposterous Ambassador to Germany.

While the President’s bafoonery in Britain, France, Brussels and Helsinki inevitably garnered most of the headlines, Grenell’s day in and day out tactlessness has been impossible to ignore. As recklessly prolific a tweeter as Trump, Grenell was literally hours into his new assignment when he tweeted German companies still doing business in Iran better close up shop. It was stunningly inappropriate and earned him immediate scorn which he has done nothing to mollify.

Whether it’s been cheering on right wing opponents of the Merkel government or threatening sanctions for German companies participating in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, which Trump seems to oppose more as a means to counter charges he shills for Putin than any substantive reasons, Grenell has been condemned by both sides of Germany’s political aisle for “outrageous” conduct that has actually violated established diplomatic principles. A paid contributor at Fox News and frequent guest of Tucker Carlson, Grenell has responded to the widespread criticism by simply labeling it “fake news,” and claiming he is attacked because of progressive disdain for current US policy.

In fact, Der Spegiel, a prominent German weekly, published a profile of Grenell in January based on a wide plethora of sources in and out of the government. The picture it painted was of an isolated Trumpie, more alt right provocateur than emissary, a brittle, thin-skinned narcissist with no support anywhere other than the far right fringes he openly flirts with.

It’s not hyperbolic to say the US Ambassador to perhaps our most important ally is detested by all except neo-facsists. And what does Trump have to say about his man in Berlin’s job performance, even as a growing bipartisan group of German politicians actually call for his expulsion? Three words… United Nations Ambassador. With Foxette Heather Neuart pulling the plug on her appointment – apparently the result of an undocumented nanny – Grenell is said to be near the top of Trump’s list to replace her. That would be a promotion Grenell has hardly earned, unless the criteria is merely mimicking the boss.

Those less than alarmed when Trump was elected swore whatever frailties he suffered as a statesman would be countered by qualified people who would be appointed to carry out the nuts and bolts of policy. James Mattis, HR McMaster, Nicky Haley, etc. were pointed to as examples of this protective backstop. They’re now long gone, and Trumpie Mike Pompeo’s State Department is tearing at the seams. This week’s conference call for the “faith-based”media only seemed directly out of an SNL cold open, hysterical if it wasn’t such a tangible symbol of yet another American institution being decimated by Trumpism’s regressive termites.

Grenell’s sorry performance in the heart of Europe clarifies the wretchedness is indeed a global malady. George Kennan was fond of saying he was less concerned about why people were doing things than how they were doing them. Our man in Germany fails at both ends of that equation. Kennan would have been a very very harsh critic of Richard Grenell. BC