… I like Vlad Putin!
******************
[Trump] has offered the most pro-Kremlin slate of statements of any U.S. presidential candidate since Henry Wallace’s Progressive Party campaign of fellow travel in 1948. Trump has suggested that NATO is obsolete and should be dismantled or drastically scaled back. He’s indicated he would not necessarily come to the aid of NATO allies in the event of a Russian attack. He spoke about conceding Russian annexation of Crimea, a region of Ukraine that Moscow annexed in 2014, in what the global community almost universally views as a violation of international law.
On a personal level, Trump has expressed his admiration for Putin’s style of leadership, expressed hope that the two men would get along well, and claimed that he knew Putin, only to say later that they had never met.
Meanwhile, … all indications are that the Trump campaign maneuvered to soften language in the Republican platform backing Ukraine in its dispute with Russia. Manafort then denied this, a claim that is disputed by extensive reporting on the process.
… Trump … has publicly wished that Russia would release Hillary Clinton’s emails from her time as secretary of state, a plea for foreign interference in the American state that shocked and appalled foreign-policy hands of every political stripe.
August 15th, 2016 at 12:01PM
Might be time to update the Trump campaign theme song to something like this (to the tune of “Secret Agent Man,” natch):
There’s a man who leads a life of grifting
A man whose loyalties are ever-shifting
From Marcos to Putin
His hand is always in
Odds are Trump will fire him tomorrow
Paul John Manafort!
Russian Agent Man!
Trump’s given you his number but we’re onto your game
The limelight can be awfully unkind
One morning when you wake up you might find
Your treason and your crimes
On the front page of the Times
Odds are Trump will fire you tomorrow
Paul John Manafort!
Putin’s Agent Man!
Trump’s given you his number but we’re onto your game
Working for the Trump campaign on Sunday
Paid off by Yanukovich on Monday
Don’t let the world know
Of such fellatio
Odds are Trump will fire you tomorrow
Paul John Manafort!
Busted Agent Man!
Trump’s given you his number but we’re onto your game
August 15th, 2016 at 12:39PM
Dr_D: I wish I’d written this. Yugely wonderful. Thanks.
August 15th, 2016 at 12:49PM
Oh – and I think the song Camelot (“Manafort! Manafort!”) has potential – I’m playing around with it right now…
August 15th, 2016 at 1:00PM
That’s perfect–I can’t wait.
August 15th, 2016 at 3:32PM
bravo Dr_D
August 15th, 2016 at 6:47PM
Dr_D: Super! I can see the opening titles, hear Johnny Rivers—the whole thing. Ditto UD’s take on “Imagine”.